A HUNDRED DAYS OF…

Today is the ceremonial 100 day mark of the Obama administration – whoop-di-tra-la-doo!

Last week MSNBC posted a poll in which people could grade Obama on the A-F scale. I was alerted to it when a person in one of my Yahoo Groups posted an entry saying we should vote to offset the entries of the what he surmised to be the votes of the conservatives. Sure enough, when I went to the poll there were almost an even number of As and Fs with very few in between. I cast my vote and posted in the group that I gave the A only to be (get ready because this is one of the few times I will ever use this term on me) to be politically correct. The truth was that I am disappointed in Obama and would have a hard time assigning him any grade.

It is obvious that Obama is a very charismatic person and charisma is important. He and his wife and family have changed the tone in Washington. The tone seems much less formal and it is so wonderful to have a president that can actually speak in complete sentences. Getting the stimulus package done in his first month was a major achievement and one that I am particularly thankful for as it does provide me with a few extra dollars each month. His trip to Europe was triumphant in that, again, a more caring tone was set. His trip to Latin America was less triumphant as those leaders are not taken in by his charisma. We are seeing movement on important legislation – health care, for one, and today the House is voted on a trans-inclusive hate crimes bill that will become law before too long. I could go on but for the most part on the surface Obama is doing a good job.

But, upon closer examination one has to question what the heck he is doing. His cabinet picks really for the most part sub par and uninspired. Instead of new leadership we got Clinton retreads. His economic team is really, really awful with Geithner and Summers at the helm. These men were the architects of the bank deregulation in the Clinton administration and then profited from it under the Bush Administration. Now, supposedly, we are to believe they are going to fix the mess??? Yea, as if that is going to happen. Sad to say but on the diversity scale I still think 43 beat Obama. There just is nobody on the team that evokes trust.

And that brings us to the real failing of this administration. Despite all of the charisma and the attempts at transparency (not judging how successful those have been), the press conferences, etc., there still is no belief that the government can be trusted or believed. Moreover, what is becoming increasingly apparent is that the Dems and the Repubs collude and they all are just out for themselves. And so, for all that has changed on the surface there is no real change under the surface. And while Obama is a breath of fresh air in Washington one has to wonder whether being lied to by a stupid incompetent drunk is better or worse than being duped by a charismatic, competent, and intelligent person. For me I am just not sure. What I do know is the both W and Obama leave one wanting to take a long shower after being in their presence.

DICK THE COWARD

Well, after a long hiatus I am back writing again!

There was a very stupid op-ed piece in The New York Times yesterday. It was written by Ross Douthat, the new so-called conservative writer who replaced the equally as stupid Bill Kristol. Douthat’s piece first piece was titled, “Cheney for President.” He writes in the opening paragraph:

Watching Dick Cheney defend the Bush administration’s interrogation policies,
it’s been hard to escape the impression that both the Republican Party and the
country would be better off today if Cheney, rather than John McCain, had been
a candidate for president in 2008.

There are several reasons why Cheney did not have the cojones to run for President. First of all, he is a one trick pony whose one trick just ain’t that good. Cheney’s whole shtick is about fear – fear of Al Queda and how the Bush administration kept us safe after 9/11. What he forever fails to acknowledge is that 9/11 did, indeed, happen under his watch. Or, to put it another way he was caught with his pants down. And then in 2008 he would have had to answer what more than a trillion dollars spent on an unwise war that has caught thousands of US lives and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives has really gotten us? Is the world truly any safer? Are we any safer?

Had Cheney run for President he would have had to answer all the questions about torture and defended his administration’s policies. Would he have had admitted then as we now know that we did do waterboarding and that we waterboarded one prisoner 183 times in one month? Would he have pushed for the release of the documents that Obama has had released that show our infractions?

Had Cheney run for President he might have come face to face with Valerie Plame and had to explain to her and the rest of us why Scooter Libby is a patriot and she is just a liberal tool? What constitutes a patriot and what is a political hack?

Had Cheney run for President would he have been willing to talk to anybody but Fox News reporters? Or would his campaign would eerily similar to the Palin campaign where she was shielded from the press and not made to answer any “hard” questions like, “what newspapers do you read?”

Had Cheney run for President what would have been his response to the banking fiasco that began, again, under his watch? Would he have defended Paulson’s $750 billion welfare check to his Wall Street friends? Would Cheney have suspended his campaign to deal with the crisis?

Had Cheney run for President he would have been forced to admit that, “yes, my daughter is a lesbian and, yes, I do not feel she is worthy of the rights afforded to American citizens.” Can you imagine the uproar this revelation would have caused among conservatives and liberals, alike?

The bottom line is that Cheney did not run for President because he is a coward. Cheney has never been answerable to the wider public and does not have the temperament to deal with those who disagree with him. And, for all of his blubber, Cheney was never drafted nor ever volunteered to fight in any war. And, let’s face it that his administration has been repeatedly discredited. So, yea, it was easy to sit back and let McCain take the hits for the Bush/Cheney misdeeds. It is just as easy to sit in his living room doing interviews with friendly reporters whose brains are even smaller and more narrow minded than his who will not ask any hardball questions.

What Americans want is real conservatism, not some crypto-liberal imitation. No Ross, the conservatives had eight years to do their bidding and they put this country in a hole from which we likely will never fully recover. Americans have spit out that Kool-Aid. Cheney is no defender of conservatism – he is only a dick.

ONE MORE TIME AND HOPEFULLY THE LAST

Okay, so I need to stop looking at MSNBC and Huffington Post for a few days, at least, until this fool exits stage left.

Wednesday’s entry came from wife Laura who admitted that she was offended by things Obama said about her husband during the campaign. As radio talk show host Wendy Williams would say, “I can’t, I just can’t.

But, of course George was not to be outdone. He said he was disappointed by all the silly name calling in DC and that he was proud that he never brought the presidency down to that level. Again, to employ Wendy Williams she would just break out in an uncontrollable laugh now.

Finally, and this is a bit off the GW subject, I would hope that my friends in Pennsylvania would begin a concerted effort to oust Arlen Specter from the Senate when he runs for reelection much like that which ousted “Rick I Need to be in a Sanitarium.” Specter is opposed to the nomination of Eric Holder for the position of Attorney General. To continue with Wendy Williamsisms, “please.” Specter, who spearheaded the nomination of Alberto Gonzalez and approved the nomination of Mike Mukasey and who has not been upset with the out and out illegal activities of the Bush Justice Department, is against Holder for having not as the DEPUTY Attorney General the pardon of Marc Rich. What a donkey.

HE WAS “MISUNDERESTIMATED”

I took the opportunity to watch the video of Dubya’s last news conference on Tuesday. First thing, I must repeat the words I used to end the last post – shut up, already. I compared W to Sarah P and the comparison is apt. Palin is now complaining that the campaign muzzled her and if she had been able to hang free she herself would have saved the ticket. That seems to be the Bush philosophy that he was muzzled and is now talking to save his legacy. Yet, in both cases we see why these people should be muzzled. Unfortunately that will not happen as he now will be giving a farewell speech to the nation on Thursday evening.

Three words stuck out to me from the news conference – “don’t tell me.” He said those three words near the end of the press conference when he was asked by a reporter about Katrina. He became rather agitated and defended the Administration’s response to Katrina leaving most everybody in the room and who has heard the response (certainly nearly all in New Orleans) saying, “what the…???” Dubya talked about the “drivers” of the helicopters who rescued 30,000 people from the rooftops after the storm had passed. What he failed to mention is that these “drivers” were from the Coast Guard performing their duties and they were not sent by the Administration. Dubya conveniently did not mention the fact that days passed before FEMA entered the city and that those rooftop rescues may not have been needed had there been proactive assistance from the federal government. He mentioned his fly over and that he could not land. But, he also did not mention that in the midst of the storm he flew from his ranch to California and/or Arizona for a party fundraiser without any mention or concern at the time for the people in New Orleans. I could continue, but the man obviously thinks we are as stupid as he is.

What was strikingly absent from the press conference was any mention of the thousands of dead soldiers and the families left behind. There was no mention of the tens of thousands of broken soldiers who are struggling now for adequate medical care, education, and work. His only disappointment was that there were no WMDs. He says he sleeps well at night but tell that to the families of the dead soldiers or those who are seriously maimed or those who lie awake praying their family members return home safely.

There was no mention of Harriet Miers or of the Justice Department scandal or the Valerie Plame affair. There was just this defiant tone that he done did a good job and would be leaving with his held up high. Yet, he leaves with a war unfinished, a deep recession (which, by the way he did not inherit a recession), and a government in shambles and his own political party in serious straits. He says he sleept was just a remarkably wrong tone to take.

Don’t tell me. To me, that sums up this Administration quite succinctly. It was an Administration that could not be told anything for they had all the answers. Don’t tell them they were violating the Constitution. Don’t tell them that what they were doing was illegal. Don’t tell them to just shut up. Don’t tell them.

There really is nothing more to say and that is pathetic. May God have mercy on his soul.

IT KEEPS GETTING DEEPER

So, I am in the gym last night on the recumbent exercise bike with the television screen in direct view showing the new Hannity (less “& Colmes”) talk show on Fox News (or, to use another Olbermannism, Fixed Noise) and I get to see his interview with GW. I am reading the captions and Hannity asks Dubya if people were aware of all the information he receives via the daily security briefings and how he must react to that information if we the American people would essentially have greater respect or, I believe, he said higher approval ratings for Dubya. Well, you know, he had me there for a bit. I started to think that maybe that might be true. Maybe I have been too harsh on Dubya. But, then reality hit again and it was a resounding “nah” that I said to myself.

Let us just give the old guy a pass on the war decision and that is quite hard to do. Here is the rub. Regardless of what the information is he has it does not excuse lying to the American people and manipulating the intelligence as it has been repeatedly revealed to justify this action. It does not excuse invading a sovereign nature with no provocation and removing its head of state. It does not excuse sending our men and women into battle with inadequate resources and poor planning. It does not excuse wreaking havoc on thousands of reservists and their families by repeatedly sending them into the line of fire which was not what they volunteered to do. It does not excuse Dubya saying that his personal sacrifice for the men and women in Iraq was giving up golf. It does not excuse providing shoddy care for the maimed veterans of the war or shielding the American people from seeing the caskets of the dead soldiers. It does not excuse the fact that my nephew after serving in a war he never dreamed to be in and did not volunteer for, had to come home and fight tooth and nail for the benefits duly afforded to him because of his service.

We cannot overlook the fact that while a major city was overwrought with flood waters, Mr. Bush was having fun in San Diego. He tried to defend the government’s action at his final conference pointing to the 30,000 rooftop rescues. Yet, what he fails to grasp is that if the government had been alert there may not have been a need for those rescues as there would have been sufficient resources to evacuate the people before it was so late. We also remember that during this time Secretary of State Rice was enjoying herself by going shoe shopping in New York City.

GW’s remarks remind me of the recent remarks by Sarah P. I wrote about previously. They both like to decry their treatment but do not want to responsibility for how they are treated. They both are treated badly because they lie and their words are intentionally divisive. It is that their words do not match their actions and their actions seem to go against their stated principles. We had in 2000 a literal bloodless coup that got him in office (remember the GOP shouting down the electors in Florida as they tried to do their job) and it was more of the same in 2004. Indeed, reportedly the bank bailout finally passed because lawmakers were threatened with martial law if it did not. Call me an alarmist or a conspiracy theorist if you want, but comments made by several Congress members have virtually confirmed this report.

Then add to the mix all of the runaway spending of this Administration – Homeland Security, Katrina, Iraq, and, yes, the bailout. All of this from a fiscal conservative?! Then there was compassionate conservatism where the LGBTI community was ostracized, the immigrants (re. Latino community) were demonized, and where African American males still find it easier to go prison than to go to school. How about repeatedly denying expansion of the S-CHIP program? What about leaving many children behind due to No Child Left Behind? What about respect for the LGBTI community? Why are young African American men still being locked up at an alarming rate? Why is US rail service still so far behind that of other industrialized nations? And, let us not forget that this Administration valued ideology much more than competence.

I could go on and on and on. So, Mr. Hannity, I doubt very much my opinion of Dubya would change if I could know all that he knows. In fact, I would wager that I would even think less of him. Here was a man who took away our country’s glory and honor at a time when the whole was willing to stand with us. Just like ol’ Sarah P. GW refuses to realize that the more he talks the more ridiculous he looks. Hey, shut up, already – both of ya, NOW!

ARE THESE PEOPLE FOR REAL? OR, THE LEGACY OF IDIOCY

First up is Dick Cheney who was quoted this week as saying that the Administration could not have foreseen the current economic crisis. This now makes the attacks of 9/11, the severity of the Iraq War, and Katrina, and the current economic crisis all events that the Administration did not see coming. Now, in their defense they might not have been able to prevent any of these incidents (at least Katrina and the current crisis), they could have made taken steps to make their impact less severe. But, the great thing about the Bushies is that they take no responsibility for anything. Somehow, Dick, just showing up and being present is not good enough. One more week and you are outta here. Praise be.

Who should take the stage next? Okay, let’s bring up Sarah Palin who is still bitching about the media coverage of her. Woman, please. The reason you were seen as a joke is that you presented yourself as a joke from day one with the line that you were against the bridge to nowhere (not true), that you defended us against Russia (not true), and that you tried at first to cover up having a pregnant 17 year old daughter. Add to that the fact that you were out campaigning and lugging around a less than one year old special needs baby instead of being home to take care of the baby or leaving him at home to get the care he needs. For Palin to compare her treatment to that of Caroline Kennedy is even more of a joke. Caroline does at least have class and so, yes, her treatment by the press is much better than was Palin’s. And, let me just add that class is not about money, it is about character.

Next up is the stupid candidate for the RNC Chair (have no idea who he is) who put out the “Barack the Magic Negro” song. I did not listen to the song and have not followed the story closely. It is just amazing that having had their heads handed to them in two successive elections that GOP refuses to change and resorts to the same old losing tactics. I mean, really, who uses the term “Negro” anymore? Aside from being technophobic asses, these people also seem unwilling to come to terms with the fact that the internet does exist (i.e., George Sr. and don’t to that Google thingy), and any stupid thing you say will be captured and beamed to the world. Please, Karl Rove is not a genius.

Finally, there is Ann Coulter who Keith Olbermann calls “Coultergeist.” This past week she was out hawking her new book and for the love of me I do not see why this is news. The big news is that she was bumped off TODAY one day. So, off she went to CBS with Harry Smith sanctimoniously saying her book was trash and then it was to NBC the next day where Matt Lauer did the same. My question is why have her on at all? The woman is crazy and her books are from newsworthy. I still cannot believe that no one in this state yelled at The College of New Jersey for paying her $25,000 for a speech. Unbelievable. In the interest of full disclosure I admit that I watched the Harry Smith clip and wasted my valuable time to listen to the crazy woman. I know of the Matt Lauer incident only from the headlines. She is just best ignored.

Real or idiots? I have my answer. What is yours?

MARRIAGE??? NOT THIS YEAR

Nearly two years ago I sat in the audience in the café at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and listened as Governor Jon Corzine boldly said that he would be willing to sign a marriage equality bill in 2009. He basically struck a deal saying that he did want us to push for the bill in 2008 as he felt it should be more a national discussion then one held at the state level. The gay and lesbian journalists who gathered that Sunday morn erupted into applause and felt that we had struck a deal that would deliver to us what we were yearning for all these many years.

Well, call me jaded but I hear subliminal messages most any time people speak. It is not what they say but how they say it which is to say it is the unspoken words that I hear the loudest. What I heard that day was a play on something my mother would tell us when we were small and would accompany her uptown to the stores. “If you embarrass Mommy then Mommy will embarrass you.” What Corzine was saying that day was “if you (the LGBTI community) do not embarrass me in 2008 then I will repay you in 2009.” That was the coded message. The unspoken message was, “hey, I am not going to be here in 2009 as I will be in Washington in the new Clinton Administration so screw y’all!”

Now it is 2009 and where is Jonny C now? Yep, still here in the Garden State languishing just as his predecessors in Trenton. It is so funny. New Jersey has what is commonly known as one of the strongest gubernatorial offices in the country. In New Jersey the Governor is the only statewide elected office – no attorney general, treasurer, comptroller, secretary of state, and no lieutenant governor. It is just the governor and it is the governor that appoints EVERYONE including judges. It is a darn good gig and seemingly our misguided politicians run for the office thinking that it will catapult them onto the national scene. Yet, one by one they come and instead of getting catapulted out they get chained down – Kean, Florio, Whitman, McGreevey, and now Corzine. They all came with such high hopes only to get chewed up in Trenton and left to languish in purgatory. Oh, but you say, the governors do get some elevated role in politics once they leave. Oh sure, but it is not what they want. None has gone on to be to be president, vice president, cabinet secretary, or ambassador. Kean is considered to be an elder statesman, a patrician of sort. Florio did leave and finally made some legitimate money. Whitman thought she could break the mold and at least go to Washington but it was not for a cabinet level position and she left there even more disgraced than her legacy has been in Trenton. McGreevey, well he even had his wedding there to stake his future claim, but we all know how that turned out. And, then there is Jon Corzine the uber rich Wall Street mogul with all of his financial wizardry. He would right the wrongs in Trenton and take the ACELA off to Washington if not to rule all the land then at least to rule the financial land as the Treasury Secretary.

Except there was a spot thrown on Corzine’s plan. Actually there were two. The first was that he followed in McGreevey’s shoes and jumped on the bandwagon.

“Hillary will get me the hell out of Trenton, for sure,” ol Jonny C thought. But, oops, that plan was thwarted by a guy named Obama. “No problem for me,” said Jon Corzine of Trenton, “I’ll color my nose brown and be as black as Barack.”

Then came spot number two.

“That’s cool, Jonny C,” Obama said to his new bro. “But Jon, but Jon, those emails to your former main squeeze and that lawsuit by the GOP make you too tainted for me.” “If that be my fate,” a demur Jon C said, “then Trenton it shall be as I shall run again and rule for four more years.”

“Oh Mr. Corzine, Mr. Corzine, remember us your LGBTI friends?? You said we could get married in 2009 and well it is now 2009 and we are ready to be husband and husband and wife and wife. Just tell us when. We love you so much, Mr. Corzine for making our dreams come.”

“Oh it’s you, you dabdblasit queers. You think I am going to stick my neck out for you??? It’s an election year and I got to get reelected along with my Democratic friends in the Legislature. If I sign that bill to let you get hitched, then that dude Christie will surely swipe this all away from. So, get outta here ya queers, I was only messing with ya back then. I never expected to be here to sign a law for you. So, get outta here ya queers, don’t you see I have an economic mess to deal with now? Get outta my face, but just remember to leave your donation checks on your way out.”

And so ends, the theater of broken promises. We like the gays and the lesbians, but we will not do a darn thing for them. What are they going to do? Vote Republican??? Yea, like that is going happen. They are just like the Blacks, you throw them a bone every once in a while and they think they’re getting something. But, that’s okay, because we could not do it without them. They fall for it every time.

CATEGORY: PEOPLE WHO SHOULD BE WEARING ORANGE JUMPSUITS

The so-called Bush-Cheney Legacy Tour of interviews given to the media is both quite revealing and very, very disturbing as it underscores what we have long known about this administration – Cheney is the “brains” and Bush the bumbling fool.

Dick Cheney seems to be taking delight in revealing all of his misdeeds over the past eight years. A good prosecutor would be wetting his pants at all of the great material being provided. Yet, unfortunately, it appears the incoming administration does not have a taste for prosecuting these rogue figures. For Cheney to state the president is essentially above the law and that the Office of the Vice President is an island of its own with oversight by no one including the President is chilling to hear even though we have known this to be his modus operandi. It represents a fundamental misunderstanding of our Constitution (or, as Cheney would say, “What Constitution?”) that has brought this country to the precipice of extinction.

But as chilling as Cheney’s words are, we have to take responsibility for being complicit accomplices in this rogue administration. We put these people in for another four years even though we had grown weary of them. Those of us like me who refused to ever recognize the legitimacy of this administration must be ashamed that we did not raise our voices loud enough to force impeachment of both the President and Vice President. The Republicans in Congress have blood on their hands for rubber stamping the administration’s exploits and then looking the other way when the you know what started to hit the fan. The Democrats are not better even though they did play lip service to trying to uncover the facts but not having the stomach to dig deep enough.

We may fault the incoming administration for abandoning any thought of prosecuting these criminals but the truth is that to do so would consume its entire efforts for the next four years. We are not talking just about a few individuals, but literally hundreds of unqualified and incompetent staffers spread throughout the government. What is so sickening is that the auto industry is being put through the wringers for their sins while these people laugh all the way to the bank. Or, to say it another way, we are expecting the blue collar workers to sacrifice so that the white collar people can continue to live large.

It is just so sad. We literally had a coup in this country and we just do not know it or want to admit it. It just provides another example of the fact that the most deadly weapons are not bombs but errant minds bent on destroying the foundations of civilization. The Bushies caused more and greater harm to this country than Osama bin Laden could ever think of doing. Indeed, bin Laden has had the luxury of sitting in his cave with some popcorn and enjoying the show that he only wished he could have masterminded. Even the other Dick – Nixon – is sitting his bony self up in his grave and saying, “DAYUM.”

And so it is. We listen to the words of Bush and Cheney not with amazement but utter despair. How it is that two people could nearly completely destroy what took more than 200 years to build. We all stand with a tear in our eyes like the Native American Indian in that commercial of old as he looks out the mounds of pollution destroying our land.

THE MOST DANGEROUS WORD

It is hope.

I saw the movie MILK (depicting the last years of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in the US) on Friday. First of all, getting to the movie was quite the ordeal. I was scheduled to go with a group of guys from The Pride Center at a movie theater in Manville. That is a bit of a hike, but from work it is not too far. So, I went to the Princeton Public Library after work then walked around downtown (to the bank for money and then to the post office) and then it was off to Manville. There was a big backup on 206 which was no problem as I was going up River Road. Well, with all the rain, River Road was closed and so I eventually meandered back to 206. I pass the road I should turn onto as it does not match the name listed in my directions. I drive about a mile more and realize that was indeed the road. I turn around and sure enough it was the right road.

Now, who knew Manville was really a town?! I go through Manville at times to get to I-287, but apparently I just hit the tip of Manville. If I were to keep driving on Main Street I would hit a real downtown area and further some big shopping areas. So, I get to the theater just about 7:30 p.m. which is the time for the movie to start. By this time I realize that the guys are already probably seated and since I do not know them and vice versa I just go into the theater and sit by myself. I figure that since I came this far I might as well see the movie. Whoa, $10.25 for a movie!!!

I do not really know what to say about the movie. Harvey Milk was not necessarily always a warm and cuddly guy and I think that is the effect director Gus Van Sant wanted. Nonetheless, one cannot deny his influence and his dedication to the cause. I actually do remember the headlines when he was assassinated though it was not a “monumental” moment for me at time. You know, for someone who is so well connected with the news, there is this strange disconnect with all the big news of my formative years.

What really struck me about the movie was seeing Anita Bryant and hearing her comments as well as those of others who fought against gay rights. It is the same religious BS that is used today. The chord is struck in me was that “the church” has never been on the side for social justice. I thought about the recent fight over Proposition 8 in California where the Mormons and the Catholics (Knights of Columbus) put up TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to fight against marriage equality. Meanwhile, we have an unjust war raging in Iraq and there is silence from these people on this. In essence, they would rather see people kill each other than love each other. That is the message of Jesus???

Those thought prompted me to write to my church to request that I be removed from the membership roll. Afterall, I have not been there in more than three years and there is no need to carry on this charade. Obviously, they keep me on the rolls as it does inflate their membership number and I do believe there is some modicum of affection. But, I have not paid dues or donated any money and if I am not doing that then I do not need to be included.

I also started to feel drawn toward the Quakers. I mean, talk about a religious organization that is usually actively involved in social justice issues. You do not see the Quakers on television. They do not have these big monumental buildings. They do not have preachers flying around in private jets and living in big houses. They are a religion that is about the people. Quiet worship in simple buildings with no ministers and a commitment for social justice and peace. I am going to look further into it.

What also was amazing is that one could juxtapose Milk’s words of thirty years ago with those of Obama today. Milk, according to the movie, began to connect with people when he started talking about hope. In fact, his most famous speech is called the Hope Speech. Obama is all about hope. Martin Luther King, Jr. was about hope. Mahatma Handy was about hope. Bill Clinton, for that matter was about hope. The people in this list were all assassinated save for Obama (yet??). Yes, even Clinton was assassinated though his was his character and not his life. It just seems that there is always this great backlash against hope. Hey, for those of us who believe, Jesus Christ was about hope and look what happened to him.

Yet, when we look at “the church” we have an institution that is not about hope. Sure, they may be about prayer but it is prayer for self enrichment as opposed to societal gains. Imagine if the churches used their collective power to eradicate hunger, homelessness, and, yes, war. Imagine if the money used for the church temples, the private jets, the big houses were used on causes for social justice. Instead of going in and praying with the president, what if they were out protesting against the president. What if the church made civil disobedience fashionable instead of it being thought of as a kooky thing?

I begin to agree with a criticism leveled against the church by a colleague about fifteen years ago. Essentially he said that churches preach so much about heaven and the afterlife and preparing for it while ignoring life on earth. The Quakers, seemingly, have the right priorities that we can and should make heaven on earth. That is the true directive of Jesus Christ.

Hope – catch it, get it, live it, love it.

NOTHING BUT CAUCASIANS

Mr. Steve Capus

President

NBC News

30 Rockefeller Plaza

New York, New York 10112

Dear Mr. Capus:

I write to express my extreme disappointment with NBC News over the selection of David Gregory as the new moderator of Meet the Press. While Mr. Gregory is certainly a very credible and accomplished journalist, his selection only perpetuates the homogeneous nature of network news anchors at a time when so much is happening that embraces the rich diversity of our nation and the world. NBC News was presented with a great opportunity (under admittedly unfortunate circumstances) to be bold and make a clear break from the past. Rather, the organization chose to install yet another white male reinforcing the network’s image of being (N)othing (B)ut (C)aucasians.

In handing over the reins of the program to Mr. Gregory, Tom Brokaw said that people now are paying attention more than ever and are engaged more than ever. With this heightened awareness comes a sense of greater expectations. Just as America is celebrating a President-elect with a different skin color than his predecessors and is enthused at a cabinet that truly represents the tapestry of America, we expect such representation from our national institutions such as network television. In fact, we find ourselves quicker now to abandon those institutions that fail to respond to meet our expectations. Moves such as this to place Mr. Gregory in this position while overlooking the wonderful talent among females and people of color only serve to exacerbate the ratings decline and limit the appeal of this program to a narrow section of the population.

How shameful, Mr. Capus, to be so mired in the past when the whole world is moving forward.