4 more years....

Well, President Obama won.   This doesn't come as a surprise to me, I was going to be shocked if Romney won. (More on that in a few paragraphs)

Mr. President, while I'm not thrilled with your first term, you have been given a second chance.  A chance to finish what you started, to start the things you talked about, and generally work as best you can to help right the course for America.

You have a big job in front of you and I don't know if you can actually do it.  You're too beholden to the monied interests.  I'll be interested who you replace on your cabinet.  You don't seem to be dynamic enough in your leadership.

BUT, you don't have to worry about reelection now.  You have a slightly more accommodating Congress, one who might actually be willing to work with you now.  But you still must put forward some actual ideas, and ways to implement them.

I wish you luck in your second term, hopefully it will be the start of a new era for America.

Now, to those of you surprised by Romney's loss...why?  What made you believe he was going to win?

Was it his staunch beliefs?  Wait, I have no idea what he believes in because it changes, every single election.

Was it his proven governing power?  Oh, wait, he's had to disavow his biggest accomplishment as governor because it smacked of socialism to the far right.

Was it his likeable personality?  Not really, he's random rich old white dude.  You could insert about 50 other guys in his stead and they'd all be the same.

Maybe his proven record as a leader of a company?  Well, sort of.  His company made lots of money, but lots of that was made by buying and gutting companies and outsourcing jobs.  I understand that happens, and sometimes it should, but its not gonna win you votes.

Was it his appeal to others besides whites?  I can't even come up with something snarky to respond here.  Its just hilarious.

America, while still run by whites (look at congress), is slowly starting to show in their vote that "Hey, there are people of other cultures here, other backgrounds besides WASP or white catholic."  The Republican leadership, the Republican "base," and Republican news outlets like Fox News are scared to admit that and delude themselves into thinking that the changing face of America isn't happening or that it can be reversed.  No, it can't!

I've already read 3 or 4 blogs and articles just today from tea party people saying the reason Romney lost was that he wasn't far right enough!!!  Wait a second, you honestly believe that a Rick Santorum, or Mike Huckabee, would have fared better?  If so, good luck to you in 4 years because you're going to be sorely disappointed yet again.

Hopefully, the Republicans will embrace the changing face of America and revise their platform to be more inclusive and in doing so actually put candidates up for consideration that bring something to the table besides isolationism, xenophobia, and broken jokes of economic plans.

Only in America

Only in America can we have a candidate running for the US Senate who hasn't worked a real job ever in her life. Yes, that is hyperbole, but sadly not nearly enough of one to not warrant a massive facepalm

Christine O'Donnell, running for the Senate seat in Delaware, has less than zero qualifications to be a US senator, and yet she is not only being treated as a legitimate candidate, people are actively supporting her.

Her Wikipedia page details her work history, lots of time as a lobbyist, talking head, and working for various non-profits.

However, what she has been most adept at is getting herself into financial trouble and lying about her credentials. She's claimed on numerous occasions that she had been pursuing a master's degree in Constitional Studies, but neither of the schools she mentioned had record of her enrolling or taking classes there.

She got fired from a job at ISI for doing personal consulting work on their coin. Now, she had filed a lawsuit against ISI, stating that their "conservative beliefs" required men to be subordinate to women. Apparently being a conservative who believes masturbation to be wrong only applies so far in your personal pursuit of a buck. She eventually dropped the lawsuit because she was broke.

At some point in time she decided she'd make a good senator and became embroiled in even more financial troubles. She paid her townhouse's mortgage from campaign funds because she was essentially jobless. She's had numerous campaign employees quit and accuse her of misusing funds.

Another problem is, she's a Tea Partier who believes the Constitution to be some sort of "holy document" except she doesn't even know all the Amendments. I wouldn't expect the average American to know them all, but if you claim to be a Constitutional scholar, who holds the Constitution to almost the level of scripture, shouldn't you know at least all the changes and amendments to it?

What amazes me is that the people who are supporting her don't have a problem with this. They don't have a problem with someone who has lied about her credentials, doesn't exhibit any expertise about the thing they hold dear, and hasn't held a job like an "average" person for more than a couple years at a time.

We don't need lifetime politicians, but we also don't need uneducated buffoons making a different sort of mockery of the current system.

Why Do I Expect Consistency of Belief?

Here's a link to a column/blog by a libertarian. Its a nice little read and points out much of what I find wrong with the "Tea Party" movement.

I'm not a libertarian, I feel its a simple recipe for disaster. But I can respect people who are libertarian and have consistency of belief (for the most part. We all struggle with this to certain degrees.)

Many Tea Partiers whine about the gov't, but don't really try to do anything serious about it. They have no proposals except "cut taxes and spending." They never say HOW they are going to do it. Well, getting rid of "entitlement" programs like Social Security (privatization like Bush wanted would have decimated the system like it did people's 401K's and private investments) and Medicare (old people love it) would be starts, but I'm sorry, that's not realistic.

They like to yell and scream about "social issues" like immigration and an Islamic YMCA with a mosque in it built by Ground Zero, but they don't offer solutions except wanting to take away rights from people they don't agree with or who aren't like them.

Is illegal immigration a problem? YES! However, they keep pointing to the wrong statistics on why its a problem. Crime is not a problem. Even jobs isn't the real issue because by and large Americans don't want to work the long hours for crappy pay that illegals will work. (And not even just illegals, immigrants in general.) They ignore the fact that illegals come here and work for Americans who often are KNOWINGLY flaunting the laws, and if nothing else our desire for ever cheaper prices on meat, produce, housing, hotel rooms, etc. are what have driven the wages on jobs so low that the only people who will take them are those here under frequently dubious circumstances.

But, we have too many laws, too many regulations, we just need to build a fence and police the border and question anyone with brown skin who gets pulled over in a car and seems "suspicious."

Seriously, when you have some actual courses of action, when your positions aren't simply emotion built by ignoring the facts, get back to me. We can discuss, and disagree, but actually have a conversation. For now you offer nothing but rhetoric and a mistrust which looks a lot like intolerance of anyone who isn't like you.

Thoughtful Column

A nice column on what I've slowly realized. (Thanks mightily to such wonderful authors/activists as Johnathon Kozol and Jim Wallis.)

Remember Your Witness

During the past twelve months or so a loose conglomeration of people have formed the semi-organized "Tea Party." Their beliefs are varied, but it mainly appears to be a libertarian belief of "less government" and lower taxes.

That's ok. This isn't a commentary on the lack of intellectual thought to their platform.
If you are in the the Tea Party, and a believer, please remember your witness. This applies to Christians involved in any political group, but currently, its the Tea Party that is the loudest, most obnoxious, hate-filled and borderline terroristic group out there.

Now, I understand, its a small percentage of the Tea Partiers who are hinting at violence. However, its a larger, though still most likely a minority, who are being very hateful and ugly vocally at protests.

It is a wonderful right in this country to voice your opinion. You can voice it loudly if you like. However, as Christians we are called to a higher path. It is imperative we act with love.

Spewing hateful words, racist words, is not loving.

Please, voice your displeasure at the things the government does. But please do so in a Christlike manner. The Roman's did some pretty horrid stuff, but Christ wasn't screaming in the streets about it.

He did seem to get pretty upset at religious leaders who were a bit focused on monetary gain and rigid moralism though...