Turning Points

Regular readers of this blog know that another prominent concern of mine has been the inappropriate intrusion of religion into politics and the public arena. Almost two months ago, Katherine Parker, a prominent conservative who writes for The National Review, broke ranks with many conservatives and castigated Sarah Palin in an article entitled “Palin Problem”. The backlash to that article shows just how powerful the religious right has become in this country. It is difficult to find a blog that can sustain a civilized discussion of the issues that Ms. Parker addresses, but Melissa Clouthier’s site doesn’t descend into the frenzy of so many other blogs out there. In the following article, Ms. Parker makes the connection between the Palin phenomenon and the decline of the Republican Party. I found it to be an interesting read and a small sign that there is hope for sane and respectful political discourse in this country, after all.

Giving Up on God

By Kathleen Parker

Wednesday, November 19, 2008; 12:00 AM

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I’m bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn’t soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth — as long as we’re setting ourselves free — is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

The choir has become absurdly off-key, and many Republicans know it.

But they need those votes!

So it has been for the Grand Old Party since the 1980s or so, as it has become increasingly beholden to an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners.

Short break as writer ties blindfold and smokes her last cigarette.

Which is to say, the GOP has surrendered its high ground to its lowest brows. In the process, the party has alienated its non-base constituents, including other people of faith (those who prefer a more private approach to worship), as well as secularists and conservative-leaning Democrats who otherwise might be tempted to cross the aisle.

Continue reading →

One of the themes that drives me to post on this blog is why those who most need help consistently vote for politicians and political parties who hurt them. In the just completed presidential election, large swaths of Appalachia, where severe poverty is endemic, voted for John McCain, one of whose campaign promises was to cut taxes across the board but who would also deliver substantially larger cuts (expressed as a percentage of income) to the wealthy than to the poor. The New Yorker had an interesting article about Southwest Virginia and Obama that did not, for a change, accuse those who live in Appalachia of being racist. I have posted links to more information about the work of George Lakoff and his associates in the field of framing that goes a long way towards explaining why people vote against their own best interests. Those links are in the category entitled “George Lakoff” on the home page of this blog. I’ve also found the following essay, which sheds a different light on the conundrum.

The Chauffeur’s Dilemma

By Arlie Hochschild

Let’s consider our political moment through a story. Suppose a chauffeur drives a sleek limousine through the streets of New York, a millionaire in the backseat. Through the window, the millionaire spots a homeless woman and her two children huddling in the cold, sharing a loaf of bread. He orders the chauffeur to stop the car. The chauffeur opens the passenger door for the millionaire, who walks over to the mother and snatches the loaf. He slips back into the car and they drive on, leaving behind an even poorer family and a baffled crowd of sidewalk witnesses. For his part, the chauffeur feels real qualms about what his master has done, because unlike his employer, he has recently known hard times himself. But he drives on nonetheless. Let’s call this the Chauffeur’s Dilemma.

Absurd as it seems, we are actually witnessing this scene right now. At first blush, we might imagine that this story exaggerates our situation, but let us take a moment to count the loaves of bread that have recently changed hands and those that soon will. Then, let’s ask why so many people are letting this happen.

Continue reading →

I found a most interesting essay, by Sara Robinson, that outlines the pre-conditions for a revolution, which could fairly describe the election of Barack Obama. An argument could be made that a presidential election in the United States does not deserve and never will deserve to be called a “revolution”, but that determination is for future historians to decide. Time will tell.

The essay is lengthy, but I found it to be fascinating reading. Here it is:

When Change Is Not Enough: Seven Steps to Revolution

By Sara Robinson

22 February 2008

“Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.” — John F. Kennedy

There’s one thing for sure: 2008 isn’t anything like politics as usual.

The corporate media (with their unerring eye for the obvious point) is fixated on the narrative that, for the first time ever, Americans will likely end this year with either a woman or a black man headed for the White House. Bloggers are telling stories from the front lines of primaries and caucuses that look like something from the early 60s — people lining up before dawn to vote in Manoa, Hawaii yesterday; a thousand black college students in Prairie View, Texas marching 10 miles to cast their early votes in the face of a county that tried to disenfranchise them. In recent months, we’ve also been gobstopped by the sheer passion of the insurgent campaigns of both Barack Obama and Ron Paul, both of whom brought millions of new voters into the conversation — and with them, a sharp critique of the status quo and a new energy that’s agitating toward deep structural change.

There’s something implacable, earnest, and righteously angry in the air. And it raises all kinds of questions for burned-out Boomers and jaded Gen Xers who’ve been ground down to the stump by the mostly losing battles of the past 30 years. Can it be — at long last — that Americans have, simply, had enough? Are we, finally, stepping out to take back our government — and with it, control of our own future? Is this simply a shifting political season — the kind we get every 20 to 30 years — or is there something deeper going on here? Do we dare to raise our hopes that this time, we’re going to finally win a few? Just how ready is this country for big, serious, forward-looking change?

Continue reading →

For far too long, I have been terribly cynical about the future of this country. I was absolutely appalled at the tenor of the campaign that John McCain conducted and despaired that sanity and intelligence would ever reappear in political discourse in our country. Now that Barack Obama has been elected, it appears that our long national nightmare is beginning to come to an end. I am particularly pleased that he has selected Gregory Craig as his lawyer and is considering Hillary Clinton for the Secretary of State position. I’ve read the anguished howls of those on the Left protesting Obama’s choices so far and have this to say: regardless of what you projected onto Obama during his campaign, the reality is that Obama is an Establishment politician. He is going to select his Cabinet from those the Establishment is comfortable with, not those who would “rock the boat”. Don’t be surprised if he selects some prominent Republicans for his Cabinet also, as he has said that he wants different ideas to be presented to him so that he can govern effectively. Obama is a pragmatic politician - he is not the Socialist or revolutionary that the McCain campaign tried to smear him as and he is not the Conservative that many on the Left have tried to paint him as. Obama is a rare example of a politician who understands that people, for the most part, do not vote on the basis of issues. They vote on the basis of values, connection, authenticity, trust, and identity. Obama has connected with the American people in a way that no one since Ronald Reagan has. He is a very intelligent man and he is also not at all afraid to exercise his power to “knock heads” if the need arises. I am proud to have voted for Obama - a man who will be inclusionary, practical, and good for all Americans.

We need to ensure that Obama works to give us our country back and deny the radical right wing authoritarians the agenda that they have worked so hard to achieve for the last 30 years. As George Lakoff phrased it in his book, Thinking Points:

“America today is in danger. It faces the threat of domination by
a radical, authoritarian right wing that refers to itself as “conservative,”
as if it were preserving and promoting American values.
In fact, it has been trampling on them.

“American values are inherently progressive, but progressives
have lost their way. As traditional Americans, that is, as progressive
Americans, we are beginning to lose our identity, the very
values that have made America a great and free country—a
country where tolerance has led us to unity, where diversity has
given us strength, where acting for the common good has
brought our dreams to fruition, and where respect for human dignity
has increased opportunity, released creativity, and generated
wealth.”

Continue reading →

Astonishing!! President-elect Barack Obama, perhaps unsurprisingly, is using the Internet as Franklin Delano Roosevelt used radio during his famous Fireside chats. The video hasn’t been seen by that many people yet, but it was only posted yesterday. I’m posting it here, hoping that those of you who see it will go to YouTube and get the code to paste it in your own blog to help spread it far and wide. Type in “Barack Obama November 15″ in the search box to find the video. The content is not that remarkable, but the use of the medium is a stroke of genius. I’m mightily impressed!

House concerts are a growing movement across this country and I am lucky to have good friends here in South Florida who host a series of concerts during the cooler months in their beautifully restored 1916 house. Great acoustics, great performers, and great food! The kickoff concert tonight was a return appearance by Ruth Wyand. This video from YouTube doesn’t do justice to her wonderful voice. Ruth sings a mean blues song and I just love the blues. The guitar she is playing in this video was made by a craftsman in Montana - the top of the guitar is a hubcap from an undetermined vintage car. If there are any car aficionados who read this post and know what kind of car the hubcap came from, please let me know! You can listen to three more samples of Ruth’s music at CD Baby.

Ruth sang songs from her new CD, including Angel with no wings, Runaway Woman, and Millionaire Blues.

Ruth closed her concert with a cover of Jesse Colin Young’s Get Together Now, which is particularly relevant in the aftermath of a tumultuous presidential campaign marred by vicious hate speech and divisive tactics. If we actually followed Jesse Colin Young’s advice, wouldn’t this be a much better country?

I found this essay on Joe Bageant’s site. The author is not identified, but I think his ideas deserve wide consideration. While those who support Obama are delirious with joy, those who supported McCain are smoldering with contempt and anger. That anger is not going away and those who support Obama disregard this contempt and anger at their own peril. Even though Sarah Palin is once again the governor of Alaska, the movement that she gave a voice to is not going away.

This is an important essay. Read it, study it, and consider its’ implications:

“The rise of religious fundamentalism as a political force is the most important and misunderstood development in our recent history.

“The primary motivating factor in the development of the religious right is a defensive response to the challenges posed by the power of popular consumer and entertainment culture and not a backlash against progressive or liberal ideas and social movements.

“The conflict between these two forces has come to dominate the discourse of our politics. What drives the intensity of this cultural war is the fact that it is a struggle between the only two revolutionary forces in American society. Popular culture is revolutionary because of the way and the relentless speed in which it challenges and uproots the traditional mores of American culture. Religious fundamentalism is revolutionary because it represents the only movement in American public life openly critical of American culture and society.

“If the latter point seems strange to some, I would advise them to listen to an hour’s worth of programming from Dr. James Dobson’s daily broadcast on Christian radio. He is perhaps the most influential voice of the religious right on the broadcast medium. During that time, you will hear far greater criticism of American society and Americans on subjects such as greed, materialism, alienation caused by rampant individualism and the lack of supportive communities than you will hear on the purportedly liberal airways of Air America’s Radio Programs.

Continue reading →

The next day, we had an ambitious agenda: visit Clayspace, where Colleen’s son, Josh, has a studio, eat lunch at 12 Bones, the home cooking place where Obama got takeout, and take in the sculpture show at Reynolds Mountain Park, which was down on the French Broad River last year and where it should have been this year. The first stop was Clayspace, where I introduced myself to Josh and made him homesick, by telling him that I had met Tom Phelps’ wife, Carol, and other tales of my brief visit to Floyd a few days prior. Josh is an amazing potter, incredibly accomplished for one so young. I loved his pots - they are bold, forceful, and quite appealing. So appealing, that I had to buy the one on the left in this picture:

The one on the right may have been done by Josh, but if it wasn’t, I’m sure someone will correct me! It was too big and heavy to risk picking up.

My tour guide’s stomach was rumbling, so we ambled towards 12 Bones and dashed across the railroad tracks, ahead of an oncoming train! 12 Bones has some delicious food that is hard to select from, but I settled on a half-rack (6 bones), macaroni and cheese, baked beans, and a Scottish Brown Ale. Yum!!! I was so full that I couldn’t even think of dessert, though the party at the next table came just for dessert and the pecan pie looked like it was to die for. Next time!

Continue reading →

After a hectic three-day trip to Floyd County, VA, I drove south, to Asheville, where a recently retired friend of mine lives. I hadn’t seen him since March and he seems to be settling into retirement well, given the scary financial situation that all retirees are facing these days! He took me on a tour of downtown Asheville on the first day and we had lunch at Doc Shays, an Oriental restaurant which I thought served really tasty food. I’ve seen reviews that said differently, but I’d go back! I loved the architecture of some of the restored buildings in Asheville, though I didn’t take enough pictures. Here is a shot of the restored S&W Building:

Not the best shot, I realize, but those fancy street lights got in the way!

Continue reading →

Since I was a pre-teen, I have wanted to build a “neat” house tucked into the woods. I currently own a tiny portion of an ecosystem that was once more common in South Florida than it now is: a tropical hardwood hammock. When I bought the property, some years after Hurricane Andrew roared through South Florida in 1992, it was badly infested with two exotic vines: air potato and gold coast jasmine. For three years, on a nearly daily basis, I worked to get these vines under control. I succeeded with the air potato but experience ongoing re-infestations of gold coast jasmine due to a substantial population of raccoons. My dreams of building a house, however, were dashed by the ruinous taxation levels of this area and by soaring property values. While those property values are on their way down, the cost of building, combined with property taxes, makes it prohibitive to consider such an idea in retirement.

Enter Floyd County, Virginia. Many folks have asked me how I, a foreigner who knew no one in Floyd County, came to find the place. The short answer is that I saw an article in the Asheville Citizen-Times (I was considering buying property in the Asheville area) that touted Floyd as the closest town in the United States to the European “slow-city” movement. I had no idea what a “slow-city” movement was, but it sounded intriguing and so I launched an Internet search for Floyd County. Because I am an artist, among other things, I was even more intrigued when I discovered that Floyd County had a substantial population of artists working in every imaginable medium: words, clay, metal, wood, beads, fabric, dance, music, theatre, photography, painting, and other mediums that I have yet to be introduced to. There are also a number of organic farmers with Community Supported Agriculture plans available and many folks have large gardens and know how to can fruits and vegetables. Floyd County is not a paradise, though — there is severe poverty and some friction between those who have lived there for generations and those “not from around here.” But there are also a large number of opportunities to get involved with the community and make friends. Hooked, I made my first trip to Floyd County in the spring of 2007 and was mightily impressed. At the Jacksonville Center, I met a young woman who convinced me to risk taking a wood sculpture class at Touchstone Center for Crafts in Farmington, PA, in the summer of 2007. When I came back to Floyd in the fall of 2007, I still felt an enormous attraction to the area and set out to find property. Eventually, I found what I hope will be the place where I will finally be able to build my cozy little “neat” house.

Continue reading →