Why we don’t ask the same questions?

From Crooks and Liars today:

Isn’t it interesting? Because I never hear them talk quite the same about costs when it comes to war. For example: “We really want to stabilize Afghanistan – but it has to be revenue-neutral” or “Yes, we know we said it was important to stabilize Iraq, but we simply can’t afford this anymore.”

No, the place where they decide to draw the line is… our health. War is seen as the absolute necessity and health care is seen as optional. That’s just crazy.

Be Bold

While the masquerade of the Republican party continues to play the fool, the Democrats appear to be leaderless. Don’t know about you, but I voted for bold progressive action last November. So far the wing nuts who have absconded with the the GOP have all the talking points and the MSM just keeps on repeating them. The country appears to be confused over what has to be a very simple concept: the health of its citizens ought to be about health care and not about profit. The human graffiti that showed at town halls is angry that we have a Black president, trapped by small minds and unencumbered by the thought process.

I’m looking for a change of strategy on this. Time to call their bluff and pass health care reform with a public option. Bill Moyers writes a letter to President Obama that says it well.

Story

I thought the words below were worth reading a second time. I find the concept of story an interesting one. We all have two: the one we tell ourselves about ourselves in order to hold the world together and the one other people tell about us. Neither is objective but that’s not the point. But how similar are they? Is there some congruence? Can we articulate our story? Does either story allow us to do more than merely grow, but to transform?

“It is all a question of story.
We are in trouble just now because we do not have a good story.
We are in between stories.
The old story, the account of how the world came to be and how we fit into it, is no longer effective.
Yet we have not yet learned the new story.
Our traditional story of the Universe sustained us for a long period of time.
It shaped our emotional attitudes, provided us with life purpose and energized action.
It consecrated suffering and integrated knowledge.
We awoke in the morning and knew where we were.
We could answer the questions of our children.
We could identify crime, punish transgressors. Everything was taken care of because the story was there. It did not necessarily make people good, nor did it take away the pains and stupidities of life or make for unfailing warmth in human associations.
It did provide a context in which life could function in a meaningful manner.” -Thomas Berry

I thought about this yesterday when I heard the news that Walter Chronkite had made his transition. An icon for more than one generation, he told the story of America with authority. Now the all we hear is chatter. Not just more or faster, but just loud noise, reminding me of Macbeth:

“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.”

Being able to tell our story is important. Do we take the time to explore it, to learn where its elements have come from, to learn how to tell it to others? Can we learn from it?

Into February

It’s clear to me, now that we are one month into the Obama presidency, that we have building a stark contrast to his inclusiveness. The media has gone back to performing its role as vultures, not contributing to the solutions, speaking for the sake of titillation rather than informing. The Republican party, bereft of any new ideas, postures toward 2010 and 2012.

The rest of us remain in the glow of the November elections and wonder how trivial the MSM and these minority politicians want to become. It takes time to redirect the negative and unuseful direction of the past eight years.

Oh, well. Today is a particularly good day, like all of them are. Some needed rain and wind to clear the air and not much in the way of things we really need to get done. Undoubtedly the Universe is unfolding as it should. Life is good.

Come on Up for the Rising

Today we celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. and tomorrow the Dream comes true. I stopped flying the flag in 2001 after it was clear in the response to 9/11 that we had an incompetent man for a leader. After November 4, 2008 I went out a bought a new one and built a new bracket holder. The purchase in itself was difficult, I couldn’t find a flag here in town and instead found one at WalMart, made in the USA.

I feel a new sense of hope. and pride. I means something positive again to be an American. The level of incompetency in government during the last eight years created a crisis. We are a nation of creative energy. We will stand up and do more than shop at the mall.

After the presidential election in 2004 we tried to frame events as necessary to achieve a better outcome in the future. That future is now and, as Barack Obama has said, we are the ones we have been waiting for.

Susan, Full of Grace

Once in a great while I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to witness grace as it is happening. Yesterday was one of those happenings.

The meanings grace I like best are “being at ease with ones presence in the Universe” and, theologically, “the state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God.” One senses it as much as sees it visually, it becomes a “knowing” from the heart.

My sister Suz is full of grace and performing the spiritual tasks as she readies to depart this plane and move on to a higher one. She is surrounded by a most amazing family, one that has accepted me as Uncle Lan. Suz became my first sister (Sally, too, of course) when Sherry and I were wed so I am hoored to sit and witness without feeling like an outsider.

Hopefully we all get the chance to decide how we want to exit this life on the way to the next Great Adventure. I have now seen how graceful it can be. We all didn’t have much notice, but the energy is positive. The scene I see is tha from Defending Your Life, the shuttles getting ready to enter the tunnels and the characters dressed in white robes. I don’t believe in the Judgement City concept (that we all make it is the really Good News), but I can just see Suz getting ready in her heart to board one of those shuttles.

This is all a beautiful and stark contrast to what’s happened elsewhere in my family this year. We left the docorations in boxes this year, again. As my message from the Universe this morning said, love has moved so close to our hearts that we must look within to see it.

Stuff

We go from a day of counting our blessings (what we have) on Thanksgiving Day to an artificial day of frenetically acquiring more the day after. Those who would give even more hype to the commercialization of the holiday season have given shoppers the term Black Friday, when the meaning of the day after Thanksgiving has never really been a “breakeven point” for annual sales. What’s more important to retail is the number of days between that Friday and Christmas, which can vary between 26 and 32. This year there are 26, six less than 2007, a significant drop. The media just keeps spinning it.

The death of the KMart employee this year is the metaphor for the season. We go from stuffing to more stuff, and woe be to anyone who stands in the way of drastic price reductions. I don’t think this represents most of us this year, but it does fill the constant demand for news stories, and puts events here in perspective with the deaths in Mumbai.

Our time has come

I spoke up twice this week as a Liberal. The first was a friend who does not really participate in the process, when he said something about the “hysteria” the past two weeks. I told him that one person’s hysteria is another persons joy. This afternoon we met s friend on the river trail and she had her uncle with her. I remarked in the conversation that I had just bought a new flag after not flying one for the past eight. She whispered that her uncle was a Republican. So what? I am proud of being a Liberal. Yes We Can!

It’s a new day

The chattering class is already at it not one week after the election. Palin in 2012? Is Obama worried about his meeting with Bush? What about Iran?

They really don’t understand that it is A New Day. All the old ways of looking at the world are being replaced with hope and solutions that involve us all. Will.i.am has a new video that sets the tone. It is not business as usual.

It’s time to expect the best in all of us. And for all of us.

Tears of joy

Nothing was more touching than the tears on the face of Jesse Jackson last night. You might not agree with everyhtng that man has done in his life, but this isthe moment and we are the people we’ve been waiting for. Barack’s message last night, like all of his campaign, was about the work ahead. We are one nation. We have reached the mountaintop, the Civil War has ended at long last.

I also thought John McCain’s speech was especially gracious, and the reaction of his crowd as he spoke told me all I need to know about today’s Republican party. I hope something other than hate and meanness can rise from its ashes, as we need dialogue from all sides.

I echo Michelle Obama’s words: I can be proud of my country again. I got your email last night, sign me up, Barack!