Above: President Obama removes one of terrorism’s biggest recruiting tools.

Read about it here, & a discussion about whether it’s the right thing here.

Today I heard Rush Limbaugh on the radio call this move a “political” one.

To which I say: well, duh.

But not ‘political’ in the way Rush is meaning (appeasing the left).

For too long we have failed to capitalize on the United States of America’s greatest weapon: the idea behind this country & the ideals it champions.

The Guantanamo Bay prison represented a step off of the path of those ideals. It said loudly to the world, “do as we say - not as we do.” Closing the prison sends a - yes, political - message around the world that we are better than that. & that our legal system can be effective in terms of meting out justice - even against those who would call for our destruction.

Some discussion on Talk 102.3 this morning brought to mind an analogy. Styles, et al were discussing what to do with the Guantanamo prisoners - & how we can’t have them mingle with the “normal” prison population, because they wouldn’t last longer than 2 seconds. They noted that America-bombers & child rapists are subject to the prisoners’ “own form of justice.”

That’s a perfect way of looking at the mindset behind the creation of Guantanamo.

The problem with the system is that it doesn’t leave room for justice. It keeps terrorist suspects off the streets .. but because we’ve thrown them down a legal rabbit hole, one that’s in my view ultimately self-defeating, many of the legitimate terror cases will never be given true justice.

Closing Guantanamo takes away a terrorist recruitment tool, & joins the battle where it really should be fought, & ultimately will be won - not in a physical location, but rather inside the minds of everyone around the world.

& there’s nothing that says we can’t hold a suspect extra-legally. But those cases should be both temporary & reserved for the very few, ones which we have clear-cut evidence on, & not just people picked up off the battlefield, or arrested in cases of mistaken identities who have languished in Gitmo hell for years.

We as a people are far smarter than that, & it’s a breath of fresh air to have someone in charge who realizes this.

(I should also note that I have the utmost confidence we are perfectly capable of housing these prisoners on U.S. soil. The fears of “well, what if we have a prison break?” can be dispelled if you think through logically the scenario about exactly how much damage a person in handcuffs & an orange jumpsuit could really do while on the run).

We need to have faith in our country, & the multitude of legal precedents of our criminal justice system.

We should not be afraid to try these cases based on evidence & the rule of law, & the rights that our Founding Fathers believed to be inalienable - not just to American citizens, but to the entire human race.

I, for one, would rather die while upholding my great country’s ideals than give those ideals up in the name of security.

FURTHER READING:

RedState says of Rep. Jack Murtha’s offer to house the Gitmo detainees in his district:

“I’m sure the people of his district are ready to greet Khalid Sheikh Mohammed with open arms and casseroles.”

How classy. & what’s your solution, again?

Newshoggers says of Bush’s choice to go outside our legal system:

If they’d just stuck with the existing definitions, all the Gitmo detainees against whom they could build a real case under the actual rules of law, without torture and without rigging the courts, would have been tried as POW’s already. If found guilty, the death penalty would have been warranted in some cases. I would personally have had no problem with that. That it hasn’t happened is a failure of the Bush administration, no-one else. They have proven themselves incompetent to shepherd America’s national security.

& Andrew Sullivan says

“Housing detainees in the US might not be the politically safe thing to do, but it is the only ethical and lawful action. I don’t see why American prisons are incapable of handing Gitmo detainees – they house domestic terrorists already. And how housing detainees in maximum security prisons impacts the American citizens residing nearby is beyond me.

…

What do we gain by keeping detainees at Gitmo? I understand that Republicans might find some political advantage in opposing Gitmo’s closure, but don’t see a logical reason for keeping it open. Trying detainees won’t appear legitimate unless we bring them under the American system, and if we do that some very bad men will go free. But that is Bush’s failing, not Obama’s. This was inevitable the minute the Bush administration decided to authorize torture.”

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

[Above: my silhouette, northwest Missouri, 1977-ish. Photo by my father.]

“As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake.” - President Barack Obama, yesterday

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Read eyewitness accounts from NewsChannel9ers who were there, as well as listen to some tunes that capture the patriotic spirit of the day, after the jump.

Welcome to Inauguration Day!

This post is meant as a supplement, rather than a primary source, of your inauguration viewing. I’ll be adding pictures & (what I think are appropriate) songs to this post throughout the day (with the newest at the top). If you want to leave a comment with your thoughts about today, feel free to do that, too.

You can watch the inauguration live on the web here.

You can see the inaugural speeches of every past president in our nation’s history here.

I hope you enjoy it. Today is truly an historic day for the United States of America.

UPDATE: Just heard from Calvin on the phone. here’s his (mostly verbatim) remarks:

“this is by far the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life. to go to barack obama’s inauguration. it was so cool.
we were close enough that I could have thrown a rock and hit the rostrum.
but i couldn’t see him that well, because of the tall people.
we had a jumbotron in front of us, so I was able to watch it there.
the roar from the mall was amazing. we could hear the roar from down there & that would start us roaring up close to the building.
i got here a little before 5 o’clock this morning.
stood three hours in line. they let us in early, at about 8:30.
the invocation  - everybody went into it with a kind of a hestitant ‘what’s he going to say.’ but he did really good. he invoked the gospel & that’s what needed to happen. no matter what you think of his political leanings, when it comes to the gospel, there’s only one way to preach it.
when roberts flubbed the oath, everyone looked around like ‘what did he say?” & everyone started laughing.
any time he talked about us being the greatest country in the world the people around us - including me - just went ballistic & cheered. everyone hooped & hollered. everyone had their mittens on, so when they applauded, it sounded muffled.
colin powell got a huge round of applause.
It was special because all of us were mindful of those who fought so we could live to this day, & who couldn’t be here.”

Here’s a link to Calvin’s personal website with lots of photos from his experience.

Above: 2 shots from NewsChannel9 director Tom Logan.

Update: photo sent to me from Amanda Shropshire.

Look who’s in the thick of it on the Capitol Mall! This was taken yesterday.

Tanya Mendis calls at 9:05am (reminder: she’s NOT working, just there on her own volition). She says she’s “…standing on the west side of the capitol. we got up at 3am to begin our journey & waited - we had no problem getting to the train station, but once we got there a 25-minute trip took us an hour and a half. The trains are literally a sea of people  & there’s excitement in the air. Rndom cheers are popping up everywhere & strangers are becoming best friends. We stood in  line for about 2 housr. By the time we got in position for our tickets, we had to wait two hours .. and it took us 30-45 minutes to get to our position. I’m literally standing directly in front of where the swearing in ceremony is. I’m about three people back from the seated section. I’m going to have an unfettered view. The mall is incredible - it makes you want to cry, the sheer numbers of people is in-credible. & they’re just cheering in the back. In-credible. Yesterday I saw Leamon Pierce, Greg Mack, Warren Mackey (all Chattanooga city council members). Getting in this morning we were in the front 20% of the line. About half of the people who are coming here have not filed in yet. But it’s going to be pretty tight. I am cold, very cold. They’re selling hand warmers out here, 2 for $5, they’re normally 0.99 cents.”

Inaugural lines, e-mailed to me at 9:25am by WTVC director Tom Logan.

Woody Guthrie, “This Land Is Your Land”

“Our mental furniture is being rearranged. The advent of Obama’s presidency brings the African American experience to center stage but does so in a way that allows society to congratulate itself on having come so far. The implications for black Americans are even more profound, because seeing Obama in the White House obliterates any logic behind self-imposed limits on imagination and ambition. These are huge impacts — making it ironic that, in the end, race is likely to be secondary in defining Obama’s place in history.” - Eugene Robinson

Excerpts from Eisenhower’s & Lincoln’s inaugural addresses.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Marian Anderson on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Charles Ives, “Variations on America”

“Most interesting and exciting inauguration since Reagan’s first in 1981. I may actually watch this one (I think the last one I watched was Bush I in 1989). And for my fellow Republicans who are bent out of shape, get over it. Face it: we’re just jealous we don’t have a guy with his particular skill set right now. Same way the Democrats were a little jealous of Ronald Reagan way back then. And if your problem is that the mainstream media’s ridiculous heavy-handed fawning over the new president makes you physically ill, well, that’s what Fox News is for. Avoid Chris Matthews like the plague. And most of the others as well.” - A Fish in the Percolator

Click here to view the embedded video.

Elton John, “Philadelphia Freedom“

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jay & the Americans, “Only in America”

“What Obama understands - and it’s worth reiterating - is that his presidency is a unique combination of one man and one very specific moment in time. We are witnessing the collapse of an old ideological order, the end of the 1960s, and the implosion of conservatism as an intellectually coherent governing philosophy. Into this wasteland, created by some hideous combination of evil enemies abroad and clueless leaders at home, this man arrives. Without the events of 2003 - 2006, Obama would not be president. And after the Bush catastrophe, we are immensely lucky he is. Alone, he is impressive - and would have made a good president at any time in the next few decades. But now, in this moment, with this set of gargantuan problems, at a time when Americans need desperately to believe again in their country and their constitution and theor president … well.

I don’t really believe in any grand idea of providence, and don’t believe that America is somehow more blessed by the divine than any other (that notion is absurd to my Catholic mind). But this week is testing my agnosticism.” - Andrew Sullivan

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bob Dylan, “Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie”

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Animals, “I’m Gonna Change the World”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Richie Havens, “Freedom” (from Woodstock)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Max Roach, ‘Freedom Now Suite’

Click here to view the embedded video.

Mahalia Jackson, “Didn’t It Rain”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bob Dylan, “Chimes of Freedom”

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Byrds, “Change Is Now”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Neil Young, “Campaigner” (live last year in Amsterdam)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Woody Guthrie, “There’s a Better World a-Comin’”

Above: Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington, “the Beautiful American”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above: Richard Nixon’s advice, August 8th, 1974.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above: Gil Scott-Heron: “Ain’t No Such Thing As Superman”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

&

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.“

Martin Luther King Jr. said ‘em both.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

I’m in 100% agreement with David Broder :

“I thought the most damaging to the American people — both those living now and those yet unborn — was placing the entire cost of Bush’s ambitious, if not misguided, national security policy on the tiny fraction of American families with loved ones in the armed services.

Iraq and Afghanistan are the main fronts in the fourth major war of my lifetime, following World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and the first in which nothing was asked of the civilian population — no higher taxes, nothing to disrupt the comfort of daily life.

…

But in that moment [after 9/11], when the country was truly unified and the people were more than ready to sacrifice, Bush asked for . . . nothing. He spoke of the need for “patience” and “resolve,” but at a news conference at Camp David on Sept. 15, 2001, he was asked, “Sir, how much of a sacrifice are ordinary Americans going to have to be expected to make in their daily lives, in their daily routines?”

Bush’s first words were: “Our hope, of course, is that they make no sacrifice whatsoever. We would like to see life return to normal in America.”

…

Over the next few years, families of active-duty, National Guard and reserve volunteers sacrificed mightily in the form of repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and involuntary extensions of tours of duty, not to mention deaths and wounds by the thousands.

As for other Americans, as John McCain repeatedly noted last year, the only thing they were asked to do was “go shopping.”

I’m convinced that had he done more than this, had he called for a shared American sacrifice across the board 8 years ago - rekindling a common sense of national spirit not seen since World War II - he would be remembered as a far greater president today & in the future, even with the disasters of Katrina & Iraq.

He blew it.

FURTHER READING: Bob Woodward on the 10 lessons of the Bush Presidency any future president from any party would do well to heed.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

[above: Iraqi detainees suffering at the hands of the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib.]

Do these pictures upset you?

I hope so.

& even more upsetting than that is this bipartisan Senate report (PDF file) on detainee abuse & how it became national policy.

It wasn’t just ‘a few bad apples,’ as was reported at the time.

No, the responsibility lays squarely at the feet of this man:

Andrew Sullivan:

“It is the most sobering indictment of high government officials in the U.S. since Watergate. And, in the gravity of crimes, it is a far more profound violation of the law and the constitution and the security of the United States than Watergate ever was. Bush’s crimes are far greater than Nixon’s - because war crimes are far graver than burglaries. And there is no statute of limitations for war crimes.”

[Sullivan's focusing (typically expertly) almost exclusively on this issue today, & he puts into words my feelings on this topic. Read more here, here, here, here, & here. (warning: the last link has a graphic photo).]

There is nothing, in my view, that recruits more terrorists to the cause than this scandal. & we had better start holding the highest-of-high-ups accountable for these crimes if we ever expect to defeat our greatest threat.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Neat, but — Ravel’s Bolero???

I can think of, oh, a hundred songs off the top of my head that would be more appropriate.

My top pick (which you should play with the sound of the other clip turned down), after the jump.

Click here to view the embedded video.

‘Variations on America,’ by Charles Ives, Played by Stadtkapelle Tulln (Lower Austria), Conductor: Hans Peter Manser

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

[above: tree near Signal Point, 1997. photo by my wife.]

“Wisdom is not the monopoly of any party. In order for us to be effective, given the scope and scale of the challenges we face, Republicans and Democrats are going to have to work together. And I think what the American people want more than anything is just common-sense, smart government. They don’t want ideology. They don’t want bickering. They don’t want sniping. They want action and they want effectiveness.”

Who said that?

Barack Obama, yesterday.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Marc Ambinder:

“The economic crisis presents a huge opportunity for Obama, and it’s going to be difficult for Republicans to oppose his initiatives, especially if they are aimed at bandaging our collective economic wounds. That will probably be the reality even if Obama governs with Democrats only. But if he taps some of the most well-known Republicans in America to serve in his administration, it will be tougher for conservative Republicans who are opposed in principle to Obama’s agenda. Even the Republicans are Democrats these days, is what the impression would be. In other words, liberal consensus.

The catch here is, the initiatives must be seen as successful. Quite a few self-described Democrats became Bush supporters after 9/11, and had Bush’s foreign policy been successful, the Republicans would be in a much stronger position than they are today, even admidst tough economic times.

But again, if Obama can make his liberal ideas appear nonpartisan, the public is likely to support them that much more, even if they are not immediately successful. He seems to want to mainstream Democratic philosophies and the Democratic worldview, rather than focusing on pure party-building (though he’s certainly built up the party as well). It’s a long-term strategy, and a far more ambitious one than people seem to realize.”

RELATED: Incoming WH Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, after meeting with GOP Congressional leaders, says “we welcome their ideas.”

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Democrats hoping to get Jim Martin elected Georgia’s new senator are using this ad as a way to drum up votes for the December 2nd runoff.

Watching the ad again, I find its content tame by the standards of today - in which a politician can claim, with a straight face, that their opponent “pals around with terrorists.”

No, what was wrong with the ad (which aired ad infinitum on NewsChannel9) was what it represented at the time.

It was November 2002. Just over a year since 9/11. The country had dusted itself off, yet was still shell-shocked by the event. A soothing balm, though, was a sense that no matter our differences, we’re all in this together.

The ad above, which attacked a man who threw himself on a grenade to save his buddies in Vietnam, & who lost three limbs in doing so, & who happened to be a member of the ‘wrong’ party (not to mention coming from a man who got several draft deferments during the Vietnam era), signaled an end to that.

It signaled that the party in power (the GOP) was going to capitalize on the fears of Americans to try to get “their guys” into the Senate.

It signaled a beginning of a cesspool of bitter partisanship we’ve been trying to climb our way out of for years.

After this ad, it became okay to paint the other party as being concerned only with America’s defeat.

After this ad, it became more possible to sell a war of choice with a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 to the American people.

So again, it’s not the actual content of the ad - it’s what the ad represents.

& if you think I’m just writing this to bash a Senator just because he’s a Republican, click here. Yes, this Senator also came to power with an infamous ad, but he’s certainly not drunk the Bush version of the GOP’s Kool-Aid since he’s been in office.

& if Obama & his friends in the Congress try impugning the patriotic motives of any Republican congressional challenger in the 2010 midterm elections, you had better believe I will squawk just as loudly at them.

If you are tired of partisanship running the show in Washington, & you are a voter in Georgia, I want to suggest that sending Saxby Chambliss packing would send a message that the era described above is over.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

[image by Patrick Moberg, h/t Andrew Sullivan]

Reminder: It’s okay to be happy about this moment in American history & still be critical of Barack Obama.

To those of you who didn’t choose him, take comfort in the fact that Americans have just wielded a powerful global blow to those who (wrongly) believe America is ‘weak’ or ‘in decline’ & thus ‘vulnerable.’

It is one of if not the most effective strikes against those around the world who would do us harm in the past 7 years & 2 months.

& it didn’t involve the firing of a single bullet.

People of every nation around the globe see that America is the one civilization which has proven over time to work the best, & as of Tuesday I would say more people are going to demand their leaders reflect the American system more, not less.

& to those who feel less certain today about the future than they did last Monday - temper your doubt & fear with faith in the genius of the American system.

America & the idea behind it truly does work, & is worth dying for.

This past Tuesday reaffirmed that loud & clear.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

What is fascism? Wikipedia defines it as “totalitarian & nationalist ideology.” We fought World War II to defeat it. But we need constant vigilance to make sure it doesn’t surface in this country.

Unfortunately, we’re taking steps towards fascism when we see these kinds of remarks:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above: John McCain in Pennsylvania yesterday, saying “Western Pennsylvania is the most patriotic, most God-loving, most patriotic part of America…”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above: Sarah Palin in Greensboro, North Carolina last week talking about how she enjoys campaigning in the “pro-America parts of the nation.” (she’s since apologized)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above: McCain adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer this week, talking about how “real Virginia” - as opposed to “northern Virginia” - will go for McCain.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above: Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachman last week, characterizing liberals’ views as “anti-American.” (She’s since said she “made a misstatement.”)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above: North Carolina Congressman Robin Hayes this week, saying “Liberals hate real Americans that work & accomplish & achieve & believe in God.”

I would add to the definition of fascism by saying it’s “when a person is more concerned with the patriotism of others than with their own.”

We’ve seen far too much of this on the campaign trail.

Imagine if Barack Obama, speaking in downtown Chicago, called the supporters in front of him “the REAL Americans.” Would you stand for that? I would hope not.

We as Americans are all one people, united in our diversity.

It is the differences in our views that makes this country the greatest in the world.

It does nothing but damage this great country for you to impugn the patriotism of others simply because their views don’t share your own.

Yes, that means it’s an imperfect system, but it also one that was borne of genius.

The Republican party, a party with a tradition steeped in ideas & careful, considerate thought, has suffered in the past 8 years under the tutelage of President George W. Bush, who won a narrow electoral victory both times he was elected but proceeded to govern as if he won with 75% of the vote. He literally ignored 50% of the country, with the rhetoric (both domestic & international) of “you’re either with us or against us.” Anyone who disagreed with his policies had their patriotism questioned.

Listen to Britney Spears, shortly after the Iraq war began:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Wrong answer, Britney. If you ever felt this way in the past 8 years about President Bush, think for a moment how you would feel if this was said by someone during an Obama administration.

America has a long tradition (going straight back to its birth) of questioning those with power, regardless of who that is.

All of us have a place at the table.

Every one of us.

& that includes -especially includes- those whose views about where to take this country are the opposite of yours.

Let’s try to remember that. OK?

p.s. you, as an American, have every right to disagree with this commentary, & you are welcome to share your thoughts in the comment section.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

A first-hand account of exactly how the Republican brand has damaged itself, based on conversations I had Sunday with voters who picked George W. Bush in the past, but are choosing to pull the lever for Obama this time around - after the jump.

I write this post in an effort to get many Republicans to “snap out of it” & notice what’s happening to their party, which is one of the two greatest parties this country has produced, & has advanced the national interest in a positive way throughout our nation’s history.

I do not write this post to slam what the party stands for.

I write this post to save the Republican party from itself.

On Sunday, there was a “Ba-rock-the-Vote” rally at Riverview park, which is quite literally a half a block away from my home. (the bands that played were -in my opinion- terrible, & forced me to close my windows on a lovely October afternoon, but that’s neither here nor there).

Being the intrepid blogger/journalist I am, though, I decided to head down to the park to see who would attend an event - besides Tennessee State Senator Andy Berke & Hamilton County Democratic party chairman John Bailes, of course.

I spoke with about 10 people who were standing or sitting on the perimeter of the concert (mainly so that I could hear them better).

Of those ten, I met one person who wasn’t registered & didn’t care about the presidential campaign.

The remaining 9 were almost evenly split between folks who had voted Democrat for president in the past & folks who had voted for George W. Bush either in 2000 or 2004.

All were planning on voting for Obama this time around.

One gentlemen said he had voted Republican in every presidential election since 1988. He told me that he felt that the Republican party had lost its way over the last eight years, particularly in areas of fiscal responsibility & the belief of an citizen’s right to privacy. He told me he was a fan of John McCain all through the primary season, & was a supporter up until right before the GOP convention, when the negative ads against Obama started surfacing.

I was struck by how many people had given this issue a lot of thought. There are a lot of you out there who are paying close attention, & that’s a good thing.

I asked a series of questions - without asking names, with the intent of getting honest answers - & here are some of the responses, & again, keep in mind the varied backgrounds of the 10 or so people I spoke with:

Why are you voting for Barack Obama?

“He’s honest & would make a good leader.” “He seems confident.” “I hate George Bush.” “He seems to be wanting to take this country in a better direction.” “He’s a progressive.” “We’ve had 8 years of disastrous policies that started under the Reagan presidency.” “I agree with so many of the issues he talks about.” “This is the worst situation I’ve seen my country in in my lifetime.”

Any other reasons?

“Social security.” “I’m sick of the gridlock in Washington.” “War profiteering.” “I’ve read his books & like what he has to say.” “He could unify our country.” “He’s articulate.” “He has the potential to realize America’s promise of equality.”

Again, keep in mind that half of the responses you see above are from people who pulled the lever for George Bush, either in 2000 or 2004.

Now for the interesting question:

Assuming the GOP has a bad year this year, what advice would you give them to improve their image?

“Drop the religious thing, it’s killing you.” “Be open to change.” “Get out of Iraq.” “Nominate Ron Paul.” “Loosen up.” “Get more in touch with average folks’ issues.” “Stop using the negative attacks like you’re doing with the Ayers ads.” “Return to fiscal conservatism.” “Keep religion & politics separate.” “Work together. Our problems are bigger than any party.” “Be bipartisan, like Bill Clinton & the 1st president Bush.” “Stop polarizing people.”

Once again, half the responses above are from Bush voters.

The Atlantic’s Ross Douthat takes my observation to their logical conclusion:

“The cocoon is the constellation of mutually-reinforcing conservative institutions - think tanks and advocacy groups, talk-radio shows and websites - that can create the same echo-chamber effect that the liberal media has long produced, and that at times makes it difficult for the Right to grapple with reality. The cocoon is the place where it took an awfully, awfully long time for conservatives to admit that the post-2004 crisis in Iraq wasn’t just a matter of an MSM that wouldn’t report the good news. The cocoon is the place where conservatives persuaded themselves, in defiance of most of the evidence, that the reason the GOP lost Congress in 2006 was excessive spending, and especially excessive pork. And today, the cocoon is the place where conservatives are busy convincing themselves that Sarah Palin’s difficulties handling high-profile media appearances aren’t terribly important, that her instincts are more important than her grasp of national policy, and that the best way to defeat Barack Obama is to start with the lines that Palin has used on the stump - Ayers, anti-Americanism and ACORN - and take them to eleven.”

& BeliefNet’s Rod Dreher adds:

“…conversations I’ve had over the past couple of weeks with grassroots conservatives around here are kind of breathtaking in their denial of reality. I have heard conservatives talk about how all the polls are wrong, that the “silent majority” will be heard from, that Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric are evil for making Sarah Palin look bad, etc. And that anyone who claims to be a conservative who disputes any of this is a traitor to the cause. I still get that talking to some conservatives about the Iraq War. When Sarah Palin was interviewed at Ground Zero a few weeks back and said, “We have to fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here,” I would have laughed that people are still using that worn-out cliche … except I still do hear it from time to time among diehard Bush backers.

We have seen this sort of thing before, among liberals who could not grasp that ordinary people actually liked Ronald Reagan and the Reaganite Republican Party. I know; I used to be one of those liberals. I had so much emotionally and psychologically invested in my politics being true that I could not imagine why people disagreed — except that they had been bamboozled, or were wicked.”

If you are limiting your media diet to Rush Limbaugh & Fox News, you are running the risk of being in the cocoon (of course, doing the reverse runs you the same risk). Repeating something over & over & over again does not make it any truer.

& I find questioning the direction of the country is far more patriotic than questioning the patriotism of those who would question the direction of the country.

This nation is filled with ideas, & those who would discourage the thoughtful exchange of them are doing nothing but hurting America. Colin Powell’s observation that today’s GOP is getting “narrower & narrower” was backed by those I spoke with yesterday who have pulled the Republican lever in the past - but aren’t doing so this year.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

From the Swamp:

MIAMI - At a packed rally at Florida International University in Miami, Cindy McCain repeated one of her most controversial lines this afternoon. “And yes,” she told the screaming, pom-pom waving crowd. “I have always been proud of my country.”

The line is a reference to something Michelle Obama said during the primaries. “For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback,” said Obama, taking heat for the remark.

Cindy McCain, who had just seen Michelle Obama say those words on television, when she walked into a rally earlier this year and said, “I have always been proud of my country.”

Her response created its own firestorm, with Cindy McCain’s words played endlessly on cable television.

Cindy McCain, June 18th, on regretting making the same comment earlier:

“It just spilled out of my mouth, and then I got back on the bus and I thought, ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’ I thought, ‘Oh, I should never have opened my mouth. How did that happen? I’ll put duct tape over it.’”

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

The Argument for Questioning Everything

From a Adam Gopnik’s review in the New Yorker of a biography of philosopher/free thinker John Stuart Mill:

“…this essentially conservative and tradition-loving man showed that all kinds of practices can stand scrutiny and not be damaged, and that the authoritarian position is not the strongest one but merely the most frightened. Nothing is worse for being looked at. No idea is good enough to exist unopposed. Fundamental differences lie even at the heart of religion and must be freely aired. Christianity is not against argument; it is an argument—should one follow the Greek morality of St. Paul (which includes slavery) or the Jewish morality of St. Mark (which implies the Seder)? The usual objection to Mill’s argument is that free societies will still differ radically about what they want to be free for: my idea of fun is not yours, or Genghis Khan’s. Mill knew this—he knew that you couldn’t prove that good things were good. But he also knew that questions not decidable by proof were still amenable to argument, and that he would rather have the side of the argument that suggested that health, prosperity, and pleasure were good things than the side that said they weren’t.”

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

An absolutely essential read from “pointy-headed conservative” David Brooks on how the Republican party’s decades-long campaign against “the elite” has turned into a serious anti-intellectual drag on its own success, Palin being the most recent manifestation:

“What had been a disdain for liberal intellectuals slipped into a disdain for the educated class as a whole. The liberals had coastal condescension, so the conservatives developed their own anti-elitism, with mirror-image categories and mirror-image resentments, but with the same corrosive effect.

Republicans developed their own leadership style. If Democratic leaders prized deliberation and self-examination, then Republicans would govern from the gut.

…

The Republicans have alienated whole professions. Lawyers now donate to the Democratic Party over the Republican Party at 4-to-1 rates. With doctors, it’s 2-to-1. With tech executives, it’s 5-to-1. With investment bankers, it’s 2-to-1. It took talent for Republicans to lose the banking community.

…

…no American politician plays the class-warfare card as constantly as Palin. Nobody so relentlessly divides the world between the “normal Joe Sixpack American” and the coastal elite. She is another step in the Republican change of personality.

…

Once conservatives admired Churchill and Lincoln above all — men from wildly different backgrounds who prepared for leadership through constant reading, historical understanding and sophisticated thinking. Now those attributes bow down before the common touch.

And so, politically, the G.O.P. is squeezed at both ends. The party is losing the working class by sins of omission — because it has not developed policies to address economic anxiety. It has lost the educated class by sins of commission — by telling members of that class to go away.”

I couldn’t agree more.

It wasn’t always like this. I’ve been reading a collection of letters from author & ultra-left leaning Norman Mailer (who died this year) in last week’s New Yorker; I want to reprint one of them, to conservative icon & ultra-right leaning William Buckley (who also died this year). The two had engaged in a series of debates in the 1950s; but their differences of opinion didn’t keep them from being civil to each other, as this letter demonstrates:

To William F. Buckley, Jr.

April 20, 1965

Dear Bill,

What a marvelous girl Joan Didion must be. I think that’s one conservative I would like to meet. And who would ever have thought that the nicest piece [review of “An American Dream”] I am to read about myself four weeks after publication should come in the National Review. Well, this is the year of literary wonders. What do you think the odds would have been for a parlay of good reviews in National Review, Life, the New York Times Sunday Book Review, Paul Pickrel at Harper’s, and the Chicago Tribune. One hundred fifty million to one, or would we have picked it by light-years?

Anyway, I write you this letter in great envy. I think you are going finally to displace me as the most hated man in American life. And of course that position is bearable only if one is number one. To be the second most hated man in the picture will probably prove to be a little like working behind a mule for years, which brings me to your address before the police department’s Holy Name Society. I missed all of it at the time; I was in Alaska, and got my first inkling in the New York Post that some sort of bomb had gone off. At any rate I was not surprised when I read your speech today to find that it was literate, moderate in relation to your own position, and felicitously phrased. And of course I don’t agree with your fundamental premise. On that I think you’re all wrong. I’m not the cop-hater I’m reputed to be, and in fact police fascinate me. But this is because I think their natures are very complex, not simple at all, and what I would object to in your speech if we were debating is that you made a one-for-one correspondence between the need to maintain law and order and the nature of the men who would maintain it. The policeman has I think an extraordinarily tortured psyche. He is perhaps more tortured than the criminal, and so as you can see I can hardly concur with the valuations you put on these matters. At the same time there’s no doubt in my mind that the newspapers misquoted you shamefully and the net result of that is to deepen one’s sense of an oncoming disaster; for I think humanly it could only drive you further into some of your own most charming surrealisms, such as bombing China’s atomic plants. Truly you amaze me, Bill. Did it ever occur to you as a good Christian that it is immoral to destroy somebody else’s property?

But listen, I think our public debating days are probably over—for a time at least. As wrestlers we are not both villains, and that excites no proper passions. Still, it may open something interesting—which is that the two of us have a long careful private discussion one night, because I think in all modesty there’s much in your thought which is innocent of its own implications, and there’s much surplus in mine which could profitably be sliced away by the powers of your logic. . . .

Incorrigibly yours,

Norman

One can disagree with someone without being disagreeable. If you are of the school of “thought” (a word I use loosely) that liberals/conservatives aren’t worth even speaking to, it’s my belief that you’re contributing to the decline of the United States of America. Please stop. Please open your heart & your mind to those who don’t share your views. Here at NewsChannel 9, there are plenty of differing opinions. But each & every one of us has respect for the others’ way of thinking.

Please understand that the myriad differences of opinions & outlooks makes America stronger, not weaker.

E pluribus unum.

Update: Bill Buckley’s son has endorsed Obama.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Apparently those conservatives who have (rightly, in my view) raised doubts about the ultimate efficacy of Sarah Palin as a candidate are getting some flak - major flak - for doing so.

Kathleen Parker wrote this column last week, in which she said:

“Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.“

& for this stance those who believe Palin can do no wrong were not happy, to put it mildly. From her latest column:

Allow me to introduce myself. I am a traitor and an idiot. Also, my mother should have aborted me and left me in a Dumpster, but since she didn’t, I should “off” myself.

Those are just a few nuggets randomly selected from thousands of e-mails written in response to my column suggesting that Sarah Palin is out of her league and should step down.

…

Such extreme partisanship has a crippling effect on government, which may be desirable at times, but not now. More important in the long term is the less-tangible effect of stifling free speech. My mail paints an ugly picture and a bleak future if we do not soon correct ourselves.

The picture is this: Anyone who dares express an opinion that runs counter to the party line will be silenced. That doesn’t sound American to me, but Stalin would approve. Readers have every right to reject my opinion. But when we decide that a person is a traitor and should die for having an opinion different than one’s own, then we cross into territory that puts all freedoms at risk. (I hear you, Dixie Chicks.)

Parker’s not the only one.

Here’s an excerpt from the latest column by BeliefNet’s Rod Dreher, who criticized the Palin choice recently on Larry King Live:

“I did get this morning an e-mail from…a very thoughtful young conservative intellectual. He writes:

“I have to say your actions of the last week have cast serious doubt on your qualities as a man and as a christian. Even if all you say about Palin is true (personally, I believe it’s far too early to tell), to say so on national television fails a minimal decency test that any christian always has to set himself. Never mind Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment, it is just really poor judgement to openly attack another person whom you have never met. How do you square that with love your neighbor like yourself? Are we not supposed to set a standard for others. Isn’t that what being a city on a hill is all about? I fear your behavior is indicative of the total crisis of faith in which the conservative movement finds itself right now. And it makes me really, really depressed.”

Ah. So, if I, in my professional role as a columnist, blogger and commentator, criticize the public acts and statements of a conservative politician — even if what I say is true — well, then I am a bad man and an indecent Christian. To attack openly a person one has never met is immoral — a standard that would make the practice of opinion journalism (for one) impossible. I wonder why I’ve never received from this reader a comment attacking my integrity as a man and as a Christian when I was criticizing Barack Obama on this blog, or anybody else but Sarah Palin? I wonder if this reader has applied the same absurd standard to his own commentary about Obama? I wonder if this fellow is in the habit of passing judgment on the state of other people’s souls based on their analysis of a politician’s qualities?

As for Reagan’s 11th Commandment — “Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican” — that bit of dubious bit of strategic wisdom (the leftist version of it is, “No enemies to the left,” which the mainstream French left, during the Cold War, used to justify its turning a blind eye to what the Communists really represented) is a proverb useful to political hacks, not to commentators. In fact, if you want to cite an example of a “total crisis of faith” among conservatives, you could hardly do better than the missive above, instructing conservatives critical of the vice presidential nominee that it’s their duty as Christian men to pretend that what we plainly see doesn’t exist — this, for the sake of the Cause. Since when is loyalty to anything other than the truth done anybody any good? Did conservatives’ who knew better withholding criticism of George W. Bush’s failings serve the country, or the conservative movement, well? I’m only surprised the reader didn’t tell me that it was my obligation as the Empress’s subject to lavish praise on her new clothes.

UPDATE: And you know what we get with this kind of thing? Eight years after conservatives embraced Bush as the embodiment of all that is just and Right(-wing), and eight years after loyalty to the Cause trumped all criticism of the man, even useful criticism, we have gotten to a state in which conservatives are running around saying they never liked him, that Bush was never a true conservative. Why? Because he failed. Had Bush had a successful presidency, they’d be singing a different tune. We’re bound and determined to make the same mistakes with Palin, it seems.”

& finally, conservative commentator (& major Palin critic) Andrew Sullivan ties the argument up in a bow:

“There is something very sick about a political movement that cannot tolerate the mildest of criticisms from within. American conservatism has stopped being a discourse or a tradition or a party. It has become a religion of sorts, and dissent - even on pragmatic grounds - is regarded as heresy. That’s how movements go astray. They cannot criticize themselves or acknowledge failures.”

They’re all right.

Regardless of your beliefs, you should remember what makes this country great.

It’s not the “correct ideology.”

It’s the capacity to tolerate a multitude of them.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

(hat tip to Indexed for the image)

Howard, a commenter to this post about McCain’s announcement he’s suspending his campaign says (my emphasis added):

“COUNTRY ABOVE POLITICS !!!
Both candidates are U.S. Senators.This financial crisis will be decided in the U.S. SENATE. Currently, the brilliant plan is that after this 7 hundred billion dollar bail out … Pelosi and Reed will be in charge of picking who will be in charge of ongoing oversight for continued spending. God help us! This is another example of how Senator John McCain puts country first. All Obama cares about is winning the election at any cost. Obama neglected his duties as U.S. Senator before running for President, and especially after he began running for President. This ‘bail out - quick fix” will negatively affect Americans for decades. Many of the bloggers who are criticizing McCain for this decision wouldn’t recognize responsibility, or integrity if it bit them on the [synonym for donkey]. Keep America strong and safe … Elect McCain/Palin in November.”

Well, I’m certainly not going to respond to the attack on my responsibility & integrity.

But I do want to illuminate some facts on exactly who it is that “neglected his duties as U.S. Senator before running for President, and especially after he began running for President”

This chart, taken from this [non-partisan] Congressional watchdog site, shows the Senate voting record of John McCain since 1993. As you can see, the number of “missed votes” spikes in 2000 (when he was running for his 1st presidential bid) & literally goes “off the chart” for this current year.

In fact, the last time John McCain voted on a bill in the Senate this year was all the way back on April 8th.

Also in fact, John McCain holds the current record for missed votes in this current Congress.

Click here for a comprehensive list of all the issues that the Senate voted on since that time.

Those issues include

A “GI Bill” for the 21st century that would ensure veterans returning home from keeping us safe around the world would get a college education & expand their health benefits.

He was absent in voting on this summer’s bill that would have extended the investment tax credits for installing solar energy and the production tax credits for building wind turbines and other energy-efficiency systems, which counters his claims that he favors an “all of the above”-style energy plan.

This is just for the year 2008, too. I could go on citing examples of missed votes in past years.

Now, the purpose of this post is not to get Barack Obama off the hook.

Next to McCain & South Dakota’s Tim Johnson - who’s been recovering from a brain hemmorhage - Obama is the 3rd most absent member of the Senate.

But it’s the approach of the argument made by Howard above that give me the desire to point out that facts are stubborn things. & at the risk of sounding presumptious, Howard makes several points that to me say that he is - metaphorically speaking - sticking to a diet of Big Macs every day.

What do I mean by that? I mean that it sounds like Howard is keeping his media diet for the 2008 election restricted to Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, Sean Hannity, etc., where the viewpoint above - despite its inaccuracies - is repeated ad infinitum.

This year, we all owe it to our country to expand your media diet. Read more on that here, in this prior Vote08 post.

Howard, there’s a wonderful world of facts to be found out there on the internet & the airwaves.

I hope in the future you make sure that the facts back up your claims.

& for the rest of Vote08 viewers, you can depend on me to follow my own advice.

Because for me, it’s a matter of integrity & responsibility.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

[Disclaimer: the views expressed in this post are completely my own & do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone else at WTVC NewsChannel9 or Freedom Communications]

Vice President Dick Cheney is visiting the Chattanooga area Friday; he will be present at the commemoration of the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga.

So please join me in welcoming America’s worst-ever Vice President.

I believe he is a man who, while in office, has done far more damage to the United States than any terrorist ever has or will in the future.

At the risk of displaying a less-than-flattering view of me, I want to show you that I am an Eagle Scout. That’s me at age 14. I was a Cub Scout & a Boy Scout, & in my teen years I worked summers at a Boy Scout camp as a swimming instructor.

This is my stepson in 1997, at the very beginning of his Scouting career. Just this past month, he achieved his Eagle rank - an honor only 4 out of 100 boys who join Scouting can claim. His achievement this past month is something that fills me with immense pride. Throughout his 11-year Scouting career, I have been deeply involved in his troop, & that includes spending an occasional week in the summer at Skymont, attending campouts, & helping the boys in the rest of the troop.

I’m getting biographical here because Scouting taught me values that have been near & dear to my heart. Those values are expressed in the Scout Oath:

“On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty, to God & my country, to obey the Scout Law, to help other people at all times, & to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, & morally straight.”

The “Scout Law” mentioned in that oath contains 12 values that I consider part of my core.

The Scout Law:

“A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, & reverent.”

You don’t have to be a Boy Scout to subscribe to these values. In fact, it’s my view that following them makes for good character, no matter who you are.

As Vice President, it is my view that Dick Cheney has failed to live up to these values, & I’d like to demonstrate that now.

It is my hope that we elect a president & vice president that lives up to them, & I urge you to consider them when making your choice on November 4th.

.

Dick Cheney has not been trustworthy.

Dick Cheney helped mislead the American people into thinking that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

But don’t take my word for it.

Here’s what the former House Majority Leader, Dick Armey, a Republican, had to say about it recently:

“Did Dick Cheney … purposely tell me things he knew to be untrue?” Armey said. “I seriously feel that may be the case…Had I known or believed then what I believe now, I would have publicly opposed [the war] resolution right to the bitter end, and I believe I might have stopped it from happening.”

.

Dick Cheney has not been loyal.

In August 2007, at a rally in Alburquerque, New Mexico, Cheney demanded that those attending the rally sign a loyalty oath before he set foot in the building.

The disloyalty here, is to democracy.

.

Dick Cheney has not been helpful.

Early in the Bush administration, Dick Cheney held an “energy task force” meeting that was largely comprised of oil executives & other industry bigwigs to essentially write the government’s energy policy, one that would consider the interests of those executives first & environmental & public interests last, if at all. Cheney fought tooth & nail to keep the results of that meeting under wraps, something which a federal judge & the General Accounting office ordered him to turn over. For vice president Cheney, being helpful is a relative term.

.

Dick Cheney has not been friendly.

Look at how he treated the covert identity of Valerie Plame, who worked for the CIA, shortly after her husband penned a piece in the New York Times that questioned President Bush’s claim that Saddam Hussein had tried to obtain yellowcake uranium from Niger. Outing a CIA agent is treasonable; doing it for political reasons is reprehensible. As the first President Bush once said, ““I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors.”

.

Dick Cheney has not been courteous.

As Vice President, Cheney is president of the U.S. Senate. Posing for a “class photo” in 2004, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy questioned him about his ties to Halliburton, the company which he presided over as president before he was called to public service, & the company which has profited enormously since the invasion of Iraq. Cheney’s reply to Leahy was something I can’t reprint here.

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Dick Cheney has not been kind.

There’s no question that we have lost a lot of precious treasure thanks to the sacrifice of the men & women of the U.S. Armed forces. But have they (& their families) been the ones who have borne “the biggest burden,” according to Dick Cheney? No:

“The president carries the biggest burden, obviously,” Cheney said. “He’s the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans.”

&, from the same interview:

“When you talk about an all-volunteer force, some of these soldiers, airmen, Marines have been on two, three, four, some of them more than that, deployments,” Raddatz said. “Do you think when they volunteered they had any idea that there would be so many deployments or stop-loss? Some of those who want to get out can’t because of stop-loss?”

“A lot of men and women sign up because sometimes they will see developments,” Cheney said.

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Dick Cheney has not been obedient.

Not even to his own president:

Just after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, Vice President Dick Cheney refused President Bush’s request to head up a “cabinet-level task force” aimed at speeding the recovery effort, writes the Washington Post’s Barton Gellman in a still-embargoed section of his new book, “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency.”

When asked by Bush if he would “at least go do a fact-finding trip for us,” Cheney responded saying, “That’ll probably be the extent of it”:

Days after the storm had passed, when he finally returned to Washington from Crawford, Bush assembled his senior staff in the Oval Office. He was going to set up a cabinet-level task force, he said.

“I asked Dick if he’d be interested in spearheading this,” Bush announced. “Let’s just say I didn’t get the most positive response.” Bush nodded ironically toward the vice president, putting on a show for the others: Card, Rove, Bartlett, Condi Rice. His expression, the tone of voice, had a hint of edge. Can you believe this guy? […]

“Will you at least go do a fact-finding trip for us?” Bush asked.

“That’ll probably be the extent of it, Mr. President, unless you order otherwise,” Cheney replied.

Gellman writes that White House counselor Dan Bartlett “came to see Cheney’s demurral ‘quite frankly as pretty good judgment.’ Cheney ‘doesn’t do touchy-feely,’ Bartlett said.”

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Dick Cheney has not been cheerful.

Click here to view the embedded video.

…

OK, you got me here.

Dick Cheney is one of the most cheerful people in Washington.

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Dick Cheney has not been thrifty.

“If there’s anything about the economy that keeps Dick Cheney up at night, it’s the prospect of sabotage aimed at disrupting the oil market, he told FORTUNE.

“Clearly the world depends on a global supply of oil, and that will continue to be true for some considerable period of time. Efforts to shut down the flow of oil could conceivably have a significant impact.”

So when President Bush’s 2008 budget was coming together, with the goal of balancing the budget in five years, Cheney nevertheless insisted on a $947 million line item: a speedup of the flow of crude into the Texas and Louisiana salt caverns housing the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The budget guys pushed back: Can’t we wait until crude prices level off? No, the word came back from Cheney, this was urgent. That was all it took. “He doesn’t weigh in on a ton of issues,” said a person close to those negotiations. “But when he does . . .”

When he does, the Vice President tends to get his way.

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Dick Cheney has not been brave.

From Cheney’s Wikipedia page:

“When Cheney became eligible for the draft, he was a supporter of the Vietnam War but did not serve in the military. Instead, he applied for and received five draft deferments. In 1989, the Washington Post writer George C. Wilson interviewed Cheney as the next Secretary of Defense; when asked about his deferments, Cheney reportedly said, “I had other priorities in the ’60s than military service.”

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Dick Cheney has not been clean.

In 2000, Dick Cheney was the head of the Vice-Presidential vetting team for George W. Bush. He ultimately told Bush that he was the best candidate. But he did not subject himself to the same strenuous vetting process he forced others to undergo; in fact, he never filled out his own questionairre.

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Dick Cheney has not been reverent.

“Reverence” often means matters of faith, but in my view, it also applies to the U.S. Constitution. It has been evident throughout his Vice Presidency that Cheney holds that most hallowed of American documents in contempt; he has tried at every turn to expand the powers of the executive branch & reduce the powers of the legislative & judicial branch. This is a topic of major concern; this link makes the case far better than I can.

You may want to tell me that this involves the outgoing administration, & that I should stay focused on the one arriving on January 20th of next year.

I happen to think that I am.

If nothing else, I want a president & vice president who uphold the values that shape my moral center.

I believe there’s little else that matters more when you cast your vote.

For me, it’s a matter of honor.

I’d love to hear what you have to say about any of this.

FURTHER READING: Barton Gellman of the Washington Post has chronicled Cheney’s role in the Bush administration quite expertly here, in a series called “Angler.”

p.s. [Presidential trivia: the only U.S. president to fight at Chickamauga was James A. Garfield, for the Union. He was 34 at the time of the battle, & later became the 2nd United States president to be assassinated.]

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

From the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life:

WASHINGTON — A new poll released Thursday (Sept. 11) finds that nearly six in 10 white Southern evangelicals believe torture is justified, but their views can shift when they consider the Christian principle of the golden rule.

The poll, commissioned by Faith in Public Life and Mercer University, found that 57 percent of respondents said torture can be often or sometimes justified to gain important information from suspected terrorists. Thirty-eight percent said it was never or rarely justified.

But when asked if they agree that “the U.S. government should not use methods against our enemies that we would not want used on American soldiers,” the percentage who said torture was rarely or never justified rose to 52 percent.

“Presenting people with this argument and identifying with the golden rule really does engage a different part of people’s psyche and a part of their heart, their soul, and really does shift their views on torture,” said Robert Jones, president of Public Religion Research, which was commissioned to conduct the poll.

The findings of this poll, which did not define torture, compared to a Pew Research Center poll from February that found that 48 percent of the general public think torture can be justified.

The new poll found that 44 percent of white Southern evangelicals rely on life experiences and common sense to determine their views about torture. A lower percentage, 28 percent, said they relied on Christian teachings or beliefs.

I find these poll results disturbing. In my view, there is no justification for it, as it only taints our American ideals, & actually helps us lose the wider war for hearts & minds in the struggle against terrorism & Islamic extremism.

But I’m not the only one who feels this way. There are several self-described Southern Evangelicals who share this opinion:

“You cannot do any good by committing acts known to be evil. While we do not live in a morally simple universe where lines are always easy to draw (What exactly is torture?), some acts are repugnant enough to demand a moral response.

Look up what happens in “water boarding.” Examine the psychological torment involved. Read the eloquent words on this “technique” by John McCain who has been tortured.

A Christian cannot justify wicked means by hoped for good ends.

I have always argued that torture is wrong. It violates the “image of God” in another human being. Like slavery, it debases two people and one culture: the tortured loses his soul liberty, the torturer claims to be a god, and the culture condones an ugly and wicked act.

It is better to lose the War, than to lose our souls.” - John Mark Reynolds of “The Scriptorium” blog

&

“We religious conservatives must take a firm stand against the practice of torture. Yes, there is a legitimate debate to be had about what exactly is meant by that term. Let’s have that debate. Let’s define the term in a way that consistent with our belief in human dignity. And then let’s hold every politician in the country to that standard.” - Joe Carter of Culture 11

FURTHER READING: “Torture Doesn’t Work” - the Christian Science Monitor

What do you think? Post a comment! All views are welcome.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

WASHINGTON (AP) - A new poll says two out of three Americans are strongly opposed to expanding the president’s powers at the expense of Congress or the courts, even if it would improve national security or the economy.
The Associated Press-National Constitution Center poll finds people wary of increased government authority, and especially skeptical of increasing the president’s powers after the controversies surrounding the Bush administration.

The government’s power to take private property for redevelopment had little support in the poll, not even when owners are paid a fair price and the project creates local jobs.

The poll also finds a generational gap over the issue of gay marriage. More than two-thirds of those under 35 favor the recognition of gay marriage. Less than 40 percent of those over 35 feel the same way.

Those who believe the United States flag is the symbol of our country, aka “the one worth giving your life for,” I beg to differ. For me, it’s the document you see above that makes the United States the greatest country in the world.

If you haven’t read the U.S. Constitution, that most rare expression of genius in human history, allow me to strongly suggest doing so, especially before you vote.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Above: Obama & McCain on the same stage at the same time, last night, at Columbia University.

Last night I watched very sober, reasoned & nuanced discussion of how to tap into one of the greatest things about America: its volunteer spirit.

The candidates do have differences, but watching last night, I was struck at their many similarities in their reverence for, as McCain often says, ’serving a cause greater than oneself.’

You can watch the entire thing after the jump. & I hope you can find time to watch it all, & let me know what you think in the comments section!

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08