Here We Go 'Round in Circles

My mother teaches writing at a small sectarian college near Boston (it happens to be my parents' alma mater). It is one of a number of institutions of higher learning that her denomination has scattered throughout the US. From time to time my mother notes that her school is "one of the most liberal of the (denomination's) colleges." Today we happened to be discussing one of my cousins' children who just began attending community college after being schooled at their church's elementary and high schools. He is barely literate. The conversation came around to how she believes the state should have educational standards that apply to all schools, and that people who home school beyond elementary school should have college degrees. I pointed out that someone we know received a degree from one of her denominations' colleges homeschooled her children, despite an inability to spell, punctuate, or use correct grammar. "Well, (our college) is the best, academically, of all the (denomination's) schools." "And yet, you frequently complain of many of your colleagues' 'liberal' political opionions. Might there be a connection between that and the superior academics?" "Some of these professors teach Evolution!" "Is teaching science a bad thing?" "But the don't teach Intelligent Design alongside it. And then they don't believe in Jonah and the whale or Noah... You can't just pick and choose what you want to believe from the Bible."

The point of all this is that compromising academics in the service of ideology and faith is not without risk. The logical conclusion of which is being played out not only in the middle of America, but also Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Egypt (among too many other countries).

So it goes.

Vanity Plate Musings

We were having lunch in Williamsburg, VA not long ago and I saw two interesting license plates. Even took time to photograph one and post it to Facebook, figuring that people might enjoy seeing a plate that warned "IM PMSN."

The other plate was gone by the time we had finished our lunch, so I didn't get to capture it as I had hoped. Its defiant "NO TAX" got me to thinking, as I ate, about what that implied. Perhaps the driver was one of the modern teabaggers who have been rallying to the Fox News cry for grassroots action. Maybe there were other motivations. Nevertheless, as I pondered the sort of people I have seen railing against taxes, I detect a strain of disinginuity in their cries.

It appears that the NO TAX teabaggers also tend to be those who want a kick-ass military, equipped with all the tools necessary to go out and obliterate anyone we see fit. The only alternative funding strategy that comes immediately to mind is pillage, which, it seems, is what Cheney had in mind all along.

The tax averse also seem to be the ones who drive the largest vehicles. Maybe this is so that when the roads and bridges finish disintegrating from deferred maintenance they'll be able to keep on going. This works for the Hummers and maybe the F150s, but I doubt the Crown Victorias will be following them into the breach.

Another casualty in a taxless world is the police force. Perhaps this is why so many God-fearing, Fox-News-watching, Rush-Limbaugh-following dittoheads are armed to the teeth, so that when they get the opportunity to do their own law enforcement.

The scenario is positively Mad Maxian.

Paying taxes is the price of admission to civilization. Deal with it.

What's the Opposite of QED?

Q.E.D. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase quod erat demonstrandum, which literally means "which was to be demonstrated".

"I do not think that word means what you think it means." (Inigo Montoya)

Our former classmate, who has been the subject of another post in this blog, is at it again. This time in response to a posting in the New York Times called The Banality of Bush White House Evil. She took offence, repeatedly and not unexpectedly.

"This is such nonsense! Bush protected our country during his 8 years as our president!!! Not one terrorist attack since. Al Qaeda are terrorists run by Osama Bin Ladin. That is who murdered over 3000 Americans in NY, DC and PA."

[my response: The American people had more to fear from Dark Lord Cheney and Bush than any foreign terrorist. Their actions have led to the deaths of far more Americans (and Iraqis and Afghans) than died on 9/11/2001. The damage they have done to our national reputation and civil liberties (not least in the context of judicial appointments) will take decades to repair. It's an unfair trade for eight years of pillage.]

"Because of a couple of waterboarding to murders??? Or a catepillar in a cell? Oh please. Our reputation from what Obama has done in the last 100 days is far more damaging than anything Bush or Cheney did. Apologizing to our ENEMIES! Putting America down."

"The majority of Americans who voted for Obama are the illiterate, lazy, I need the government to help me idiots that dont have a clue. Obama is a puppet and we are in deep crap with him in office.Even the people that voted for him are wondering what they did. The poles that show his popularity are a joke. They favor him because of the questions asked in the pole that can do nothing but favor him. He is a joke."

[Here are the raw numbers from the elections since 1972.
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/national-exit-polls.html?scp=3&sq=2008%20election%20voter%20education%20results&st=cse
Obama won 58% of those with post-graduate degrees, etc.]

"Yep Kool-Aid drinkers.. Book smarts and NO street smarts. No one to share a fox hole with. Bill Ayers types You can have them. The Obama string holders have a beef with Bush because they hate the fact that what he did actually worked. Iraq for instance...even Hillary says things are going in the right direction. Pay attention!!!! Obama is keeping the Bush era war plans in play because even he see's that they are working.Your own party is mad at him for this as they are upset that he is letting this torture crap get out. WHY...its only going to hurt us. Our marines waterboard each other in training so this is a bunch of crap also. Obama will not last long...he is a wake up call as was 9/11"

"Obama was a community organizer in a black community...wow. Now he thinks he can run GM and all the banks and health care and everything. He can only run one thing HIS MOUTH! Our enemies laugh behind his back. They know he is weak and has no clue and they are testing him big time...I pray for him that he finally starts to stand behind his country and stop with the apologies, start being a president and stop enjoying the parties etc and get his butt to work for all Americans. Uphold the constitution and stop trying to re write it to fit the far left extremists ideas foe SOCIALISM"

[Is socialism that way of setting the playing field so that everybody gets equal treatment, kind of like that "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" business?
http://www.topical-bible-studies.org/24-0003.htm
And that is where it stands as I write this blog post.]

So, those of us who voted for the current president illiterate and lazy. I don't know where she studied political science, but I attended the same high school and came out able to spell and use correct grammar. There is a risk when we do drink the Kool-Aid and get opinions prepackaged, often with unintended consequenses. It's easy to blame "them" and latch onto a small bit of information, as with the father I overheard in Florida the other day telling his daughter that the large boat they saw "probably belongs to George Soros."

Ignorance is not bliss. It's dangerous. As the bumper sticker says, it should be painful. Unfortunately, it's the rest of us who feel the pain.

RIP Al Myers

In stunned silence I sit down to write someting in response to the news that our friend, Al Myers died last night. He was a prince among men; truly a great soul.

I only knew him in the context of community theatre. He was an actor, a producer, a director, and a "techie." He pitched in. He did what needed to be done. He did what he did with a good attitude and was always willing to help, coach, mentor, or follow without complaint.

Al was cast as Peter in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar that I directed in 2003. Surprised as I was that he chose to audition for a show that he had directed (in 1989), I was so grateful for what he brought to that production. Al stepped into that role and got it; he understood Peter's complexity and sadness, even to the point of helping create one of the most amazing moments in the production: a Pieta at the very end.

The first time I worked with Al he played Lazar Wolfe in Lyric Theatre Company's production of Fiddler on the Roof in 1993; the last time was when he directed that show in 2006. My wife produced that show, we were continually grateful for the opportunity to work with him. Sue says she learned much about the role of Producer from Al; he always took the time to work with each of the teams involved in the production so he could develop relationships with the team members and keep lines of communication open to know where there might be challenges that needed to be addressed.

Al was a brave director. He's the one who directed Finian's Rainbow in 1994; it's a show with a very diverse cast (and includes a subplot about a bigoted Senator from "Missitucky" who is turned black) with oustanding results. During the 2006 production of Fiddler, Al made a point of helping the cast come to an understanding of what people from villages like Anatevka went through, including having a seminar with a rabbi from Ohavi Zedek Synagogue and a seder dinner for the cast and congregation.

He was also a Civil War re-enactor (he's in the back row on the right in the linked photo). Al looked great as a colonel in the 2nd VT Volunteers. I can imagine him as a great leader in that awful war, his gentle strength would be an inspiration to the troops.

I don't know what else to say about the man from whom we can learn so much. WWAD? "What would Al do?" could be a good place to start when undertaking almost anything, and most certainly when thinking about how we treat each other.

I hope he knew how much we appreciated him.

An Articulated Mystery

A way of articulating a great mystery occurred to me in church last Sunday morning. During the time for children, the minister asked them to raise their hands if they knew Jesus loves them. Then she built a few more questions, ending with:

"Do you know that Jesus wants us to be kind and good to one another?"

When I heard that I was struck with the paradox of Fox News. We have removed it from our house for exactly that reason.

While she is an extreme example, the titles of the works of Ann Coulter come to mind, when she belittles a whole category of people (broad-brushedly called "liberals") with a mean-spiritedness that astonishes me. The same sort of thing comes from Limbaugh and others on talk radio, as well as on Fox News and, particularly disturbingly, in emails that get forwarded endlessly by people whose participation in propogating such hate speech is truly disappointing.

Do we know that Jesus wants us to be kind and good to one another?

I want our children to know and act accordingly.

When I'm helping my parents with their email and I see forwarded "Liberal"-bashing emails in their inbox I wonder, "If the sender had Jesus' email address, would He be on the distribution list?" What about repudiation? When is it incumbent upon us to stand up, hit "reply all", and say "That's not OK!" Should we actually be kind and good to one another, or does it not count when we're talking about "them?" There are many different kinds of them. Which ones are OK to speak unkindly about? Which are subhuman? Which deserve ridicule?

That's part of why you can't see Fox News on our TV. It's not OK in our house to be cruel and unkind and unfriendly, and that's how people like us get treated by that network. We happen to believe in some of the ideas that would have us branded (I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some people would support the use of branding irons for this) as Liberals. And we think that it is a good idea to be kind and good to one another.

Mental Contortionism

A former classmate of mine made a comment on something I had posted on Facebook regarding Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman's Op-Ed in the Times, Forgive and Forget in which he said

"...if we don’t have an inquest into what happened during the Bush years — and nearly everyone has taken Mr. Obama’s remarks to mean that we won’t — this means that those who hold power are indeed above the law because they don’t face any consequences if they abuse their power."

I had wondered as much in an earlier post, suspecting that John McCain would preëmptively pardon the whole gang, should he get elected (see Hey John McCain). This combination pushed my friend S*****'s Bush Button apparently.

S***** K**** at 9:09am January 17

Forgive and forget what???? I am sorry, but President Bush did nothing against the law! He did not abuse his power! He had to face unprecidented struggles and tragedies! He is a wonderful leader and man. People forget so fast how much they loved him right after 9/11. His approval rating was through the roof. Higher than any others! We are an "ADD" nation. The media determines how most people feel about something. He isn't perfect, not by a long shot. But he has done, what in my opinion, was a very good job. But hey, that's just my opinion...

I'm so happy to have Facebook and the capability to find and reconnect with so many people whose paths have crossed mine. I'm even pleased that S***** "friended" me. We've had a great many lively conversations, the last one was when she took umbrage at my Bokononist approach to Christmas and tried so earnestly to save my immortal soul. Another time was when she feared what might happen to the USA if Barak Obama were to be elected President.

It frightens me that there are so many true believers on this amazing planet. Put down the Kool-Aid, turn off Fox News, and open your eyes to as many perspectives as you can find.