Thanksgiving Rundown

A brief recap of my day...

Up late last night - I got it into my head to make an Itunes playlist consisting of all the songs I own that reached the #1 spot in the Billboard Hot 100 over the years. I have a book that lists them all from "Rock Around the Clock" up until "Candle in the Wind 1997" (the Princess Diana tribute by Elton John.) So it turns out I have 146 of the 860 tunes on that list.

Up early this morning to pick up bundles of the Grand Rapids Press - I have three teenage sons who each have their own route and even though two of them have their own drivers license it still falls on me for some reason to go out first thing on Sunday mornings and this particular holiday to retrieve the papers. Which I then lug into our living room where Julie puts the various sections together, the boys bag 'em, I haul the papers out to our minivan and then we four guys head out to the routes to deliver 'em. About 150 papers altogether. The Thanksgiving paper is the biggest daily edition of the year, of course, full of ads for tomorrow's huge traditional shopping spree.

Yesterday we got whomped by a massive snowstorm, I should mention, which left somewhere close to 10 inches of snow on the ground! I'm not exaggerating! That really slowed everything down and made for a more-miserable-than-usual pick-up for me since I could only find one of my winter gloves. So we didn't get the whole delivery process done until nearly 9 am, when 8 am is the goal that the Press sets for us. But it wasn't entirely our fault, since we were shorted a bundle of "section twos" and had to drive to a nearby mall and the truck that gives out extra papers to make up for such shortages.

So we got home, a fresh pot of coffee was on and Julie was baking some bread and making a salad for the family feast. My mom, sister and grandmother had the other courses covered. Breakfast was light. I browsed through the paper and the ads, half-heartedly. I don't plan to do much shopping tomorrow. I have to work but even if I didn't, I'm not feeling up to wrasslin' the crowds and there's no particular consumer item i just have to have at a few bucks lower than usual either.

Julie suggested that we each find a Bible passage that inspired thoughts of gratitude which we could share with each other. So I went to Ecclesiastes and found the following verses:

I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy
themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God's gift that all should
eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)

...which speaks pretty well for me today.

I also spent some time cleaning up our bedroom which had been falling into a state of ruin as the clutter piled ever higher.

Eventually it came time to head over to my moms for the big dinner and family time. It was nice, pretty much the same kind of thing that we've done for years now. Mom, Grandma, Debbie (sister) and her husband Ed, and my family. I spoke with my step-brother Doug who lives in Washington state which was cool and way long overdue.

We had a very nice meal. Watched the Lions get creamed, humiliated, completely blown out on national TV, basically evaporating all the good vibes that they had generated earlier this year when they were playing fairly well and looked to be making strides toward long-term respectability. Now they seem as lousy and out-classed by the rest of the league as ever. It didn't help that they were up against a blazing hot quarterback (Peyton Manning, who's on a record-setting pace for throwing the most touchdowns ever in a single season, tossing six today) and dealing with their own QB controversy (what to do about Joey Harrington, which I won't bother explaining here.) Most of the game we had the sound off and Christmas carols playing in the background.

After dinner I removed a broken microwave from above my mom's oven. We wanted to install a range hood but ran into some structural obstacles that left the job unfinished.

I made out my Christmas list and here's what I asked for: Books: "The Complete Peanuts (1950-1954)" CDs: Beatles "The Capitol Albums Vol. 1" (a new package featuring the track listings and mixes from the 1964 releases) DVDs: The LOTR Return of the King extended version, a few Shakespeare titles (Mel Gibson's version of Hamlet, Roman Polanski's MacBeth, Olivier's Hamlet), the Ultimate Matrix 10-disc extravaganza, Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2, and the new Disney Treasures "Mickey Mouse in Black and White Vol. 2" that is due for release soon. Also some accessories for my new digital camera that I need to start using to post pictures here on my blog and elsewhere.

We hung out and socialized a bit more, the usual family chatter. Then we came home around 6 pm. Julie and I felt like watching a movie, so we pulled out a used DVD I had bought awhile back for a very cheap price - a fine German film called "Nowhere in Africa" that is based on the true story of a Jewish family that fled Nazi Germany to Kenya in the late 1930's. I was very impressed by this movie, which won the 2002 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Picture. The characters were complex and fresh, the story was quite intriguing, photography and soundtrack excellent... I won't write a review but I will recommend it to anyone who bothers to read this far. So we finished that awhile ago, now I'm downloading the digital photos from this afternoon into my PC, checkin' my email and updating my blog. Voila, that's the end, happy Thanksgiving Day, everybody, now to go get a good night's sleep!

New U2

For the first time in awhile, I made a point of buying a new CD on the very day it was released to the general public. The CD is U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." So far I don't know what led them to choose that name for the album, but it is attention-getting, no doubt about that.

I won't do a full-fledged review here. I am just noting the occasion. Listening to it at a fairly subdued volume on my boombox at work, my first response to the music is that it sounded very much like a mainstream hit rock record, nothing terribly bold or innovative, but I don't think that U2 is really aiming for that kind of a sound. They tried that in the 90's on the Zooropa and Pop albums, neither of which are considered to be among their best, from what I understand. I should be clear, I have followed U2 at a bit of a distance over the years. When Boy first came out, I was more into gritty underground punk rock and lumped them in with the other New Wave bands trying to come over from England and Europe in the early 80's. October didn't make any impression on me. Then War came out and they began getting attention in Christian circles as a cool band with acceptably spiritual lyrics. I remember Contemporary Christian Music magazine naming them the top Christian band in 1984 or '85 and getting some flack for that, since U2 weren't "explicitly" Christian and had even tried to distance themselves from such an identification when it became apparent that they were having that label applied to them. But I still didn't buy that album.

I did buy The Unforgettable Fire though. On cassette. Lost it somewhere along the way. I didn't like that album as much as I had hoped to, though there were some great individual songs. Some of it was just atmospheric for where I was at back then. Then I think Rattle and Hum came out, the Live at Red Rocks somewhere in all that too, then awhile later, The Joshua Tree. Well when that album came out, I was just not about buying music at that time. My children were being born and it just didn't make much sense to purchase rock music - so I grew to learn those songs from hearing them on the radio all the time, but not from listening to the album as a whole. And after that, I just remained aware of U2 from the sidelines - I saw bits on TV about the Achtung Baby and Zoo TV concert tours, became familiar with Bono's larger-than-life persona and generally considered them a cool band, for what it was worth. Around the time that Pop was released, I was getting back into rock music as an active object of study, egged on by some co-workers who raved about how great the band was/is. I thought the techno elements of that project were interesting, but when I borrowed it from a friend, I didn't feel inclined to go get my own copy. Then All That You Can't Leave Behind came out a couple years ago. I was impressed with that one. So I borrowed a copy from the library and burned my own on to a CD-R. :o)

But this time I decided to go ahead and get into the event of a new U2 release. I went to Best Buy today, the day it was officially put on sale, and bought myself a copy, so that I could discover the music at approximately the same time as millions of other people around the planet. That is a fun thing to be a part of and to think about. I passed on the chance to buy the CD/DVD/book package and even declined the CD/DVD package as well. I don't find U2 as visually compelling so I didn't see the need to spend an extra seven bucks for some music videos and a "making of" documentary. I'm still not that big a fan!

My Testimony

Yesterday on my pomoxian email list, I wrote up a brief summary of my beliefs about God that seems good enough to me to post here:

God has made a big, positive difference in my life. Before I seriously allowed myself the possibilty of having faith in God - that is, to trust, to pray, to hope, to believe that God was real - my response to life was bitter, confused, unfocused and self-destructive. Through a long chain of events though, God's presence and interest in mylife became apparent to me and I made a commitment, when I was 21 years old, to live the rest of my life in relationship to God. A lot has happened since then, and my "description" of God has changed in different ways, but my commitment to our relationship has not.

The truest things we can say about God are generally the simplest - but they are hard to prove and the closer we look at those statements, the more difficult they become to understand. God is good. God made us. God loves us. God is infinite. God is within us and around us. God fills the space between us. God knows us and guides us and provides for our needs. God comforts us in our times of sorrow. God is pleased with justice, mercy and peace. God watches over the creation and leads people to find redeeming value in the face of loss and tragedy. God gives us strength to persevere through adversity, hope to work through discouragement and love to steer us away from anger and desires for revenge. These are the most important things that I know about God as I write this, perhaps there are more I could add if I gave myself more time to ponder the subject.

The story and knowledge of God has been handed down to us from past generations, and so it's close to impossible to talk about God in a meaningful way without learning about those traditions and using the language that was developed about God a long time before any of us were born. Christianity is where I learned my "God-talk" so I can't really talk about God much outside of that frame of reference, though I recognize that a lot of what we (humans) have learned about the world around us and our own history isn't clearly incorporated into the spiritual vocabulary of Christianity.

Still, Christianity, especially in the teachings and story of Jesus, expresses the character and nature of God in moving and memorable ways. By closely examining the gospel traditions, I believe that a person can learn about God in a way that transforms our understanding, renews our thinking and enriches our perceptions of what life is and can become, on both the individual and collective levels. But like any other tool or cultural artifact, the Bible can be misunderstood and misapplied. There is no shortcut to knowing God, nor is there a risk-free method of imparting that knowledge to other people. God's world, our world, tends to be a dangerous place.

Cher & the Village People

I had another opportunity to work a concert at the Van Andel Arena last night, and this time it was a show featuring the performers named above.

In terms of cultural significance, I have to think that these two acts are probably the least "relevant" of the various acts I've seen over the past several months while working as a volunteer for the Wyoming Park High School Marching Band. Listing them off from memory, they include Metallica, the Eagles, Shania Twain, Simon & Garfunkel, Van Halen, Incubus... and maybe there's one or two I've forgotten? Mostly "oldies" acts, except for Incubus and Shania, and maybe Metallica, who are still producing new music. Cher and the Village People are clearly running off the momentum of past glories. But they are drawing crowds in 2004, so I guess "relevance" is in the eye of the beholder.

Anyway, on to my impressions of these artists. First, the Village People. They are, of course, the disco troupe from the late '70's that featured caricatured gay archetypes (the cowboy, the cop, the construction worker, the Indian, the leather dude, the army guy) and achieved immortality through the big hit "YMCA" as well as lesser hits like "Macho Man" and "In the Navy." I didn't actually get a chance to see them perform, since my duties required me to stay behind the concession stands running cash register and pouring beverages. But I got quite a show just watching the crowd milling around the corridor in front of me, as well as my colleagues who got into performing their own version of the YMCA dance when that inevitable moment came at the end of their alloted time on stage.

The Village People have successfully managed to reduce the level of homophobia in our society, I will give them that much credit. I would imagine that a lot of the middle class suburbanites doing the dance and laughing about the groups campy carrying-on throughout the performance once harbored attitudes toward gays that were more hostile than they are nowadays. But they still probably voted in favor of the "gay marriage ban" amendment that recently passed here in Michigan. OK, fine, that's where they are at, and personally I don't have much of a stake in that argument either way even though I voted "no" because I don't like the idea of constitution-by-referendum (I voted no on Prop. 1 also.) I digress!

Overall, the Village People didn't seem like they had much talent, when they performed material outside of their slim canon of hit singles. Not much as far as vocal ability was concerned - in fact, some of their wailing was pretty badly off-key. But they can bellow out the anthems well enough, and I imagine there was some bold choreography going on - they had better be athletic, if nothing else. I understand that only two of the original VP's are still touring - the construction worker and the Indian - so they could probably hire some younger, buffer studs to shake their booty to the throbbing disco beat. And the whole program was based on a pre-recorded soundtrack. There was no band playing behind them, since I heard the same tracks (including the band's intro) played sans vocals during the soundchecks.) As if that matters at all.

Overall, the Village People performed for the sheer fun of it. There really wasn't much to be bothered about here - they weren't the Main Attraction, to be sure, but given the sizeable following that Cher has in the gay community, including them on the opening bill seems like a logical and welcoming gesture on the part of the concert promoters. Judging by the elated, gleeful, even joyous response that their performance of "YMCA" drew from the audience, I would say that there are worse things in life to be than a Village Person.

On to Cher... What can I say? I'm not a fan, but there's a part of me that deeply admires someone who has dedicated so much of her life to producing innocuous, cheerful entertainment to those who do appreciate her style and flamboyance. All she asks in return is for their adoration. And a sizeable cash donation to get inside the door. Tickets were in the 40 - 80 dollar range.

This was advertised as the "Never Can Say Goodbye 2004 Farewell Tour." This is her third annual Farewell Tour, during each of which she has made sure to stop by Grand Rapids for "one last time." Last night, she said words to the effect that she would really be wrapping up the touring life once the current itinerary comes to its end. All I can reasonably conclude from that is that she doesn't plan on playing Grand Rapids ever again. I imagine that she could take up a long term residence in Vegas if she continues to have the itch to perform - her stage show is pretty much a travelling casino-style revue already.

She draws an interesting crowd. A lot of gay couples of both genders, but also a fair number of families, mostly moms with their daughters and a few hubbies dragged along, guys doing the right thing I would suppose. And a sizeable contingent of straight women out with their female friends who probably enjoy Cher's combination of exotic female empowerment and spectacular stagecraft for sheer entertainment's sake. All in all, a bit under 9000 people came out to see her, about 3/4 of capacity.

She opened with an interesting choice - a cover of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." I had never considered Cher to be a "profound" artist until that moment... I also saw her perform a few songs with my own eyes. One featured her riding in on a mechanical elephant in a harem outfit, and the song was some kind of Middle Eastern sounding chant, nothing familiar to me that I could guess a title for. Then she did a disco number called "All or Nothing at All" (or something like that) featuring a pair of scantily clad acrobats frolicing about 20 feet above the stage, wrapping themselves and each other in long white draperies, simulating various "love acts" though not too raunchy, let me be clear. A lot less provocative than what happens at a Britney Spears show, I have no doubt. Speaking of Britney, Cher also dissed her, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson and other nameless young starlets, about their reliance on lip-synching in concert and TV performances. Cher always sings, apparently, though she understands the girls' reasons for using shortcuts. She even jokingly called them "bitches" as she challenged them to follow in her long-term showbiz footsteps.

I also saw her do a medley of her oldies: "Half-Breed," "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves," and "Dark Lady" which was mostly remarkable because they showed old video clips of her performing those songs from the early 70s when they were radio hits - alongside live shots of her singing on stage. It was amazing to see how identical her face today appears compared with her face from thirty years ago! Michael Jackson should have consulted with Cher before choosing his plastic surgeon...

That's about all I have to say about Cher. She's a born entertainer. Julie and I didn't stay to the very end - after Cher came on, the audience was enraptured and business dried up immediately. This is remarkable, because all of the other acts I've seen had a fairly steady stream of customers heading our way to get snacks, drinks, a breather, whatever. I could tell that for a lot of people at those other shows, they were there mainly to hear a few particular songs, or just out for the event itself, or they lost interest in the middle portion of the show where the band was plowing through the more mundane hits in their respective catalogues... But Cher's crowd didn't seem to want to miss a thing - and if you are there to take in the wonder of her costume-changes, lighting effects, stunts and comedic banter with her loving audience, even quick potty breaks mean you're likely to miss something important. So we were happy to take in a bit of the spectacle, but even happier to get home by 10:00 pm, with the permission of our crew leader of course. Funny to think that some people had paid lotsa dough to get inside, here we were with a free shot to take in most of the show, but instead had better things to do with our time. Like head back to suburbia for a good night's rest after a long, busy week!

Comments for the 25th Annual Meeting of IGE

(Here is a short address I composed this afternoon, which I delivered at our meeting tonight...)

Good evening to you all. I’ve been asked to welcome our friends and members and to facilitate tonight’s meeting, and I’m pleased to do so. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Dave Blakeslee, and I’m a board member of IGE, going into my fourth year in this role. I have looked forward to this evening for several months now, and I trust that we are going to enjoy our time together.

As I think most of you know, this is not simply another annual meeting of IGE. It is the 25th such gathering, which marks a significant milestone by most people’s habits of measuring these things. A quarter of a century is a long time by some accounts. For a small, idealistic, visionary, grassroots, volunteer-staffed and financed social activist organization like ours, it’s a very long time indeed! A lot of effort, much “labor of love” has gone into sustaining the Institute for Global Education ever since that night in November of 1980 that saw Ronald Reagan elected as President of the USA and also marked the first public meeting of IGE. A lot of history has been made over these years. Not all of it good, not all of it bad. There have been many troubling developments, many mournful tragedies that have taken place, paths marked with tears and with blood that our efforts have sought to prevent, or our protests have spoken out against. There have also been notable accomplishments and times of reconciliation – moments where peace and understanding have grown and flourished as a result of our commitment to upholding these values. Such achievements are typically quiet, going unnoticed and undocumented, but they are important nevertheless and we need to hold on to them however we can in the face of the disappointment and discouragement that current events and political leaders can so easily and quickly produce.

So my purpose here at this moment, and in these introductory words, is to thank each of you for being here. Thank you for continuing to work on behalf of the ideals that led to IGE’s formation:

• the vision of a world living in peace
• striving for justice
• preserving our natural resources
• protecting human rights
• pursuing non-violent ways of dealing with conflicts
• ensuring that the basic needs for shelter, sustenance and well-being are met for as many people as our abundant environment is able to provide.

Some would say that these ideals are utopian, unrealistic, impractical, impossible. Perhaps, even probably, they are correct, from a certain point of view. But that isn’t really the point. We all have to make choices in this life as to what priorities we choose to pursue, and I’m proud to be associated with the members of IGE who have aligned themselves with these principles. I believe that whatever the prevailing political sentiments may be, whatever pundits and commentators may have to say about the “mood of the voters” as judged by the outcomes of our recent elections, IGE is on the right side of the issues.

Our hearts and our solidarity are aligned with the common people of the world, and with the trends and philosophies that will lead humanity to a more positive and peaceful future. We stand for the right things, even if they are not always the popular things.

Let’s not be naïve about it though – if we want to make an impact on our culture, if we want to support the development of a society that can live in peace with our global neighbors, we have a lot of work to do. We have many obstacles to overcome along the way. Our guest speaker tonight, Rev. Peter Dougherty, will speak on this theme of perseverance, and I’m sure that we will benefit from hearing some of the wisdom that he has acquired over many years dedicated to working for peace. Tonight will also offer an opportunity to learn more about the people who will lead IGE into our 25th year and many more to come, as well as time to reflect on the past. For now, though, let me conclude my words by encouraging each of us to envision what it is that we would like to see IGE become, and what we can personally commit to doing in order to realize that vision. Perhaps you have some ideas, questions or comments to contribute to such a discussion. There will be time later tonight to hear from as many of you as would like to speak. And whether you are a long-time supporter of IGE, or someone new to this organization, let me assure you tonight. Those of us who sit on the board, who’ve been entrusted to carry this legacy into the future, will do our best to enhance the qualities that have made IGE a vibrant community resource, and a much-needed source of inspiration and vitality in a hurting, fearful world. Thank you for your consideration of these thoughts.

CornerHouse Cafe

A new coffee shop opened just down the street from my house this week. This is a significant development for me - a nice nearby hangout spot where I can go for some quiet journaling, meet people, etc. I'm heading out there with my wife right now!

Ramones Raw

I picked up a DVD the other day, titled "Ramones Raw." A compilation of home video and concert footage culled from the pioneering punk band's 20 year career. I didn't even know it was available but I saw it on sale at SunCoast Video the other day and figured I should get it.

The Ramones were a pretty important motivating influence for me to get into a band myself back in the late '70's. Man, that seems like a long time ago!

Frequent, shorter posts

I'm now using the new Mozilla Firefox web browser and I've set it up so that this Blogger Dashboard page will be more readily accessible so that I will be able to update this blog more often than I have been. Not that a new browser can do much to make me more focused, but it provides something different enough for me to anticipate that I will change my habits.

Anyway, I've been getting emails and reading on websites that the election ain't quite over yet - that there are still plausible scenarios where recounting ballots could expose Bush's apparent win as either a blatant theft or simply short of the necessary votes in Ohio, after all the provisionals and recounts are run through with fine tooth combs.

I'm not really expecting much to come from that effort - but it could be interesting to see where it leads. The way that the legal and governmental systems have been managed by the Bush team leads me to believe that they will find a way to maintain their grip on power and that they won't really have to work all that hard to do so because there are a lot of compliant folks who know which side their bread is buttered on. My interests are more along the lines of engaging in cultural transformation projects - getting people to think differently on an individual level. That's where real change occurs. I'm not connected enough to become a power broker and I don't think that I will ever be good enough at that game to make much difference. So I will do what I think I'm better at, which is just engaging in discussions with people in various forums that get them to re-visit some of their basic assumptions in the privacy of their own minds. Where it's safer to begin challenging the status quo, to whatever degree one is comfortably ready to do so. From there, action eventually proceeds. But forcing people into enlightenment has never proven to be a winning strategy, for anyone involved.

One More Post-Election Post

Here is what I had to say to my fellow local peace activist friends on the WMJPC list, on November 4:

Now that we are in hindsight mode re: the 2004 election, I like many who oppose Bush am looking back a bit and trying to make sense of this long process we've been through. My dread of GWB goes pretty much backto the time when he first began getting press coverage as a frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 1999. Of course the 2000 election debacle, his verbal and intellectual ineptitude and his aggressive/regressive stance on so many issues have offered ample confirmation of my initial negative impressions of him as a political leader. Pretty much from the time it became clear that Bush would become the American president, I've been looking forward to the day that we would see him leave office. Obviously, our best opportunity to hasten that day has passed without success. Now we hear talk (by the winners) of a "mandate" and an even more insistent push to pursue an unadulterated right-wing agenda, aided by increased majorities in the House and Senate. The ailing health of William Rehnquist raises the likelihood of not only Supreme Courtvacancies but the possibility of a Chief Justice Scalia. We also have to reckon with the conviction of the neocons that their version of the Iraq war has won popular support, freeing them to take a more brutal approach to "settling the problem" of Falluja and other insurgent strongholds "once and for all." I could go on to list all of the other wrong directions that a second Bush term will pursue, but I think most of us already get the picture...

As discouraging as these prospects are, I am also grappling with the reality that a substantial majority of voters have enthusiastically endorsed this vision and rejected what I considered a "mild to moderately" progressive alternative put forth by John Kerry and the Democratic Party. One only has to look at the electoral map to get a sense of how geographically dominant the conservative perspective has become, and how unlikely it is for many of the political views espoused by the member groups of the WMJPC to gain widespread acceptance any time soon. This is not a very pleasant thought to digest, but it seems to me unavoidable. The Kerry campaign represents the political Left's best effort at pulling all the forces together to convince the American public that there is a better way than Bushism to manage our affairs. While over 50 million people agreed with that sentiment strongly enough to vote for one candidate to do the job, it wasn't enough to gain access to the office. So in terms of organized political power, we are on the outside looking in, and will have to deal with that for at least the next several years, and probably longer.

I am aware of the suspicions that many have raised about the legitimacy of the election results, particularly concerning the returns from Ohio and Florida. I've seen the word "Diebold" used as a verb to describe altering vote counts from the controversial touch screen machines that leave no paper trail behind. Voter suppression efforts in these and other battleground states have been alleged and may get as much substantiation as were the problems of the 2000 election. But we've seen how relatively ineffective the avalanche of anti-Bush media turned out to be as far as convincing Bush supporters that the president had engaged in misconduct. While it remains important to produce documentation of official misdeeds as they are discovered, our confidence that such evidence is going to result in changing people's minds has been shaken. How many more books, videos, magazines or websites are needed to convince the public that our president and our government are not working in the best interests ofthe common people? So at this point, for numerous reasons, I am not feeling very positive about investing much hope in the political process or appealing to our elected representatives to make the kinds of changes that we'd like to see. At the very least, a breather is needed. I don't advocate an apathetic or apolitical stance, but I just don't expect to see a widespread popular surge of support for our opposition to war or many of the other positions we take that run counter to the directions that Bush will pursue. Nor do I see much point in casting blame or indulging in sectarian infighting as a way of sorting out "what went wrong." I know that voting for Kerry represented a serious compromise for many of us, who overlooked aspects of his record or rationalized the concessions that he had made in order to become an acceptably mainstream politician to a broader number of voters. Given the final outcome, perhaps there are some who now wish they had voted for Nader or Cobb or someone else. I don't think that way - personally, I'm glad to know that I live in a Blue State. Both geographically and culturally, I'm feeling more Canadian and less American these days, and this election result kept Michigan in that enlightened, truth-valuing and life-affirming "region" that covers the Northern Seaboard, the Upper Midwest and the West Coast. If you don't mind indulging me in a bit of profane venting, let me quote our esteemed Vice President and tell the Red States to go fuck themselves.

There, I said it, and it felt good! :o)

And having said that, I have to wrap up this message and get ready to leave. Personally speaking, there is a lot to feel discouraged about at this point in time, especially considering how much better it would have felt to be celebrating a Kerry victory and seeing Bush humbled in the way that he really deserves, not in the smug way he claims to have been humbled by the election results. (Note I didn't say his"re-election.") I have tons of respect and admiration for people like Nancy and Linda who put such monumental effort into getting out the vote, and others in our coalition who continue to pursue the vision of peace and justice. We will have to find ways to continue this pursuit in the communities we live in and the larger-than-politics causes that we support with our labors, our finances, our talents and our prayers (for those of us who believe in that sort of thing.) Take the time to reflect, regroup and re-engage when you feel ready.

Now we at least have a better idea of what the cultural landscape for the next few years will look like. Let's get ready to celebrate 25 years of IGE and all the other good things we have to look forward to, all the positive changes that we can be in this world!

Post-Election Posts

OK, the historic election of 2004 is ten days past and I haven't blogged about it yet. I have emailed about it though, so here for posterity's sake are my thoughts on what happened:

(posted to PoMoXian group on November 3)

I was up 'til 2 am, back up at 6 am, have been in a training session all day (thankfully, a physically active, rec therapy training.) After all that, I'm feeing pretty invigorated, actually.

Yes, I am disappointed to see my preferred candidate lose, no doubt about that, but he still won my state (Michigan) which was all I really tried to effect, and I continue to believe that he was the best one for the job. More voters disagreed with me, but I'm used to that. The outcome of the vote has no effect on my own confidence in the rightness of my positions. Kerry is simply not the man that a majority of our fellow citizens want to see in the White House.

I'm ready to observe just how Bush goes about addressing the numerous problems that I and others believe his administration has created for all of us. And I plan to continue on with my peace and justice activist work as I would have if Kerry had won. Despite my regrets over the final outcome, I am glad that there was a relatively clear resolution, not just for president but across the board in Congress. I really dreaded the idea of a prolonged recount, accusations of cheating and all the bitterness that would have followed another scenario like we had in 2000. We came closer to that than I would have liked, but Kerry appears to have done the right thing. Falling three million + votes short doesn't put him in the position to try and salvage an electoral victory through litigation.

I do have questions for the Bush supporters though - just how bad does a president have to screw up in so many different areas before he is held accountable by the voters? What kind of changes do they expect their leader to implement in his approach to governing to make this second term a success? Will they finally be able to get beyond liberal-bashing as their response to the objections raised by people who are concerned about the effects of their policy decisions? What kind of consideration will be given to the strong concerns raised by Kerry and his supporters?

My sincere hope is that Bush and his allies will be able to brush some of the chips off their shoulders and start conducting themselves like the "grown-ups" they often claim to be. While I don't necessarily intend to give his administration a free pass now that they have a mandate, I am willing to concede that the Republican Party is clearly and indisputably the dominant party in American politics today and that Bush has been legitimately elected based on his perceived merits. That doesn't eliminate my sense that the 2000 election can be characterized as "stolen" but at this point, it's no longer an issue - the voters had a chance to correct the situation but didn't choose the alternative presented to them.

But more than anything else, I'm just relieved to have the election over and done with. I have a lot of other things that have been getting less than my full attention so now I can move my life closer to normal again.

That's what I have to say for now!

(Later that same day, also to PoMoXian, in response to some comments about the efforts of Sojourners and other "progressive Christians")

IMO what Wallis and Sojourners did in this election is just the beginning of what's going to have to be more fully developed in years to come if "the Christian perspective" is going to mean anything other than right-wing fundamentalism in the popular consciousness. I agree that Wallis is easily dismissed as a moderate or liberal by many of the Christian base voters who went for Bush. Wallis, like most of the theologians popular on this list, doesn't utilize the same basic fear motivators that pretty much drive the more conservative churches. No one is afraid that disagreeing with Wallis' teaching is going to send them to hell.

Likewise, I think that Kerry supporters generally speaking tend to be less fearfully concerned about falling victim to a terrorist attack, or if they are, they have concluded that neither presidential candidate is really able to keep them safer or minimize the risks in a meaningfully different way than their counterpart. Bush's supporters, however, really seem to take comfort in having him as their protector, their strong commander in chief, even according to some views, a kind of "divinely appointed shield" that we would risk losing if we voted him out of office. It seems quite clear to me that a lot of his support rests on people who subscribe strongly to the notion that Bush is president precisely because of his religious views and the fact that his supporters lift him up in prayer more fervently than do Kerry's. I see this as a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy - enough people believe it to help make it happen - even as I'm kind of astounded that this kind of belief really is as prevalent as it appears to be in a wide cross section of the country. I know that this is how my mom, my mother in law and many of my other relatives tend to view it. They may express it in different ways, but there is a calm assurance that Bush is the man that God has put in charge in this country at this time, and that his political
adversaries have a different, untrustworthy "spirit" about them.

It makes little or no difference how much scripture a liberal or moderate Christian might quote at these believers - they would say that most Kerry voters are missing the bigger points or voting in favor of unrighteousness because they love the darkness more than the light, and they are just trying to confuse the issues.

But I still think we have to articulate our theological message in political terms - by appealing to some motivator higher than base fear, suspicion or paranoia. It does seem like a lot of people are stuck there in some ways, religiously speaking, even though within such a view of life there is still room for warmth, joy, love, fulfillment and other similar qualities as long as one "plays by the rules" and doesn't challenge the status quo. I am confident that views like those espoused on this list still have a high level of popular support and that popularity is growing across the culture. It just hasn't grown politically dominant. Yet!