Some reflections on my "natural disaster" experience of the past few days.
I live in Chicago by all accounts an extremely diverse (although usually pretty segregated)city....in a wonderful neighborhood called Albany Park. Albany Park is an interesting neighborhood because of its incredible diversity. It is a port of entry for immigrants (both recent and not so recent) from all over the world. There are literally dozens of native languages spoken at the local high school. Within 5 blocks of my house I can go to 2 Koren restaurants, a half dozen Mexican restaurants, a Filipino restaurant, 6 middle eastern restaurants, 4 Chinese restaurants and a rib shack. The North branch of the Chicago river flows through the neighborhood and right next to my building. Usually it is just a slightly scenic trickle when it passes under my balcony but after 3 days of continuous rain the river was approaching a roaring rapid.
However, I never dreamed there would be a flood of minor biblical proportions in my neighborhood. Saturday afternoon around 4pm...there was about an inch of water in the storage area in the basement of the building....I figured hey my stuff is all in plastic tubs...it should be fine. Of course a mere 4 hrs later when I returned from dinner I returned to a LAKE. Water was knee deep in my front yard, a little more shallow in my back yard....and the area where my storage locker is (and unfortunately the lower level my neighbor's duplex) had about 5 feet of water. After debating (read...fighting) with Chicago's finest to actually get access to my street (which I still had to break at least 3 major traffic laws to do)...I got the lovely opportunity to wade through the water and climb the 3 flights (you will never again hear me complain about living on the 3rd floor) to my very dry home. Of course it was still raining. I went to bed thinking everything would be better in the am...WRONG! Apparently it rained ALL NIGHT! which just made things worse the next day. Eventually the worsening flood waters and rain caused the city (via the lovely reverse 911 call I received and them shutting off gas and electric) to force evacuation of the area. While it made for a sort of crazy day yesterday...I can't really complain. I was safe, everyone in my building was okay and my car avoided any water damage. The craziest thing that happened while I was out in the rain (thinking about building an ark and searching for two of every animal) was that I actually saw several fish swim by me as I was walking in the alley (yes...REAL LIVE fish who knows where they were going)...after I stopped screaming because I thought it was a rat I realized that was pretty cool.
What I was most impressed with in this crazy divisive, cynical world was that my mixed up diverse neighborhood of ethnic whites, Africans (from all parts of the diaspora), Latinos (from Mexico, the Caribbean, central and South America), Asians (from every possible country), Christians, Muslims and Jews had a spirit of helpfulness, togetherness and neighborhood spirit that transcended all the divisions apparent to the naked eye. People stayed up until all hours helping neighbors sandbag, everywhere I went people asked if I was okay and a really nice guy helped me carry things to my car.
Even though the situation was a little bleak...people worked together. People didn't focus on their differences...just on their common goals. It is my hope that we can all learn this lesson from the great flood of Albany park! :-)
Monday, September 15, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
Reflections on the RNC
Okay....I have had a few days to recover from all the noise, commentary, discussion, debate and argument around the Republican National Convention.
I am someone who firmly believes that even though you may not agree with an opinion, it is important to hear the other side. As an American I will defend to the death your ability to express yourself even if that expression makes my blood boil. So even though at times it was difficult to watch the RNC I watched (almost) the whole thing. So here's what I have to say in light of that experience:
I was completely and constantly disturbed by the lack of diversity
This was probably the thing that made the greatest impression on me, and also made the RNC extremely difficult to watch. One of the things that I liked about the DNC (besides the better music and the fact that people could actually clap and stay on beat) was that looking out across the audience was like looking at a slice of America. There were basically equal numbers of men/women (okay I know a few more women...but I digress), a sea of faces of different colors, races and backgrounds reflecting the America I see on a daily basis and know and love. Contrasting that picture to the completely homogeneous RNC was a little jarring. It was almost as if the snapshot of that convention was taken from a page in the late 50s or early 60s. The lack of people of color (only 26-30 of almost 3000 delegates were reported to be black and frankly I never saw more than about 8 people myself), women (only 33% of the delegates) and variation in socioeconomic status of the participants was simply a throwback to another generation. This is disturbing to me because to not have a full complement of "Americans" at the table as you attempt to draft an agenda to move forward denies the movement of not only this country toward a multicultural society but makes whatever platform you develop weaker in light of our increasingly diverse global world. The other things that was disturbing was that the delegates there seemed to be completely comfortable with their homogeneity. That current factor will probably keep me away from the GOP for more than a minute.
"Party of Lincoln" my ass!
Put your money where your mouth is and actual produce a party (and a platform) that reflects this sum total of the diversity of this country and maybe, just maybe I will think about listening to your vision for our nation.
Sarcasm, Superiority and Negativity were the underlying tone
While I understand that conventions are by their very nature pep rallies to energize the base, does that require you to be sarcastic, negative and belittling? I couldn't help but be offended by Sara Palin and her silly smirk as she demeaned community organizing as not a "legitimate" form of work. Sorry, last time I checked every major political reform in this country (women's suffrage, unions and the 8 hr work day, civil rights, and the list goes on and on) all came directly as a result of community organizing. But as I listened to her speech, Rudy's and others what was constant in the tone was simply that the views and experiences of Barack Obama and others in the democratic party are outside of my life, my world view so therefore they MUST be defective. Apparently the GOP didn't get the memo that "different" does not equal deficient. Also the smugness of viewpoints expressed disturbed me. All of the speakers there seemed so convinced that not only were their views right (which I expect)....but that any one who did not hold their exact same view was an idiotic moron who didn't deserve to breathe the air on this planet and of course....crime of all crimes...was somehow UNAMERICAN!
Christianity being exclusively linked to Republicans
This is probably the thing that makes me most angry. Somehow, a decade or so ago...when the democrats stopped discussing religion in the political sphere (which post Jimmy Carter was our own fault)...the Republicans hijacked religion and the religious right to win elections and bring about the "Republican Revolution" of the Regan years, and beyond. The extreme focus on narrow wedge issues that many Christian's have strong feelings about (such as Abortion and Gay rights) have been the engine that has driven the republican machine. Now never mind that as a whole many of the policies that have happened during republican administrations have a decidely un-Christian bent. These policies have increased the divide between the rich and the poor; driven jobs out of this country and overseas, started premptive wars, led to famine, disease and death in our country (have a chat with folks in New Orleans if you don't believe this one). To me this goes against the helping "the least of these" that we are commissioned by the gospel to help. As a Christian, I simply cannot support a party that feels that way. I resent the message seemingly at the undercurrent of the RNC that "good" Christians are ONLY found in the Republican party.
Well those are my thoughts now....stay tuned for more as this race progresses. Buckle your seat belts kids...it is gonna be a wild two months!!!
I am someone who firmly believes that even though you may not agree with an opinion, it is important to hear the other side. As an American I will defend to the death your ability to express yourself even if that expression makes my blood boil. So even though at times it was difficult to watch the RNC I watched (almost) the whole thing. So here's what I have to say in light of that experience:
I was completely and constantly disturbed by the lack of diversity
This was probably the thing that made the greatest impression on me, and also made the RNC extremely difficult to watch. One of the things that I liked about the DNC (besides the better music and the fact that people could actually clap and stay on beat) was that looking out across the audience was like looking at a slice of America. There were basically equal numbers of men/women (okay I know a few more women...but I digress), a sea of faces of different colors, races and backgrounds reflecting the America I see on a daily basis and know and love. Contrasting that picture to the completely homogeneous RNC was a little jarring. It was almost as if the snapshot of that convention was taken from a page in the late 50s or early 60s. The lack of people of color (only 26-30 of almost 3000 delegates were reported to be black and frankly I never saw more than about 8 people myself), women (only 33% of the delegates) and variation in socioeconomic status of the participants was simply a throwback to another generation. This is disturbing to me because to not have a full complement of "Americans" at the table as you attempt to draft an agenda to move forward denies the movement of not only this country toward a multicultural society but makes whatever platform you develop weaker in light of our increasingly diverse global world. The other things that was disturbing was that the delegates there seemed to be completely comfortable with their homogeneity. That current factor will probably keep me away from the GOP for more than a minute.
"Party of Lincoln" my ass!
Put your money where your mouth is and actual produce a party (and a platform) that reflects this sum total of the diversity of this country and maybe, just maybe I will think about listening to your vision for our nation.
Sarcasm, Superiority and Negativity were the underlying tone
While I understand that conventions are by their very nature pep rallies to energize the base, does that require you to be sarcastic, negative and belittling? I couldn't help but be offended by Sara Palin and her silly smirk as she demeaned community organizing as not a "legitimate" form of work. Sorry, last time I checked every major political reform in this country (women's suffrage, unions and the 8 hr work day, civil rights, and the list goes on and on) all came directly as a result of community organizing. But as I listened to her speech, Rudy's and others what was constant in the tone was simply that the views and experiences of Barack Obama and others in the democratic party are outside of my life, my world view so therefore they MUST be defective. Apparently the GOP didn't get the memo that "different" does not equal deficient. Also the smugness of viewpoints expressed disturbed me. All of the speakers there seemed so convinced that not only were their views right (which I expect)....but that any one who did not hold their exact same view was an idiotic moron who didn't deserve to breathe the air on this planet and of course....crime of all crimes...was somehow UNAMERICAN!
Christianity being exclusively linked to Republicans
This is probably the thing that makes me most angry. Somehow, a decade or so ago...when the democrats stopped discussing religion in the political sphere (which post Jimmy Carter was our own fault)...the Republicans hijacked religion and the religious right to win elections and bring about the "Republican Revolution" of the Regan years, and beyond. The extreme focus on narrow wedge issues that many Christian's have strong feelings about (such as Abortion and Gay rights) have been the engine that has driven the republican machine. Now never mind that as a whole many of the policies that have happened during republican administrations have a decidely un-Christian bent. These policies have increased the divide between the rich and the poor; driven jobs out of this country and overseas, started premptive wars, led to famine, disease and death in our country (have a chat with folks in New Orleans if you don't believe this one). To me this goes against the helping "the least of these" that we are commissioned by the gospel to help. As a Christian, I simply cannot support a party that feels that way. I resent the message seemingly at the undercurrent of the RNC that "good" Christians are ONLY found in the Republican party.
Well those are my thoughts now....stay tuned for more as this race progresses. Buckle your seat belts kids...it is gonna be a wild two months!!!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Sex, Race and random Baby mamas
I missed posting the last few days...probably because I have been spending so much time reading other blogs and keeping up with the ever changing information since the Palin VP pick and the start of the RNC. So I will try to offer my thoughts on the events of the past few days
First with regard to Palin's pick....okay that came outta nowhere. Props to Johnny Mac for the gangster move to steal Barack's thunder and convention bounce. That was a seriously strong political move...and now the compliments end.
How cynical and contrived a ploy is it to basically pick someone SIMPLY because she is a conservative woman. Women are not all interchangeable. To think that Ms. Palin (with her HIGHLY conservative, lack of national experience self) could somehow be a good alternative for Hillary Clinton supporters is seriously off. Anyone who think that these two have ANYTHING in common besides breasts and a vajayjay needs to get off the crack pipe they must be smoking. And to hear the republicans tout her "executive experience" makes me vomit in my mouth just a little bit. I mean she was mayor of a town of under 7,000. I know people who have run social organizations and clubs bigger than that. And she is governor of a state with less than 750,000 people. I mean there are fewer people in Alaska than on the south side of Chicago. While I'm sure she has some skills...let's not try and put lipstick on a pig or make a mountain out of a molehill. How can you desire to be the VP (who I am still not sure she knows what the job description entails) and a heartbeat (a weak questionable, multiple cancer survivor, former POW, 72yr old heartbeat at that) away from being the leader of the free world and you just got a passport last year and have only been to two other countries!!!??? Not to mention you have a relationship with an organization that was seriously advocating for Alaska ceding from the union (BTW didn't we fight this battle long ago). I mean SERIOUSLY is this the best and brightest the Republican's have to offer. You mean to tell me you passed over all the other qualified women like Olympia Snowden, Liddy Dole, Kay Bailey Hutchenson for this amateur. If I was a Republican woman...especially one who had held offices and been working for the party for all this time I WOULD BE PISSED!!!
And then there is the drama...how is it that this woman was the VP pick for less than 48hrs before the scandals started to break fast and furious around her and her family. Questions of her personal ethics with so called "troopergate", questions about her youngest child and her pregnant 17yr old with "Babygate"...and God only knows what else is coming. Clearly the vetting process (nonexistent as it now seem to have been) went horribly awry. I will let the investigative types deal with trooper gate and I don't want to pick on an innocent 17yr old but I will say this. The fact that supposedly John McCain knew about the daughter's pregnancy and still offered the position and more importantly the fact that Sarah Palin accepted the position knowing how that was going to completely screw with her daughter's life and privacy during this difficult time tells me all I need to know about these disgusting excuses for human beings. Any mother especially who willingly puts her own child who she claims to love in this type of no-win situation is a monster. How blind with ambition do you have to be to throw your own daughter, future son-in-law and grandchild under the bus like that. Sometimes the best answer is a simple thanks (for the offer of the job) but no thanks (I have too much on me and my family's plate now).
I especially love the hypocrisy of the hard core republicans. The same people who deride inner-city (read Black and Latino) youth for their lack of morals, judgement and intelligence for having children out of wedlock are now rallying behind Bristol Palin as a good kid who made an honest mistake and needs to be supported for her wonderful choice for deciding to bring the baby in to the world. We all know if Malia Obama was 17 and pregnant that Barack and Michelle would be toast...people would declare them unfit parents and thus unfit to lead and they would secretly say that is what happens to "those people" and in general ascribe that individual failure to the entire black race. Racial politics aside, what I hate the most is that the RNC and its cronies have turned this baby mama drama into a kindling to reignite the culture wars. Sarah and Bristol Palin are the new champions and symbols of the "pro-Life" movement. Funny I don't ever see these same people championing the teen mother's in Harlem or on the South Side of Chicago the same way. I don't see them rushing to offer them care and support. Could it be that the only lives that matter in the supposed "Pro-Life" movement are ones that are white? And how about as a party having republicans support policies that support life on the other side of the birth canal and deal with issues that address poverty, crime, hunger, housing and continued discrimination. I am a christian. I am pro-choice. (yes we are out here) I personally believe that abortion is wrong. BUT I also believe that it would be a colossal mistake to make it illegal. You cant reduce, control or keep safe what is underground. I believe we should all work to have abortion be legal safe and EXTREMELY rare. Most importantly I believe that we need to put more energy not into changing the laws around abortion but rather in changing the attitudes and circumstances that cause people to be in positions where that is something they are ever considering in the first place.
In general these wedge issues really tick me off. I am much more concerned about our economy, the lack of a decent health care system, the millions of uninsured, the collapse of the housing market, gas that will be $5 soon, ending the war in Iraq, keeping this country safe, finding Osama Bin laden, stabilizing Afghanistan, renewing our standing in the world, climate change,...and the list goes on and on. Instead of trotting out the same stale issues every 4 years (Abortion, gay marriage, patriotism, et al) and claiming that one party (the Republicans) are on the "right" side of the issue and therefore deserve to win compared to those people who are on the "left" side of the issue who will destroy your family, country and faith....instead of demonizing the brown baby mama's and praising the white ones....instead of pandering to people's fear and love of a woman (any woman) in office: could we please just think and for once use our head and vote on the issues at stake...not just the things people want you to fear or blindly rally behind in an emotional frenzy
First with regard to Palin's pick....okay that came outta nowhere. Props to Johnny Mac for the gangster move to steal Barack's thunder and convention bounce. That was a seriously strong political move...and now the compliments end.
How cynical and contrived a ploy is it to basically pick someone SIMPLY because she is a conservative woman. Women are not all interchangeable. To think that Ms. Palin (with her HIGHLY conservative, lack of national experience self) could somehow be a good alternative for Hillary Clinton supporters is seriously off. Anyone who think that these two have ANYTHING in common besides breasts and a vajayjay needs to get off the crack pipe they must be smoking. And to hear the republicans tout her "executive experience" makes me vomit in my mouth just a little bit. I mean she was mayor of a town of under 7,000. I know people who have run social organizations and clubs bigger than that. And she is governor of a state with less than 750,000 people. I mean there are fewer people in Alaska than on the south side of Chicago. While I'm sure she has some skills...let's not try and put lipstick on a pig or make a mountain out of a molehill. How can you desire to be the VP (who I am still not sure she knows what the job description entails) and a heartbeat (a weak questionable, multiple cancer survivor, former POW, 72yr old heartbeat at that) away from being the leader of the free world and you just got a passport last year and have only been to two other countries!!!??? Not to mention you have a relationship with an organization that was seriously advocating for Alaska ceding from the union (BTW didn't we fight this battle long ago). I mean SERIOUSLY is this the best and brightest the Republican's have to offer. You mean to tell me you passed over all the other qualified women like Olympia Snowden, Liddy Dole, Kay Bailey Hutchenson for this amateur. If I was a Republican woman...especially one who had held offices and been working for the party for all this time I WOULD BE PISSED!!!
And then there is the drama...how is it that this woman was the VP pick for less than 48hrs before the scandals started to break fast and furious around her and her family. Questions of her personal ethics with so called "troopergate", questions about her youngest child and her pregnant 17yr old with "Babygate"...and God only knows what else is coming. Clearly the vetting process (nonexistent as it now seem to have been) went horribly awry. I will let the investigative types deal with trooper gate and I don't want to pick on an innocent 17yr old but I will say this. The fact that supposedly John McCain knew about the daughter's pregnancy and still offered the position and more importantly the fact that Sarah Palin accepted the position knowing how that was going to completely screw with her daughter's life and privacy during this difficult time tells me all I need to know about these disgusting excuses for human beings. Any mother especially who willingly puts her own child who she claims to love in this type of no-win situation is a monster. How blind with ambition do you have to be to throw your own daughter, future son-in-law and grandchild under the bus like that. Sometimes the best answer is a simple thanks (for the offer of the job) but no thanks (I have too much on me and my family's plate now).
I especially love the hypocrisy of the hard core republicans. The same people who deride inner-city (read Black and Latino) youth for their lack of morals, judgement and intelligence for having children out of wedlock are now rallying behind Bristol Palin as a good kid who made an honest mistake and needs to be supported for her wonderful choice for deciding to bring the baby in to the world. We all know if Malia Obama was 17 and pregnant that Barack and Michelle would be toast...people would declare them unfit parents and thus unfit to lead and they would secretly say that is what happens to "those people" and in general ascribe that individual failure to the entire black race. Racial politics aside, what I hate the most is that the RNC and its cronies have turned this baby mama drama into a kindling to reignite the culture wars. Sarah and Bristol Palin are the new champions and symbols of the "pro-Life" movement. Funny I don't ever see these same people championing the teen mother's in Harlem or on the South Side of Chicago the same way. I don't see them rushing to offer them care and support. Could it be that the only lives that matter in the supposed "Pro-Life" movement are ones that are white? And how about as a party having republicans support policies that support life on the other side of the birth canal and deal with issues that address poverty, crime, hunger, housing and continued discrimination. I am a christian. I am pro-choice. (yes we are out here) I personally believe that abortion is wrong. BUT I also believe that it would be a colossal mistake to make it illegal. You cant reduce, control or keep safe what is underground. I believe we should all work to have abortion be legal safe and EXTREMELY rare. Most importantly I believe that we need to put more energy not into changing the laws around abortion but rather in changing the attitudes and circumstances that cause people to be in positions where that is something they are ever considering in the first place.
In general these wedge issues really tick me off. I am much more concerned about our economy, the lack of a decent health care system, the millions of uninsured, the collapse of the housing market, gas that will be $5 soon, ending the war in Iraq, keeping this country safe, finding Osama Bin laden, stabilizing Afghanistan, renewing our standing in the world, climate change,...and the list goes on and on. Instead of trotting out the same stale issues every 4 years (Abortion, gay marriage, patriotism, et al) and claiming that one party (the Republicans) are on the "right" side of the issue and therefore deserve to win compared to those people who are on the "left" side of the issue who will destroy your family, country and faith....instead of demonizing the brown baby mama's and praising the white ones....instead of pandering to people's fear and love of a woman (any woman) in office: could we please just think and for once use our head and vote on the issues at stake...not just the things people want you to fear or blindly rally behind in an emotional frenzy
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