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More politics.
It appears my last post raised a lot of ire. Alas, that's the way it is. I feel one way, many others feel differently. In the end, we all respect one another, all love one another, all agree to disagree and agree to keep making arguments, which is how discourse works. Such is life. I'll be at my brother's graduation (though I still may donate my ticket to an uncle or cousin who really really really wants to see the President) and I'll be respectful, and hopefully the President will hold up his end of the bargain and not get political. If he does get political, he'll hear about it from me, likely in an letter or email of some variety that will be read by some low-level secretary and thrown away.
So, let's get a little more political, and talk about (dun dun duuuuh) the filibuster, or rather, the GOP's efforts to get rid of this time-honored protection of minority interests. Now if you listen to the Right-Wing Echo Chamber you'll hear it being called the "constitutional option" (I guess the term "nuclear option," coined by the bigot Trent Lott, didn't go over so well in focus groups) and hear GOP activists moaning about how those eeeeevil Democrats aren't letting the President's judges go through, and this is so unprecedented, and how dare they threaten to use the filibuster on judges who should be a Presidential prerogative.
What they aren't telling you is that Frist (the ringleader on the so-called "nuclear option" and putative leader of the Talibaptist Theocracy) himself voted to uphold a filibuster in 2000 of a Clinton judicial nominee. They also aren't telling you that filibustering judicial candidates isn't a new tactic at all, as the GOP demonstrated back in the 60's when they filibustered Abe Fortas' nomination to the Supreme Court. And they certainly aren't telling you that the number of judges being held up by the Democrats - 10 - is significantly fewer than the 60 Clinton nominees they held up (some of whom didn't even make it to committee, much less out of it), or that all those rules allowing GOP Senators to stop Clinton nominees were conveniently rescinded once Bush took office.
But all that doesn't matter to the GOP. What should matter to them is this - when you erode the power of the minority party in Congress, you erode it more or less permanently. Which means that when the Democrats take back power - and they will at some point, because that's the way American politics works - all those things the GOP cleared out of the way to make it easier for them to exercise their will over the considerable minority, will be used against them. And the fact that they're essentially trying to steamroll the Democrats means that they won't get any mercy once the other side gets back behind the wheel.
Both parties have been in the majority at some time or another; both sides have been the minority. Protecting the interests of the minority leads to compromise, which is the reason the American political system works.
And don't even get me started on the way the GOP is hijacking the language of religion to try to sell this to the American people, and their dangerous tactic of painting anyone who opposes them as "against people of faith" or "anti-Christian." The despicability of this rhetoric should stand on its own.
Hopefully I'll be less political soon.
posted by jimmy at 14:34 -
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An Open Letter to President Byker
I was going to write a full entry about this issue, but I decided this letter does the job nicely. For those of you who don't know, Calvin College - my alma mater - has invited President Bush to speak at their commencement this year. As my brother is graduating from Calvin, this places me in a difficult situation. Here is the letter.
President Byker:
I am writing this to tell you that I am deeply dismayed with Calvin's invitation to Pres. Bush to speak at the 2005 graduation ceremonies.
I graduated from Calvin in 2002 with a BA in English and Theatre. The commencement ceremony was a very meaningful moment for me - a chance for my family and friends to come and celebrate the achievements of my class. I remember the honor I felt as my name was called and I received my "diploma," hearing my family and friends cheer for me and celebrating my work, and the joy I felt as many of my closest friends received the honor that was due them. The day stands as one of the brighter days of my life.
I am now a student at Fuller Seminary (where you sit on the Board of Trustees) and my brother will be graduating from Calvin this year. The education I received at Calvin, and am now receiving at Fuller, has taught me that my faith in Jesus Christ trumps all other loyalties and ties - including those to political movements or to nations. This same Jesus Christ is the one who says "blessed are the peacemakers," "blessed are the poor," and "love your enemies." I do not wish to get into the many ways in which Pres. Bush, a supposed follower of Christ, has betrayed these teachings, but it will suffice to say that my opposition to him and his policies rests firmly on the foundation of integrity and faith I received from a strong Christian upbringing and from my education, both from Calvin and Fuller.
Calvin's choice of commencement speakers leaves me with a choice I should not have to make: should I go to his graduation, despite the fact that it will be seen as a tacit show of support for someone whose policies and choices while in office I find to be completely immoral and repugnant, or should I decline and give my ticket to someone else, forced to miss this important moment in my brother's - and my family's - life?
By inviting a divisive and politically-charged figure as a speaker, however, you are tainting the graduation ceremonies of many graduates and their families, by turning a day that should be reserved for celebrating the achievements of the 2005 graduating class into the platform for a political message. Undoubtedly, the fact that Pres. Bush is speaking, and the hullabaloo and controversy surrounding that, will drown out what should be the entire reason of the day. While it is certainly a great honor to have a sitting President deliver the commencement address, I believe the controversy over President Bush as a political figure will overshadow the real importance of the day.
Please do the right thing for Calvin's class of 2005 and their families - cancel the Bush address. Allow the commencement to be a celebration of the graduates, not a center for political controversy.
James Gilmore
Alumnus, Class of 2002
posted by jimmy at 10:16 -
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Bookmark.
I was going to update about a conference in Lexington, going home and getting snowed on, and ongoing goings-on in my life, but to be honest the muse has left me and all my sentences end up being declarative and rhythmless, so I might write about these things later.
Just thought I'd let you know.
To tide you over until my next whirlwind of exciting and meaningful prose, here's a picture of Simon.
Click to make Simon grow
posted by jimmy at 20:27 -
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Sacrilegious Thought of the Day
Now, let me preface this: I think Pope John Paul II is one of the greatest human beings I have ever shared the earth with. While he wasn't enough a part of my life that I'm going to miss him terribly, I have a great deal of respect and awe for that man and the great things he did, even while I disagree with him on many things. Would that all leaders of all churches were cut from the same moral cloth as him.
That said, the only thing I could picture when I thought of the Pope dying was the scene in Return of the Jedi where Luke watches Yoda die. I pictured the Pope laying in his bed, imparting a few garbled words of wisdom to the nearest Cardinal, then slowly disappearing, leaving the blankets to simply crumple in slow motion where his body had once been.
Then, when the next Pope is coronated, he'll look over and see John Paul II, St. Peter, and Leo the Great standing there as blue apparitions, smiling and waving to him.
Again, I'm evil and I confess that. But that was my thought.
posted by jimmy at 22:12 -
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A funny thought...
Yesterday as I walked through Pasadena a cherry-picker drove by (with the arm retracted, of course) and there was a guy riding in the basket.
The truck looked rather like this, though not so old or junky.
The only thing I could think of as it passed was the truck stopping suddenly and the guy in the basket being catapulted out of the basket and flying down Colorado Blvd. over Old Town. Of course, in my mind he landed in a pillow factory or something like that so that there wasn't any death or injury.
Just a funny thought, if you think in cartoons like I do.
Make sure this post doesn't make you miss the one right below, which is the rare important and revelatory post.
posted by jimmy at 11:36 -
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Log
Archives:
After
2.9.2003
9.23.2002-2.6.2003
6.1.2002-8.21.2002
