Thoughts from Purple Land
Rosa Sat (A Song for This Day)
Jan/19/2009 08:01 AM
Are you surprised that on MLK Day, and the day before
Obama's inauguration, I would be drawn to folk music?
Hope not.
Because there are a couple of folk songs that seem to frame my feelings on this day.
The first is called "Rosa Sat," and it's written and performed by Chicago singersongwriter, Amy Dixon-Kolar.
(Click here if you can't see the media player...)
I'm glad that some one wrote a song (there may be more than one) based on this great quote, because it's the quote that gave me chills just after the election:
I love how the song is written the style of an old spiritual, and I love the message of this quote. Amy says on her website that the quote stayed with her and she knew she'd write a song using it. I'm grateful she did.
I've long been a big fan of the King Holiday, and write something about it almost every year. Last year, I mostly quoted a great piece by my friend, Larry James, who questioned the idea of doing works of "service" on this day.
Larry's writing was called "Missing the Mark on the MLK Holiday," and you can read my blog about it here.
I suppose I mostly feel the same way I felt last year. It would be a tragic reduction of King's legacy for his memory to only be given to acts of charity. King was far more interested in acts of justice. Which is, lest we forget, what led him to opposed the Vietnam War and led him to support the rights of the poor.
OTOH, on this MLK Day, our President-Elect himself is strongly pushing that the day be honored as a "day of service," and in this he is joined by other respected members of congress. And, locally, Larry James' own agency is leading the way with a house building project!! So, go figure.
It's especially gratifying to see a President-Elect issue the call, and see a nation respond. And perhaps one could argue that this year, the sense of justice that is such a necessary component of the King Holiday is, in fact, simply and powerfully incarnated in Obama's victory itself.
But there was another song sung during yesterday's concert on the Mall in Washington. (Which was, btw, an amazing event...) The show ended with Bruce Springsteen and none other than Pete Seeger singing "This Land is Your Land."
(Click here if you can't see the media player...)
Note George Lucas singing along in a quick crowd shot! That's certainly a "throwback" song in many ways. But it's also a folk song, deep in our American tradition, written by an iconic writer. Bruce introduced it as the greatest song ever written about our country.
And perhaps this song, and the verses they sang, were more appropriate than many realized at the time. One commentator noted almost immediately that Bruce and Pete included one verse that often gets left out when the song gets sung at schools and in other settings:
Mike Kazan, the guy who first noted this, goes on to say, "I bet Pete was thinking, “This is the way Woody wrote it and so I’m going to make sure the whole country hears it.”
Maybe so.
Certainly gave me a smile. Given all the crap he's had to put up with in his life, I would dearly love to know what Pete Seeger is thinking about all of this.
And so, when taken together, perhaps the verse from Amy's song and the verse from this classic Woody Guthrie standard provide the appropriate sense of both historical optimism and the call to continue the journey of justice?
Yes, on this day we should remember all those who could only sit or walk, in the hopes that one day others could run and fly.
But in these challenging economic times, we must not forget that many are still "wondrin' if this land's still made for you and me."
Optimism and Hope.
A call for continuing justice and change.
Not a bad message on this particular MLK Day.
Leave it to folk music to frame it for us.
Hope not.
Because there are a couple of folk songs that seem to frame my feelings on this day.
The first is called "Rosa Sat," and it's written and performed by Chicago singersongwriter, Amy Dixon-Kolar.
(Click here if you can't see the media player...)
I'm glad that some one wrote a song (there may be more than one) based on this great quote, because it's the quote that gave me chills just after the election:
"Rosa sat so Martin could walk.
Martin walked so Barack could run.
Barack ran, that our children could fly"
I love how the song is written the style of an old spiritual, and I love the message of this quote. Amy says on her website that the quote stayed with her and she knew she'd write a song using it. I'm grateful she did.
I've long been a big fan of the King Holiday, and write something about it almost every year. Last year, I mostly quoted a great piece by my friend, Larry James, who questioned the idea of doing works of "service" on this day.
Larry's writing was called "Missing the Mark on the MLK Holiday," and you can read my blog about it here.
I suppose I mostly feel the same way I felt last year. It would be a tragic reduction of King's legacy for his memory to only be given to acts of charity. King was far more interested in acts of justice. Which is, lest we forget, what led him to opposed the Vietnam War and led him to support the rights of the poor.
OTOH, on this MLK Day, our President-Elect himself is strongly pushing that the day be honored as a "day of service," and in this he is joined by other respected members of congress. And, locally, Larry James' own agency is leading the way with a house building project!! So, go figure.
It's especially gratifying to see a President-Elect issue the call, and see a nation respond. And perhaps one could argue that this year, the sense of justice that is such a necessary component of the King Holiday is, in fact, simply and powerfully incarnated in Obama's victory itself.
But there was another song sung during yesterday's concert on the Mall in Washington. (Which was, btw, an amazing event...) The show ended with Bruce Springsteen and none other than Pete Seeger singing "This Land is Your Land."
(Click here if you can't see the media player...)
Note George Lucas singing along in a quick crowd shot! That's certainly a "throwback" song in many ways. But it's also a folk song, deep in our American tradition, written by an iconic writer. Bruce introduced it as the greatest song ever written about our country.
And perhaps this song, and the verses they sang, were more appropriate than many realized at the time. One commentator noted almost immediately that Bruce and Pete included one verse that often gets left out when the song gets sung at schools and in other settings:
"In the squares of the city – In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office – I see my people
And some are grumblin’ and some are wonderin’
If this land’s still made for you and me."
Mike Kazan, the guy who first noted this, goes on to say, "I bet Pete was thinking, “This is the way Woody wrote it and so I’m going to make sure the whole country hears it.”
Maybe so.
Certainly gave me a smile. Given all the crap he's had to put up with in his life, I would dearly love to know what Pete Seeger is thinking about all of this.
And so, when taken together, perhaps the verse from Amy's song and the verse from this classic Woody Guthrie standard provide the appropriate sense of both historical optimism and the call to continue the journey of justice?
Yes, on this day we should remember all those who could only sit or walk, in the hopes that one day others could run and fly.
But in these challenging economic times, we must not forget that many are still "wondrin' if this land's still made for you and me."
Optimism and Hope.
A call for continuing justice and change.
Not a bad message on this particular MLK Day.
Leave it to folk music to frame it for us.
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Yes We Can
Nov/05/2008 07:48 AM
This morning, I am drawn back to a video from early
in the campaign, and the words of President-Elect
Obama...
(Read the rest. Click here)
(Read the rest. Click here)
What We Need to Hear After the Election
Nov/04/2008 08:27 AM
Just dropped my daughter off at school. And there I
took a brief peek at the election underway. The front
sidewalk has sprouted dozens of signs for local
candidates. There were even a few workers out for the
two statehouse candidates from our district.
The school is clearly braced for a huge turnout. They moved voting to the gym this year, and seem to have doubled the number of voting machines and volunteers. The PTA is having a bake sale (we contributed banana bread) and there are even volunteers helping people navigate the parking lots. But, thus far, turnout seems to be fairly LIGHT. At least, that's what my pollworker friend told me just now...and it seemed to be the truth from my observation. Perhaps with the increased number of machines and manpower, it just seems smoother? Time will tell...
This election been the longest and most expensive presidential campaign in history. Today, the voters are speaking. Tonight, barring the reappearance of the "hanging chad" or equivalent spoiler, we should have a result.
Whether your favorite candidate wins or loses, it seems to me there are words we all should expect from the mouths of both candidates.
Below, I take my best shot at presidential speechwriting, and suggest some things we Americans most need to hear.
(Read the rest. Click here)
The school is clearly braced for a huge turnout. They moved voting to the gym this year, and seem to have doubled the number of voting machines and volunteers. The PTA is having a bake sale (we contributed banana bread) and there are even volunteers helping people navigate the parking lots. But, thus far, turnout seems to be fairly LIGHT. At least, that's what my pollworker friend told me just now...and it seemed to be the truth from my observation. Perhaps with the increased number of machines and manpower, it just seems smoother? Time will tell...
This election been the longest and most expensive presidential campaign in history. Today, the voters are speaking. Tonight, barring the reappearance of the "hanging chad" or equivalent spoiler, we should have a result.
Whether your favorite candidate wins or loses, it seems to me there are words we all should expect from the mouths of both candidates.
Below, I take my best shot at presidential speechwriting, and suggest some things we Americans most need to hear.
(Read the rest. Click here)
Why Did McCain Pick Palin?
Aug/30/2008 11:44 AM
I mean the above question this way:
What does this pick say about his
judgement?
It's an important question, because for months McCain's been crowing about how judgment and experience are important. So, given what we know --or rather, what we don't know-- about Sarah Palin, why this person? why this woman? and why right now?
The reason I ask is that the more I learn about her, the less I understand the answers. (Read the rest. Click here)
It's an important question, because for months McCain's been crowing about how judgment and experience are important. So, given what we know --or rather, what we don't know-- about Sarah Palin, why this person? why this woman? and why right now?
The reason I ask is that the more I learn about her, the less I understand the answers. (Read the rest. Click here)
"He's The Best I've Ever Seen"
Aug/29/2008 01:49 PM
Last night was historic in many ways. Many of those
ways have been duly noted in papers and
blogs
around the nation today.
But last night was historic in one intensely personal way too. It marked the first, and only, time in my entire life that my favorite candidate for President actually came away with his/her party's nomination.
I've been a political junkie for years. Never before, in all my years, have I backed the right horse right from the starting gate.
Back in 2005, Dennise and I got something perhaps a lot of other folks didn't get: an early, albeit brief, glimpse at the phenomenon that was to become Barack Obama.
I write this blog today not to endorse a candidate, since neither Dennise nor I ever would ever do that. But I'd like to tell you about that brief meeting, why I believe Obama won the nomination, and why --discounting the genuine novelty of actually being *right* for once-- I am not surprised he is the Democratic nominee.
(Read the rest. Click here)
But last night was historic in one intensely personal way too. It marked the first, and only, time in my entire life that my favorite candidate for President actually came away with his/her party's nomination.
I've been a political junkie for years. Never before, in all my years, have I backed the right horse right from the starting gate.
Back in 2005, Dennise and I got something perhaps a lot of other folks didn't get: an early, albeit brief, glimpse at the phenomenon that was to become Barack Obama.
I write this blog today not to endorse a candidate, since neither Dennise nor I ever would ever do that. But I'd like to tell you about that brief meeting, why I believe Obama won the nomination, and why --discounting the genuine novelty of actually being *right* for once-- I am not surprised he is the Democratic nominee.
(Read the rest. Click here)
How to Save $13,636 While Driving 100,000 Miles
Aug/23/2008 06:38 PM
Did I get your attention with that headline?
Hope so.
Because I'm not kidding, and I've done the math to prove it. I am about to tell you how Dennise and I saved $13,636 by driving 100,000 miles.
Let me raise the stakes.
Driving that same 100,000 miles, we also reduced dangerous greenhouse gases by 78,875 pounds, roughly the equivalent of a highly polluting car's five-year output.
"Wait," you say, "there must be catch. This is like one of those commercials on late-night TV, right? Nobody gives you money for driving a car. Nobody saves greenhouse gases by driving that much."
Ah, dear reader, but that's where you'd be wrong. Because you see, there's a very simple answer to how it's very, very possible...possible for just about anyone, really.
The answer is this: You can drive 100,000 miles, save $13,636, and eliminate the greenhouse gases equivalent to the average car all by doing one simple thing:
Drive a Toyota Prius.
(Read the rest. Click here)
Hope so.
Because I'm not kidding, and I've done the math to prove it. I am about to tell you how Dennise and I saved $13,636 by driving 100,000 miles.
Let me raise the stakes.
Driving that same 100,000 miles, we also reduced dangerous greenhouse gases by 78,875 pounds, roughly the equivalent of a highly polluting car's five-year output.
"Wait," you say, "there must be catch. This is like one of those commercials on late-night TV, right? Nobody gives you money for driving a car. Nobody saves greenhouse gases by driving that much."
Ah, dear reader, but that's where you'd be wrong. Because you see, there's a very simple answer to how it's very, very possible...possible for just about anyone, really.
The answer is this: You can drive 100,000 miles, save $13,636, and eliminate the greenhouse gases equivalent to the average car all by doing one simple thing:
Drive a Toyota Prius.
(Read the rest. Click here)
Obama's Plane (An Impressive, Mid-Campaign Smear)
Aug/07/2008 08:31 AM
As some readers know, every so often I get an email
smear that is so over-the-top, I feel the need to
correct it here. I did it a couple of months ago,
with an email that, incredulously, claimed more
soldiers had died under Clinton and Carter than under
President Bush. Of course, it wasn't true. And if you
missed that entry,
knock yourself out.
The mid-season smear-de-jour (does that make me sound too French?) is about Obama's airplane, and the ominous and unpatriotic assertion that he painted over an American flag.
But as with every email smear, just because something is literally true doesn't mean you have the whole context. And so, I'd like to give it to you. (Context, that is...) (Read the rest. Click here)
The mid-season smear-de-jour (does that make me sound too French?) is about Obama's airplane, and the ominous and unpatriotic assertion that he painted over an American flag.
But as with every email smear, just because something is literally true doesn't mean you have the whole context. And so, I'd like to give it to you. (Context, that is...) (Read the rest. Click here)
The Demons are Still Legion (The Joseph Dwyer Story)
Jul/30/2008 10:40 PM
Several weeks ago, I
blogged about "the girl in the
picture"
from the Vietnam War, and the improbable story of how
she's overcome her hatred with a powerful and deep
forgiveness.
Days after I posted the blog, I saw a news item about Joseph Dwyer, and I've been haunted by his story ever since. Like Kim Phuc, Joseph Dywer is the subject of a picture that many simply refer to as "the picture." Like Kim Phuc, it's become a seminal picture for people during a time of war.
But unlike the arc of Kim Phuc's story, Army Medic Joseph Dwyer's story finds him home from the war unable to shake his demons, unable to live with being called a "hero," and ultimately unable to cope with life itself. (Read the rest. Click here)
Days after I posted the blog, I saw a news item about Joseph Dwyer, and I've been haunted by his story ever since. Like Kim Phuc, Joseph Dywer is the subject of a picture that many simply refer to as "the picture." Like Kim Phuc, it's become a seminal picture for people during a time of war.
But unlike the arc of Kim Phuc's story, Army Medic Joseph Dwyer's story finds him home from the war unable to shake his demons, unable to live with being called a "hero," and ultimately unable to cope with life itself. (Read the rest. Click here)
What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been
Jun/05/2008 08:12 PM
So it's over.
It's finally over.
Barack Obama has claimed the position of presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party, and Hillary Clinton has now confirmed she'll concede, belatedly, on Saturday.
Those of you who read some of my thoughts from back during my blog "vacation" (January-March) will know that I've been absolutely sure of this outcome for months. Hard as it is for Hillary fans to hear, this outcome has been a virtual certainty since before the Texas/Ohio primaries, and all-but-assured in the immediate aftermath of that March 4th vote.
How can I say this? Just remember: In order to re-take the lead, she needed to win both of those states by 58 percent or better. She didn't. So, by the time Pennsylvania rolled around, she need 65 percent, just to retake the lead. She didn't do that either. By the time Indiana/North Carolina rolled around, that number was well into the 70s, and you know how that turned out. And just before voting concluded last week, it was approaching 90 percent.
The only math that ultimately mattered, delegate math, had been very much against her for months. (Thank you, Chuck Todd) Those who were paying attention to the facts of it knew this. Those who were only paying attention to the spin thought there was still a chance.
Instead of writing a ton of my own thoughts, I'd thought I'd share some of the best of things I've been reading around the Netroots world. (Read the rest. Click here)
It's finally over.
Barack Obama has claimed the position of presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party, and Hillary Clinton has now confirmed she'll concede, belatedly, on Saturday.
Those of you who read some of my thoughts from back during my blog "vacation" (January-March) will know that I've been absolutely sure of this outcome for months. Hard as it is for Hillary fans to hear, this outcome has been a virtual certainty since before the Texas/Ohio primaries, and all-but-assured in the immediate aftermath of that March 4th vote.
How can I say this? Just remember: In order to re-take the lead, she needed to win both of those states by 58 percent or better. She didn't. So, by the time Pennsylvania rolled around, she need 65 percent, just to retake the lead. She didn't do that either. By the time Indiana/North Carolina rolled around, that number was well into the 70s, and you know how that turned out. And just before voting concluded last week, it was approaching 90 percent.
The only math that ultimately mattered, delegate math, had been very much against her for months. (Thank you, Chuck Todd) Those who were paying attention to the facts of it knew this. Those who were only paying attention to the spin thought there was still a chance.
Instead of writing a ton of my own thoughts, I'd thought I'd share some of the best of things I've been reading around the Netroots world. (Read the rest. Click here)
No Joy in Vindication
May/30/2008 09:49 AM
Sometimes there is no joy in vindication.
Sometimes, the stakes are just too high and --even though history proves you right-- there's no joy when you finally get confirmation that you were justified in some strongly held opinion all along.
The Iraq War is like that for me. As someone who, from the very beginning, had grave doubts about its morality, justification, and necessity, it has brought me no joy whatsoever to observer the general public slowly rubbing its eyes, unstopping its ears, and coming to know what I believed from the beginning: that we did had other options available to us beyond the bloody and horrible choice to wage war.
As the years have passed, the fire and vitriol of the beginning of the war --the "Freedom Fries," the Dixie Chicks death threats, the feeling you were a traitor for speaking out-- tends to fade.
It fades in part because, person-by-person, Americans now stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who had our doubts from the beginning. They still may not like Cindy Sheehan. They still may have burned their Dixie Chick CDs. But, quietly and with little fanfair, they have sidled up to us now, heads bowed, anger hushed, soaking up the sadness we felt years ago.
And all of that feels like a slow, steady, vindication for all of us who felt like aliens in our own country for questioning the rush to war.
But every so often, the vindication is especially poignant --even as it is more painful-- because it comes not from the silent majority, but from actual participants in the events themselves.
Scott McClellan was one of those people. And as you've no doubt heard by now, the nation is devouring quotes from his new insider-account of the White House, "What Happened," as if the book might finally contain a morsel that explains the unexplainable, and justifies what we now know has no justification.
As I have often repeated here, I will never get into personal attacks on this President. (And one day I will tell you why) But there are a couple of quotes, from his book and from his media interviews these past few days, that seem to warrant special note, as we look back at the war. (Read the rest. Click here)
Sometimes, the stakes are just too high and --even though history proves you right-- there's no joy when you finally get confirmation that you were justified in some strongly held opinion all along.
The Iraq War is like that for me. As someone who, from the very beginning, had grave doubts about its morality, justification, and necessity, it has brought me no joy whatsoever to observer the general public slowly rubbing its eyes, unstopping its ears, and coming to know what I believed from the beginning: that we did had other options available to us beyond the bloody and horrible choice to wage war.
As the years have passed, the fire and vitriol of the beginning of the war --the "Freedom Fries," the Dixie Chicks death threats, the feeling you were a traitor for speaking out-- tends to fade.
It fades in part because, person-by-person, Americans now stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who had our doubts from the beginning. They still may not like Cindy Sheehan. They still may have burned their Dixie Chick CDs. But, quietly and with little fanfair, they have sidled up to us now, heads bowed, anger hushed, soaking up the sadness we felt years ago.
And all of that feels like a slow, steady, vindication for all of us who felt like aliens in our own country for questioning the rush to war.
But every so often, the vindication is especially poignant --even as it is more painful-- because it comes not from the silent majority, but from actual participants in the events themselves.
Scott McClellan was one of those people. And as you've no doubt heard by now, the nation is devouring quotes from his new insider-account of the White House, "What Happened," as if the book might finally contain a morsel that explains the unexplainable, and justifies what we now know has no justification.
As I have often repeated here, I will never get into personal attacks on this President. (And one day I will tell you why) But there are a couple of quotes, from his book and from his media interviews these past few days, that seem to warrant special note, as we look back at the war. (Read the rest. Click here)
"This, Senator, is too much..."
May/23/2008 11:12 PM
Three Reasons to Love MSNBC
May/16/2008 09:29 AM
We watch MSNBC for most of our news these days. We
watch it each primary night for hours.
We were drawn to MSNBC because of Keith Olbermann and "Countdown." But I'm not even going to mention him here.
Because what we've come to love about their shows is the smartness of all of their pundits....folks like Rachel Maddow on the left, and Pat Buchanan on the right. (Say what you will about him: he's a smart pundit...)
What I love about this network is that they tend to ask tough questions, or seek actual substance over style..something very rare in television news. (Read the rest. Click here)
We were drawn to MSNBC because of Keith Olbermann and "Countdown." But I'm not even going to mention him here.
Because what we've come to love about their shows is the smartness of all of their pundits....folks like Rachel Maddow on the left, and Pat Buchanan on the right. (Say what you will about him: he's a smart pundit...)
What I love about this network is that they tend to ask tough questions, or seek actual substance over style..something very rare in television news. (Read the rest. Click here)
Right on Wright
Apr/30/2008 12:37 AM
Tonight,
Dennise and Maria were watching TV, and some clips of
Rev. Jeremiah Wright came on from his National Press
Club appearance last night. Among other things, these
were clips where he was again blaming the government
for AIDS, and calling American soldiers terrorists.
The following is a mostly verbatim transcription of the conversation that ensued... (Read the rest. Click here)
The following is a mostly verbatim transcription of the conversation that ensued... (Read the rest. Click here)
David LaMotte Gets Spun
Apr/25/2008 09:39 AM
Wanted to blog about this quickly this morning,
because it seems to be breaking on the blogs, and it
involves an actual friend of mine...
David LaMotte is a truly fine songwriter friend from the great city of Asheville, North Carolina. I was overhearing some audio from the Huffington Post this morning, and thought "that voice sounds familiar."
It was. It was David's.
Basically, he got a "push poll" call from the Clinton campaign. I'll let him explain it: (Read the rest. Click here)
David LaMotte is a truly fine songwriter friend from the great city of Asheville, North Carolina. I was overhearing some audio from the Huffington Post this morning, and thought "that voice sounds familiar."
It was. It was David's.
Basically, he got a "push poll" call from the Clinton campaign. I'll let him explain it: (Read the rest. Click here)
What I Always Believed About Saddam
Jan/29/2008 11:59 PM
In the context of early 2008 --with the "Surge"
apparently reducing violence in Iraq, with the US
Economy in the tank, and with everybody fixated on
the presidential primaries as a way to take our minds
off the past seven years --it may well be that nobody
wants to hear any additional analysis of the war, its
causes, or its justifications.
I understand that. But call me crazy, I still believe in that seemingly trite expression: "those who fail to understand the past are doomed to repeat it." And until we can come to terms with this war in brutal honesty, we risk making the same mistakes somewhere down the line.
One of the "lessons" I fear we are accepting about Sadaam Hussein is this: That he was simply a crazy evil dictator, hell-bent on destroying his country and bringing down the wrath of America. (Read the rest. Click here)
I understand that. But call me crazy, I still believe in that seemingly trite expression: "those who fail to understand the past are doomed to repeat it." And until we can come to terms with this war in brutal honesty, we risk making the same mistakes somewhere down the line.
One of the "lessons" I fear we are accepting about Sadaam Hussein is this: That he was simply a crazy evil dictator, hell-bent on destroying his country and bringing down the wrath of America. (Read the rest. Click here)
More on Military Deaths
Jan/22/2008 04:47 PM
A little more on
this blog
from Sunday...
Kim emailed yesterday to ask a good question:
"What are the leading causes of death for each of these years/eras? Is there any data on this?"
Don't know why I didn't stop to ask that question myself. On Sunday, I was in such a hurry to get the blog posted, so shocked by the blatantly incorrect data, that I didn't delve into this slightly deeper question. But it's a good one.
And, turns out, the same report provides the answers...for those willing to look it up. (Read the rest. Click here)
Kim emailed yesterday to ask a good question:
"What are the leading causes of death for each of these years/eras? Is there any data on this?"
Don't know why I didn't stop to ask that question myself. On Sunday, I was in such a hurry to get the blog posted, so shocked by the blatantly incorrect data, that I didn't delve into this slightly deeper question. But it's a good one.
And, turns out, the same report provides the answers...for those willing to look it up. (Read the rest. Click here)
Military Losses for 20 Years....I play at being Snopes.com
Jan/20/2008 07:43 PM
I've written about chain/spam emails before. I've
written about Snopes.com before.
These days I assume everyone knows about both, and that anybody who really wants to be well informed will check stuff out on their own.
But every now and then, an email comes my way that is so wrong, and so un-refuted, that I feel compelled to respond. That happened today, and this blog my reaction. Consider this entry your own personal Snopes.com for the day.
The "issue" is an email I got this morning titled:
"Military Losses for 20 Years"
It was forwarded to me by a cousin of mine who I respect a great deal. No beef with him, in other words. Just a beef with whoever started this insidious chain message.
So that you can truly be informed, I have included the entire email at the end of this blog entry, so you can see the original context for yourself. (Read the rest. Click here)
These days I assume everyone knows about both, and that anybody who really wants to be well informed will check stuff out on their own.
But every now and then, an email comes my way that is so wrong, and so un-refuted, that I feel compelled to respond. That happened today, and this blog my reaction. Consider this entry your own personal Snopes.com for the day.
The "issue" is an email I got this morning titled:
"Military Losses for 20 Years"
It was forwarded to me by a cousin of mine who I respect a great deal. No beef with him, in other words. Just a beef with whoever started this insidious chain message.
So that you can truly be informed, I have included the entire email at the end of this blog entry, so you can see the original context for yourself. (Read the rest. Click here)
American People's Poll on Iraq
Sep/01/2007 12:04 AM
Later today, I will be a part of a large peace rally
planned for downtown Fort Worth. It's called "The
American People's Poll on Iraq," and is set to be an
all day festival featuring music and speakers. I just
looked on their website, and it seems Cindy Sheehan
may be there, along with other Camp Casey
alumns. (Read the rest.
Click here)
Style vs. Substance
Jul/13/2007 11:38 AM
For years, we Americans have enjoyed a love-hate
relationship with our television news anchors. We
trust them to frame the issues of the day and present
us with a snapshot of the world as it is. (Or, at
least, the world as they see it...)
We turn to them again and again in moments of crisis, for information, comfort, and a communal connection with others. In fact, in times of crisis you could argue that TV news anchors draw millions of us together in a way that no other media source --no one else anywhere, really-- can. (Read the rest. Click here)
We turn to them again and again in moments of crisis, for information, comfort, and a communal connection with others. In fact, in times of crisis you could argue that TV news anchors draw millions of us together in a way that no other media source --no one else anywhere, really-- can. (Read the rest. Click here)
The First Mother's Day
May/13/2007 02:37 PM
Hope you're having a good Mother's Day today.
Did you know, however, that the very first Mother's Day in America was not a day for flowers or Hallmark Cards? It was not a day of champagne brunches and long distance phone calls.
The very first Mother's Day in America was visioned as a day for Mother's to call for an end to war. The first Mother's Day was an anti-war protest. (Read the rest. Click here)
Did you know, however, that the very first Mother's Day in America was not a day for flowers or Hallmark Cards? It was not a day of champagne brunches and long distance phone calls.
The very first Mother's Day in America was visioned as a day for Mother's to call for an end to war. The first Mother's Day was an anti-war protest. (Read the rest. Click here)
What about This General?
May/10/2007 07:38 AM
The President listens to the troops...the men and
women on the ground?
Yes, it's a question. And the longer the war goes, the more I wonder about it
For example, how about these?
Is that ad too connected with Wesley Clark to be convincing? Still doesn't include someone "on the ground" from Iraq?
OK, then. What about this General?
I'm no Army expert, but reading his title in the ad, I'm pretty sure that this was a guy with his boots on the ground.
Still too partisan?
OK, then. What about the 11 Republican members of congress who visited the President yesterday? Among other things, they apparently said this:
"Participants in Tuesday's White House meeting said frustration about the Iraqi government's efforts dominated the conversation, with one pleading with the president to stop the Iraqi parliament from going on vacation while "our sons and daughters spill their blood." The House members pressed Bush and Gates hard for a "Plan B" if the current troop increase fails to quell the violence and push along political reconciliation."
"...Others warned Bush that his personal credibility on the war is all but gone."
So, if he's not listening to these troops, these generals, or these Republican members of congress, who is he listening to?
Yes, it's a question. And the longer the war goes, the more I wonder about it
For example, how about these?
Is that ad too connected with Wesley Clark to be convincing? Still doesn't include someone "on the ground" from Iraq?
OK, then. What about this General?
I'm no Army expert, but reading his title in the ad, I'm pretty sure that this was a guy with his boots on the ground.
Still too partisan?
OK, then. What about the 11 Republican members of congress who visited the President yesterday? Among other things, they apparently said this:
"Participants in Tuesday's White House meeting said frustration about the Iraqi government's efforts dominated the conversation, with one pleading with the president to stop the Iraqi parliament from going on vacation while "our sons and daughters spill their blood." The House members pressed Bush and Gates hard for a "Plan B" if the current troop increase fails to quell the violence and push along political reconciliation."
"...Others warned Bush that his personal credibility on the war is all but gone."
So, if he's not listening to these troops, these generals, or these Republican members of congress, who is he listening to?
When There Are No Answers
Apr/17/2007 08:07 AM
Sometimes, when a horrible tragedy happens, there are
simply no good answers. Or, if there are, it takes
weeks --if not months-- for them to emerge.
This morning, I am thinking, of course, of the shocking events at Virginia Tech yesterday. And it strikes me that the one thing we know is that we don't know very much.
But despite all we don't know, as usual, there has been an immediate rush-to-judgment; especially by the media.
When things like this happen, there is a natural human reaction to want to regain control, and to regain it immediately. Each one of us has our own natural responses that help us feel as if we have regained control again. Each of us has a natural desire to do something to be helpful (Read the rest. Click here)
This morning, I am thinking, of course, of the shocking events at Virginia Tech yesterday. And it strikes me that the one thing we know is that we don't know very much.
But despite all we don't know, as usual, there has been an immediate rush-to-judgment; especially by the media.
When things like this happen, there is a natural human reaction to want to regain control, and to regain it immediately. Each one of us has our own natural responses that help us feel as if we have regained control again. Each of us has a natural desire to do something to be helpful (Read the rest. Click here)
Election Night 2006
Nov/22/2006 07:44 PM
On the day
after early voting ended, I decided to do a little
analysis of the vote, based on a quick and dirty
formula I personally devised. You should know that I
am not the best "detail" person in the world. I don't
do trees very well. But I do forests exquisitely.
So, I took the 20-some early voting locations, and I assigned a specific percentage of the vote to each one of them...a percentage, based on my opinion of how the vote in that early voting location would break down, Republican vs. Democratic. It was a "SWAG." Obviously, for more traditionally Republican areas, the percentages favored the Republicans more. Vice versa for more traditionally Democratic parts of town. For those areas where it's not so clear, I made some additional assumptions. (I'm not going to tell you my exact formula. Would Colonel Sanders tell you the "Original Recipe?")
When I took the early vote count total for all these voting locations, ran it through my little quick-and-dirty formula, then figured the percentage of votes, I determined that the early vote, party-wise, was breaking out something like this: (Read the rest. Click here)
So, I took the 20-some early voting locations, and I assigned a specific percentage of the vote to each one of them...a percentage, based on my opinion of how the vote in that early voting location would break down, Republican vs. Democratic. It was a "SWAG." Obviously, for more traditionally Republican areas, the percentages favored the Republicans more. Vice versa for more traditionally Democratic parts of town. For those areas where it's not so clear, I made some additional assumptions. (I'm not going to tell you my exact formula. Would Colonel Sanders tell you the "Original Recipe?")
When I took the early vote count total for all these voting locations, ran it through my little quick-and-dirty formula, then figured the percentage of votes, I determined that the early vote, party-wise, was breaking out something like this: (Read the rest. Click here)
Why Democrats Won in Dallas County
Nov/22/2006 07:42 PM
Many people
have already written about the Democrat's win in
Dallas County. Here is a very good essay by Ken
Molberg that covers much of
the same ground that I will here. I think Ken is
quite right in almost everything he says.
(UPDATE (12.16.06): The Lone Star Project has now released their own report on these elections in Dallas County. And they have analyzed the actual voting data to an extent that others, including me, have not. They reach many of the same conclusions that I do in this essay, only they've crunched actual numbers from the election. Here's a pdf of their report.)
First off, this: Anyone who says they know definitively why the Democrats won Dallas County, but does not give you multiple reasons for the electoral wins, doesn't know what they're talking about. The roots of this electoral victory are deep and the shifts in Dallas County are complex. In my opinion, many of the old ways of analyzing the vote --where voters come from, who they vote for, and what their politics are-- will not hold in the future. And if you want to understand what did happen November 7th, and what will happen in Dallas County in future elections, you must look to at least three major factors: (Read the rest. Click here)
(UPDATE (12.16.06): The Lone Star Project has now released their own report on these elections in Dallas County. And they have analyzed the actual voting data to an extent that others, including me, have not. They reach many of the same conclusions that I do in this essay, only they've crunched actual numbers from the election. Here's a pdf of their report.)
First off, this: Anyone who says they know definitively why the Democrats won Dallas County, but does not give you multiple reasons for the electoral wins, doesn't know what they're talking about. The roots of this electoral victory are deep and the shifts in Dallas County are complex. In my opinion, many of the old ways of analyzing the vote --where voters come from, who they vote for, and what their politics are-- will not hold in the future. And if you want to understand what did happen November 7th, and what will happen in Dallas County in future elections, you must look to at least three major factors: (Read the rest. Click here)
Free Speech and Our Elections
Nov/22/2006 04:38 PM
The following
stories are ones I have waited to share for two
years. Each of them happened during the campaign of
2004, when my wife originally ran for judge in Dallas
County. I did not share them until now, because in no
way did I want to affect (positively or negatively)
her election campaign this year. But I now feel
somewhat freer to share the following true stories.
Political signs get stolen. It happens. They get taken down. You have to put them back up. It happens a lot. You can't attribute every time a sign goes missing to some malicious intent. But sometimes you can. Each of these stories come from the 2004 campaign: (Read the rest. Click here)
Political signs get stolen. It happens. They get taken down. You have to put them back up. It happens a lot. You can't attribute every time a sign goes missing to some malicious intent. But sometimes you can. Each of these stories come from the 2004 campaign: (Read the rest. Click here)
Why We Should Elect Judges
Nov/22/2006 04:36 PM
In the days
after the election, everyone from Republican
partisans to Steve Blow raised up a clarion call
we've heard before:
Why do we elect judges? Isn't there a better way?
Well, in short, there may be a better way to elect judges, but there is not a better way to get judges than through elections. As Churchill once said of democracy: It's not perfect, but it's better than all the other options.
The truth is, there really are only two good options:
1) Elections of some sort.
2) Appointments of some sort.
And while there are flaws to the first method, there are grave problems with the second. (Read the rest. Click here)
Why do we elect judges? Isn't there a better way?
Well, in short, there may be a better way to elect judges, but there is not a better way to get judges than through elections. As Churchill once said of democracy: It's not perfect, but it's better than all the other options.
The truth is, there really are only two good options:
1) Elections of some sort.
2) Appointments of some sort.
And while there are flaws to the first method, there are grave problems with the second. (Read the rest. Click here)
Judge Dennise Garcia Video
Oct/23/2006 01:22 AM
Wanted to
give you a heads up about the new campaign video from
my wife, Judge Dennise Garcia. It's a website video,
intended for you to:
1) watch for yourself, and then
2) send off to your friends with a note about Dennise and why they should vote for her.
Click here to watch the video. (Read the rest. Click here)
1) watch for yourself, and then
2) send off to your friends with a note about Dennise and why they should vote for her.
Click here to watch the video. (Read the rest. Click here)
Yard Signs: We've Got 'Em, and You Need One.
Sep/27/2006 11:34 PM
The
Re-Elect Judge Dennise Garcia
campaign continues to roll
along through September. The big push this month
for the Judge is to attend a lot of campaign
events. The big push for her many volunteers and
friends has been to get out the yard signs.
Several of you have told me that you have seen Judge Garcia's large 4x4 signs around town. And, in fact, there are a lot of them around town. In fact, we've sorta lost count, because so many folks are taking them and putting them up themselves. We estimate that there are probably 70-80 throughout Dallas County.
The campaign website is getting requests for regular sized yardsigns almost every single day. In fact, even with all our volunteers, it's getting hard to keep up with the demand.
And so, we've arranged for friends around the city to help out by keeping some on their porch. In fact, you can now pick up a yard sign at one of fifteen convenient locations scattered throughout Dallas County. To find a location near you, click here. (Read the rest. Click here)
Several of you have told me that you have seen Judge Garcia's large 4x4 signs around town. And, in fact, there are a lot of them around town. In fact, we've sorta lost count, because so many folks are taking them and putting them up themselves. We estimate that there are probably 70-80 throughout Dallas County.
The campaign website is getting requests for regular sized yardsigns almost every single day. In fact, even with all our volunteers, it's getting hard to keep up with the demand.
And so, we've arranged for friends around the city to help out by keeping some on their porch. In fact, you can now pick up a yard sign at one of fifteen convenient locations scattered throughout Dallas County. To find a location near you, click here. (Read the rest. Click here)
Judge Garcia Gets the Dallas Morning News Endorsement
Sep/18/2006 08:38 AM
The buttons
are popping off my shirt today, and not because I
haven't been exercising.
This morning, the Dallas Morning News has come out with it's editorial endorsements for the Family District Courts in Dallas County. My favorite Judge, Dennise Garcia, gets the nod for her court, the 303rd State District Court.
Every now and then, I brag about her on this blog. But, being married to her, you'd expect that, right?
So, why not take the word of Dallas' leading newspaper instead?
Here's what they said about her: (Read the rest. Click here)
This morning, the Dallas Morning News has come out with it's editorial endorsements for the Family District Courts in Dallas County. My favorite Judge, Dennise Garcia, gets the nod for her court, the 303rd State District Court.
Every now and then, I brag about her on this blog. But, being married to her, you'd expect that, right?
So, why not take the word of Dallas' leading newspaper instead?
Here's what they said about her: (Read the rest. Click here)
Five Years Later: Remembering the hole in my heart, and the question on my mind
Sep/11/2006 11:34 PM
Last night,
Dennise and I watched a 911 documentary on CBS. If
you haven't seen it, I highly recommend
it. It's from two French
film-makers who, in the summer of 2001 shadowed a
FDNY unit in an attempt to tell the story of a
"rookie's coming of age." But late that summer, on
the morning of September 11th, they just happened
to be out filming a routine call --a report of a
gas leak-- when a plane flew overhead, slammed
into the World Trade Center, and they found
themselves as ground-zero videographers for the
worst day in our nation's history.
(Read the rest. Click
here)
Connecting the Dots on the Cost of Immigrants
Aug/25/2006 10:13 AM
I'm back
to writing on immigration issues
again. And I'm not here
tell you that migrant workers don't cost the
American economy. I'm sure they do. Every adult in
this country costs the economy something.
But if we are going to have a proper debate about the
costs of migrant workers to our economy, then we also
need to look at what they contribute
to our
economy too.
This is an issue I've discussed before, but it came back to me this week because of two stories in the Dallas Morning News. The first story appeared on Tuesday, and while it was supposed to have been a story on how Parkland Hospital is petitioning the Federal Government for reimbursement of medical costs to migrant workers, the headline screamed something different:
"Migrant care costing millions: Parkland says price for nonemergency services tops $22M for year"
(online edition, registration required for all links in this blog)
The second story that caught my eye ran the very next day. The story was, ostensibly, about the burgeoning black market for identity papers, such as Social Security numbers. But buried in this story about a swell in black market papers, was a fact that should have caught everyone's attention: Migrant workers have paid billions of dollars in taxes to the federal government.
My point in juxtaposing these two stories --from the same newspaper on back-to-back days-- is that to have an honest debate about immigration, we must first be honest about what immigrants contribute to our economy. We've got to connect the dots between what migrant workers cost our economy/government, and what they contribute to our economy/government. And the truth is: they pay more in taxes than we give them credit for. (Read the rest. Click here)
This is an issue I've discussed before, but it came back to me this week because of two stories in the Dallas Morning News. The first story appeared on Tuesday, and while it was supposed to have been a story on how Parkland Hospital is petitioning the Federal Government for reimbursement of medical costs to migrant workers, the headline screamed something different:
"Migrant care costing millions: Parkland says price for nonemergency services tops $22M for year"
(online edition, registration required for all links in this blog)
The second story that caught my eye ran the very next day. The story was, ostensibly, about the burgeoning black market for identity papers, such as Social Security numbers. But buried in this story about a swell in black market papers, was a fact that should have caught everyone's attention: Migrant workers have paid billions of dollars in taxes to the federal government.
My point in juxtaposing these two stories --from the same newspaper on back-to-back days-- is that to have an honest debate about immigration, we must first be honest about what immigrants contribute to our economy. We've got to connect the dots between what migrant workers cost our economy/government, and what they contribute to our economy/government. And the truth is: they pay more in taxes than we give them credit for. (Read the rest. Click here)
Questions that Keep My Up at Night (After a Foiled Terrorist Plot)
Aug/11/2006 10:35 PM
This week,
the world has been gripped by a foiled terrorist plot
in England. Score of media outlets are reporting an
evil plan that might have involved at least a dozen
planes headed for the United States from Europe. By
all accounts, if hatched, this plot would have been
horrendous.
This week, this story screams at us through headlines and breaking news alerts. And as we inch close to the fifth-year anniversary of 911-- certain "what if" questions creep back into our heads. We begin to think:
"What if" this attack had actually happened?
"What if" there are more of their cohorts still out there plotting right now?
Like they did after 911, our minds begin to race with these "what ifs." And the media is all-too eager to help us feed these racing and paranoid thoughts with the constant barrage of the 24-hour news channels; reminding us of just how bad it might have been.
Well, I guess I'm weird. Because this morning I am not preoccupied with "what if" questions. I know that such attacks are still being planned, and that doesn't surprise me. Nor would it surprise me to learn that those captured have friends still out there busily plotting away. I am not asking "what if?" questions.
I find that I'm still asking still unanswered "why?" questions.
Like these:
Why is our "Homeland Security" Department wasting so much money?
Why have we not caught Osama Bin Laden?
And why are we still fighting a War in Iraq that has nothing to do with stopping terrorist attacks like this one?
These are my major questions, and I hope you will consider them with me... (Read the rest. Click here)
This week, this story screams at us through headlines and breaking news alerts. And as we inch close to the fifth-year anniversary of 911-- certain "what if" questions creep back into our heads. We begin to think:
"What if" this attack had actually happened?
"What if" there are more of their cohorts still out there plotting right now?
Like they did after 911, our minds begin to race with these "what ifs." And the media is all-too eager to help us feed these racing and paranoid thoughts with the constant barrage of the 24-hour news channels; reminding us of just how bad it might have been.
Well, I guess I'm weird. Because this morning I am not preoccupied with "what if" questions. I know that such attacks are still being planned, and that doesn't surprise me. Nor would it surprise me to learn that those captured have friends still out there busily plotting away. I am not asking "what if?" questions.
I find that I'm still asking still unanswered "why?" questions.
Like these:
Why is our "Homeland Security" Department wasting so much money?
Why have we not caught Osama Bin Laden?
And why are we still fighting a War in Iraq that has nothing to do with stopping terrorist attacks like this one?
These are my major questions, and I hope you will consider them with me... (Read the rest. Click here)
The Lack of Leadership on Fuel Economy
May/06/2006 11:13 AM
The Dallas
Morning News is featuring a really good investigative
story today about the kinds of cars our elected
members of Congress from North Texas drive. You will
remember that last week I posted a long rant about the
importance of Hybrid Cars. I that rant, I
wondered aloud why our elected leaders are not
jumping on the bandwagon for great fuel efficiency
and Hybrid Cars.
As this story shows, part of the reason is that the bandwagons they drive personally mostly get less than 20 MPG.
Here's a comparison chart of the mileage our congressional delegation get from their cars: (Read the rest. Click here)
As this story shows, part of the reason is that the bandwagons they drive personally mostly get less than 20 MPG.
Here's a comparison chart of the mileage our congressional delegation get from their cars: (Read the rest. Click here)
Three Years Ago Today
May/01/2006 11:11 AM
"Shock and Awe"
by Neil Young
Back in the days of "mission accomplished"
Our chief was landing on the deck
The sun was setting on a golden photo op
Back in the days of "mission accomplished"
Thousands of bodies in the ground
Brought home in boxes to a trumpet's sound
No one sees them coming home that way
Thousands buried in the ground
Thousands of children scarred for life
Millions of tears for a soldier's wife
Both sides are losing now
Heaven takes them in
Thousands of children scarred for life
We had a chance to change our mind
But somehow wisdom was hard to find
We went with what we knew and now we can't go back
But we had a chance to change our mind.
Shock and Awe, Copyright Neil Young. (Read the rest. Click here)
Hybid Cars (You Need to Get You One)
Apr/28/2006 10:10 PM
Disclaimer: I
am not
unbiased
about Hybrid Cars. I have drunk deeply from the
Hybrid-hype Kool Aid. I am a Hybrid evangelist. If
Hybrid owners had a religion, I would be a
Scientologist.
All that said, my message today is very simple: you need to get you one of 'em.
See, I know that loses me instant credibility among some of you, because you'd like me to be a little less passionate, and little more logical, about it. I know that.
Sorry, I just can't. And I know that what I am about to say in these next few sentences will also lose me even more credibility with some of you. But I feel compelled to say it.
So, here it is:
...If you really want to fight the war on terror...
...If you really want to help the environment...
...If you really want to save some serious gas-money...
Get you a Hybrid car.
I can back up this evangelical zeal with a combination of facts and personal testimony (an attempt to appear to both the thinkers and feelers among you) and I'd like to share all of it with you now...
(Read the rest. Click here)
All that said, my message today is very simple: you need to get you one of 'em.
See, I know that loses me instant credibility among some of you, because you'd like me to be a little less passionate, and little more logical, about it. I know that.
Sorry, I just can't. And I know that what I am about to say in these next few sentences will also lose me even more credibility with some of you. But I feel compelled to say it.
So, here it is:
...If you really want to fight the war on terror...
...If you really want to help the environment...
...If you really want to save some serious gas-money...
Get you a Hybrid car.
I can back up this evangelical zeal with a combination of facts and personal testimony (an attempt to appear to both the thinkers and feelers among you) and I'd like to share all of it with you now...
(Read the rest. Click here)
Immigration Misinformation
Apr/25/2006 11:09 AM
A follow up
to my writing on the
MegaMarch...
A lot of email friends forward me "chain" emails. Often, they are harmless (and sometimes very funny) jokes.Sometimes, they are heart-wrenching stories of little children in need of kidney dialysis. And, now and then, they are political treatises, begging me to understand an issue more and pass the email along to others.
Experience has taught me that, except for the jokes, many of these email-chain messages are complete fabrications. They are faux-heartrending-stories about fictional children. They take sometimes real quotes from sometimes real people, and either embellish them or take them out of context.
The reason I am writing about this today is that last week I got an email that was allegedly about the recent immigration rallies across the country. It purported to be a series of quotes from Latino/a leaders that, taken at face valued seemed very incendiary. The implication of the email was that these quote were given in the context of the recent nation-wide rallies, and that they signified the sentiments of those who attended. Because I what I will say below, I will not reprint the quotes here.
But, as I said, the collection of quotes was quite inflammatory. Even I, as a friend to many a Latino/a person, was concerned as I read the email. There's just one problem: every single quote appears to be taken out of context and misconstrued to stir up fear among white people. Some of the quotes cannot be verified by any independent source, and those that do appear to be accurate are from a completely different historical time and place...
These days, when I get these emails, unless they are the harmless jokes type I always turn to the website, Snopes.com. This is, in my opinion, one of the best online repositories for understanding "urban legends." An "urban legend" is a tale that takes on almost mythic proportions sometimes, but is almost always untrue.
For example, perhaps you have gotten the email that says that Bill Gates/and or/AOL is giving away money to folks who forward an email. The Snopes.com folks have shown that this claim is false.
Once upon a time, I also got an email that said Target stores "do not support veterans." The email also said that Target was owned by the French, and cuts off benefits to reservists who are called to active duty. Once again, Snopes.com was able to show that all these allegations are false.
A lot of these internet rumors get spread during political campaigns. For example, during the last presidential campaign, there was picture floating around that purported to show John Kerry and Jane Fonda on stage at an anti-war rally in the 1960s. But, as you can see from this Snopes investigation, the picture was a complete fabrication.
Such ugly rumors have also made the rounds on the internet concerning George Bush too. For example, there was a rumor circulating by email some years back that George Bush's house in Dallas (in Preston Hollow, literally about ten streets south of where I lived as a kid...) had a "deed restriction" on it that would not allow him to sell it to a black family...and that he supported this restriction.
The truth was far differrent:
Yes, Bush's house did have such a restriction on it in the 1930s when such racist restrictions were considered legal. (Fifty other houses in that 300 house subdivision also had them...).
But, no, such a restriction was not valid today, nor did Bush support it (or even know about it) until somebody mentioned it to him. Read about it here.
Well, the point of all this is to strongly encourage you (as strongly as I can) to always check out email rumors before passing them along....and especially before believing them. Like I said, a short trip to Snopes.com can often settle the question for you, and you won't be guilty of passing on erroneous, or even intentionally false information, to others.
So, as I said, last week I got a forwarded email about the recent immigration rallies. Because, as I will state below, I believe the email to be a dangerous gloss of the real facts, I will not reprint it here. Sufficed to say that it was a collection of quotes from various Hispanic leaders. The implication was clearly left that these quotes were recent, and that they were given in the context of the large rallies that have taken place all over the country.
It took Snopes.com about a week do so some research on these quotes. And what they have found is that in fact...
1) some of them are true...
2) some of them cannot be verified as true
3) ALL of them are taken out of context.
Virtually all of these quotes come from the 1990s, not 2006, and were a part of the debate in California over Proposition 187. You may recall that this was an incredibly controversial ballot initiative in California. It was passed, but it was later overturned by the courts. Some of the other things that are alleged in the email also happened; but are, again, taken out of context.
The facts are that the recent immigration protests were incredibly peaceful...in both word and deed. If you have not done so, please read my own summary of my experience at the Dallas rally. Half a million people converged on downtown, and there was not ONE arrest. That should tell you something.
Hopefully, it tells you that the event was peaceful. Hopefully, it tells you that the kind of harsh rhetoric cited in this email is of another time and place.
And even it if WAS of this time and place, hopefully you the reader are smart enough to know that the thoughts of a few radical leaders cannot possibly sum up all the beliefs of 500,000 marchers!!!
You can read Snopes' research on this topic here.
So, you have to ask yourself the question: why was this email created, why is being circulated, and why is it all happening NOW?
The answer: to try to make white people afraid.
Whoever created this email knows that many Anglos are justifiably shocked by the sheer size of these immigration protests. (most people of all colors are..) Perhaps they are even a little fearful about whether such crowds might get out of control, or cause mass social chaos. Whoever created this email knows all of this. And so, they have taken some truths, some falsehoods, and a lot of things out of context, and created a potent dose of FEAR.
Please, do not buy it. Please, do not forward it to others.
Please remember: 500,000 protesters. Not ONE arrest.
Please remember: A sea of white shirts, intended to symbolize peace.
Please remember: More American flags than I have ever seen in my life.
Please remember: Chants of "USA, USA!!!"
The immigration issue is being raised NOW to try and incite white people to be afraid.
This damaging email was created for the exact same reason.
Don't buy it.
A lot of email friends forward me "chain" emails. Often, they are harmless (and sometimes very funny) jokes.Sometimes, they are heart-wrenching stories of little children in need of kidney dialysis. And, now and then, they are political treatises, begging me to understand an issue more and pass the email along to others.
Experience has taught me that, except for the jokes, many of these email-chain messages are complete fabrications. They are faux-heartrending-stories about fictional children. They take sometimes real quotes from sometimes real people, and either embellish them or take them out of context.
The reason I am writing about this today is that last week I got an email that was allegedly about the recent immigration rallies across the country. It purported to be a series of quotes from Latino/a leaders that, taken at face valued seemed very incendiary. The implication of the email was that these quote were given in the context of the recent nation-wide rallies, and that they signified the sentiments of those who attended. Because I what I will say below, I will not reprint the quotes here.
But, as I said, the collection of quotes was quite inflammatory. Even I, as a friend to many a Latino/a person, was concerned as I read the email. There's just one problem: every single quote appears to be taken out of context and misconstrued to stir up fear among white people. Some of the quotes cannot be verified by any independent source, and those that do appear to be accurate are from a completely different historical time and place...
These days, when I get these emails, unless they are the harmless jokes type I always turn to the website, Snopes.com. This is, in my opinion, one of the best online repositories for understanding "urban legends." An "urban legend" is a tale that takes on almost mythic proportions sometimes, but is almost always untrue.
For example, perhaps you have gotten the email that says that Bill Gates/and or/AOL is giving away money to folks who forward an email. The Snopes.com folks have shown that this claim is false.
Once upon a time, I also got an email that said Target stores "do not support veterans." The email also said that Target was owned by the French, and cuts off benefits to reservists who are called to active duty. Once again, Snopes.com was able to show that all these allegations are false.
A lot of these internet rumors get spread during political campaigns. For example, during the last presidential campaign, there was picture floating around that purported to show John Kerry and Jane Fonda on stage at an anti-war rally in the 1960s. But, as you can see from this Snopes investigation, the picture was a complete fabrication.
Such ugly rumors have also made the rounds on the internet concerning George Bush too. For example, there was a rumor circulating by email some years back that George Bush's house in Dallas (in Preston Hollow, literally about ten streets south of where I lived as a kid...) had a "deed restriction" on it that would not allow him to sell it to a black family...and that he supported this restriction.
The truth was far differrent:
Yes, Bush's house did have such a restriction on it in the 1930s when such racist restrictions were considered legal. (Fifty other houses in that 300 house subdivision also had them...).
But, no, such a restriction was not valid today, nor did Bush support it (or even know about it) until somebody mentioned it to him. Read about it here.
Well, the point of all this is to strongly encourage you (as strongly as I can) to always check out email rumors before passing them along....and especially before believing them. Like I said, a short trip to Snopes.com can often settle the question for you, and you won't be guilty of passing on erroneous, or even intentionally false information, to others.
So, as I said, last week I got a forwarded email about the recent immigration rallies. Because, as I will state below, I believe the email to be a dangerous gloss of the real facts, I will not reprint it here. Sufficed to say that it was a collection of quotes from various Hispanic leaders. The implication was clearly left that these quotes were recent, and that they were given in the context of the large rallies that have taken place all over the country.
It took Snopes.com about a week do so some research on these quotes. And what they have found is that in fact...
1) some of them are true...
2) some of them cannot be verified as true
3) ALL of them are taken out of context.
Virtually all of these quotes come from the 1990s, not 2006, and were a part of the debate in California over Proposition 187. You may recall that this was an incredibly controversial ballot initiative in California. It was passed, but it was later overturned by the courts. Some of the other things that are alleged in the email also happened; but are, again, taken out of context.
The facts are that the recent immigration protests were incredibly peaceful...in both word and deed. If you have not done so, please read my own summary of my experience at the Dallas rally. Half a million people converged on downtown, and there was not ONE arrest. That should tell you something.
Hopefully, it tells you that the event was peaceful. Hopefully, it tells you that the kind of harsh rhetoric cited in this email is of another time and place.
And even it if WAS of this time and place, hopefully you the reader are smart enough to know that the thoughts of a few radical leaders cannot possibly sum up all the beliefs of 500,000 marchers!!!
You can read Snopes' research on this topic here.
So, you have to ask yourself the question: why was this email created, why is being circulated, and why is it all happening NOW?
The answer: to try to make white people afraid.
Whoever created this email knows that many Anglos are justifiably shocked by the sheer size of these immigration protests. (most people of all colors are..) Perhaps they are even a little fearful about whether such crowds might get out of control, or cause mass social chaos. Whoever created this email knows all of this. And so, they have taken some truths, some falsehoods, and a lot of things out of context, and created a potent dose of FEAR.
Please, do not buy it. Please, do not forward it to others.
Please remember: 500,000 protesters. Not ONE arrest.
Please remember: A sea of white shirts, intended to symbolize peace.
Please remember: More American flags than I have ever seen in my life.
Please remember: Chants of "USA, USA!!!"
The immigration issue is being raised NOW to try and incite white people to be afraid.
This damaging email was created for the exact same reason.
Don't buy it.
One Oh One (That was the temperature yesterday. On April 17th)
Apr/18/2006 11:07 AM
Yesterday,
the entire DFW Metroplex became a believer in global
warming.
Yesterday --April 17, 2006-- the recorded high temperature was 101 degrees.
April Seventeenth.
Today, I believe the high was one hundred...or ninety-nine...or some other ridiculously high number. It doesn't really matter one degree or another...it was insanely hot.
Mind you, we're used to this kind of thing later in the year. A couple of months from now a string of, say, fourteen straight 100-plus days won't cause us to blink around here. And, for those us who've been here our whole lives, we kinda like our summers that way.
But April Seventeenth?!!!...
You know the really strange thing? The local news --tv, newspaper, take your pick-- they reported the high temps of the past few days, but none of them gave any context for them. Not ONE media source, that I saw, stopped to ask the question, "Gee, could this be related to global warming?"
Those same stations will probably do a story on global warming sometime in the next week or so (Earth Day's coming, so it will be obligatory)
Will they bother to remind us how high the temps have been when they run that story?
Will they connect the dots enough to show the facts: that we've already had eight record high temperature days this calendar year?
Or, will they just run a story about how to put your recycling in the blue plastic bag by the curb?
My bet's on the blue plastic bags. And that'll be a shame. Because I promise you: yesterday everyone in Dallas became a believer in global warming.
Now, we just need the media and our politicians to name it, and help to us find ways to do something about it.
Yesterday --April 17, 2006-- the recorded high temperature was 101 degrees.
April Seventeenth.
Today, I believe the high was one hundred...or ninety-nine...or some other ridiculously high number. It doesn't really matter one degree or another...it was insanely hot.
Mind you, we're used to this kind of thing later in the year. A couple of months from now a string of, say, fourteen straight 100-plus days won't cause us to blink around here. And, for those us who've been here our whole lives, we kinda like our summers that way.
But April Seventeenth?!!!...
You know the really strange thing? The local news --tv, newspaper, take your pick-- they reported the high temps of the past few days, but none of them gave any context for them. Not ONE media source, that I saw, stopped to ask the question, "Gee, could this be related to global warming?"
Those same stations will probably do a story on global warming sometime in the next week or so (Earth Day's coming, so it will be obligatory)
Will they bother to remind us how high the temps have been when they run that story?
Will they connect the dots enough to show the facts: that we've already had eight record high temperature days this calendar year?
Or, will they just run a story about how to put your recycling in the blue plastic bag by the curb?
My bet's on the blue plastic bags. And that'll be a shame. Because I promise you: yesterday everyone in Dallas became a believer in global warming.
Now, we just need the media and our politicians to name it, and help to us find ways to do something about it.
MegaMarch: Thoughts on an Historic Day, Immigration, and Racism
Apr/09/2006 10:34 PM
Today was
Palm Sunday. In church this morning, children waved
palm branches back and forth as we sang our opening
hymn.
It's widely believed by Biblical scholars that the Palm Sunday crowd that acclaimed Jesus with cries of "Hosanna" was not made up by the elites of that society, but by the marginalized. The elites wanted Jesus to make everyone shut up and go home. Elizabeth Morris Downie has this to say about the crowd:
"Those crowds turned out because they sensed somehow that the realm of oppression, cruelty and poverty which was all they had ever known was being overturned. Something new was at hand, not yet fully visible, still vulnerable, but clearly calling them to life. This new realm called so strongly that they dared to cry out, dared to be seen in public in such a procession..."
I thought about that a lot today after church, as Dennise, Maria and I took part in the "MegaMarch" downtown...a march organized in support of the rights of immigrants, and in opposition to wrongheaded immigration reform. It can now be said with confidence that somewhere around 500,000 people flooded the streets of downtown Dallas today. That's not only the single largest protest in the history of Dallas, it's the single largest protest in the history of Texas... (Read the rest. Click here)
It's widely believed by Biblical scholars that the Palm Sunday crowd that acclaimed Jesus with cries of "Hosanna" was not made up by the elites of that society, but by the marginalized. The elites wanted Jesus to make everyone shut up and go home. Elizabeth Morris Downie has this to say about the crowd:
"Those crowds turned out because they sensed somehow that the realm of oppression, cruelty and poverty which was all they had ever known was being overturned. Something new was at hand, not yet fully visible, still vulnerable, but clearly calling them to life. This new realm called so strongly that they dared to cry out, dared to be seen in public in such a procession..."
I thought about that a lot today after church, as Dennise, Maria and I took part in the "MegaMarch" downtown...a march organized in support of the rights of immigrants, and in opposition to wrongheaded immigration reform. It can now be said with confidence that somewhere around 500,000 people flooded the streets of downtown Dallas today. That's not only the single largest protest in the history of Dallas, it's the single largest protest in the history of Texas... (Read the rest. Click here)
Go Vote
Mar/07/2006 08:02 AM
A couple of
weeks ago, when early voting started, I posted an
entry about voting that it would still be good to
read.
Here in Dallas County, you can find your voting location by going here.
Be sure and do it today.
Here in Dallas County, you can find your voting location by going here.
Be sure and do it today.
--30--
(Read the rest. Click here)Hunger: Ugly Truths About Who Is And Isn't Hungry in America
Feb/28/2006 04:41 PM
One of the great
blessings in my life has been to get to know many of
the folks who provide social services to the poor,
elderly, hungry and disadvantaged in the Dallas area.
Bruce Buchannon is the director of the
Stewpot,
a ministry of First Presbyterian Church downtown that
has grown over the years into one of the most
respected and stable agencies providing services to
the poor and homeless.
Even though Bruce and I were both doing "outreach" ministry at the time, I got to know Bruce through another unlikely connection: he and I were both members of the Planned Parenthood Religious Advisory Council. Bruce's church, and he in particular, had been targeted by Operation Rescue at the time, and were being picketed regularly.
We've both rotated off that board, and I've moved to another position entirely. But Bruce remains there at Stewpot, doing an amazing job each and every day.
James Raglund, columnist for the Dallas Morning News, visited the Stewpot this last week, and today he has filed a disturbing column for the paper. (read the whole thing here) It's about not only the usual suspects among the poor and hungry, but it's also about a disturbing new trend. The trend is that folks with paying, full time jobs, cannot make ends meet and are turning to places like the Stewpot for assistance... (Read the rest. Click here)
Even though Bruce and I were both doing "outreach" ministry at the time, I got to know Bruce through another unlikely connection: he and I were both members of the Planned Parenthood Religious Advisory Council. Bruce's church, and he in particular, had been targeted by Operation Rescue at the time, and were being picketed regularly.
We've both rotated off that board, and I've moved to another position entirely. But Bruce remains there at Stewpot, doing an amazing job each and every day.
James Raglund, columnist for the Dallas Morning News, visited the Stewpot this last week, and today he has filed a disturbing column for the paper. (read the whole thing here) It's about not only the usual suspects among the poor and hungry, but it's also about a disturbing new trend. The trend is that folks with paying, full time jobs, cannot make ends meet and are turning to places like the Stewpot for assistance... (Read the rest. Click here)
Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Scorecard for the Current Scandals
Feb/25/2006 04:44 PM
There sure
are a lot of Republican scandals these days. And,
anymore, it's not just the kind where things
sound
morally
squishy or ethically weak. People are actually going
to jail. (Or about to) They're pleading out cases, or
being convicted by judges and juries. Jeez, it's
getting to be so many that it's kind of hard to keep
track of...
Talking Points Memo(TPM), one of my favorite blogs, has taken this to heart and now comes to your rescue. If the old expression is, "You can't know the players without a scorecard," then consider "The Grand Old Docket" your official Republican scandal scorecard. "The Grand Old Docket" is a new project of "TPM" where they keep track of the current status of all those indicted, convicted, or named as unindicted coconspirators. And, man, that list is getting pretty long. (Read the rest. Click here)
Talking Points Memo(TPM), one of my favorite blogs, has taken this to heart and now comes to your rescue. If the old expression is, "You can't know the players without a scorecard," then consider "The Grand Old Docket" your official Republican scandal scorecard. "The Grand Old Docket" is a new project of "TPM" where they keep track of the current status of all those indicted, convicted, or named as unindicted coconspirators. And, man, that list is getting pretty long. (Read the rest. Click here)
A Dubai-ous Deal: Can the President sail this ship into port. Or will this idea be dead in the water?
Feb/22/2006 04:49 PM
What
an
interesting story this is, about the
Administration selling six American ports to a
company called "Dubai World Ports," and owned by the
United Arab Emirates.
It's interesting for a number of reasons. Because:
a) Nobody in the Administration apparently thought it would be a very big deal
b) It's conservatives leading the angry charge this week
c) The President pulled out the veto threat yesterday when it seems (from a "thumb in the air") that everyone on both sides of the aisle will support a ban
d) An Administration, whose hallmark has been the appearance of working hard on Homeland Security, looks like they're oblivious here
It's a really fascinating story... (Read the rest. Click here)
It's interesting for a number of reasons. Because:
a) Nobody in the Administration apparently thought it would be a very big deal
b) It's conservatives leading the angry charge this week
c) The President pulled out the veto threat yesterday when it seems (from a "thumb in the air") that everyone on both sides of the aisle will support a ban
d) An Administration, whose hallmark has been the appearance of working hard on Homeland Security, looks like they're oblivious here
It's a really fascinating story... (Read the rest. Click here)
Early Voting Starts Today (Do it)
Feb/21/2006 11:02 PM
Last night,
Maria and I went with our favorite judicial
candidate to a forum in North
Dallas at Fretz
Park Recreation Center. It was a joint
meeting of North Dallas Democratic Woman, North
Dallas Democrats, and other sponsoring groups. And
there was a good turnout. Probably more than a
hundred folks. Maybe even a
hundred-and-fifty. Lots
of
candidates too. Especially those in the contested
primaries.
During a break in the speakers, I stepped out for a minute and happened to peek in the windows of the room next door. There, lining the other side of a movable wall that separated that room from ours, was a row of voting machines...
I was struck by the metaphor of it. On one side of the wall, the free-speech part of democracy in its most basic form:
- Ordinary citizens turning out for a candidate's forum, trying their best to be informed on the issues.
- Candidates, eager and bright-eyed (it's still early in the season...), ready to talk about their ideas for bringing positive change to our society.
Meanwhile, waiting silently on the other side of the wall, and not really calling attention to themselves: voting machines. Just waiting quietly for someone to come and use them. Waiting for someone to make that democracy real. Waiting for someone to make it more than just words and slogans.
Early voting starts today in Dallas County.
You can find out information about the early voting locations here.
Here is the sample Republican ballot.
Here is the sample Democratic ballot.
As you might suspect, I have pretty strong preferences in this election that I trust I don't have to repeat in this moment (OK, maybe I will). But more than anything else, even more than who wins and who loses, democracy stands or falls something along the lines of an old Woody Allen quote. Woody Allen once said "Eighty percent of life is just showing up."
Well, maybe it's just eighty-percent of life, but it's one hundred percent of democracy. The truth is that our democracy does not stand or fall at the end of a gun, or through the power of a corporation, or even within the coalescing of interest groups and the running of political campaigns. The key moment for democracy --the moment it stands or falls-- is through what does or does not take place in that room of that community center, and in a thousand other rooms in a thousand other centers just like it.
Democracy is about showing up.
It takes people, idealistic, passionate, patriotic, and perhaps even crazy enough to put themselves out there....to run for public office...to believe that perhaps they can answer the call to serve the people.
But it also takes all of you who come out and vote for or against them.
Do it today.
During a break in the speakers, I stepped out for a minute and happened to peek in the windows of the room next door. There, lining the other side of a movable wall that separated that room from ours, was a row of voting machines...
I was struck by the metaphor of it. On one side of the wall, the free-speech part of democracy in its most basic form:
- Ordinary citizens turning out for a candidate's forum, trying their best to be informed on the issues.
- Candidates, eager and bright-eyed (it's still early in the season...), ready to talk about their ideas for bringing positive change to our society.
Meanwhile, waiting silently on the other side of the wall, and not really calling attention to themselves: voting machines. Just waiting quietly for someone to come and use them. Waiting for someone to make that democracy real. Waiting for someone to make it more than just words and slogans.
Early voting starts today in Dallas County.
You can find out information about the early voting locations here.
Here is the sample Republican ballot.
Here is the sample Democratic ballot.
As you might suspect, I have pretty strong preferences in this election that I trust I don't have to repeat in this moment (OK, maybe I will). But more than anything else, even more than who wins and who loses, democracy stands or falls something along the lines of an old Woody Allen quote. Woody Allen once said "Eighty percent of life is just showing up."
Well, maybe it's just eighty-percent of life, but it's one hundred percent of democracy. The truth is that our democracy does not stand or fall at the end of a gun, or through the power of a corporation, or even within the coalescing of interest groups and the running of political campaigns. The key moment for democracy --the moment it stands or falls-- is through what does or does not take place in that room of that community center, and in a thousand other rooms in a thousand other centers just like it.
Democracy is about showing up.
It takes people, idealistic, passionate, patriotic, and perhaps even crazy enough to put themselves out there....to run for public office...to believe that perhaps they can answer the call to serve the people.
But it also takes all of you who come out and vote for or against them.
Do it today.
--30--
(Read the rest. Click here)Spies Like Us: Thoughts on the Domestic Spying Scandal
Feb/11/2006 05:03 PM
I've been
worried about this Domestic Spying Scandal for
several weeks now. And now it's clear that, not only
am I not alone, but a lot of Republicans and
conservatives are worried about it too. To me, the
more the President defends the program, the more he
sounds Nixonian. Apparently, the Democratic Party
noted this too, and produced this
video.
The President continues to make two assertions that can't both be true:
1) That wiretapping needs a court order, and
2) That the secret spy program didn't break the law.
Either wiretapping does need or a court order, or the secret spy program did break the law. But they can't both be true... (Read the rest. Click here)
The President continues to make two assertions that can't both be true:
1) That wiretapping needs a court order, and
2) That the secret spy program didn't break the law.
Either wiretapping does need or a court order, or the secret spy program did break the law. But they can't both be true... (Read the rest. Click here)
Katrina Aftermath
Sep/03/2005 11:06 AM
Hey everyone:
Lot's happening in our city right now, with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I know there are a lot of suggestions for what folks can do to be helpful, but I thought you might be interested to read what our church is doing.
Follow this link, and you'll find some specific suggestions for helping out all the folks who are coming here to Dallas.
Thanks.
Lot's happening in our city right now, with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I know there are a lot of suggestions for what folks can do to be helpful, but I thought you might be interested to read what our church is doing.
Follow this link, and you'll find some specific suggestions for helping out all the folks who are coming here to Dallas.
Thanks.
--30--
Last Trip to Camp Casey: The Last Weekend
Aug/29/2005 11:02 AM
Camp Casey is now
winding down, and in a few days it will all be packed
up for good.
The last weekend was certainly a big one. I actually ended up going down twice: Friday and Saturday. On Friday, I went down with Bill McElvaney, one of the emeritus pastors of our church. He'd been down the very first weekend, and wanted to get back down again one last time. (I'll probably post some of Bill's pictures later...)
The first thing we noticed, of course, was the vastness of Camp Casey II. Good Lord, it was a big tent! Wireless internet...huge food line..tons of tables for folks to site around at. How amazing to see how much it had changed from the first trips we'd both made...when there were, maybe 50-70 folks out at Camp Casey I...
Friday was clearly a day of preparation down there. There was not much scheduled. There was "peacemaker training" in the afternoon, to prepare for the following day. Johnny Wolfe, from the Crawford Peace House/Dallas Peace Center, led the training. We sat in on a little of it, and it seemed like the main goal was to have folks who would be looking out for trouble the following day, but who would be trained to respond in love and non-violence to anything that did happen.
There was a palpable sense of concern out there Friday. Everyone knew the weekend would be big, but nobody knew whether it would be smooth. Everyone knew of the counter-protest groups coming from California and all over, and really no one knew what that would mean...would things go smoothly? With that many new folks, many of whom are angry (on both sides...) would tensions escalate into violence?
Anyway, Ann Wright, the brains of Camp Casey, gave a impassioned plea for restraint and non-violent, peaceful action the next few days.
Bumped into Tom Geddie down there. Tom is a great music critic and lover all all things Texas. He moved from Dallas to East Texas a few years back, and now actually lives just a few miles from my family's lakehouse out there. Bill, Tom and me had some good conversations.
I also got the chance to meet many of the new family members who had come in during the past week since I'd been there. Some of them had only arrive that day, or the night before. They all looked a little wide-eyed, and wondering about what their experience would be like. Person after person said that they simply felt compelled to come...compelled to to come and tell their stories and to be with other family members and vets.
Saturday was the BIG day. I had to be in Waco for a funeral that morning, and so I actually had to drive by myself. Since I'd been before, I knew the backroads and, unbelievably, got an incredible parking space. (I drove the Hybrid...) Saw lots of folks I knew out there. There were probably ten or twelve folks from our church. Saw all my friends from the Dallas Air America listener group. Saw some musician friends from Austin. Caught up with some of the vets and family members who I'd met the Friday before.
Since I came in the back way, I didn't even see the majority of the counter-protesters. I heard they had a big demonstration --perhaps even with as many or more than were at Camp Casey II-- but I never saw it. By the time I drove back through town in the late afternoon, most of them had left.
The crowd at Camp Casey was HUGE. I mean HUGE. It was wall-to-wall people.
(photo: Jeff Paterson)
Here's Jeff Paterson's pictures of the day.
The main rally from 12-2 was very well planned. Each of the four main groups that eventually became sponsors of Camp Casey spoke. I was especially impressed with the young vets from Iraq, and their group "Iraq Vets Against the War." (Quicktime Video here) One of the things that perhaps most folks don't realize is just how MANY vets --and how many Iraq Vets-- were there and present at Camp Casey. I don't know what the exact count finally was, but it had to have been at least 20 to 30 of them on Saturday alone. (With others who had to leave earlier...)
The family members, as I've mentioned several times, were deeply touching to me. Specifically, I got the chance to meet Steve DeFord. Steve DeFord is a Gold Star Father, whose son was killed in Iraq. On Friday, when I saw him, he seemed a little shell-shocked still by the whole experience of being at Camp Casey. His wife had been there my previous trip (and was present at the Friday Prayer Vigil), but had gone home and handed the baton off to Steve. It was clear that he still wasn't sure about how much he would speak out, or what he would say.
Joan Baez played all throughout the main event, leading the group in many classic protest songs. Cindy Sheehan gave quite a good speech, commenting a lot on the obvious growth of the Camp Casey movement.
I have to say, that's the thing that really astounds me too...just how much this movement grew in just a few short weeks. How amazing it was --almost like a paradigm shift-- from that first trip I made when there were probably 60-70 folks out by the side of the road, and when I just happened to run for cover into Cindy's tent shelter and get caught in the storm with Ann Wright. How amazing it was to now see the thousands there in Crawford.
As I surveyed the huge crowd that day, I thought back, and it seemed to me that the Friday we were there for the Prayer Vigil was really a crucial turning point. Two things were going on simultaneously that day:
1) Cindy Sheehan was gone...the first full day she was gone, and
2) Camp Casey II was being constructed.
Cindy Sheehan's being gone really probably gave the movement a depth it wouldn't have had otherwise. That day we were there, as we finished the prayer vigil, we marched with the family member to the Bush Ranch (Quicktime video here). It seems that this moment was when these other family members and vets who had been somewhat in the shadows up til then (Quicktime video here) came into their own. Everyone realized that their stories need telling too. Everyone realized that, as Cindy Sheehan has said, the movement is bigger than Crawford Texas and Cindy Sheehan.
If Cindy's being gone gave the movement a paradoxical new depth, it was Camp Casey II that gave it new breadth. And how amazingly organic that it was being constructed at just the same time these other families were stepping out of the shadows.
Sooo....I thought about all this, and what a turning point that Friday has been in retrospect, as I looked out over that HUGE crowd on Saturday.
It was really, really something...
Teri Hendrix played after the main rally ended. She always plays, of course, with Lloyd Maines, whose daughter's comment, several years ago, created a whole new verb. After her, James McMurtry did a set. I've been a big fan of his for years, and it was great to see him live for the first time. Sumer Erickson, Roky's younger brother, followed him.
And then, just before they took a thirty-minute break, I got the chance to get on stage and play "Prairie Chapel Road."
(Photo: Nancy Cunningham)
It was really an awesome moment. Perhaps half the crowd had left by that point. But that still meant there were a lot of folks out there. Everyone was clapping along too. There were a ton of musicians, really good ones, waiting patiently in line to play, and so it was really very kind for Richard Bowden (formerly of the Austin Lounge Lizards, and organizer of the entertainment that afternoon...) to fit me in for the one song. I had worked up a longer set. But I really wanted to play earlier rather than later....and, when I thought of all those others still waiting to play, I really wanted to just play that one song one more time. So, was a tradeoff....earlier appearance, shorter set.
I probably gave out 40 copies of Prairie Chapel Road to the veterans and family members, including one to Cindy Sheehan. The rest were left to be sold, all proceeds to the Crawford Peace House.
(Photo: Nancy Cunningham)
It really was great to get to play the song again down there. It feels like it will probably run the course of its life soon....although it's still being downloaded about 50 times a day right now. I'm just so honored to have had the chance to be even a small part of what I truly believe will be an historic movement.
Bumped into Carter Thompson in the late afternoon, and offered him a ride back to Dallas. We drove back into town, and then back out to Camp Casey I one more time. Carter had never seen it. It seemed like whatever had happened earlier in the day was long over by then. Same thing for downtown....perhaps a hundred or so "counter-demonstrators" still there. (At that same moment, there were still probably 400-500 folks out at Camp Casey II...)
I really still don't know what the counter demonstrations were like. I have heard folks say that some of them were pretty angry and vitriolic in their comments. And, if this account is any indication (the part about the "Protest Warriors" halfway down the story...), it's probably a good idea both sides stayed away from each other, for the most part. We stopped by the Peace House on the way out of town, because Carter had never seen that either. Laura Flanders was doing a live broadcast of her radio show, and we stopped to listen for a while.
The most amazing thing is that I bumped into the Burns Sisters! What's really funny about this is that I'd bumped into Jeannie Burns as we were getting back off the shuttle to go home from that first Monday visit. She'd come down from Ithaca for a few days, and I thought it an amazing coincidence to actually bump into her there. I mean, what are the odds that you just bump into someone like that, right?
Soo...now it's several weeks later, I'm back at the Peace House, walking into the side yard, and low and behold, all three Burns Sisters are there. They were just getting ready to go out to the camp and, once again, I was just getting ready to go home...how cosmic is that? We chatted for a while, and I got the chance to tell Annie how much I LOVE her newest CD. (I really do, and it's really in my car CD player right now...) She also took a picture of me with all of them. (Which I hope to post here eventually....)
I told them that they needed to get their considerable talent up on the stage, and they said they thought they'd probably end up doing some acapela stuff. Sure enough, Sunday night, I was listening to the live internet stream from Camp Casey II, and I could hear the Burns Sisters in the background, doing "No More Silence." It was very cool...
I'm pretty sure I heard Susan Werner get introduced later too. Some pretty fantastic musicians came down to Crawford.
I hear that Sunday was a pretty amazing day, with even more big name celebs coming by. I'm glad Martin Sheen came, and I admire him a great deal. I really like his quote where he said, "You know what I do for a living, but this is what I do to keep me alive."
I know that I have lots of friends, perhaps even some of you reading this, who probably have grave doubts about the whole "Camp Casey" movement. I can certainly understand that. The one thing I can say with certainty is this: the reality of Camp Casey felt very different to me from what I saw on television. Had I not gone myself, I too might have had "concerns."
But what I saw was as genuine, heart-felt movement, from folks who felt almost a pilgrimmage-like compulsion to come.
Remember the Spielberg film "Close Encounters?" Remember how the characters simply have this compulsion to get themselves to that specific Utah mountain? That's what I read in the face and stories of the vets, moms, dads, and other family members who came to Crawford. The just came because they had to come. They didn't even know what they'd find when they got there.
Sure, there were a lot of other distractions down there. But, at the heart, there were these folks, who feel they cannot be silent any more. In fact, some of them feel like they've been silent far too long. They are not professional politicians, so sometimes they don't speak very eloquently. But, then, sometimes that very lack of "polish" gives them a genuineness that is often missing in our political discourse today.
I know a lot of folks have a hard time with the idea of bringing home the troops right now. I certainly understand that reservation. I feel like I need to blog on some of my own views on this war....as if to blog about Camp Casey this much pre-assumes that I agree with everyone and everybody at Camp Casey...I'm sure I don't. So, I'll probably step back and do that blogging in a few days.
But for right now, my heart has been touched by these family members who have poured their heart and soul out to our country. I mentioned Steve DeFord, one of the fathers I met down there. As I mentioned, Steve is a Gold Star Father, meaning his son was killed in combat in the Iraq War. On Saturday, in the midst of the big rally, in the tent filled with 2,000-plus people, I looked off to one side. Steve was just standing there by himself, looking very sad.
So, I went over to talk to him. "What do you think of all this?" I asked.
He broke into tears.
"It's all so wonderful. It's all so amazing. But it's just too late."
He took a long look around the room, "It's just all too late."
We both fell into tears and into a hug. Because I knew that for Steve, no matter what anyone does to try to end the war now, that would also always be true.
The last weekend was certainly a big one. I actually ended up going down twice: Friday and Saturday. On Friday, I went down with Bill McElvaney, one of the emeritus pastors of our church. He'd been down the very first weekend, and wanted to get back down again one last time. (I'll probably post some of Bill's pictures later...)
The first thing we noticed, of course, was the vastness of Camp Casey II. Good Lord, it was a big tent! Wireless internet...huge food line..tons of tables for folks to site around at. How amazing to see how much it had changed from the first trips we'd both made...when there were, maybe 50-70 folks out at Camp Casey I...
Friday was clearly a day of preparation down there. There was not much scheduled. There was "peacemaker training" in the afternoon, to prepare for the following day. Johnny Wolfe, from the Crawford Peace House/Dallas Peace Center, led the training. We sat in on a little of it, and it seemed like the main goal was to have folks who would be looking out for trouble the following day, but who would be trained to respond in love and non-violence to anything that did happen.
There was a palpable sense of concern out there Friday. Everyone knew the weekend would be big, but nobody knew whether it would be smooth. Everyone knew of the counter-protest groups coming from California and all over, and really no one knew what that would mean...would things go smoothly? With that many new folks, many of whom are angry (on both sides...) would tensions escalate into violence?
Anyway, Ann Wright, the brains of Camp Casey, gave a impassioned plea for restraint and non-violent, peaceful action the next few days.
Bumped into Tom Geddie down there. Tom is a great music critic and lover all all things Texas. He moved from Dallas to East Texas a few years back, and now actually lives just a few miles from my family's lakehouse out there. Bill, Tom and me had some good conversations.
I also got the chance to meet many of the new family members who had come in during the past week since I'd been there. Some of them had only arrive that day, or the night before. They all looked a little wide-eyed, and wondering about what their experience would be like. Person after person said that they simply felt compelled to come...compelled to to come and tell their stories and to be with other family members and vets.
Saturday was the BIG day. I had to be in Waco for a funeral that morning, and so I actually had to drive by myself. Since I'd been before, I knew the backroads and, unbelievably, got an incredible parking space. (I drove the Hybrid...) Saw lots of folks I knew out there. There were probably ten or twelve folks from our church. Saw all my friends from the Dallas Air America listener group. Saw some musician friends from Austin. Caught up with some of the vets and family members who I'd met the Friday before.
Since I came in the back way, I didn't even see the majority of the counter-protesters. I heard they had a big demonstration --perhaps even with as many or more than were at Camp Casey II-- but I never saw it. By the time I drove back through town in the late afternoon, most of them had left.
The crowd at Camp Casey was HUGE. I mean HUGE. It was wall-to-wall people.
(photo: Jeff Paterson)
Here's Jeff Paterson's pictures of the day.
The main rally from 12-2 was very well planned. Each of the four main groups that eventually became sponsors of Camp Casey spoke. I was especially impressed with the young vets from Iraq, and their group "Iraq Vets Against the War." (Quicktime Video here) One of the things that perhaps most folks don't realize is just how MANY vets --and how many Iraq Vets-- were there and present at Camp Casey. I don't know what the exact count finally was, but it had to have been at least 20 to 30 of them on Saturday alone. (With others who had to leave earlier...)
The family members, as I've mentioned several times, were deeply touching to me. Specifically, I got the chance to meet Steve DeFord. Steve DeFord is a Gold Star Father, whose son was killed in Iraq. On Friday, when I saw him, he seemed a little shell-shocked still by the whole experience of being at Camp Casey. His wife had been there my previous trip (and was present at the Friday Prayer Vigil), but had gone home and handed the baton off to Steve. It was clear that he still wasn't sure about how much he would speak out, or what he would say.
Joan Baez played all throughout the main event, leading the group in many classic protest songs. Cindy Sheehan gave quite a good speech, commenting a lot on the obvious growth of the Camp Casey movement.
I have to say, that's the thing that really astounds me too...just how much this movement grew in just a few short weeks. How amazing it was --almost like a paradigm shift-- from that first trip I made when there were probably 60-70 folks out by the side of the road, and when I just happened to run for cover into Cindy's tent shelter and get caught in the storm with Ann Wright. How amazing it was to now see the thousands there in Crawford.
As I surveyed the huge crowd that day, I thought back, and it seemed to me that the Friday we were there for the Prayer Vigil was really a crucial turning point. Two things were going on simultaneously that day:
1) Cindy Sheehan was gone...the first full day she was gone, and
2) Camp Casey II was being constructed.
Cindy Sheehan's being gone really probably gave the movement a depth it wouldn't have had otherwise. That day we were there, as we finished the prayer vigil, we marched with the family member to the Bush Ranch (Quicktime video here). It seems that this moment was when these other family members and vets who had been somewhat in the shadows up til then (Quicktime video here) came into their own. Everyone realized that their stories need telling too. Everyone realized that, as Cindy Sheehan has said, the movement is bigger than Crawford Texas and Cindy Sheehan.
If Cindy's being gone gave the movement a paradoxical new depth, it was Camp Casey II that gave it new breadth. And how amazingly organic that it was being constructed at just the same time these other families were stepping out of the shadows.
Sooo....I thought about all this, and what a turning point that Friday has been in retrospect, as I looked out over that HUGE crowd on Saturday.
It was really, really something...
Teri Hendrix played after the main rally ended. She always plays, of course, with Lloyd Maines, whose daughter's comment, several years ago, created a whole new verb. After her, James McMurtry did a set. I've been a big fan of his for years, and it was great to see him live for the first time. Sumer Erickson, Roky's younger brother, followed him.
And then, just before they took a thirty-minute break, I got the chance to get on stage and play "Prairie Chapel Road."
(Photo: Nancy Cunningham)
It was really an awesome moment. Perhaps half the crowd had left by that point. But that still meant there were a lot of folks out there. Everyone was clapping along too. There were a ton of musicians, really good ones, waiting patiently in line to play, and so it was really very kind for Richard Bowden (formerly of the Austin Lounge Lizards, and organizer of the entertainment that afternoon...) to fit me in for the one song. I had worked up a longer set. But I really wanted to play earlier rather than later....and, when I thought of all those others still waiting to play, I really wanted to just play that one song one more time. So, was a tradeoff....earlier appearance, shorter set.
I probably gave out 40 copies of Prairie Chapel Road to the veterans and family members, including one to Cindy Sheehan. The rest were left to be sold, all proceeds to the Crawford Peace House.
(Photo: Nancy Cunningham)
It really was great to get to play the song again down there. It feels like it will probably run the course of its life soon....although it's still being downloaded about 50 times a day right now. I'm just so honored to have had the chance to be even a small part of what I truly believe will be an historic movement.
Bumped into Carter Thompson in the late afternoon, and offered him a ride back to Dallas. We drove back into town, and then back out to Camp Casey I one more time. Carter had never seen it. It seemed like whatever had happened earlier in the day was long over by then. Same thing for downtown....perhaps a hundred or so "counter-demonstrators" still there. (At that same moment, there were still probably 400-500 folks out at Camp Casey II...)
I really still don't know what the counter demonstrations were like. I have heard folks say that some of them were pretty angry and vitriolic in their comments. And, if this account is any indication (the part about the "Protest Warriors" halfway down the story...), it's probably a good idea both sides stayed away from each other, for the most part. We stopped by the Peace House on the way out of town, because Carter had never seen that either. Laura Flanders was doing a live broadcast of her radio show, and we stopped to listen for a while.
The most amazing thing is that I bumped into the Burns Sisters! What's really funny about this is that I'd bumped into Jeannie Burns as we were getting back off the shuttle to go home from that first Monday visit. She'd come down from Ithaca for a few days, and I thought it an amazing coincidence to actually bump into her there. I mean, what are the odds that you just bump into someone like that, right?
Soo...now it's several weeks later, I'm back at the Peace House, walking into the side yard, and low and behold, all three Burns Sisters are there. They were just getting ready to go out to the camp and, once again, I was just getting ready to go home...how cosmic is that? We chatted for a while, and I got the chance to tell Annie how much I LOVE her newest CD. (I really do, and it's really in my car CD player right now...) She also took a picture of me with all of them. (Which I hope to post here eventually....)
I told them that they needed to get their considerable talent up on the stage, and they said they thought they'd probably end up doing some acapela stuff. Sure enough, Sunday night, I was listening to the live internet stream from Camp Casey II, and I could hear the Burns Sisters in the background, doing "No More Silence." It was very cool...
I'm pretty sure I heard Susan Werner get introduced later too. Some pretty fantastic musicians came down to Crawford.
I hear that Sunday was a pretty amazing day, with even more big name celebs coming by. I'm glad Martin Sheen came, and I admire him a great deal. I really like his quote where he said, "You know what I do for a living, but this is what I do to keep me alive."
I know that I have lots of friends, perhaps even some of you reading this, who probably have grave doubts about the whole "Camp Casey" movement. I can certainly understand that. The one thing I can say with certainty is this: the reality of Camp Casey felt very different to me from what I saw on television. Had I not gone myself, I too might have had "concerns."
But what I saw was as genuine, heart-felt movement, from folks who felt almost a pilgrimmage-like compulsion to come.
Remember the Spielberg film "Close Encounters?" Remember how the characters simply have this compulsion to get themselves to that specific Utah mountain? That's what I read in the face and stories of the vets, moms, dads, and other family members who came to Crawford. The just came because they had to come. They didn't even know what they'd find when they got there.
Sure, there were a lot of other distractions down there. But, at the heart, there were these folks, who feel they cannot be silent any more. In fact, some of them feel like they've been silent far too long. They are not professional politicians, so sometimes they don't speak very eloquently. But, then, sometimes that very lack of "polish" gives them a genuineness that is often missing in our political discourse today.
I know a lot of folks have a hard time with the idea of bringing home the troops right now. I certainly understand that reservation. I feel like I need to blog on some of my own views on this war....as if to blog about Camp Casey this much pre-assumes that I agree with everyone and everybody at Camp Casey...I'm sure I don't. So, I'll probably step back and do that blogging in a few days.
But for right now, my heart has been touched by these family members who have poured their heart and soul out to our country. I mentioned Steve DeFord, one of the fathers I met down there. As I mentioned, Steve is a Gold Star Father, meaning his son was killed in combat in the Iraq War. On Saturday, in the midst of the big rally, in the tent filled with 2,000-plus people, I looked off to one side. Steve was just standing there by himself, looking very sad.
So, I went over to talk to him. "What do you think of all this?" I asked.
He broke into tears.
"It's all so wonderful. It's all so amazing. But it's just too late."
He took a long look around the room, "It's just all too late."
We both fell into tears and into a hug. Because I knew that for Steve, no matter what anyone does to try to end the war now, that would also always be true.
What Does it meant to have INTENT? (My questions about the Karl Rove thing)
Jul/14/2005 11:29 PM
I've got a
question about the whole Karl Rove thing that I don't
hear anybody asking. It has to do with answering the
charge that Rove was simply trying to "correct" the
Time Magazine reporter, and steer him away from
INCORRECT information.
For those of you under a rock this week, Rove has been fingered as a source for the Valerie Plame leak. But it's already clear what his defense will be:
1) I never used her name, and
2) I was actually trying to steer the reporter AWAY from the story.
OK, there's just one HUGE thing wrong with this alibi to me. And to answer that, you have to ask yourself the question "Who IS Karl Rove?"
Answer: Karl Rove is a political operative. Karl Rove is a master manipulator of the media and the public. Karl Rove is KNOWN to spread lies and half-truths to the media and the public to help his political allies. (Remember this: "would it change your opinion about John McCain to know that he's the father of a black baby?") Karl Rove is the MASTER of this...
As such, it's is entirely plausible that he DID intend to "out" Valerie Plame, and knew two things:
1) he wouldn't have to actually use her name, and
2) if he told a reporter "Oh, don't look here...there's no story here!!!" that would actually drive the reporter TOWARD the story. (Like telling a child, "Whatever you do, don't touch that cookie jar!")
So, several things follow from this for me:
1) Knowing that Karl Rove knows how to work the media in this way
2) Knowing that that Bush Administration WAS involved in a campaign to smear Joseph Wilson at that very moment
...can't it be argued that, even Karl Rove's supposed cover story points to how he actually INTENDED to blow a CIA agent's cover.
I have heard very few folks talking about this angle, and it seems to me an important one. Rove's own words would not be enough to implicate him if he was an average guy like me. But he's not. The thing you know about him is that he often INTENDS to manipulate the media and the story that's being told by the media.
It's quite plausible that his own words DO show his own personal intent to do so, given who we know him to be.
UPDATE:
I just found this Mark Shield's column that is the first anywhere (that I have read...) that tries to make the same connection that I tried to make in this blog...basically, that it defies credulity to image that Karl Rove was seriously talking to reporters in an attempt to steer them away from "bad" information. I say that it defies, credulity. Shield's puts it more directly and asks "How Dumb Do They Think We Are?"
For those of you under a rock this week, Rove has been fingered as a source for the Valerie Plame leak. But it's already clear what his defense will be:
1) I never used her name, and
2) I was actually trying to steer the reporter AWAY from the story.
OK, there's just one HUGE thing wrong with this alibi to me. And to answer that, you have to ask yourself the question "Who IS Karl Rove?"
Answer: Karl Rove is a political operative. Karl Rove is a master manipulator of the media and the public. Karl Rove is KNOWN to spread lies and half-truths to the media and the public to help his political allies. (Remember this: "would it change your opinion about John McCain to know that he's the father of a black baby?") Karl Rove is the MASTER of this...
As such, it's is entirely plausible that he DID intend to "out" Valerie Plame, and knew two things:
1) he wouldn't have to actually use her name, and
2) if he told a reporter "Oh, don't look here...there's no story here!!!" that would actually drive the reporter TOWARD the story. (Like telling a child, "Whatever you do, don't touch that cookie jar!")
So, several things follow from this for me:
1) Knowing that Karl Rove knows how to work the media in this way
2) Knowing that that Bush Administration WAS involved in a campaign to smear Joseph Wilson at that very moment
...can't it be argued that, even Karl Rove's supposed cover story points to how he actually INTENDED to blow a CIA agent's cover.
I have heard very few folks talking about this angle, and it seems to me an important one. Rove's own words would not be enough to implicate him if he was an average guy like me. But he's not. The thing you know about him is that he often INTENDS to manipulate the media and the story that's being told by the media.
It's quite plausible that his own words DO show his own personal intent to do so, given who we know him to be.
UPDATE:
I just found this Mark Shield's column that is the first anywhere (that I have read...) that tries to make the same connection that I tried to make in this blog...basically, that it defies credulity to image that Karl Rove was seriously talking to reporters in an attempt to steer them away from "bad" information. I say that it defies, credulity. Shield's puts it more directly and asks "How Dumb Do They Think We Are?"
--30--
What it's like to be interview by Republicans: About my Radio Interview
Dec/04/2004 11:25 PM
(If you have no idea
what I'm talking about, read this ....)
It really wasn't bad. My friend, Lydia Bishop, set the whole thing up and she sent me the script for the questions ahead of time. So, I knew what was coming.
What happened that day was that the time for the interview coincided with the time of my daughter's soccer game. Sooo...I had to do it by cell phone. And at the appointed time, I had to excuse myself to the car, so I could actually talk to them. Strange feeling, watching your daughter's soccer game in front of you, and knowing that at that same moment, your voice is being heard live on the radio, way across the country...
The strangest thing that happened was that about ten minutes into the soccer game, I got stung by a bee. You heard right, a BEE! In late November!!! Got stung right on the neck.
Hadn't been stung by a bee in years....twenty? I can't even remember. I've never had a bad reaction before to a bee sting, but it'd been so long that what could I actually expect? Heck, my Mom tends to swell up like a balloon, and so I was a little concerned...
Sooo, I rushed home and swigged a ton of Benadryl, just to be safe. And the point of this is that by the time the interview came along, the Benadryl was kicking in, and I was loopy, loopy, loopy...
You can tell it at one point, because I totally lose my ability to speak...I just stumble over the words for a second there. It seemed like an eternity.
So, it wasn't the best interview ever given.
But, neither was it an ambush, as some of you, my liberal friends, suggested. I pretty much knew it wouldn't be. I got the sense that the the host of the show might have wanted to turn it that direction. But my friend, Lydia, was good at shooting down the middle.
The interview is up at the Republican Radio site, and you can hear it here .
It really wasn't bad. My friend, Lydia Bishop, set the whole thing up and she sent me the script for the questions ahead of time. So, I knew what was coming.
What happened that day was that the time for the interview coincided with the time of my daughter's soccer game. Sooo...I had to do it by cell phone. And at the appointed time, I had to excuse myself to the car, so I could actually talk to them. Strange feeling, watching your daughter's soccer game in front of you, and knowing that at that same moment, your voice is being heard live on the radio, way across the country...
The strangest thing that happened was that about ten minutes into the soccer game, I got stung by a bee. You heard right, a BEE! In late November!!! Got stung right on the neck.
Hadn't been stung by a bee in years....twenty? I can't even remember. I've never had a bad reaction before to a bee sting, but it'd been so long that what could I actually expect? Heck, my Mom tends to swell up like a balloon, and so I was a little concerned...
Sooo, I rushed home and swigged a ton of Benadryl, just to be safe. And the point of this is that by the time the interview came along, the Benadryl was kicking in, and I was loopy, loopy, loopy...
You can tell it at one point, because I totally lose my ability to speak...I just stumble over the words for a second there. It seemed like an eternity.
So, it wasn't the best interview ever given.
But, neither was it an ambush, as some of you, my liberal friends, suggested. I pretty much knew it wouldn't be. I got the sense that the the host of the show might have wanted to turn it that direction. But my friend, Lydia, was good at shooting down the middle.
The interview is up at the Republican Radio site, and you can hear it here .
--30--
Eric on Republican Radio
Nov/18/2004 11:24 PM
This
Saturday, November 20th, I am set to appear live on a
radio that show originates in the Pacific Northwest
called Republican Radio. They are apparently
interested in the whole phenomenon of "color theory"
and the Purple Land concept.
The interview will be sometime between 1-2 pm, Central time.
You can apparently listen live here .
The interview will be sometime between 1-2 pm, Central time.
You can apparently listen live here .
Purple Thoughts from Paula
Nov/11/2004 11:23 PM
Purple Thoughts, from my friend, Paula
Following on the discussion of Purple I started last week , my good friend Paula has sent me these thoughts on the Color Purple:
Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. A mysterious
color, purple is associated with nobility and spirituality. The opposites
of hot red and cool blue combine to create this intriguing color.
It symbolizes power, luxury, and most of all, ambition. Purple is
associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and
magic.
Purple has a special, almost sacred place in nature: lavender, orchid,
lilac, and violet flowers are often delicate and considered precious.
Because purple is derived from the mixing of a strong warm and strong cool
color it has both warm and cool properties.
Culture of Purple: The color of mourning for widows in Thailand, purple
was the favorite color of Egypt's Cleopatra. Purple robes were worn by
royalty and people of authority or high rank. The Purple Heart is a U.S.
Military decoration given to soldiers wounded in battle.
Language of Purple: The use of purple in familiar phrases can help us see
how the color might be perceived by others, both the positive and negative
aspects.
Purple cow - something remarkable, eye-catching, unusual
Purple prose - exaggeration, highly imaginative writing (also has negative
connotations) Bad purple
Purple speech - profanity, raunchy language
Purple prose - exaggeration, colorful lies
Purple haze - state of confusion or euphoria, possibly drug-induced, type
of marijuana
Purple Words: These words are synonymous with the color purple: Violet,
plum, lavender, lilac, puce, thistle, orchid, mauve, magenta, royal,
amethyst, wine, pomegranate, eggplant, mulberry.
Following on the discussion of Purple I started last week , my good friend Paula has sent me these thoughts on the Color Purple:
Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. A mysterious
color, purple is associated with nobility and spirituality. The opposites
of hot red and cool blue combine to create this intriguing color.
It symbolizes power, luxury, and most of all, ambition. Purple is
associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and
magic.
Purple has a special, almost sacred place in nature: lavender, orchid,
lilac, and violet flowers are often delicate and considered precious.
Because purple is derived from the mixing of a strong warm and strong cool
color it has both warm and cool properties.
Culture of Purple: The color of mourning for widows in Thailand, purple
was the favorite color of Egypt's Cleopatra. Purple robes were worn by
royalty and people of authority or high rank. The Purple Heart is a U.S.
Military decoration given to soldiers wounded in battle.
Language of Purple: The use of purple in familiar phrases can help us see
how the color might be perceived by others, both the positive and negative
aspects.
Purple cow - something remarkable, eye-catching, unusual
Purple prose - exaggeration, highly imaginative writing (also has negative
connotations) Bad purple
Purple speech - profanity, raunchy language
Purple prose - exaggeration, colorful lies
Purple haze - state of confusion or euphoria, possibly drug-induced, type
of marijuana
Purple Words: These words are synonymous with the color purple: Violet,
plum, lavender, lilac, puce, thistle, orchid, mauve, magenta, royal,
amethyst, wine, pomegranate, eggplant, mulberry.
Red + Blue = Purple
Nov/04/2004 11:21 PM
Enough
already, about "red states" and "blue" states. I'm
tired of hearing everybody talk about it, frankly. I
think Republicans are taking far too much comfort in
it, and Democrats are bashing themselves far too much
too.
I've been emailing with friends in New York who seem to feel that they're surrounded by nothing but backwoods, redneck, red-state folks. First off, not all Republicans are backwoods, rednecks. And second off, what am I, chopped liver? I live in a so-called "red state." Heck, I live in a so-called red county. But, I can tell you from first hand experience, Democrats even in here sometime.
Point is, it seems to me the whole "red/blue" dichotomy" is overblow and oversold to us. There are no TRULY red states, and there are no truly blue states. The bluest of blue states has a solid minority of Republicans, and vice-versa...
I knew this intuitively, because I have lived it my whole life here in Texas. But, low and behold, just after the election, somebody actually did research. You know, a real academic type with spreadsheets, charts, graphs and stuff like that.
The first thing I found, was this blog and this really cool purple map created by Jeff Culver. As you can clearly see, there is not one truly red state (even Utah....). Nor are there any solidly blue states (not even Mass...) Almost every state falls somewhere along the spectrum, and most states trend more toward purple than either red or blue.
A real academic, Robert Vanderbei , created this map here that shows the same theory, only done on a county-by-county basis. He's also got a lot of useful and interesting info on voting and populations densities, and things like that.
I've seen some other maps that twist and contort the US based on population and voting. But I just like the good old red/blue/purple distinctions....because it makes it so utterly clear that we are not one or the other...we are BOTH.
To my mind, that means Democrats ought not to be so depressed, and Republicans not too proud.
All this caused me to get into songwriter mode, and I've written my own post-election song, called "Purple Land." You can learn more about it here. You can hear a demo (that I'm already dissatisfied with...) by going here .
Here's to our Purple Land!
I've been emailing with friends in New York who seem to feel that they're surrounded by nothing but backwoods, redneck, red-state folks. First off, not all Republicans are backwoods, rednecks. And second off, what am I, chopped liver? I live in a so-called "red state." Heck, I live in a so-called red county. But, I can tell you from first hand experience, Democrats even in here sometime.
Point is, it seems to me the whole "red/blue" dichotomy" is overblow and oversold to us. There are no TRULY red states, and there are no truly blue states. The bluest of blue states has a solid minority of Republicans, and vice-versa...
I knew this intuitively, because I have lived it my whole life here in Texas. But, low and behold, just after the election, somebody actually did research. You know, a real academic type with spreadsheets, charts, graphs and stuff like that.
The first thing I found, was this blog and this really cool purple map created by Jeff Culver. As you can clearly see, there is not one truly red state (even Utah....). Nor are there any solidly blue states (not even Mass...) Almost every state falls somewhere along the spectrum, and most states trend more toward purple than either red or blue.
A real academic, Robert Vanderbei , created this map here that shows the same theory, only done on a county-by-county basis. He's also got a lot of useful and interesting info on voting and populations densities, and things like that.
I've seen some other maps that twist and contort the US based on population and voting. But I just like the good old red/blue/purple distinctions....because it makes it so utterly clear that we are not one or the other...we are BOTH.
To my mind, that means Democrats ought not to be so depressed, and Republicans not too proud.
All this caused me to get into songwriter mode, and I've written my own post-election song, called "Purple Land." You can learn more about it here. You can hear a demo (that I'm already dissatisfied with...) by going here .
Here's to our Purple Land!