“People… Make… American… Jobs…”

Last night’s State of the Union from the President – in Wordle:

Just reading across from left to right, hitting the bigger words: “people… make… American… jobs”. I like that it’s in our hands to work together on the mess we’re in as a nation. Well played, Mr. President. Well played.

Contrast that with the Republican response from Paul Ryan (R-Wis.):

That’s a different vibe with, “President… now… debt… government… spending…” – and I confess, one side pointing fingers at the other, while the other offers to work together within the whole, just makes it feel more right to be working from the “other” side towards some mutual hope.

the stand: relationships

[from 06/2004]

I’m working my way through a bout of writer’s block as I continue this thread in “Relationships”. Bear with me…

Everything we are about in this life is wrapped up in relationship. We imitate our parents first, and later we rebel against them. We long for everyone’s approval, and then we turn on each other at the slightest whim. We think no one else will look out for us, so we make sure we’re taken care of for ourselves. It’s only in living a life that put’s others ahead of ourselves do we find real contentment and community on this planet.

Our major interaction with each other is through conflict. A major portion of your own maturing process has been in the realization that you have more love for those who wrong you now than you did before – am I right? Your patience, manifested as fruit from your life, is keeping you from offense, is keeping you grounded enough to forgive and to love in spite of betrayal.

Another aspect of relationship that changes for the one growing in Christ is selflessness. Before, you would “act selflessly” in order to get something, or to manipulate people or situations to your benefit. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and often our discipline system at home is based on that same set of “rules”, I guess. But as you grow in Christ, you find yourself sacrificing for someone else’s good just because it’s the right thing to do. You find yourself acting in a way that might even be detrimental to your plans, but it’s a joy to be able to lift up someone else. you serve as Jesus served and love as He loved – because it’s a natural outflow of Him in your life.

One more thing from my own self-inspection: I hope I’m not judging people as much as I seem to be. At least, I pray that my discernment doesn’t negatively effect my view of anyone. As I talk with friends about deep life issues, let me pray first and console or exhort second, but let me also give them the benefit of the doubt and trust that God is already doing in them what I see and what I can’t. It’s a dreadful thing to stand in judgment, knowing that I’ve been guilty of so much more myself, and that I’m in need of mercy and forgiveness more than anyone else I might know.

If I could point to three things that can strengthen us as individuals and as partners together, those things would be:
1) In conflict, forgive
2) In action, do for others first
3) In judgment, pray

peace – rick

my so-called conservatively liberal life

Last week, I was able to catch some of the opening remarks of the Senators for the Confirmation Hearings for Judge Sonya Sotomayor to the SCOTUS. I think public displays and speeches like this reveal more about individuals than the minuscule soundbites we normally get on the evening news. I was not able to follow the Day 2 and Day 3 goings-on, so I still need to catch up with video and transcripts at some point later on.

I find myself siding with the liberal side of the auditorium these days. I would self-classify as Moderate, but definitely Left of Center. I like the phrase “conservatively liberal”, feeling that it shows where on that line I would be placed and how far down I would go.

In matters of Law and the Judicial Branch, I think it’s too narrow to hold too tightly to “This is what the Law says – this is what the Law means – this is how the Law applies on 100% of applicable cases”. There’s too much room for misjudgment if there’s no room for making at least some perspective- based relative determinations where needed. Yes, there needs to be solid foundation, but the words themselves and our possibly fallible applications are not solid enough. Just when we think we have 100% of the facts, we find that we missed something, some exonerating factor that messes up the world we’ve made for ourselves.

For those of you reading this – both of you – thinking that I’m being too relativistic, perhaps I would agree. For those of you – the other two – who think you have all that figured out totally and completely and un-relativistically, I would respectfully disagree. I think I’m ok with the grey areas in my perspectives; but I also think that you’re in denial of your own relativistic biases.

But I could be wrong.

change.

There's something inspirational about the transition of power in USAmerica. I would hope that regardless of the vote, each American will be able to watch a piece of the events transpiring today and catch a bit of the awe, the pomp and circumstance, the change that is underway symbolically and, hopefully, in reality around here.

We're home for the kids' "snow day" – I have to use those little finger air-quotes when I say "snow" to describe what's falling here today. I've flipped the TV from the Today Show to CNN, mostly for the reason that NBC was focusing cameras on talking heads and CNN, while still talking, shows more of the sweep and depth of the crowds, the cityscape, the history. Here at home, the sun is trying to come out. White mini-flakes are still falling from the sky.

Some twitterers are sniping at the perceived over-hype of this particular Inauguration, of the networks' attention to minutiae. I would hope that there would be this same attention given had this been an incoming McCain administration. But it's not, and in many ways, it's more than just "my side won". One of the pundits this morning said this was the "end of us and them". While I'm not naive enough to think that's completely true yet, I do hope the mindset inside the beltway is changing significantly right now. I hope it changes in the twitterverse as well.

I'm not a sentimental soul often. Chicken Soup For The Political Soul isn't on my nightstand. But historic moments like this, whomever is leaving office, whomever is moving in – these moments should mean more to us as a nation. I'm hopeful that this is a good precedent moving forward.

Just had a short conversation with my daughter before she headed upstairs to annoy her brother.

"Do you know why this is historic?"
"Because he's the first African-American to be President."
"Do you know why this is important?"
"Sort of."
"It's not necessarily because he's different that makes it important, I don't think. It's because we're coming to realize that he's not different, that he and I and your mom and all of us are the same in lots of ways. That's what makes this special, that any of us can do what's right, can work to do something special."

Had My Duty, so I Do’d It

We touched down at Columbia Metropolitan Airport at 2:10. My brother came to pick us up and take us home, and Vicki and I were at the polling place by 3:00. By 4:30, we were driving home. That’s not bad for being a part of the process.

Best Celebrity Endorsement Ever

I don’t care who celebrities vote for, and really don’t care to listen to them espouse party politics. But this one comes close to what I think is important – looking for real change, not just doing something different the same old way but coming at things in a wholly different way.

That, and who doesn’t like Opie and Richie?

The Two Biggies

** UPDATE 10/24: I need to rebut myself below somewhat. I wrote that Senators McCain and Obama were fairly close, if not in ideas than on outcomes, on the abortion issue. I think I’m wrong. Digging around again, I’m having to balance what I read/posted here with the much more pro-choice leaning postings on the Obama site. I admit that it’s a stretch for my both/and mindset, but it’s not impossible to still keep the hope for better in the midst of something worse. And I still think the choice for Obama is a better mandate for us as a country going forward.

Thought this was a good question to pop onto the main page. My buddy Steve asked something in the last post that is ginormous in the minds of Christian voters. I replied in the comments, and re-post here for further discussion, or just to stare ate the pretty font:

Steve: Lots of lofty ideals espoused, but bottom line, he’ll end up raising taxes. You discussed "Us vs. Them" in your last post. He’s just as guilty of it as you say McCain is. Obama’s "Us" is "the poor, downtrodded blue collar worker" and the "them" is the "rich." Class warfare.

Are you really voting Obama, or is this another one of your April Fool’s Day posts carried over to October? How do you get past the Abortion issue and the same-sex marriage issue?

Rick: How do I get past the two litmus test issues that let others judge whether I’m really a Christian or not? On abortion, they are different, but their outcomes are the same – if it’s overturned, go back to the states. If it’s not overturned, probably better as a state issue. They both seem to be politically federalist on that one, so it’s a wash. But throw in the social-economic stuff, and I honestly think Obama is more pro-whole-life than McCain.

On same-sex, they are almost exactly the same. The way I understand, both sides want same-sex partners to have the same legal rights as married couples, but they also both do not want to grant married status to that mix. This one hasn’t popped up in the attack ads from either side, so it’s another wash, I think.

Oh – and I’m not saying there is no Us vs Them. I’m saying that the separation isn’t the focus – it might be a part of the equation, but it doesn’t have to be the major factor going forward.

“Question” Metaphor

Here’s another metaphor to go with my dissertation on "framing stories" below, trying to explain the difference between the McCain generation and the Obama generation.

Question: Are you ready to vote for a black man for President?

McCain generation: Yes, we are ready to show our diversity and to get beyond the politics of race, creed, color. We have fought long and hard, and we take our stand on being able to get past that divide.

Obama generation: Really? What a dumb question. Why are you asking that?

It’s looking at the options and seeing black and white, yes and no, right and wrong, on the one hand. Or on the other, it’s seeing a different starting point and wondering what all the fuss was about. Instead of arguing about our different sides, I think the cultural change coming is about asking better questions.

Why I Am Voting For Barack Obama

We are a two weeks from Election Day 2008, a perfect time for me to explain to the masses – both of you – why I am going to be voting for Senator Barack Obama (D). And for me, it’s more about the "framing story" than the actual politics of the thing.

Brian McLaren has a great post here on Obama’s "framing story". According to Wikipedia, a "frame story" is that introductory over-arching story that builds a framework for a collective of other stories-within-the-story. Politically, these two gentlemen are closer than we think, closer than they may want you to believe, more alike that they are different. But their philosophical outlooks, the cultural baggage each brings to the table – that’s what makes them truly different.

McCain comes from a generation that has lived and died on Us vs. Them. It’s been a transitional period to be sure, and survival of the culture has depended on us taking care of our own, watching for our interests, protecting our partners around the world. It’s a basis for our economics, our military decisions, our domestic affairs. And it calls for judgment of each other to determine who is Us and who is Them. The most basic split is that if you’re on Our Side, then you are Us – we together are the Good Guys, the Right Side. And if you disagree, then you are Them, the Wrong Side, the Bad Guys. We are good and right – they are evil and wrong. "Agree to Disagree" means compromise and loss, letting Them be wrong until such a time as We can finally win the disagreement/battle/decision/outcome. It’s a black and white society, right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, Us vs. Them.

On the other hand, Obama comes from a different generation. There is a divide, but it’s not Us vs. Them – instead, it’s more like Us over here and maybe the other Us over there. It’s a more inclusive view of differences, realizing that We are not always all right and that They are not always all wrong, and that somehow bridging those gaps might be more beneficial in the long-run than "winning". It’s a win-win scenario view of the world, looking for an outcome that benefits all "sides" and brings us closer together instead of pitting one side against another. It’s a complementary view of each other, hoping for something bigger than just the sum of our separate and disparate parts. It’s a multifaceted, multicultural, multi-ethnic view of life lived out together. It’s a realization that we are better together, and that "winning" doesn’t have to mean a loss for the other side.

So we can discuss the politics if you want, but I’m not falling for the cliche’s and am actually tired of the empty/false dichotomies. For my part, I think the tax plans sound more alike than different – it’s too easy to blowoff Obama’s plans as "socialism", but both men will have their hands full with the current turmoil. On the topic of abortion, the net result will be the same – except to say that I think an inclusive helpful life-bettering worldview would do more for protecting babies than "pro-life legislation" that hasn’t proved very helpful so far. The same-sex debates end at the same point for both camps, making it another moot issue.

For me, I’m going to err on the side of trying to do right by my fellow man – instead of vilifying and humiliating the "opposition", I hope we collectively build each other up in how we act, what we say, and how we go about being the best Americans and the best America we can be. My name is Rick Stilwell – and I approved this message.

“Joe The Plumber”

Here’s video of Joe the Plumber, brought up as an example in tonight’s debate. I think Obama’s response is spot on, telling the small businessman that in working 15 years to get to this spot, he thinks this plan would have freed up capital to let him reach that point faster; that it might not be "good" for him right now, but for those businessman still struggling to reach his level of success it will open up new avenues of revenue.

Word on the street is that Sam the Butcher and Bob the Builder are still looking for their time in the political limelight.