It takes balls

for George (the) Bush to declare this , or any, day to be "National Sanctity of Human Life Day" but you can never say that Barbara Bush's Boy doesn't have balls. But having balls doesn't mean he isn't a hypocrite. This, of course, is just another prime example of Boy Bush's words being completely divorced from his actions. Would anyone who truly believes in the sanctity of human life make jokes about capital punishment, would refuse to interrupt his vacation to deal with the suffering caused by Hurricane Katrina, would justify the use of torture and want to do away with the right of Habaeus Corpus, and (worst of all) would knowingly start a war based on lies and use every power at his hand to keep it going as long as possible insuring that more and more people will die primarily because he started something that wastes innocent lives but has no personal cost to him. (Please don't think Bush Baby loses any sleep over the mess he has caused or the tears he shed are anything but a photo op)

It is sad to note that so many think only of abortion when it comes to the sanctity of human life but that is exactly what the Repubs and a lot of self-labeled Christians would have you believe. Yet those same hypocrites are cheerleaders for capitol punishment. Because I am a christian, I support the right of a woman to choose and I strongly oppose capitol punishment. These are the reasons that guide my reasoning.

I hold the belief that the sanctity of human life pretains to every human life. I also believe that a woman has the right to choose whether or not she will carry a fetus to term, to when it will breath and become a human being. In a more perfect world every child would be conceived in love and born into a world of love and hope and security but we don't live in a perfect world. I refuse to be the judge in deciding those very critical matters. Those decisions must be made by the individuals involved, societies role is to make it more possible for a woman to choose not to have an abortion but it should not demand she doesn't or can't have one.

I believe the sanctity of human life pretains to every human being, including a person who, through his or her actions, has demonstrated no concern for the life of another human being. The best way to say that is that I don't believe in capitol punishment in any case. There are bad people in the world, there are people who are and will be a threat to others, but there are no people that we, as a society, have a right to kill (capital punishment is, like war, just a socially acceptable form of killing). Society does have the right to protect itself from anyone who is a danger to members of the socety but it doesn't have the right to kill anyone.

My belief about abortion and capitol punishment are in synch. There is a distinct separation of individual and societal rights. Society's role is to enable life not to destroy it. Individual rights are to make the best choices possible to lead an healthy and constructive life for the individual and their children in the society they live in.

That's what I believe! Some might say I have balls! (I do)

Now it's time to stop this god damn war!!

Peace, if not now when?

Happy Birthday Irene Mensalves!

I have found a new hero in today's (1/18/07) Oregonian. Her story was on page E5, it should have been on the front page. Irene Mansalvas celebrated her 103rd birthday yesterday. That's an extraordinary event in itself but it doesn't make her a hero. Irene is a Quaker, which in itself is nice but it doesn't make her a hero. Irene is still an active anti-war protestor as a member of Raging Grannies, that is what make Irene a hero to me.
Irene is, in her own owrds, ".. a pacifist, strictly. I just go back to the same idea: There has to be negotiation. Why wait until we've killed so many people to negotiate. My feeling about this whole thing (the war in Iraq) is, it was all for profit." ... "I don't want to get too political but I'm not afraid to go to jail."

Irene knows about war profiteering. During WW II she worked in an Internatioonal Harvestor Plant, a farm equipment manufacturer that made tanks during the war. She says it was there she learned about war and profit -- that it was more lucrative to build a tank that would be destroyed than to make tractors that that lasted 20 years.

My first reaction to reading the article was a wish there were more people like Irene. Then it hit me, why I am not like Irene? Why do I weasel out so often when it comes to putting my beliefs and desires to work. Writing a blog that no one reads is not an action, it's an escape.

Heros are people we look up to, people we want to emulate. I'm encouraged. I wonder what the future will bring.

It is, after all, time to stop this god damn war!!

War is not the answer, Peace is!

Better late than

whenever. I'm still working on developing the discipline to dally daily here but, as you can see, my dally discipline is rarely done daily these days. (I love alliteration!)

"Our lives begin to end when we become silent about the things that matter." That's a quote from Martin Luther King Jr that hangs on the wall in my office. I've been looking at it as I reflect on what I might post here on King's Birthday. I remember when King was alive. I was in the Navy stationed in Hawaii at the time he was assassinated. I was in 28 years old at the time. I guess I've always felt a kinship with underdogs and, though I had had minimal contact with segregation in the Navy or while growing up in Oregon, I had the feeling Dr. King was doing something good to make this a better country. I also remember following the coverage of his assassination and becoming more aware of the racial divide that existed not only in the country but in the small world I was a part of.

It was the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy that the issues of racial and economic inequality came into focus for me. It was the time I began to question the status quo and my own willingness to remain silent "about the things that matter."

The change was not instantaneous but cumulative, small experiences began to add up, and it would lead me to a place where I am happier with myself but often discouraged that necessary changes to bring about a more just world are inevitable. I just have to keep telling myself, "One step and one day at a time."

I will continue to describe my faith and political journey in future posts.

All that being said, It's time to Speak out, Act up, and Stop the god damn War!

Peace be with you!

I talk to myself

a lot. That's what I figure I'm doing here, with the exception that someone might, probably does, overhear me even if I never know it. Nevertheless, I ramble on.
Bush gives a "big" speech tonight. I shouldn't say 'gives', he reads a speech tonight. Bush has never 'given' a speech, he just reads what others have written for him. They've probably made him read aloud through it a couple of times so he knows how to pronounce all the words, even if he may not know for sure what they mean.
Someone, I think it might have been Molly Ivins, said about Bush, "George is not dumb, he's just ignorant." I think that nails it. He is smart when it comes to being a smart ass but, even after six years of being President I don't think he has a clue when it comes to what is going on in the world. One of my favorite books about the Bush presidency is "The Greatest Story Ever Sold (subtitle: The Decline and Fall of Truth , From 9/11 to Katrina) by Frank Rich.
It's a history of how, from the beginning, Bush has been like a spoiled kid among the big boys who have used him to achieve their ends, which is primarily concentrating power in the executive branch. And as long as it makes him feel powerful, Bush doesn't really care how or what they (key player Dick Cheney) do.
But let's kid nobody, because he has the power of the presidency George Bush is the most dangerous man in the world.
I've vented enough for one day. Tomorrow I'll try to get a little more specific about some of these things.
In the meantime, it's time to stop this god damned war!

Peace -- if not now when?

If it's Tuesday

it must be time for basketball. As previously noted, our grandson is on the local high school varsity basketball team. Which means for my wife and I will spend two or three nights (and several road trips) watching them play. Russell, our grandson, is not a starter but he gets lots of playing time and he's only a sophmore. The team is good but not much "above average." I'm not the coach so I don't complain but I think their biggest problem is that they don't play as a team very well.

Which is my segway to today's dally. Good teamwork is hard to find at any level of society these days. I am the mayor of a small town with a city council of six members. No member has been on the council less than two years and all have known each other for years. Yet they spend more time arguing about shorterm matters than working together on issues that really matter, such as enabling the city to prepare for the future which means we have to change.
But the reality is the lack of teamwork is prevalent at all levels of government. Partisanship is so much the name of the game today that I wonder if any progress can be made in bringing about a just society. I am happy that the Repubs have finally lost control of both our state and the federal legislative branches but, though I firmly believe that Democrats are better intentioned that the Repubs, I wonder if the whole system isn't so skewed that real change that will benefit the "least of these" as much as does those who already benefit is beyond possiblity.

Still I'm not ready to give up. I'll settle for small steps as long as they move us forward. Unfortunately it will take us years, probabll decades, to even gain back the progress that was made before "the Reagan revolution" began to do away with any hint of a just society in favor of one of, for, and by the wealthy. What I don't want to settle for is decisions that settle for and/or leagalize the status quo. George Bush has done more to harm the intent of the constitution than any president in history. He should be impeached and in a just and truly constitution-based society he would be, but in today's rea;ity it won't happen so we can't dwell on it. I want the Democrats to reverse the direction of our government and let George Bush stew in his own misery.

I have also come to realize that progressive change in a democracy rarely comes in citizen inititives, it comes from elected leaders. Therefore I put most of my hope in someone who seeks political office. I should say at this point that I am a liberal Democrat who lives in what is usually identified as a conservative region. I personally think people are more apathetic and uninvolved than conservative. I think the feeling is that government owes us but we shouldn't have to pay for anything. I think that explains why they usually vote for Repubs.

Right now my first choice for President in the '08 election is John Edwards but others are also acceptable to me. I will have a real hard time generating any enthusiasm if Hillary Clinton is nominated by the Democrats. The only thing she has going for her as far as I'm concerned is that she would be better than any Republican who is under consideration.

Edwards would include everybody as a player on the team and we would all end up winners!

Enough for today. It's time to end this god damn war!

Peace in our time!

When I'm in a hurry

I often get thing a little garbled. I'm not a "natural typist" (I lost half of the index finger on my left hand when I was three years old - a story for another time) so I usually have to write a couple of sentences then go back and correct spelling.
All that aside, I have only a few minutes before I have to leave for my grandson's basletball game and I won't be home until late so I won't to "dally for a bit" before I leave.
The war is on my mnd this morning. Truth be told , it's on my mind every day. Just a saw Keith Olbermann commentary on YouTube that I had missed a couple of days ago. I think KO is right on about Bush, he's delusional about just about everything but espescially about this (his) war. He doesn't give a damn about anybody's sacrifice, that's something that doesn't even enter his psychi, to him this is all about him being the "boss." How in the world did such a loser become the president of our nation. I think it shows the fallibilty of people's (misplaced) trust. He convinced a lot of people to trust him. But, of course, like most of his life, he didn't and couldn't have done all he has done on his own, he had to have enablers. Unfortunately those enablers were, are, a hell of a lot smarter than he is and they know how to pull his chain and lead him around like a puppy. I don't think Bush is dumb, I just think he is ignorant and he think's he smart. Unfortunately, the world is suffering because of Bush's ignorance.
It's time for us to End this god damned war and give Bush a taste of reality!

Peace be with you!
OWHN

Beginning Again!

Maybe the third time will be "the charm." I had a previous blog that I let kind of drift away and now find I can't get back into it because I have changed email addresses. After a couple weeks of trying to get things straightened but having no luck I decided to just give up and start anew.
As stated my interests are varied but I will mostly be sharing my thoughts on politics and the church (I go to my woodworking shop when I get stressed out or just want to think about something else).
I really have a lot to learn about doing this. Trying to figure out how to add links, up load photos, etc.
Just to let you know, my politics and theology are both liberal. My politics are based on my Christian faith but I can also say that my faith is also influenced by politics. One does not have to share my faith to share my politics.
The name of this blog is rather misleading because I'm not disciplined enough to do this everyday but my goal is to post 4 or 5 times a week and to keep up with currrent events. At times I may have to discuss how my favorite (only) grandson is doing. He is 15 years old, a sophomore, plays high school football, basketball, and baseball, is a straight A student who is already taking college math courses because he has completed all that are available in our local school system. He is on the varsity basketball team (scored 9 points in last night's game against Helix) and has been on Little League and Babe Ruth All Star teams every year he has played (he's a pitcher). That's probably more info than you wanted but he's an amazing young man.

Enough for now.
Keep the Peace -- and Let's stop this god damned war!!!