Just Some Thoughts....

Headline:

• Trump moves decisively to wipe out Obama's climate-change record

Thought:

• Why does it appear that at every turn the actions seem to have one goal in mind? 
• Erase all indications of the work of the President of the United States for the last eight years.

Headline:

• Trump: House panel should investigate Clinton, not me [on Russian ties]

Thought:

• One form of gaslighting is when you accuse others of what you are guilty of after you have been accused first.

And these are just from today.

Oh my!

A Political Tilt-A-Whirl

I have come to the conclusion that logic and facts, while interesting and even helpful, most of the time don’t do much to win arguments. In fact, for most of us our policy could very well be, “I know what I believe. Don’t confuse me with the facts.” We will sort through loads of facts until we find the one that agrees with us out of hundreds. Global climate change is one of the current examples. Out of every 100 scientific studies it appears that at least 90 or more support the idea of climate change occurring around us right now. But if you, for some ideological or political reason disagree, well, forget those 90 some. Just look at that one.

I have done the same thing with people’s comments after a sermon, performance, or Facebook post. I could get 25 “Good job! I loved it.” Comments. But there’s that one who didn’t like it, disagreed with me, said something unkind. That’s the one that will keep me awake at night and spoil my day. That is not about being thick- or thin-skinned. It’s about how we respond and how we make decisions.

At one point in time most believed that if you could separate emotions from decision-making, we would all be able to make better decisions. The paradigm for that was good old Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet! His quote, which entered the American lexicon, was “Just the facts, Ma’am. Just the facts.” No opinions, asides, or emotions. The facts will lead us to where we want to go.

Sadly, the real world has a different reality based on other facts discovered in research. There are examples of people who have through surgery or accident had their emotional response separated from their logical response. They make decisions based only on the facts. There is no emotional content to their process. It is entirely disconnected. It would seem, according to “logical” thinking that such a person would be able to make sane, rational decisions.

That assumption is wrong. If they make decisions they are not logical or sane. In many instances they have great difficulty making these decisions at all, feeling overwhelmed by choices. Through brain scans and other tools of modern neuroscience, we have discovered that an interaction between emotion and logic is what makes the better decisions. The emotional content, also including intuition and stored memories beneath consciousness, is as important as the logical content- the facts.

What we see is that those decisions based solely (or mainly) on either pure logic or pure emotion are both flawed. Whether it’s the person above with only logic or the active addict controlled by the pleasure (emotional) content, they do not make the better or best decisions.

What is more to the point is that unless we have some physical or emotional reason for a disconnect between reason and emotion, we all make our decisions on a combination of both. Most of the time our brains are downright lazy and make most decisions based on intuitive reactions. We don’t even think about it. (Just because it comes through and from our brain does NOT mean we have “thought” about it. Many pre-, sub-, and unconscious ideas and reactions occur without the action of thinking.) That of course is fortunate. It is part of our survival mechanism, allowing us to react to danger in less time than it takes to think about it.

The very serious game of politics is one of those places where we can see the impact of facts, logic, opinion, or emotion. For some reason there are many people who look at a picture of Barack Obama and have a strong negative reaction. Many of them will have all kinds of logical reasons for that reaction. They can cite “information” (whether true or false, logical or illogical) for why they believe that Obama is a threat, a Muslim, an idiot, the worst president, or whatever. He has ruined the country, the economy is in a shambles, crime is up, he hates police, and on and on. Don’t show me statistics that say it ain’t so. I know it’s true because I believe it.

On the other side there are many who have the same response to Donald Trump. I saw on the web a supposed quote from the ghostwriter of his The Art of the Deal who expresses a fear for Trump’s finger on the nuclear arms button. Others say variations on this fear- all the way from his taking away American freedoms of religion and the press to an economic policy from the late 1800s that will bankrupt the world economy. Are these facts? No. Can they be supported with some sense of information? Sure. It’s all in the emotional responses.

Both sides will say that their opinion is based on “facts.” Maybe. But facts and statistics are only as good as the way we explain them. Correlation does not mean causation and in many cases truly means coincidence.

Could any of the fears about Trump come true? Yes, of course. But the likelihood is about the same as Obama having taken all your guns away in the past 7 years. And he didn’t even try.

Let’s be honest, that little fact is what helps me get through the insanity of politics today. It reminds me that all of us are caught in the same emotional Tilt-A-Whirl. Which is why I keep begging, pleading, exhorting, and praying for more dialogue. We need to talk about our feelings and examine our fears in the light of reality. We need to be open to the wonders that life is still presenting to us. We need to work together in that exceptional way we have often done in the past.

I am not optimistic but I am not as fatalistic as I could be, either. I will continue to do what I can do to make that work better.

Will they? Won't They? Will They Just Kick It Down the Road?

Congress.

Politics.

Washington.

Politics.

This is not the way to run a nation!

Being a (very) liberal Democrat, I want to just cry in anger at the (very) conservative responses of the Republican leadership. Since the passing of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) the whole effort of the Republican Party's hostage takers (i.e. Tea Party ultra-conservatives) have been unable to think about anything but repealing this law. As I read somewhere in an op-ed kind of piece, they must be afraid that it WILL work and then where will they be?

But what they have done in their ideological stubbornness is all but shut down the progress of the country. The sequester is probably more to blame for the slow-down of the economic resurgence than anything the Obama Administration is doing. A government shut-down will only make it much worse. They won't negotiate. And when Obama doesn't, they blame him.

It makes me long for the days of Ronald Reagan or, even worse, Richard Nixon. Reagan was a communicator and knew he had to work with the other side of the aisle. That's how democracies work. Nixon may have been a crook, a liar and many other things, but he did manage to keep some lines open with Congress. He was not an ideologue. He was a politician.

The real losers in all this will be us- the people. Congress has stalled and cried and gotten angry and so many other things over the past 5 years that they have seriously hurt our country. Obama could agree with all their ideas- and they would still reject them- because they came from him.

Ah, maybe there's the answer. Obama should present a whole new plan based entirely on the Tea Party agenda. Praise the ideas- and take them as his own. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see a big change in the Congress then.

I know. It wouldn't work. Nothing will.

Maybe Obama needs to let it all happen. Maybe he needs to let the Republican House shut the government down and lay out a clear reason why he is doing what he is doing and what they are NOT doing. It wouldn't be pretty, but somebody might get the idea of who really is causing the blockage in our national political heart.

No, it wouldn't work either.

But, personally, I'm scared of all this and its long-term impact.

Unless some miracle occurs, it is going to be a long fall and winter in Washington.

Conflict in Conflict

Found this tag on an editorial cartoon the other day...

There's a nice man at the door wearing a Peace Prize selling war. (Link)

Over the past few weeks we’ve heard the sounds of missiles warming up and politicians beginning to argue in depth over the right or wrong of attacking Syria. The now familiar strain of debate over war has returned to the streets. Protests and all kinds of Facebook postings bring back memories of previous times.

Vietnam. Kuwait. Somalia. Iraq. Afghanistan.

The debate returns. As it must.

The conflict over conflict is one that we should not shut down or minimize. It is always an important question whether we are putting boots on the ground or not.

This particular conflict is interesting, however. In ways not seen since Vietnam bitter political opponents from different sides start to line up one way or the other. For at least an initial response last week two Minnesota congressional representatives found themselves on the same side- Michele Bachman and Tim Walz were both opposing the action. That is, I believe a good thing. On Facebook I have seen anti-involvement posts from people who are as conservative as they come.

The reality of military action is sobering. We must always be careful about the use of such actions. They do not do us well in the short or long term.

But they always raise question that cannot be easily answered. For example, the Syrian regime has killed thousands upon thousands of his country’s men, women and children with bullets, but that isn’t deemed as beyond the normal winds of war. Use a “weapon of mass destruction” to kill them and suddenly it is no longer the way to do it.

What about the simple fact that the only nation to have ever used THE weapon of mass destruction of the 20th Century is leading the call. But then I think that if we hadn’t dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, my dad would have been in the invasion force and I may have never been born.

I am a peacenik. I am a pacifist. I have a strong spiritual, religious and humanitarian foundation for my views. Nothing has changed them. But neither am I foolish and naïve to believe that such a position can become total reality in this world. I know that human nature will lead to conflict after conflict after conflict. I know that nations will rise up against nations and that countless (!) innocent people will die or suffer horribly. War happens.

But I for one have to say I want us to think VERY seriously about it. I for one want to be there calling myself and all that will listen to take this to heart and know the awful consequences of what we are doing even if that is a way to decrease the consequences of no action.

A theology, philosophy or lifestyle of peace is a witness that this is not he best way to live. A stand for peace is not anti-American or anti-whatever nation; it is a stand for humanity. We must always challenge our government, leaders of all sides, and ourselves to find ways to work more fully and intentionally and intensely for peace.

It is not an option.

I understand the politics. I understand the differing points of view. I know that some oppose the move because of it being the Obama administration planning it. Some others are all for isolation and staying out of the business of others. Let them all kill themselves. Who appointed us the world’s police?

In his 2011 book The Better Angels of Our Nature Stephen Pinker argues that the world is a less violent place than it has ever been in history. Wikipedia explains:

The phrase "the better angels of our nature" stems from the last words of Lincoln's first inaugural address. Pinker uses the phrase as a metaphor for four human motivations that, he writes, can "orient us way from violence and towards cooperation and altruism," namely: empathy, self-control, the "moral sense," and reason.

His is a compelling argument that I think does make sense. One of the reasons is that over the last century we have seen awful examples of the spoils of war. We have watched so much of it on the screens in our living rooms over dinner. The reality of war has become real. The witness of people of peace can continue that movement toward a safer and less violent world.

Yes, there are lots of other factors involved. That’s why good HONEST discussion is valuable. Let’s not be afraid of those discussions.

Fifty years ago President John Kennedy in a commencement address at American University had this to say:

I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men ... world peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor—it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance ... our problems are man-made—therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants.

Nothing has changed. May it be our work today.

Post-Election Thoughts (1)

Secession?

Isn't that a little extreme?

The White House website allows for people to petition the government even to request permission to secede. Some don't bother with the "official" way, they publish their own harangues. Like this one from Texas:

We must contest every single inch of ground and delay the baby-murdering, tax-raising socialists at every opportunity.... Why should Vermont and Texas live under the same government?

Pretty strong feelings wouldn't you say? Some people are really upset by Obama's re-election. Probably especially since they really believed the GOP hype (and media polls) that it was going to be a nail-biter of an election. Then came the crash of the morning after.

Four more years of an enemy to the nation? That's how they felt.

And otherwise rational, red-blooded Americans begin to say,

Hey, he's not MY president.

None of this is new, of course. And I don't mean the Lincoln election of 1860. But, as I have said in different ways before this, I am one who has NOT lived under the president I voted for or supported most of my adult life. In fact, it would only be 16 years since 1968. One Carter, two Clinton and one Obama term. That's just a little over 1/3 of my adult life. The rest, well, there was Nixon and Reagan and Bush 1 and Bush 2. I have had to learn how to live as part of the "loyal opposition." That, by the way is essential, repeat ESSENTIAL, in a democracy. One party systems are not the basis of a republic or a democracy.

But secede? So I went to the White House site and saw the simple petition from Texas:

Peacefully grant the State of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government.

The US continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government's neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending. The citizens of the US suffer from blatant abuses of their rights such as the NDAA, the TSA, etc. Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect it's citizens' standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.

Very calm and straightforward. It's bi-partisan since some of what is opposed is from Republican administrations and some from Democrats. It makes a kind of odd logic.

Except it would begin a process that would see those freedoms and rights undermined. We would no longer be the United States. And what so many have fought and died for will be lost. Perhaps forever.

Yes, I know some believe it is being taken away by the Federal government. I have seen it happening to civil rights under both parties' administrations. The Constitution was abused by Bush and reaffirmed by Obama. Individual rights are curtailed for one reason by the conservatives and for another by the liberals.

Which is why I am glad to always be part of a loyal opposition, even to the president I helped elect.

Will I take the blame if Obama blows it big time? Of course I will have to. I voted for him and I will admit my mistake. Will he still be my president?

OF COURSE, just as Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan was. They were no less MY president than Clinton or Obama. THAT is what my dad fought in World War II to protect. Not to have people want to secede or ignore the way democracy truly works.

I am glad, no I am deeply grateful, that I live in the United States. Sure, I said crazy things back in 1973 when Watergate was falling down around the president, like

Don't blame me, I voted for McGovern.

But I stayed here, an American, and proud to be one. Let's try to do the same in the next four years.

Reviewing Election Night

We have now survived a week without all the election ads. Time to look back. (I know- I'm a glutton for punishment!)

Election night I ended up at my local Caribou Coffee Shop and watched NBC News coverage on my iPhone while writing in my journal. Here is a summary of the three hours and a few minutes that were Election Night 2012 for me.

(All times Central Time.)
7:00- My first note as I looked back at the 10 previous elections I voted in, having been supporting the winner in only 3, I thought to the incredibly divisive campaign and wrote:

But who will unite us? In an age of such bitter divisiveness, no one wants to compromise when the opposing party has been made The Enemy and Evil Incarnate. That keeps compromise and negotiations from being possible.

At this point, all "battleground states" were too close to call.

After interviewing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the awareness that he is a conservative Republican in a Democrat-leaning state, one of the commentators wisely said asked:

How do you explain Wisconsin politics to an outsider?

Ticket splitting and a strong sense of independence along with a progressive streak mark both Wisconsin and Minnesota. The results have shown that again.

I noted, thinking back over these past 40 years of elections I have voted in:

It does feel good to vote. It's what freedom is all about. Yet the cynic in me wonders what difference it all makes in the long run. Though, admittedly you never know who is going to step up and become great.

I don't know what prompted the next note but it was clearly on my mind:

I still believe racism plays a larger role than anyone is willing to admit.

7:20- One commentator hints that exit polls show that the auto bailout has helped Obama in Ohio. Will it be enough to push Ohio toward Obama?

Tom Brocaw and David Gregory, reflecting on the exit polls they have been discussing:

The people want them to work together.

At 7:30 and time seems to still be creeping along. No news from the battleground states on the east coast. With Obama with 64 electoral votes and Romney at 88 I wrote:

It could be a long night- or will it all happen at once right around 11 in the east like in 2008 when most polls across the country have closed?

Honest, I really said that!

At about the same time the long lines in Virginia had people still voting, an hour and a h alf after the polls officially closed. Chuck Todd keeps "geeking-out" with his electronics, watching the numbers he seems to want to give Florida more power than it will eventually have. In much of what he says I seem to be hearing that Obama is going to win this. A few minutes later, Brian Williams denies knowing anything they are not sharing.

At 7:50 all is quiet. NBC is filling time. I switch to CBS and they, too, are twiddling with numbers.

At 8:00 (CST) a lot of polls are now closed. From the Rockies east voting is done. Swing states like Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Arizona are either too close or too early to call.

Romney has 153 electoral votes; Obama 114. But here in Minnesota the Senate call is quick and decisive. Amy Klobuchar (D) easily wins re-election. The spirit of Paul Wellstone lives on.

Michigan is called quickly for Obama.
North Carolina looks like it's heading to Romney.
Florida- leaning to Obama, but it is still Florida.
Virginia seems to hold no surprises at this point.
Ohio- Chuck Todd says again shows some positive signs toward Obama.

I find it funny that both campaigns are calling their gatherings in Boston and Chicago "Victory Celebrations." Have to maintain their positive spin and wishful thinking.

At 8:10 NBC reports that former Gov. mike Huckabee has commented on another network that the GOP has done a "dismal" job with people of color, especially Latinos, who are the fastest growing voter base in the country.

8:15- Obama 128 electoral votes; Romney still at 153.

Florida has 80% of votes counted and it is still very close.

NBC takes another break; so do I as I head home to watch the rest unfold.

8:30- Wisconsin quickly called (relatively for a swing state) for Obama. he has now gone aead in electoral votes 158 - 153

8:44- Elizabeth Warren declared the Senate winner in Massachusetts. Indiana's voters soundly reject that rape is God's will as Democrat Donnelly defeats Mourdock.

8:50- New Hampshire goes Obama and as we get closer to 9:00, things are looking up for Obama. Still tight- but hopeful.

9:00- states go as expected, Now at 162 - 162 in electoral votes. But McCaskill is declared the Senate winner in Missouri over Todd Akin and his "legitimate rape" and very, very bad biology.

9:45- Minnesota has gone for Obama again. Obama at 172; Romney at 174. As we approach the 10:00 (CST) hour, NBC announces to their affiliates that they will stay national over the top of the hour break. Are they preparing a major shift in the next hour when California polls close?

10:00- Again with the as-expected states, Obama is at 243 and Romney at 188. A few minutes later Romney is the apparent winner in North Carolina and his total shifts to 203. Then Iowa goes "blue" and...

10:12- NBC gives Ohio to Obama and he goes over the 270 electoral vote mark.

Obama is re-elected.

And I head for bed, surprised it was this early again this year. And still wondering if the exit polls gave enough information that they had this as the probable outcome a few hours ago.

Another national election is over. Thanks goodness. It was awful- and I know it will continue to be divisive. But for tonight, I go to bed feeling very good to be able to go to sleep knowing that when I wake up in the morning, Barack Obama will have four more years.

Note: I have had real, post-election thoughts as well over the past week. 

I will be sharing those over the next week.

A Wonder of an Election

I went to vote yesterday after supper, got the sticker and put it in my journal.

=======>

I then posted the picture on Facebook with the following thought:

The 11th time I have voted in a national election. It is always an amazing feeling. Sadly I have been on the winning side only three times so far- 1992,1996,2008. I hope to make two in a row.

Needless to say, I did. At 10:12 (CST) last evening Obama was declared the winner. I am now 4 for 11. What that means for me is that in the past 40 years (since 1972, the first time I could vote in a Presidential election), I have lived with the president I voted for only 12 years. That's only 30% of the time.

I will be blogging more in the next few days about last evening's events and some of my reactions and thoughts over the next number of days. This is, I believe, a critical time in our nation's history. How we all handle it will have more to say about our future than just who happened to have been elected.

For tonight, though, I relax in the wonder of the re-election of Barack Obama, our first African-American President.

When a Leader Takes A Risk

To be a leader means to be out in front. It means to take chances and risks. It means to do what you think is right and appropriate, no matter what.

I thought of that on Wednesday when the day after another defeat for gay marriage, this time in North Carolina, President Obama spoke out.

"it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."

Wow!

Double wow!

As everyone was saying on the news and analysis on Wednesday, this means that this WILL be an issue in the fall elections. It may have as much impact on the election as the economy. It could determine the election. Some might believe that it is still early enough to overcome between now and November, especially if the economy continues to improve. Get it out of the way now and let us focus on the real issues facing us, others might argue.

No matter which or how many of these myriad opinions is anywhere near the truth of the political matter, the truth is that Barack Obama took what may be the biggest risk of his presidency by speaking out on one of the more polarizing issues of our day, behind only health care reform and abortion/contraception issues.

Why would he do it? Was he forced by Biden to do so?

Who knows.

Perhaps he decided to be the leader he is. He decided to be in the front of an issue instead of trying to figure which way the wind was blowing and take THAT stand. perhaps he looked at his girls, as he says he did, and realized that there is another generation coming up that needs to move beyond hatred and homophobia and see that love may know no orientation bounds.

This fall here in Minnesota, we will be voting on one of those anti-gay marriage referenda. (referendums?) Maybe Obama's position will help defeat that and maybe not. But here we have an issue that will not go away. Let us hope that we can now have some compassion and concern instead of rhetoric.

Thank you President Obama for having courage to say what you believe even if it may cost you the election. It is better to be honest and open.