Emptiness

The Hubble Deep Field: The Most Important Image Ever Taken

After watching this, I agree with the video's title. To my personal stream of consciousness, this video is appropriately placed here.

Beginner's Mind

In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

-- Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Suzuki Roshi's words are more relevant now than ever. In a time when legendary economists innocently reveal the most damning truth of the Bush Administration so far, yet fail to envision a world where such obscenities might have been avoided, we see the limitations of the box we've been so reluctant to "think outside of", as they say. The extension of such thinking has led the Senate to make a virtual declaration of war against yet another nation being drawn into the morass that is Iraq.

I just made a post on the MSNBC site on the message board discussing the Democratic debate. I was really disheartened, and more than usual, by the ignorance and tightly closed minds of too many posters. I tried to add a little historical context to the topic:

The United States of America was created, and defined in its historic Constitution, to be a nation governed by the people themselves. Out of the long human history of rule by kings whose powers were decreed by God, America flowered as a testament that we are all children of God, and no less capable of governing than kings.

More than two centuries later, there is still insufficient appreciation for the revolutionary nature of this country. For many, the temptation to imbue special qualities to the wielders of power is still too great. In America, at least for the moment, each one of us is powerful in ways the Medieval spirit could scarcely have imagined, but we've been painfully slow to assume the accompanying responsibilities.

We have all been declared as noble by the law of our land, yet too often we still cling to our savage nature. We are each of us tasked to meet the hopes and expectations of Washington and Jefferson in our daily lives, to live the dream of America and protect its birthright of liberty. As citizens of this extraordinary republic, we all have much to learn, and obviously much studying yet to do. Each of us must ask the hard questions once only the province of kings, and assume our portion of the nation's burden. That's a serious commitment, and we must not abdicate, because this world does have evil in it, and we should strive to be alert to threats from every
direction.

Far from a gloomy responsibility, the task assigned to each American is a joyous one, with a vision of freedom not defined by docile ignorance, but of empowerment, opportunity, maturity and understanding. It is the spark of the Divine in every living being, unfettered by tyranny and oppression. It is not just George Bush's responsibility, or Hillary Clinton's.

It's yours.

OK, that's a little heavy for the MSNBC message board. But I almost know how Jesus felt when he cried "Oh, Jerusalem!" Do you know what I mean? I see such potential, such unrealized potential.

It's hard for me to realize my own potential, needless to say. I didn't really need more physical difficulties, but I'm on extra meds again, and I'm not happy about it. I'm still having more troubles than I'm supposed to be having, so more 'roids, and a different antibiotic this time, called Ceftin, or something. I don't know much about it yet, but so far, none of the bad reactions I had to the sulfa-based SMZ/TMP, to which I'm obviously allergic. So, I'm not feeling that great, but I have so many thoughts I'd like to write down over the next few days. We'll see what happens.

There is so much going on in the world, and so much I'd like to see headed for the right path while I'm still around to enjoy it, but I always find strength in the words of men like Shunryu Suzuki. There are two primary books associated with the teachings of this Zen master who came to California and established the first Soto Zen monastery in the West before he died in 1971. I have been reading Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind periodically for more than thirty years, and more recently, a compilation called Not Always So. It's been fascinating to chart my progress in understanding the simple words of Suzuki. Great books such as these are not necessarily the literary achievements of Shakespeare and Goethe, but share their ability to measure our growth in understanding as we pass through life. Just as a passage of Shakespeare reveals new layers of meaning as I grow older, so I seem to fall slowly through my own layers of misunderstanding each time I read Suzuki, and sense just a little more of the kernel of meaning he tried to convey. Without question, that task will be incomplete when my time is up.

I still can feel intensely bored by meditation, but I am confident in my will to persevere. If something about that practice has undergone any subtle changes, I am only reminded what a beginner I truly am. I know that the deeper I reach within myself, the closer I feel to all of you, my living teachers. I am touched by the deep inability of words to express that sort of paradox, yet I know it's in the riddles that we find a touchstone of our journey to understanding, and that they resonate with the jangled tune of our crisis-ridden planet as it speeds through vast, vast emptiness.

Bill Clinton has made some remarks of great importance. If you haven't heard them, please play this short video.

I might update a given blog to correct a spelling error or add a tag, but I don't like adding content after the fact. I'm making a late addition here, but I'll try not to make this a habit.

Toward the end of the MSNBC debate, Tim Russert asked one of those hypothetical questions. The scenario here, if I recall, was a prisoner formerly 3rd in command of a terrorist group with information about a pending terrorist attack. The question posed to the candidates was whether an interrogator of this prisoner might be pardoned for using torture to thwart the attack.

The Democratic candidates all condemned the use of torture under any circumstances, and of course, that's the answer we must give in response to such questions, if we are to make any claim to legitimacy as a leader in the free world. But I want to look a bit deeper into the implications of this stance, and imagine myself, not as the President, but as the interrogator in the critical moment of decision. If I were this person, I think I should feel the full weight of all crimes against humanity that hung in the balance, through terrorism and torture alike. At such a moment, it should be clear to me that, should I choose my own criminal path, there will be no pardon, no subsequent redemption no matter the outcome. Let this be the sobering context of this drama.

As a trained, experienced interrogator, of course, I would know how to apply far more effective techniques than torture, and be much more prepared to respond to the crisis than any of the stars of 24. This was another fake question, based on one of the many steps backwards in understanding we've taken this century. Until they burn the books, we can recover forgotten knowledge, and move forward.

Blackwater

We know virtually nothing about this. We think about 40 cents of every dollar goes to private military contractors. We think about 800 of them have been killed in Iraq, but we don't know that. They're not even counted. And we think there's about 25,000 to maybe 40,000 engaged in military activities -- in combat-related activities -- but we don't know, and we can't find out!

-- Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

Blackwater is a window into the Brave New World unleashed by George Bush's Global War on Terror. Congresswoman Schakowsky has been a leading critic of Blackwater and other entities operating in Iraq and elsewhere. If her comments above don't send chills down your spine, you must be one of Them.

The online version of The Nation magazine has a new article by Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, that provides a brief look at the organization al Maliki has declared unwelcome in Iraq after the recent incident in which at least eleven Iraqis were shot and killed. The article features a YouTube video that I'm also embedding here.

Remember Donald Vance? Congressional hearings on Blackwater and related issues featured testimony by Mr. Vance regarding the issues I wrote about back on August 25th. I predicted then that we'd be hearing a lot more about this, and it appears that Blackwater itself has given those hearings a significant ratings boost.

If we survive as a nation with democratic government, the reporting of Jeremy Scahill and others will be followed some day by mass media treatment of these activities, and surely at some point Blackwater: The Movie. Could we even watch it? I'm still fighting my unwillingness to believe, not just that human beings could behave like this, but more importantly, what it says about us, that we have allowed it to reach such proportions and become so entwined with the United States Government at all levels.

There's no way to overstate this. When we examine Blackwater and its affiliates, we're assessing a threat, quite literally, to much of what is important to us in this world. I am one person, and by myself there's little impact I can have on current events. But I wait with bated breath for your response.

Belief

This is a new ad for Barack Obama being aired in Iowa. There is a message there that you need to hear. I've been trying to talk about how important this has become, and I think you can hear that urgency in this video. It's not about how badly he wants to be President, although I'm sure he does. It's about realizing how badly broken we really are, and the incredible power for good that we still, for the moment, possess.

Changes

The air is cooler here in Washington. The sky is retreating from the sunlight of August, and returning to its more customary gray. I've switched on the furnace because I was pretty cold this morning. Summer has come and gone. Raccoons are sneaking around my back yard looking for food. Through the pine trees, the occasional oak or maple tree glows with the colors of early Fall. In the mornings, a misty fog spreads out from the surface of Lake Sammamish, dropping wet on the windshields of cars as they move along its length in a long slow caravan of another day's commute.

There's a kind of renewal in every change of seasons, but I've always liked Fall the best. Fall in Washington State is pretty special, and Central Park in Manhattan was glorious that time of year. But my favorite place was Southern Ohio, where I grew up. Driving through low tree-covered Appalachian ranges with fiery explosions of Autumn hues on every hillside for miles around, I was always overcome by the sheer scale of the unbroken beauty of that panorama. So much changes, but please let there always be Autumn in Southern Ohio!

Change is the fundamental truth of Buddhism, no less for Zen Buddhism. It can be a very hard truth to accept. It's a truth not much discussed, at least in so many words, in Christianity, and that's probably unfortunate, but that's just the words. The question of impermanence is at the core of all religions, and Christianity has no disagreement with Zen in this regard. Zen defines a practice that can help one to live with change, make peace with it, more or less, by allowing oneself to be more in harmony with its rhythms. Change seems relentless and merciless, but the familiar cycle of seasons gives a sense of a larger pattern, if dimly through fog.

There may be nothing more thoroughly radical than a deep understanding of change. Viewed through the prism of the impermanence of all around us, desires of the ego lose their meaning, but so do concepts of good and evil, right and wrong, life and death. Once change is completely embraced, what else is left?

No answers here, only questions. But there is a harmony. Perhaps we're like the strings of the theorists, vibrating in space like part of a great cosmic harp whose music can't be heard by human ears. Only one thing is certain.

Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me
Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand,
In the moon that is always rising,
Nor that riding to sleep
I should hear him fly with the high fields
And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.

-- Dylan Thomas, Fern Hill

Surprises

Who would have imagined that Derek Anderson (who?) would resuscitate the long-comatose Cleveland Browns offense with 5 touchdown passes and 51 points? Here is a kid who lost a lackluster training camp competition to Charlie Frye, when both quarterbacks were simply vying to hold things together for 5 or 6 weeks until 1st-round draft pick Brady Quinn has had enough time to learn the offense. Not to mention that Frye, who won the competition, laid such a huge egg on opening day he was immediately traded to Seattle. But in comes unknown Derek Anderson, and tosses touchdowns all over the field. It's a complete surprise to me, and probably no small surprise to head coach Romeo Crennel.

That's the sort of thing that keeps me going. Life is really just one surprise after another. I just watched Deion "Prime Time" Sanders put on his most supercilious face (and he has several of them) to remind us all that no one takes the Cleveland Browns seriously. Well, Deion, life is full of surprises.

All the time I personally have been following the Cleveland Browns, there has definitely been an element of the whole classic rooting for the underdog. I was too young to follow Cleveland's early string of championships, and in the years when I played high school football and fell in love with the sport, the Browns fared very well, but the big teams of that era were the Packers and the Giants. When the Browns defeated the Baltimore Colts for the NFL Championship in 1964 -- before the Super Bowl -- they were a heavy underdog to the Colts and Johnny Unitas. Cleveland shut out Baltimore to win that title, 27-0. But Jimmy Brown retired soon after, and there were several down years. There were some exciting teams in the eighties, with the Cardiac Kids led by Brian Sipe, and the excellent Bernie Kosar-led teams of the late eighties who were always victimized by last-second heroics from John Elway and the Denver Broncos. The nineties saw the ignominious beginning of Bill Belichick's coaching career as he fielded Browns teams that were so bad they surely helped inspire Art Modell's infamous midnight theft of the football heart and soul of Cleveland for his well-heeled friends in Baltimore. Then, of course, there were the early expansion years, after the Browns were recreated in 1999. We don't talk about them.

Surprises don't always mean things are suddenly about to change for the better. Actually, Modell's move to Baltimore was a surprise, and a very unpleasant one, to be honest. But the potential for surprises keeps things lively, and can help to keep you from becoming a complete cynic about our chances for surviving all the challenges we face now. Just ask Derek Anderson and the Cleveland Browns. Or you could ask my old pal Howard Zinn:

I have tried hard to match my friends in their pessimism about the world (is it just my friends?), but I keep encountering people who, in spite of all the evidence of terrible things happening everywhere, give me hope. Especially young people, in whom the future rests. Wherever I go, I find such people. And beyond the handful of activists there seem to be hundreds, thousands, more who are open to unorthodox ideas. But they tend not to know of one another's existence, and so, while they persist, they do so with the desperate patience of Sisyphus endlessly pushing that boulder up the mountain. I try to tell each group that it is not alone, and that the very people who are disheartened by the absence of a national movement are themselves proof of the potential for such a movement.

The quote above is from Howard Zinn's short article The Optimism of Uncertainty, published in 2004 by The Nation. Zinn has always been fond of reminding us that some complete surprise is often just around the corner. One of my favorite chapters in the People's History of the United States is, in fact, called "Surprises". The ever-present possibility for surprise is an excellent reason to maintain a Zen approach that takes nothing for granted because, in the very next moment, everything you know could change completely. Surprise!

As our nation debates whether we should continue to kill Iraqis, as we take nuclear weapons out for a spin in case we want to kill someone else, and fight for resources at the now-exposed top of our globe, things seem as if they're dark and getting darker. Our strongest voices of protest often seem strangely weak and eerily half-hearted. It seems like we just want to play war games until our climate reaches its tipping point and clears its confused semi-sentient species from the planet's skin, in preparation for starting over perhaps a billion years from now. But never discount the element of surprise.

As long as we live, we can hope, and stay open to a few of those unorthodox ideas. Who knows where our next hero will come from? Who knew Derek Anderson could throw for five TD's?

Is The Surge Working?

We waited breathlessly for General Petraeus' report, so we would know if The Surge was working. We'd been hearing about how well it was working from all the talking heads on tv, and we know Bush has been bragging about how we're "kicking a**". But there were whispers by those wuss Democrats that the White House might try to "cook the books" on The Surge figures. And then there's that pesky political progress thing, and all those benchmarks that weren't met.

But The Surge had worked, hadn't it? Wasn't violence down? Didn't we help the Sunnis beat back al-Qaeda in al-Anbar Province? Don't we have a Plan For Victory? General Petraeus is such a brilliant general, everyone says so, except for that terrible MoveOn.org. General Petraeus will tell us how it's all going to work.

Ok, enough of that. I was just trying to get into the head of the average dweeb, sitting down after a hard day's work to get a peek at the evening news. Actually, that was a fairly alert dweeb, wasn't it? Dweebs are hard to understand.

If you want to know the real story about The Surge, there's an excellent article at mediamatters.org called Myths and falsehoods about progress in Iraq. Of course, if you're of a conservative mindset, or maybe if you're a dweeb, you don't want to read some radical web site's opinions about the war. Actually, the article is a careful study of the information provided by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, alongside the array of independent studies like the GAO and NIE reports, and other scattered pieces of information that just happen to be factual. Some of the lesser known facts, for instance: all the success in al-Anbar Province was essentially pre-Surge, and due to a change in strategy in that area completely unrelated to The Surge; and violence is down this summer because violence in Iraq has been down every summer for the last four years -- and, by the way, there's more violence this summer than there was last year. Just read the article and come back here.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's think beyond The Surge. Let's talk about the thing that's so rarely discussed. That's the advantage of blogs like this, that we can talk about what we want to, and not what sells pharmaceuticals. I want to write a little more about War.

I've offered my feelings about War before, in a blog on August 17th of this year titled Masters of War. I wrote that when the din of war drums beating for a battle with Iran got so loud I had to say something. I got a lot off my chest in that blog, and I linked to some of the most hideously gruesome videos of war images I've ever seen, and I don't ever need to see those images again. I still hear the incessant Boom! Boom! Boom! of those Iran war drums, and I still worry a lot about those nukes they decided to fly over our heads last week, and you'd think I'd have gotten it all out of my system on August 17th, and there's nothing more to be said.

I just can't get over how we talk about things, especially on television. So many of us can sit down to a discussion looking for all the world like rational people, and talk about war as if it were little more than an overseas venture for a global corporation. If that's what you think, go look at those videos in my Masters of War blog, because you deserve them. The way the people on American television can talk about war is all I need to know about how sick and demented we really are.

I know there are dangerous people out there; you don't have to tell me. There's a guy out there I swear I would kill with my bare hands if I could, just so you know. There really are times when you have to fight, but Iraq? Iran? These are the corporate wars, the resource wars, and to some it's even an excuse to revive The Crusades, God help us! Those aren't even wars, except for the mountains of dead, of course. They're enterprises.

If the media actually did its job, they would make us look at the terrible images of war. Our hearts went out to the young boy who lost his arms, and his family, to American bombs during Shock and Awe. But the cameras moved on after wrenching our hearts with the images of that child, and those moments of raw truth were rarely seen. For the most part, this has been an incredibly antiseptic conflict as far as we know here at home, so we can listen to those idiotic talking heads without punching the set, because it's not reality.

Is The Surge working? Why should I care? Why do we continue to deny the deeper truths, the real Zen of our existence, with such inauthentic dialogue? I can feel the core of my humanity shriveling when I hear such discussions, and by the way, I can feel your humanity shriveling right along with mine.

There was another hero a few years back, who took a page from that impractical dreamer Gandhi. His name was Martin Luther King, and he had this to say about violence in general back in 1958:

In my weekly remarks as president of the resistance committee, I stressed that the use of violence in our struggle would be both impractical and immoral. To meet hate with retaliatory hate would do nothing but intensify the existence of evil in the universe. Hate begets hate, violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love; we must meet physical force with soul force. Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding.

Gandhi and King both believed that the goodness of the human species would prevail over the evil part of its nature. That they were both murdered for that belief leaves one to ponder. But they led two of the most inspiring, successful movements of the twentieth century, so there must be something there. It can't work all the time; everyone knows that. When I see Osama bin Laden, I have a visceral reaction that would make Gandhi gasp in horror. Those situations are crystal clear: Osama bin Laden, Hitler, you fight these people. But when you don't have to fight -- when you have to think about it, should I fight this person? -- then you need Gandhi and King, because they told us about what we can be.

I'm not sure how much Gandhi-like, King-like, courage I see today, but I liked Barack Obama's speech today about Iraq. How many more surges will we have to endure before we actually adopt a policy to "meet the forces of hate with the power of love"? Barack Obama may be growing into an effective spokesman for this kind of thinking.

I know everyone isn't going to love us, and I'm not going to love everybody, but we see what happens when our answer to everything is The Surge. We've seen there are other approaches that can work, and actually make sense in many -- no, most(!) -- situations, and it would be, of all things, the Christian thing to do.

We can keep surging, until our young men and women are chewed up by wars in one way or another, until we've piled up so much debt to fund the war machine we have nothing left to give, and we've generated so much distrust and hatred that our enemies outnumber us twenty-to-one. Or we can wake up, and ask ourselves how we can have such conversations in cold blood. We can swear that we've bombed our last infant, and surged our last surge, unless we truly have no choice. We can reach out our hand, fearful, uncertain, into the abyss that men like Gandhi and King must have seen yawning before them as they made that leap of faith.

A City upon a Hill

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

-- Matthew 5:14 (Jesus' Sermon on the Mount)

For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken...we shall be made a story and a by-word throughout the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God...We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us til we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going.

-- John Winthrop ("A Model of Christian Charity", sermon to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630)

The metaphor of a city on a hill has resonated through the ages. It was a central theme for Ronald Reagan, and earlier, John F. Kennedy. Jesus told us we are the light of the world, and 1600 years later a small band of Puritans gathered in a new world to try and build that city. In that spirit, American pioneers joined together to form a system of government that has shone its light into all the dark regions of the world, and given hope where there was none. American democracy sparked a new era, and the men and women who comprised it gave birth to a unique vision that has become the American Spirit. Though a closer look at our history reveals many flaws, and a hodgepodge (if you will) of mixed nationalities more likely to mistreat America's true natives than to inspire them, the flavor of America was uniquely present in each of its citizens.

Today's conditions make me very concerned for our precious democracy. We have a government completely at odds with the will of the people, and seem strangely powerless to shift its course away from wars. The politicization of justice, warantless wiretapping, fear tactics, lies, and much more, do little to make our beacon shine more brightly. Author Naomi Wolf stepped away from her mainstream media career to examine the pattern of these changes in a historical context, and her book, The End of America, is a frightening look at what it may mean. In England's The Guardian, Wolf summarized the book in an article called Fascist America, in 10 Easy Steps. The article does a good job of explaining the "10 steps to close down democracy" described in the book with examples through history, and the chilling fact that all these steps have been already aggressively taken by Bush & Co.

I know it sounds like this is taking things too far, but without extrapolating conclusions as to what it all means, it's more than worthwhile to examine ourselves in the light of history, and especially compared to our city on the hill. We have been surrendering civil liberties at a very alarming rate, and hear nothing but lies and refusals to comment from the authorities in charge. It's not paranoia when you can prove it's actually happening.

Whether we're victims of an evil, nefarious plot, or simply unlucky enough to be ruled by incompetents, we have taken a turn down the hill, and the lights in our city appear to be fading, one by one. I think it's time for me to plead with you to turn back, and think about all we have lost, and may lose, as we descend.

We who reside on the land that stretches from ocean to ocean share the collective consciousness of the American Dream. There is no native birthright of race or creed, but a gathering together from every corner of our planet to see this light for ourselves, and hold it within our hearts. The Transmission of the Lamp of democracy is performed for all of us, a sacred trust to be passed to future generations. Other democracies exist, and hopefully, more will come into being, and they may be no better or worse than America's, but the special flavor, the individualism, the lofty dreams of American democracy are unique; once gone, it will never come again. Even if you think it's not in danger, don't you agree that its price is vigilance? If there is no anti-democratic intent, can we then retrace the steps we have taken in that direction?

Ronald Reagan spoke of the city in his 1984 Inaugural Address, and again in his farewell speech to the nation in 1989. But there was another part of that farewell address I found relevant, when he spoke of the essence of our democracy:

"We the people" tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. "We the people" are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which "We the people" tell the government what it is allowed to do. "We the people" are free. This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I've tried to do these past eight years.

I had my differences with Ronald Reagan, and I'm not actually prepared to agree with him regarding his claims about his underlying motives. Ronald Reagan helped the rich before Bush did, and showed little understanding of other faiths and races, or real compassion for the less fortunate, during his lifetime. But the words themselves are notable, and convey my message as perfectly as I could hope. We tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. We say whether we should fight a war, or torture prisoners, or save a planet. We the people.

John F. Kennedy spoke in Massachusetts in 1961, not far from the bay where John Winthrop preached so long ago, as he prepared to depart for Washington to begin his presidency. He emphasized the city that "cannot be hid", as Jesus said, with the eyes of the world upon us to see how well we have honored our trust and shouldered the great responsibilities of our position. He reached much further back, as well, to Pericles who said "We do not imitate -- for we are a model to others."

So it is with America, that it's not enough to borrow and imitate the successful methods and programs of others; we must enlarge and revitalize them with American zeal. To achieve such a goal, Kennedy asked four questions we must answer if we can be equal to the task:

1. Are we courageous enough to face foes and, if need be, associates, when it is necessary for us to resist?


2. Do we have the judgment to face the future with understanding of the past, and to see, admit and correct our own mistakes?


3. Do we have the integrity to hold firm to principles without regard to ambition or financial gain?


4. Are we dedicated to the public good, without compromise to private obligation or aim?

Here is the recording of Kennedy's speech that day. It's in mp3 format, which is generally compatible, but bulky, and loads slowly. Let him speak to you for a moment across the years, and ask yourself what your personal answers would be to the questions he posed that day, and what you will do for that city upon a hill.

The Story So Far

It's Thursday, September 6, 2007. Congress is back in session, reports are being produced on Iraq and The Surge, and over the next two weeks or so, there will be an overall accounting of the War on Terror as it exists in Iraq. The White House, and General Petraeus, will try to put a positive spin on things, of course, so before that happens, it might be useful to look back to the beginnings here, and do a quick replay of the Bush Presidency and what we've learned. My intention is to recount only the highlights of what is common knowledge, and would be pretty much the accepted version from both sides of the fence, if pressed. Some will disagree with my interpretation, and a list compiled by a solitary blogger is certainly subject to error, and a shortage of niceties that would have been added with greater available resources. But this is my blog, and this is how I see it.

• Elections: The elections that have placed George Bush in the White House are still in serious question, with allegations of unfair activities in Florida and elsewhere. The 5-4 Supreme Court decision that gave Bush the Presidency in 2000 was passed over the shocked objections of the minority opinion, and the Presidential Caravan that drove Bush to the White House in January 2001 was the only one in American history ever to be egged.


• Politicization: The politicization of work-a-day government machinery was soon to be witnessed, with a never-ending stream of appointments that favored loyalty much above compentency, and a flood of decisions and policy statements running counter to equal opportunity, labor interests, and environmental concerns.


• Tax cuts for the wealthy: The great era of tax cuts for the wealthy began, and while the average American's tax savings were minimal at best, those on top of the money pile reaped huge dividends.


• 9/11: September 11, 2001 shocked the whole world, and traumatized America. We'll never be quite the same, but we have changed in many ways since then, perhaps not for better.


• The hunt for Osama: Osama bin Laden was identified as the mastermind in the attacks, and the Bush Administration declared war not just on the al-Qaeda terrorists, but on all nations who harbor terrorists on their soil. Military operations were directed against the country of Afghanistan and its Taliban government we once supported against Soviet incursions. The Taliban were routed, but bin Laden escaped in the mountains of Tora Bora, as we outsourced our advancing forces to Pakistan, and left escape routes open to its porous borders.


• Iraq: The War on Terror lost sight of Osama bin Laden, and turned all its attention to Iraq. The execrable dictator of that country saw his infamous history trumpeted in shocked and angry tones by both government and media, spurious ties between Hussein and the ideologically incompatible al-Qaeda were presented, and highly questionable, discredited intelligence was cited in the 2003 State of the Union address, and Colin Powell's presentation to the U.N., to manufacture a case for war. Despite its full compliance with United Nations inspection teams, Bush and his neocons ran out of patience, and Shock and Awe commenced on March 20 with scant international support, and over the U.N's objection. A few weeks later, on May 1, Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and, beneath a huge banner that read "Mission Accomplished", declared that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".


• The Occupation: The occupation of Iraq began with far fewer troops than had originally been recommended by the generals, but those generals had been summarily dismissed. The chaos that followed in Baghdad and elsewhere ran unabated, with American forces completely outnumbered by looters and thieves who stripped, not only the palaces, but museums and libraries, dismantling in one month the collected heritage of millenia. The occupation continued in an orgy of incompetence, with untold billions unaccounted for, mass weapons stockpiles looted and sold, and corruption whistleblowers tortured and harassed. Any remaining societal structures within Iraq were disbanded, and the country fell into poverty, unemployment, and despair, left with little but the weapons they had looted in the confusion.


• Torture: Extraordinary measures were taken to capture and detain a variety of suspects, and the instruments of torture began to be used in systemic fashion in detention facilities around the world. The ACLU has to date received more than 100,000 pages direct from the government relating to these activities, and much more can be presumed to exist. The general public was made aware through leaked sources that produced items like the photos from Abu Ghraib, and White House opinions have been rendered through such documents as Alberto Gonzales' description of Geneva Conventions as "quaint", and other defenders of the effectiveness of what is termed, in a revival of the old Nazi phrase, "enhanced interrogation". Despite overwhelming and definitive refutations of such practices in terms of effectiveness as well as humaneness, the practice continues, and stands on its own as a damning indictment of any claim by the United States to a moral high ground.


• The 9/11 Commission: The 9/11 Commission study of the tragic attack on American soil was delayed, mismanaged, and underfunded. Controlled with an iron hand by Bush insider Philip Zelikow, the result was insultingly inadequate in its attempt to answer the haunting questions about that time. Even the Commission's most urgent recommendations for protecting America in the future were largely ignored until recently, when the 110th Congress addressed it with new legislation. Public opinion overwhelmingly favors renewed and extended review of these events, and unanswered questions continue to nag at the conscience of a troubled world.


• Elections 2004: War on Terror policies continued to dominate American government, and the Politics of Fear was increasingly used to stifle dissent. Alternative views were derided as un-American, surveillance and wiretapping machineries far surpassed legal boundaries and safeguards, and threats of attack helped manipulate the voters in 2004 to retain the incumbent, along with the famous Swift Boat attacks and more highly questionable activities in key states such as Ohio. Ohio voting records in question appear now to have been almost entirely, illegally, destroyed.


• Treason: While the blasted country of Iraq hurtled further into anarchy and decline, some of the voices of dissenters gained wider audience, and reviews of mistaken or managed intelligence darkened the horizon. The details of a leak that revealed the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson was investigated, and disturbing ties were discovered that led to the Vice President's office. It was difficult to perceive what occurred as anything less than treason, with repercussions damaging to large undercover groups, their contacts, and extended families. Deaths may well have occurred as a consequence of this outing, but the outrage was nearly overwhelmed by a cacophony of specious arguments shouted out on talk shows and press conferences, and investigations were totally obstructed by misleading statements and outright lies. The sole convicted official could only be charged with lying, the truth being shrouded by those very words, but Scooter's sentence was commuted by George Bush.


• Katrina: Through the shadows of wars, threats, and suffering, the natural world strained to make itself heard. Long ignored for its warnings of melting icecaps and failing species, it hurled huge tsunamis and hurricanes at the most helpless accretions of its sprawling two-legged infestation. In the waterlogged city of New Orleans, thousands were made homeless within hours, and many left unevacuated from danger died or survived to be stung by ill treatment and neglect. Many thousands of poor remain homeless, and the arrogant, callous ineptitude of the White House and FEMA served to cement bitter feelings against an uncaring administration.


• Elections 2006: Massive policy failure at home and abroad, and mounting pressure from exposures of corruption and sexual predation within the Republican majority gave a boost to Democrats in the 2006 election, and new hope dawned for proponents of peace and justice. A tentative majority was won in both the House and Senate, and leadership for committees and agenda passed to Democratic control. Investigations were launched, and progressive legislation advanced, including initiatives designed to end the war. Some small gains have been made, and much has been revealed from the oversight hearings, but the war in Iraq has only intensified.


• Oversight: Oversight hearings have sharpened the conflict between the protagonists, while Bush, Cheney, Gonzales et al. refused time and again to provide information, or even consent to questioning in many cases. Alberto Gonzales, who could not refuse, offered instead a humiliating comedy of lies, faulty memory, and transparent incompetence. He and others, including political machinist Karl Rove, have left the White House with their papers and private thoughts still unrevealed.


• Corruption and Secrecy: Investigations have shown a panorama of politically-slanted treatment of purportedly independent arms of government, from scientific reports to elections to federal prosecutors, and more. Exposure of long-standing mistreatment of veteran health issues was compounded by its intolerable worsening beneath the strains caused by incoming floods of war-wounded, and an initially obtuse and uncaring response. Against concerns about federal wiretapping, details surfaced of seamy encounters like the late-night visit to Attorney General Ashcroft's hospital bedside by Alberto Gonzales and Andy Card. With obvious intent to cajole a heavily medicated official into signing unconstitutional surveillance approvals, they were thwarted by both Acting AG James Comey, and the ailing Ashcroft himself. To punctuate an atmosphere tilting towards the bizarre, Vice President Cheney positioned himself as external to any Executive Branch connections, and refused to comply with any Executive Branch obligations of his office.


• Obstruction: The Democratic majorities in Congress have been routinely obstructed, filibustered, and stonewalled from any measures that would have a major impact. Unable to muster sufficient strength in its progressive leadership, America's prospects for peace in the near term are dim, and threats to expand the war still further into Iran, and possibly elsewhere, continue to mount. American civil liberties are further eroded by wholesale approvals for unchecked surveillance and executive authorities. American government proceeds unabated on multiple fronts disapproved of by a distinct majority of citizens.


• The Road Ahead: Despite commanding a counterinsurgency with approximately one-third of the needed forces General Petraeus specified in his own counterinsurgency manual, and knowing that, even with sufficient manpower, the effort could easily require a decade or more to bear fruit, the General and the Bush Administration expect to continue existing policies in Iraq for the immediate future. Looming just over the horizon is the spectre of expanded military action into Iran, a direction so irrationally out of sync with the capabilities of an American military stretched so far beyond its current means that what would seem a majority of ranking officers outside Iraq have painted a bleak picture of troop health and readiness for even continuing the current pace, much less accelerating. With that conflation of inconsistencies and personal distresses, we're up to date.

Behind this disturbing history of our still-young 21st century in America is a clear picture of two elements locked in mortal combat. They are the same ones depicted on all the pages of Howard Zinn's great classic People's History, and that conflict will likely be fought for a long time to come. It is to the advantage of large corporate interests, the new landed gentry of our time, to manipulate people with wars and fear and propaganda. It is the people who work by the sweat of their brow, whether of conservative or permissive mindset, that struggle against them, whether or not they are fully aware. The secrecy, arrogance, and callousness of those elements now in power show they are not our friends, and they don't wish to be. They torture, kill and lie, and do all with seeming impunity. They are not my heroes, and I hope they are not yours. I cannot look at the beginning of this modern era and see it as a course that needs no correction, nor, I think, do you.

See it, finally, for what it is. See them, finally, for what they are. Don't be afraid, and look around you. Most of us just want to do what's right.

P.S. Any similarities between these words, and those spoken recently by Osama bin Laden in his newest video, are simply disgusting. We don't want or need your help, Osama. If you are guilty of the crimes with which you're charged (on this blog, everyone is innocent until proven guilty), the only thing I want to hear from you is a cry of pain. If that's not very Zen, or very Christian, ask me if I care.

Arrivederci Signore! Your voice was, and will remain, a thing of transcendent, heart-stopping triumph. You were a master of singing Zen.

Special Comment

One of the things I like to do here is point to some of the best and most relevant items on the Internet. If someone says it better than me, why should I struggle? So, without further ado, here is the latest Special Comment by Keith Olbermann, offered while I continue to study, meditate, and ponder what I might contribute to help convince you of the seriousness of the moment, if this doesn't do it:

Quote For The Day

“George Bush and Dick Cheney may have turned divisive, special interest politics into an art form, but it was there before they got to Washington. If you and I don’t stand up to challenge it, it will be there long after we leave.”

-- Barack Obama, at the Manchester, NH Labor Day Rally, September 3, 2007

God, Guns and Gays

If we're going to learn how to work together in this country and draw support for peace and equality from the conservative heartland, it's important to look at some of the key issues that divide us. Repeatedly, the phrase "God, Guns and Gays" is used to define the things that really matter in Middle America. I was born in Middle America -- West Virginia, to be precise -- and I grew up in Appalachia, so I know the heartland. I was raised with these folks, and I've seen the good and the bad. I don't know for sure if I can speak to these issues, but here goes.

God

I was raised in a conservative Protestant church. My grandfather was the preacher, my grandmother taught the Bible School and Sunday School classes, my father was the Superintendant and taught my Sunday School class, my uncle was the Song Leader, and my aunt played the piano. I know Middle America Protestant churches, and I saw a whole lot of good in that church.

My grandfather was a very fine man. He was truly humble, and he had a lot of love. I can't speak for the never-ending stream of revivalists, but when my grandfather spoke from the pulpit, I learned about Jesus, and about love greater than self. I learned about caring for others, from his words, and from the countless visits he and my grandmother made to the sick, the troubled, or the unlucky. He was a flawed man, of course, and hardly a scholar, but he was completely genuine, in his way.

He was a conscientious objector in World War I, and served by running messages between foxholes on the front lines in France. He would often repeat his small repertoire of French phrases, always referring to potatoes as "pomme de terre". He started life as a tenant farmer, and earned money while preaching by working as a garage mechanic, and driving the school bus.

I suspect he voted Republican all his life.

The highlight of his life was a trip to the Holy Land, financed by our church. He took many slides, and wept unashamedly when showing them. His religion was pure, simple and certain. He died fairly suddenly, at 82, when pneumonia filled his lungs.

I believe he is in Heaven.

I cannot share my grandfather's simple faith. I have studied the religious literature of the world, and I believe that faith must come from something deeper than the worldly arguments that divide us. I believe in the honest depths of the souls of all men and women everywhere, and in a Jesus who feels the same way. I'm not sure Middle America will understand this in my lifetime.

I remember the missionaries who preached in my small-town church, with stories and slides of Africa and Polynesian islands, and natives turning to Christ. I remember the unambiguous clarity of their mission, as we saw it. This was only the love of Jesus reaching out in the world to save poor sinners who hadn't yet heard the Gospel. It was an Act of Grace.

These were not the same sort of people who now evangelize to the soldiers in Iraq and present every soldier with a Care package including the video game "Left Behind". The Kill or Convert message of that video game, and the book series that spawned the game, is certainly as complete a perversion of that original spirit as could be imagined. The good news is that the Pentagon has been contacted regarding this practice, and has stopped it. Never believe it doesn't do any good to raise a stir.

My little church in the 50's and 60's would have been aghast by such a game, I have no doubt. They would have stood up against such a practice, and condemned it. But they never knew about such things. I was far too young for the McCarthy era, for instance, but I don't feel it was ever part of the atmosphere, or I don't remember it. In our little church, we didn't know much, but we knew what we liked.

The children of those conservative Christians in my church are all around us today, and for the most part, they're as decent now as they were then. But there is a reluctance to align politically with those who promote more religious tolerance, and I understand that very well. Tolerance is all well and good, but Jesus is Lord, and any discussion is blasphemy. There must be an Absolute here, if nowhere else in the world, and compromise can't even be considered. It isn't religious extremism -- it's religion itself.

This may be the Gordian Knot of our society. It is the force that binds otherwise reasonable people to irrational acts. If we are truly tolerant, we sin against our beliefs, and before we can do that, we would gladly die. But when we reflect, we can see how much more tolerant we've become toward many faiths and sects, and be plainly shocked at our own changes over time.

In my grandfather, I saw a Christian faith that is the essence of what today's Christian wants to preserve, and I want to preserve it, too. If my grandfather were alive, I have no doubt I could talk to him, and make him understand. We would have found a way to uphold what mattered to both of us, working together.

I pray I find a way to speak to all those children out there who heard my grandfather while growing up, and told their own children about a gentle country preacher.

Guns

Guns weren't a major factor for me when I was growing up. We lived in a tiny suburbia on the banks of the Ohio river, on a small swatch of neatly-divided plots with modest houses, open lots that were our playgrounds, and a church on every other corner. We didn't lock our doors, and although guns were plentiful in hills and farms back away from the river, they were a rare sight for me.

I remember one time when my cousin and I were playing in our grandparents' house on that street, and we wandered up into the room of my uncle Bob. He was a young sheriff's deputy at the time, and I found his gun hidden back in his closet and brought it out proudly for us to play with. I don't remember exactly how old I was then, but I'm certain my age was still in single digits. My cousin was three years older, but not yet mature enough to respond protectively to this weapon, so I'd say I was awfully young.

I remember vividly the feel of the metal, and perhaps a mysterious sense of power, even of danger, but it was only a game. The gun wasn't loaded. We played with it a little, then put it away again. One of us must have snitched later, because I remember some commotion and warnings, and the gun was never seen again. But for a moment there was that potential for senseless tragedy at the hands of an innocent, and titanically oblivious, child.

The right to bear arms is in the Constitution. We can debate about what that means, and we can meditate soberly on the lessons of Virginia Tech and elsewhere, but I'm not prepared to go to the wall on the issue of guns alone. We have so much we need to fight for, and if some won't come along without their gun, then bring it with you. I hope we never need it, but who can say?

Gays
I refer you first to my last post, "Cartoon", on August 30.

Seriously, folks, it's not that bad. I was an actor for twenty years, and needless to say, I encountered quite a few people whose sexual orientation differed from the norm. For whatever reason, I remained staunchly heterosexual throughout. I just don't think I've ever, other than the polymorphously perverse stage of early puberty, had any leanings that way. I never felt threatened, or in danger of becoming "confused". I was the way I was, and they were the way they were. I'm not saying that to flaunt my prototypical male testosterone, but to remind you that homosexuals are not recruited.

I was listening to Thom Hartmann the other day on AirAmerica radio. He was talking with Baptist minister Rick Scarborough, and tried to remind the reverend that homosexual behavior was quite natural in the animal kingdom. This was news to Rev. Scarborough, apparently, and he reacted with shock and horror. I hate to break it to you, but it's true. The average person isn't very adept at observing animal behavior, but this is yet another area where the application of scientific research has much to tell us about ourselves.

The simple truth is that 5-10% of each species in the animal kingdom is gay. It's also true that the tendency to homosexuality is an inherited trait, and not a choice at all. If Christians want to say it's wrong, they're free to do so, but we're all going to have to understand that some of us are born different. Some skins have a different color, some men are more effeminate, and there are a lot of things we just can't help. We can argue as much as you like, but the bottom line is that people shouldn't be mistreated. Let's take that as a starting point. Beyond that, I would say that marriage is primarily a religious rite, and the question of who should marry may ultimately be a question for religion, not for politics.

Other Questions

There are many other differences beyond God, Guns and Gays, of course. Specifically, there is the question of abortion. I will say that I lack, by definition, the qualities necessary to speak with any authority on this topic, because I'm a man. I am personally appalled by abortion, but I don't want a vote in this matter. Women need to work this out for themselves.

I know that I have lived in a time when abortion clinics weren't always readily available, and there were just as many abortions then as now. An anti-abortion stance seems a lot like Prohibition, and making it illegal only drives it underground, and endangers not only the unborn child, but your pregnant daughter.

I would like to see the end of abortion, although I'm sure that's far from realistic. I would like to see widespread, effective birth control, planned parenthood, and responsible attitudes about sex and child-bearing. I know some of you don't like birth control, but on the abortion question, are we really so far apart?

There's so much more, of course. But I hope what I've provided here is a starting point for conversation between progressives and conservative Christians. I believe there's a lot we can build on, and I think it's become critically important for us to try. Because we've seen there is a wide chasm between word and deed in our nation's capitol, and a widening gap between what is truly in the best interests of both sides, and the policies being pursued in government.

For the current rulers of society, the operatives are certainly money and power, and I believe these folks have gone much too far. We need to seek out the good and decent in each of us, and have faith that after so much disappointment and betrayal from those we've trusted, those of us who spent our childhood in little churches around the country might meet up again one more time, after a lifetime spent going our separate ways, and reaffirm those values we still share.