Race and Health Care Reform

Rather than weight in on the health care bill with a hearty eye-roll at the Tea Party movement, I point to Frank Rich's New York Times Op-Ed. He suggests that the conservative outrage over the bill stems from underlying racism.

I can't help but think he's right. If congressman Emanuel Cleaver were white, I don't think that protester would have spit on him.

Some Things Annoying Me Lately

1) Governor Rick Perry is at it again. This time, he vetoed a bill that would require drivers to actually to be safer when driving near cyclists and pedestrians. How are people to be encouraged to get out of their cars if they don't even feel safe on the roads? I say this as a novice road cyclist who is deathly afraid of motor traffic. I would like to become less reliant on my car, but I don't feel comfortable. This bill would encourage people like me to get out of our cars and our on bikes. That would better for Texas, Perry, but you're probably too much in bed with oil and car companies to care about your citizens' safety. I can't wait for the next gubernatorial election...

2) A local food blogger has decided to change her name because a major corporation has gone after her for copyright infringement. She hasn't outed the company, although I wish I knew who it was so I could write them a nasty letter for going after such a little guy. I'm sure she's trying to minimize the damage and not cause any unnecessary trouble, but this is ridiculous. I'm all in favor of people protecting their intellectual property. However, this isn't so much a case of First Amendment rights as one about a corporation creating a witch hunt to "protect its brand." I don't think this is what the writers of the Constitution had in mind when they instituted freedom of speech. The plus side is that a lot more people are reading her blog now.

[A similar case has come up against local rollergirl Crackerjack. Frito-Lay (owner of Cracker Jack snacks) is suing her for stealing their name. Also ridiculous and unnecessary.]

3) This is far less political. I'm in general annoyed with people's lack of cell phone ettiquette. Can't you shut up long enough to place an order? I'll probably return to this in a few days. For now, I just feel better ranting all these things to my gracious audience.

Texas Will Secede and Then We'll All Die of Swine Flu

Texas has been in the news a lot lately.

First, our brilliant governor Rick Perry made a joke (or was it more serious? I think so) about Texas seceding from the nation at large because of Obama's stimulus plan.

Despite all the bad sports references, David Faris properly assessed the situation in his op-ed piece Don't Mess With Texas--Get Rid of It. In the event that Texas does seceed and Austin stayed with the larger liberal U.S., I think I'd have to move (as much as I wouldn't want to). Options would be: Portland, Madison, San Francisco, Asheville, New York, possibly Decatur/East Atlanta.

Then there's swine flu. Good grief. I live approximately 80 miles from San Antonio, the location of Texas's 6 cases of swine flu. I'm not about to start wearing a mask, and I think this is just another example of media hooplah. But let's not forget that I'm uninsured and tend to be a conspiracy theorist.

So maybe Texas should seceed and quarantine all cases of swine flu. In which case, I'll hop on the next flight to Portland.

[If you think I'm kidding, read this: Texas Secede!]

Note on "I'm Proud of Us Slackers"

I removed the link to the Christian School Journal blog with my comment because the CSJ links back to posts that mention it. So any concerned Christian educator can follow a link to my post "I'm Proud of Us Slackers". So much for my anonymity.

I wanted to be anonymous primarily because I don't want to get into any ideology wars with older evangelicals. It's enough to deal with my parents, and they're going to love me no matter what. Plus, my mom has mellowed out a lot when it comes to politics (gone are her days running the Muscogee County Republican headquarters). Both my parents take the time to listen to my arguments and give me credit for thinking through the issues. They understand that I voted for things I care about (the war, the environment, health care, education).

I have a relationship with them, one that transcends political opinion. I don't with the readers of the Christian School Journal blog -- we are only represented by words on a screen. It's hard to overcome "worldview differences" with internet comments. I think finding common ground must be done relationally. That is what I'm realizing about so many of the tough issues that divide us -- we can find where we agree, but we need relationships first. We need to love first. It's easy with my parents -- we love each other by default. It's a lot harder with older evangelicals I only know through a blog.

And honestly, as much as I enjoyed being that postmodern heathen from the Satan's playground (a.k.a. Austin) the novelty wore off, and I just don't want to argue anymore.

[I'd also like to link to a post I wrote a few months ago about postmodernism, worldview, and faith. It pretty much explains where I am with my faith, and may shed light on why I see no point in arguing with evangelicals. Also, today some of my fellow "wayward" postmodern church friends sent me a link to the Emergent Village feed site, and that has made me feel better.]

I'm Proud of Us Slackers

The slackers did rise, and Obama won. Hey, young people, I'm proud of us.

A black man was elected president. Even a few days later, I'm still a little in shock.

I cried along with so many others during his speech, and I believe this is a new era.

Enough of the feel-good comments: Let the Christian backlash begin. Check out the Christian School Journal (I can send you the link) for a good snapshot of evangelical reactions across the board. I left an anonymous comment, although it hasn't been approved yet. Once it's up, I'm sure you'll have no trouble figuring out which one it is.

Really, I'm proud of us. I've wasted a lot of time on the NY Times interactive electoral map, and I was fascinated by the county numbers. Every major city in Texas went to Obama, and almost every border county went to Obama. Georgia was even more interesting, as several Atlanta-area counties went Obama and my home county did, too.

So yes, it's a new era. I hope we can be unified, even those who believe that Obama is a baby-killer...

Living and Voting in Austin? Watch This!

Vote for Proposition 2 to ban subsidies for the Domain.

You can find more information at the following links:
http://www.stopdomainsubsidies.com/
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid:663320
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/Story?oid=oid:671862

Sometimes Christians Scare Me

I nearly collapsed this morning when I read this NPR story about Falwell, Jr. canceling classes at Liberty on election day to encourage his 80% Republican student body to vote.

Then I read a terrible review of the "Christian" movie Fireproof in The Onion, and I was near to renouncing my faith.

But thankfully, I read Heather's latest blog post: When Heather P Sparks...: Hokey Christian Emails...Evangelicals are Strange

And then I found this bumper sticker mentioned in one of the user-comments on the NPR story:

Visit Nana

Heather posted this on her blog, and it was so funny, I had to do the same:



The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

Community Organizer vs. Small-town Mayor

Of all the things Sarah Palin said in her RNC speech, her quip insulting community organizers bothered me the most.

[If you didn't watch her speech, she said, "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities."]

It's one thing to point out your opponent's faults - it's something else entirely to attack a profession that exists to improve communities. I mean, come on, who hates on social workers? Low blow, Sarah. I guess you wanna play nasty. That's not very Christian and motherly, is it?

I felt a little vindicated when I found this NPR story. I sent it to my very Republican mom.

The Pitbull in Lipstick...

I'm honestly conflicted about Sarah Palin.

She's the picture of Republican feminism - a pretty soccer mom who won't compromise her stance. She says she can keep up with men, taking down the media and community organizers on her way.

I won't dare call her a bitch. She has to be a bitch (a pitbull, perhaps?) and I applaud her for that. But I couldn't sit through all the biting partisan rhetoric in her speech two nights ago. Is it worse because it's coming from a woman?

Maybe what's the worst is the way she uses her family. They're all-American and patriotic and just like you and me. She says the media should leave her family alone, but only because her 17 year old daughter is pregnant. But when her family is the sparkling picture of Americana - the baby she kept because his life was precious, her oldest son's military service - then they're worth bragging on.

You know what? It's all political. She's a woman in politics, and she's using everything she can to make people think they should vote GOP in November. And let's face it, the McCain campaign needed a woman who wasn't a Barbie.

Now, I just hope they'll go easier on Michelle Obama.

Faith-Based... Politics?

Barack Obama and his campaign know he needs some percentage of the evangelical vote to win the general election. They also know that young people make up a huge portion of his constituency.

So it's no surprise that he was happy to have a conversation with Cameron Strang, founder of Relevant magazine, a hip, progressive media group aimed at hip, progressive, young Christians. He managed to land this interview weeks before John McCain, and I'd actually be surprised if McCain did talk to those kids. He's more after their parents, seeing as Relevant readers are only a small percentage of those oh-so-crucial evangelical voters.

Here's the link to the interview.

What was most interesting was Obama's ideas for Bush's Faith-based Initiatives Office. He's planning on renaming it the President's Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

I'm guessing Obama, or at least someone on his campaign, read David Kuo's book about being an insider in Bush's Faith-Based Initiatives Office. After reading it myself, I think his ideas sound like good improvements, but we'll see what happens if he's elected and how things look four years from now.

I don't doubt Obama's commitment to faith-based service, but politics are politics. I believed the lie of compassionate conservatism. Granted I was 17 and gullible and going along with my parents' views for the most part. Now, I've gotten pretty jaded about politics, but I'm not so cynical that I won't vote. I just hope money gets to the organizations and services that need it.

Does Democracy Really Exist Now?

On the surface, it still does. It appears to. We vote every couple of years for our lawmakers, and we talk a lot about the American ideals of democracy - equality, the people having a voice, blah blah, so on and so on.

Yet in the last week, I've had some conversations about the reality of things, about how we the people don't really have a say anymore. Anslee and I were talking about the war and how powerless we seem to be. Sure, we can vote for Obama or McCain and that will help determine the direction of the war. But when did the people loose so much power when it came to these big decisions? Why are we so cynical?

Then I saw the documentary The Corporation, which came about four years ago and seems even more relevant now as gas prices increase and recession seems inevitable. The end of the documentary focuses on how localized, grassroots democracy is successfully fighting big corporations in small communities.

Yet even when I think about Austin, I don't see the hippies and the weirdos making enough effort to fight off the big corporate powers. People just don't care enough. There were a few petitions to keep out the Domain, and they didn't stop anything. I wonder how long it will take for Austin to no longer be so weird.

I was talking to Heather last night before the Rilo Kiley show (which was incredible, really beyond words). The show was at Stubb's, one of Austin's most famous downtown venues on Red River. Red River has some of the best music venues in the city. Sure, it's run-down, but it's pure Austin and vital to local music scene. It has everything from country to metal to indie to punk. Plus, it's one of the main South by Southwest hotspots. The Red River scene makes Austin the Live Music Capital of the World. It's integral to the city's biggest tourist draw.

But the city has plans to tear down many of the venues on Red River between 6th and 12th in order to build a park. This park will pretty much cater to the wealthy who can afford to live in downtown lofts. The vibrant local music scene on Red River will have to relocate somewhere else. I don't doubt that Austin will loose the variety of music venues, but they probably won't relocate to one central location like Red River. I can't imagine downtown without the Mohawk, Red Eyed Fly and especially Stubb's.

Heather was saying that one of her friends is a local business owner, and he said that despite the surveys and public meetings, the city will do whatever it wants. And it wants a park there. It doesn't want run-down clubs and bars.

What happened to democracy and local action? What happened to the government being representative of the people? What happened to having a voice and making things change?

In some ways, this isn't a big deal. People aren't losing their homes. No one is being unjustly persecuted. Yet, the character of this city is in jeopardy, and I would think the hipsters and scenesters would care enough to do something. But they're probably pretty politically apathetic and didn't know of the city's plans. Even if they had known and somehow were motivated to take some action, I doubt it would have changed anything. The city is going to do what it wants.

My cynicism has taken over - I seriously doubt democracy really exists in this country. People don't care enough to take action, and the larger institutions - the government, the corporations - have gotten to much power as we've sunk into apathy.

One Sticker I Wouldn't Put on My Car

When I started my series on interesting Austin bumper stickers, I figured, sooner or later, I'd notice one that I would not put on my car. I've been in and out of Austin for most of May, spending some time in San Francisco (a liberal's paradise). But I just got back from a family vacation on Florida's Gulf Coast, which is red country, through and through.

I take certain things for granted living here, and once I'm thrown back into the Deep South or just the rest of Texas (I spent a few days in Houston this month, too), I'm almost shocked by general opinion. Fox News is a legitimate news source? Wait, people still think Bush is a good president?

Honestly, I'm not very political. I'm not as opinionated as my mostly Republican family, and at times, I find the extreme left just as ridiculous as the right. As is the case with this bumper sticker:At the suggestion that we kill off people with differing political opinions, I only become more apathetic.

Deconstructing the Hillary Hate

Yesterday afternoon, I heard this story about the New Hampshire primary on NPR's All Things Considered.

What struck me was not Obama's humor but Clinton's personal response. The amazing thing about radio is that people are left only to their audible voices - there isn't as much to distract the listener. I find I actually think about the news when I listen to NPR, I soak it in rather than just consuming it. And when I heard Hillary respond in such a seeming genuine way, I thought, "She really believes in this. She really believes in what she's doing."

Either she is genuine and truly believes what she expressed, or she's a damn good actor. I know a lot of people who would believe the latter, and no matter how she comes across, they cannot believe her to be genuine in anything she says.

But why am I so surprised and, strangely, touched by her genuine, human response? Did I need her to become human?

Why is it that she, as a woman, needs a more feminine touch? And is that related to why so many people, especially ardent conservatives who hold strong gender biases, hate her so much?

Is America ready for a woman as president?

First, the easy part. Yes, I think conservatives hate her because she's a woman. She's playing a man's game, and she's playing it very well. She's threatening, she could win. They claim they don't hate her just because she's a woman, but because she's a conniving politician who's only interested in power.

If that's the case, why does she elicit so much hate when male politicians have been doing the same thing for the entirity of this country's history? Because good politicians have to embody stereotypical male dominance, and a lot of people, especially in conservative circles, don't want a bitch (read - a woman with dominance) running their country. We have not come nearly as far as I thought.

However, I believe what she is doing is incredibly significant. As a girl, I always wanted to see a woman as president, but by the time I was in high school, I had nearly given up on the notion. Once in college, I though it would never happen in my lifetime.

But here she is, with the good and the bad, doing well despite the Iowa set back. She has a chance, a strong one, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that excited me. I can't hate her, even if I disagree with her (and to an extent, I'm not sure how much I disagree with her).

But being back in Georgia made me realize that there are a lot of minds that won't change, and a lot of people who don't believe her when she's being human. That's why the sound byte is significant: She convinced me for the first time because she was displaying feminine characteristics of vulnerability and sensitivity. I want a leader who admits his or her feelings from time-to-time. Politics needs to embrace the feminine, and maybe this country could actually get better if it were less about dominance and more about the greater good.

Still, I have to wonder why am I so relieved that Hillary finally became feminine. Why is it that I need her to be more "like a woman"? This is the not-so-easy part. It somehow legitimizes her candidacy, and I realize I have been swayed by the Stop Her Now rhetoric. I have been supporting Obama because I thought he'd be less hated and more likely to win. I knew the Hillary haters would never be won over, and now more than ever, I believe that's because she's the type of woman that she is. It has nothing to do with her politics.

Her expression of emotion, concern, and vulnerability have re-painted her as a candidate for me. I'm sorry to admit that's what it took, but at the same time, I believe her. I believe that she wants to make this country a better place and ensure the opportunities America promises are available to as many people as possible - male or female. She embodies that possibility, even if she isn't as soft around the edges as people would like.

I don't think she'd do a bad job, either. She can't do any worse than our current president, right?