Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - and Gets Painted with the Same Broad Brush

The story is iconic; the upright and noble 'boy ranger' who wants nothing more than to do good, be good, and work hard. There is no doubt that in some ways Barack Obama is that boy ranger who epitomizes our belief in our ability to do good and make good things happen.

So we sent Obama to Washington to do good. It turns out that good is pretty ugly.

It has become clear that our political system is far out of control. Congress has become a procedural sinkhole, expending resources on minutiae, its compulsive navel-gazing preventing it from seeing the big picture. The left wants to make great strides and can't see the point in waiting. The right thinks resources should go to individuals, not a federal government that has been proven to waste them.

Criticism from the right is all the more stinging for its validity. 'Hope' is not enough to get things done. Talking about change isn't the same as doing things differently. And what does "change" really mean? Washington is a mess, and no one man will be able to fix it.

We elected Barack Obama hoping for change, but now that he is President, he is part of the problem. He is Washington, D.C., he is the federal government. He is the one calling the shots, he is the one we handed the ball to in the fourth quarter. He's responsible.

So now we begin to see him in the same light as all the other politicians, and he receives the same criticisms, and he is part of the same dysfunctional system, and no one can see any end in sight.

There is still hope. One man may not be able to make great changes to our system, but one man can be a catalyst for great change. Obama is an incrementalist, and that is what is needed. We must move forward deliberately, step by step. Scrutiny is good, but we need to realize that no one walks into the swamp without getting their feet wet. Criticism and judgmentalism are part of the pathology of Washington.

Chicago and the Olympics

At times I stop and consider the nature of existence and society, and how not only all humans, but all things are connected. Everything in this world affects everything else, that is the mystery of life. Only God knows what is most important and most meaningful. Humans are left with what is right. What is right for people will never rise to the level of what is right for God. We have to try to do the best for today in all things, because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

The Olympics may not have been 'the' answer, but it was an answer. Yes, the Sun will rise tomorrow. However, it will not be lighting a day where thousands wake to jobs they didn't have the day before, or where thousands spend money that will now be spent in another country.

If you think of Obama wearing a sweater, and that sweater is the USA, then I think Weezer has the best admonition for those that nit-pick the President's every move:

If you want to destroy my sweater,
pull this string as I walk away.
Watch me unravel, I'll soon be naked.

Racists Still Trying to Keep 'Blacks' Down

Several weeks ago I came across an article mentioning the infamous Dr. Watson and questioning the intelligence of 'Blacks.' Bigotry is something I take seriously, so as a matter of course I posted in the comments section and have been up to now. One thing has become clear from my interaction with other posters on that article: racism is alive and kicking.

The latest thread that inspired me to write this article started off with a post that contained these gems:

Remember most of the blacks brought from Africa were NOT brought for their IQ they were brought because they were the biggest and strongest ones able to work the cotton fields for long hours(remember it sounds harsh now but it is a fact of history) and 95%+ of todays(sic) African Americans descended from these and inherited their athletic traits

Blacks tend to use slavery as a crutch against any and all arguements(sic) made against them... An African American born today has no connection with his slave relatives 200 years ago other then sharing the same DNA. Therefore to say blacks have accomplished very little in the scientific field solely becuase(sic) they had slave relatives 200 years ago is a pretty far stretch.

Notice how the poster on one hand says Blacks are big and strong because of slavery, then on the other hand says that Black accomplishments haven't been impacted because slavery is ancient history? That, my friends, is bigotry dressed up in a bare assertion.

Racism is indeed still alive and well in the USA. There are two things that clearly demonstrate this: first, the continuing rewriting of history that began before transatlantic slavery and has yet to stop. It takes the form of statements like this:

there is almost no historical records of people within Africa making any significant world scientific, mathematical, astrological or otherwise discoveries. Africans did not build boats and explore the world even though their contient(sic) is nearly all surrounded with ocean. They predominatly(sic) lived in small hunting villages much like some tribes do STILL live today in Africa.

The second thing that demonstrates the prevalence of racism in our country are the rising cries of 'Black racism' or 'reverse racism,' and the abundant critiques of Blacks 'playing the race card' and refusing to take responsibility for themselves, i.e. using racism and slavery as a crutch or an excuse not to try harder. A patently false claim.

The rewriting of history leaves tracks, and facts can be established and recorded, proven or shown false. The more insidious of these two talons of American racism is the practice of insulting Blacks as weak and lazy, relying on handouts or special exceptions, crying 'racism' when they don't get their way.

A reasonable person can see that both these tactics rely on blatant lies and bare assertions. When asked to back up their assertions in these comments and elsewhere, the answer is always a deafening silence, only broken by subsequent assertions of the same quality; low.

Don't agree? Show me.

Barney Frank to Protester: "On what planet do you spend most of your time?"

Representative Barney Frank is holding a town hall meeting today in Dartmouth. While the meeting is mostly temperate, there have been a few moments of contention, as well as the occasional outburst from the obligatory protesters.

Although Frank seems to enjoy solid support for his positions from the audience, he is encountering a degree of cynicism about the Obama administration and government in general.

At one point, confronted by an audience member holding a picture of President Obama defaced to make Obama look like Hitler who asked how he could support Nazi policies, Frank asked "on what planet do you spend most of your time?" When asked if he would respond to the question, he said "trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table."

When accused along with Obama and others of being secretly in favor of a single-payer health system, Frank responded "It's been twenty-one years since I had a secret."

Several audience members asked how they could trust the government on health care. Frank admonished "I never asked you to trust the government. The government is not your mother or father, or your doctor...No one should ever trust the government, people should use their rights as citizens."

Gates: Cops Did Act Stupidly, But It's Not About Race

It's about abuse of power.

Don't get me wrong; race may very well have played a role in Crowley's decision to arrest Gates. Race certainly played a role in Gate's reaction to Crowley. The color of Gates' skin may have made the decision to arrest easier. However, issues of racial bias are deep and complex, and not easy to discern. It is clear that the police acted stupidly for two reasons.

First, being belligerent, obnoxious, rude, or impolite in your own home is not a crime. It is rarely a crime under any circumstances, but it is a clear abuse of power to arrest someone in their home for what amounts to being angry or upset. Abuse of arrest powers under these circumstances is far too common and, unfortunately, far too accepted. Many people even are so lacking in Constitutional sensibilities that they defend police when they make arrests for 'offense of cop.'

We should be clear about this. Arresting someone is very serious. Depriving someone of liberty is an act that should never be capricious or unwarranted. The founders of this country placed liberty right behind life itself when they enumerated the basic rights given by God to everyone. If you arrest someone for rude behavior, you are one step from finding it acceptable to kill someone for the same reasons.

Secondly, the arrest was stupid because of who Gates is. A well-known professor and historian. A friend of the President. It was completely predictable that this would become a public relations debacle. The reason, I am sure, that the prosecutors wasted no time in dropping the charges. As some have said, this situation was the 'perfect storm' of circumstances. Even without the perfect storm, arrests of this type will receive more and more scrutiny, and will more frequently result in bad press and damaged careers. There are simply too many records being made in the form of video and audio recordings, and the dispersal of these records is quick and easy. The police are being scrutinized like never before. Who would deny the stupidity of abusing your power while the world is watching? Sarah Palin might have a few words for you.

Yes, race was likely a factor in the arrest of Gates, but for who and how much is something that will be debated endlessly. The real problem with the arrest is that it was a clear abuse of police power, depriving a citizen of his liberty and removing him from his home when his only infraction was being upset in the presence of a police officer.