Missing John McCain

Great column by Seth Pendleton on the lack of courage in the Republican party to challenge the crazy and fight for America here at home.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-pendleton/missing-john-mccain_b_260992.html

A New Standard for American Crazy

Just when I thought I had heard it all, with the histrionics over death squads picking off Nana like a kid at the fair trying to win a bear for his girlfriend, I see a story that not 1, not 2, but 12 people carrying guns were among the protesters outside the building where the US President was giving a speech. One of those people wasn't carrying just any gun - no. It was a semi-automatic assault rifle - an AR-15.

Why was he packing such formidable heat?

Because he could.

Whuh?

And even more confusing - it's hardly being reported.

Question - America, where the hell are the adults in this society? Is everyone like an idiot teenager? No wonder you're worried about death squads. A gun is no good if you don't use it, and Nana's as good a target as any.

Me Tarzan, You God

"If horses had a god, it would look like a horse."

That bit of wisdom has informed my relationship with God, and how I appreciate or rub up against others' relationships with God, because...

How God is defined is not about God; it is about each of us. How we see God is determined by our experiences of self and other, and how we shape that experience into a God we relate to.

We can inherit the God of our parents or community, but that is the God we start with - a God with training wheels. As we grow older and have more experiences of our own, that God may or may not change and evolve.

As long as we keep our God and that relationship personal, whatever kind of God we have is our own business. What crosses the line, however, is when someone tells me - or anyone else - that their God is the Right God, the Only God for everyone.

A God that is imposed upon me may not fit. What if it's horse shaped and I am not? What if I have a God that fits me just right - or at least we're working on it? Make your God my God? No can do.

The God for one is not the God for all - and that is why it is vital that God is kept out of government. Because once God gets into government, it's not only One God Fits All, it's enforced with guns and jail and repression.

Maybe the phrase needs an updated twist: "When government has a God, it looks like tyranny."

Pulitzer Prize Nominations for Web Journalism

I think it's time for a new Pulitzer to be awarded - one for web jounalism.

I say this not only because the internet is growing as a journalistic entity - but also because of the effect of tweets and postings during the post-election upheaval in Iran. Things are still very dicey there, still very much in flux. But had it not been for the information leaked out of the country on the torture, killings, and oppression, the clamp-down and repression may have never been known, and countless more would have perished at the hands of power-hungry dictocrats and thugs.

So let me begin the nominations for web-based journalism on Iran:
Best real-time blogging by U.S. journalist: Nico Pitney, Huffington Post
Best recap blogging: The Green Brief, by Josh Shahryar
Best on-the-ground tweets: PersianKiwi (wherever you are)
Best out-of-Iran tweets: OxfordGirl
Best website: Tehran Bureau

And for the Nobel Peace Prize - I nominate Haystack, for working to develop a tool to allow free speech in repressed regimes. The peace of the world depends on the freedom of speech and the press.

Thanks to you all.

Do you have any other suggestions?

You can post them here in the comments section, or send them to:
pulitzer@pulitzer.org
comments@nobelprize.org

I'm Sorry, Anonymous Caller

This morning I got a phone call from the RNC (Republican National Committee), trying to scare me about the Evils of Health Care Reform. It didn't take the young woman on the other end of the line very long to get to the part where the government was trying to get power to decide if my doctor could treat me or whether my grandmother would be allowed to live. That's when I broke my silence and spoke up.

"That's not true."

There was a surprised pause, and then she repeated the last bit in the hopes that, with the second telling, I would get the subtleties I clearly missed the first go-round.

"But that's not true," I repeated. "Health care is a complicated issue, and what you're saying are talking points meant to scare people."

At this point she was a little flustered, and I was frustrated and angry. That's when I said what I now regret... "I don't have to listen to this shit."

My anger toward the message, coming as it did on an otherwise quiet Saturday morning, was quickly replaced with anger toward myself. Why do I ever use obscenities in conversation? It doesn't matter if I believe that what is being spoken is obscene, it just doesn't work. As soon as the potty talk comes into the conversation, every valid point I might have offered goes out the window. It is the singularly most counterproductive element to oral discourse.

What I should have said is "When I hear these false statements coming from my own party, I feel humiliated. It is as if our platform is to make people as scared and stupid as possible. It demeans us all."

Instead, I demeaned myself, and I spoke in harsh language to this young woman.

I hope she was getting paid for her calling, and not doing it as a volunteer. I can appreciate how hard it is to get a job in this economy. I might say things I don't believe in order to pay my rent. I get that.

Nevertheless, if I had it to do over again, I would have shown her the civility I long for in our public discourse right now. Instead I fell into the trap myself. If the regret I have been feeling since that call is any indication of the depth of the lesson learned through this experience, I won't be uncivil to anyone ever again.

So to you, anonymous caller, I'm sorry for what I said. If it's any consolation, because of you I will not do that again. And I'm glad, at least, I did not hang up on you, but that we exchanged good-byes before we disconnected. That civility, at least, we were able to maintain.

Sarah Palin, meet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Great story at Salon.com
Here's the link
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/03/palin_ahmadinejad/index.html

I have been saying this for some time. Glad to see I'm not alone.

Declaring a Fatwa on Stupidity

This blog was originally created to illuminate and combat some of the more heinous crimes against common sense that I see going on around me in my own country. But the US is not the only place to spot stupidity - just the most geographically convenient and familiar.

However, given the changes and challenges I see in Iran and other places around the world, I have decided to expand my horizons and point out principles that cover most if not all societies as they work to evolve toward, hopefully, more rational and reasonable entities meant to protect and serve their citizenry and not themselves.

And yes... I must now declare a fatwa on myself, since the belief that a country would exist to serve its people and not the people in power does itself qualify as superbly stupid.

Oh, well... I guess the fatwas start here.

The Green Brief

For my fellow travellers following the events in Iran since June - please don't miss this source of news and information. The Green Brief is written by NiteOwl AKA Josh Shahryar(on twitter twitter.com/iran_translator). I have a link to his posts in my Blog list. Follow NiteOwl for the latest in this continuing struggle for more freedoms and advancements in Iran.

Power has a Survival Instinct

I support the Green opposition movement in Iran. And in the spirit of that support I'm going to be posting some thoughts that - I hope - will support them in the struggle toward more freedoms for the Iranian people and a stronger Iran.

First things first - Power Lives and has a strong Survival Instinct

The current Power Establishment in Iran is not just a collection of people – Ahmadi, Khamenei, Revolutionary Guard, etc. The Power Establishment is a living organism - and it has a Strong survival instinct. Know this - it will resort to the lowest form of battle and commit any atrocity in order to survive. As any living creature - it will do what it takes to live.

If it's wounded, it's going to become more viscious. If it's desparate and sees a way it can survive, it may be more open to compromise. Even if it has to sacrifice some parts of itself, if the body itself can survive, it may be willing to lose some limbs.

If there is a way to link the future survival and evolution of whatever can be saved within the Power Establishment - in a positive way - to the opposition movement, it may be easier to make and maintain changes.

I say this knowing that some horrible and unjust acts will go unpunished. Hopefully all atrocities will be revealed - and some form of justice enacted - but compromise will need to be reached and not everyone will be happy.

And I say these things because revolutions are full of furvor and idealism, but governing is full of pragmatism and compromise, and people are full of fear and greed - so those who govern tend to start making decisions based less on the good of the people/country and more on the good for themselves. Only vigilance and an eye on principles of freedom and law will keep the Green movement from ultimately becoming what they resist now.

My prayers are with all of you. Your cause is the cause of humanity, and Allah is with the oppressed, not the oppressors.

Allahu Akbar!