Category: Politics

Some thoughts on Race

I’m pretty much as white as they come. Other than being related to Karl Malone (through marraige), I pretty much have no smatterings of color in my family tree, so every time the issue of race comes up, I fit squarely into the “White/Caucasian” category.

In other words… it’s all my fault.

Yes, my ancestor’s ancestors were members of a culture who participated in the awful practice of buying and selling human life. They created centuries of human oppression and perpetuated such an awful practice.

But guess what: I didn’t. It wasn’t me. I don’t believe in that. I didn’t do it. And punishing me for it is just silly.

Yes, my grandfathers and great grandfathers lived in the United States during a time when we tried our hardest to keep races separated…

But guess what: I didn’t. I don’t believe that. It wasn’t me. I didn’t do it. And punishing me for it is just silly.

There has been a long history of racial oppression in the world. The Egyptians built their monster pyramids with slave labor. Slavery has been a major component of every eon of time. The concept of slavery is the same across all ages: the forced oppression and captivity of the weakest members of a society.

Slavery continues until today, in the form of economic slavery. High interest credit cards and loans are made to the weakest in our society, putting them at natural disadvantages and binding them for life to creditors they will never be able to satisfy. This slavery knows no race, gender or creed.

But it’s not my fault. And I don’t owe you anything. During my lifetime, I have worked to give those I have come in contact with every benefit and opportunity I have received, no matter their race or culture.

mlkdraw.gifToday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day here in the United States. Certainly, Dr. King’s incredible contributions to our country deserve to be recognized. And this is why… he had the courage to stand up. He inspired a movement of people to identify with their culture, take pride in their heritage, and to take a moral stand against their countrymen and government to say, “What is going on here isn’t right. We are not second class citizens.”

In this spirit, I celebrate Dr. King. I celebrate his dream and vision, and the power of the movement he led pull up his race by their bootstraps to say, “we’re not taking it anymore.” I have, in part, seen his dream realized during my lifetime.

I was raised without prejudice for race, gender or creed. I value all people equally as children of God and members of the same human race.

The biggest problem with race today is not white suppression, it is self-supression.

African-Americans have adopted the hate language of the 1960’s Caucasians to define themselves and even casually refer to each other. What would Dr. King think to walk through our schools today hearing black people refer to each other as “nigger”?

African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, etc have more money than ever to go to college, and yet Caucasians still make up the majority of those going to college. Affirmative action has been set up in the workplace to give more than due opportunities for people of minority ethnicities. The ‘white establishment’ has done everything possible to give every minority in this country a shot at a good education, a good job, and a productive life.

And yet it’s never enough.

One day I’m going to create the WhiteEyebrows scholarship fund for white male white-eyebrowed freaks…

I think Dr Bill Cosby is right. Read some of the startling statistics from his recent book on the state of the black community and it quickly becomes clear that there is cultural disease festering.

  • In 1950, five out of every six black children were born into a two-parent home. Today, that number is less than two out of six
  • 70 percent of black babies are born to single mothers in the United States each year
  • Homicide is the number one cause of death for black men between 15 and 29 years of age and has been for decades.
  • Of the roughly 16,000 homicides in this country each year, more than half are committed by black men. A black man is seven times more likely to commit a murder than a white man, and six times more likely to be murdered.
  • Ninety-four percent of all black people who are murdered are murdered by other black people.
  • Although black people make up 12 percent of the general population, they make up nearly 44 percent of the prison population.
  • At any given time, as many as one in four of all young black men are in the criminal justice system—in prison or jail, on probation or on parole.

(source: NBC’s Meet the Press Interview with Tim Russert)

Now to another group, Latinos & Mexicans, who seem to have the complete opposite problems from the African-American community. The history of the African-Americans is tragic… they were drug here to work for nothing. Today, Mexicans come here at any cost, to work and be a part of our 12 trillion dollar economy, and all we can talk about is how to keep them out. What irony! For much of the country, it’s still not politically incorrect to be racist toward Latinos, even though they come here to work the hardest for the lowest wages, and sacrifice their quality of life for their families both here and where they come from.

Where is the Dr. King of the Latino community who will stand up and say, “We demand to be equal partners in this American dream”?

It’s such a complicated issue, but perhaps the reason why the American experiement continues to work is because above all else, above our race, religion, culture, background, hair style, or fingernail length, we are Americans. We subscribe to the American dream and believe in freedom, liberty, and human decency.

So for this day of commemoration, let’s put aside the divisiveness of race and remember our common American race. There is room for all races in the American dream.

Mitt Takes the Gold

Mitt Romney finally won the Gold. It wasn’t in Iowa or New Hampshire, like we worked for and anticipated, but it was in his ‘home’ state of Michigan.

Just when people were starting to forget about him, when the press stalled and when people were talking withdrawl… let me just remind you…

  • Mitt is in FIRST place in number of delegates among all the candidates at this point.
  • Mitt has raised the MOST money among all the republicans
  • Mitt is the BEST candidate if you are concerned about the economy. (If we do slide into a ‘bagel’ you can bet his numbers will spike)
  • oh yeah.. and there’s all these reasons too!

Go Mitt!

Your Own Personal Bagel

Listening to the radio whilst (no one uses that fabulous word anymore) coming to work today I was listening to two of the country’s economists (read: blowhards) speculate about what the current stat of our economy is, whether or not we were headed into a recession, and whether or not we are actually in one (and we don’t know it yet).

So… I came to work and looked up the word ‘recession’. Recession (thanks, wikipedia) is defined as “two or more quarters of negative economic growth or negative gross domestic product.”

This reminds me of bagels. Let me explain. On one of my favorite episodes of The West Wing, there is a fear of economic downturn sweeping through the staff. Josh walks into a meeting and just flat out says the word ‘recession’ and he immediately get shushed and given dirty looks. Apparently it’s bad luck to speak such words, so you use the harmless euphemism: a “bagel.”

cream_cheese_on_bagel.jpg

So is our country headed toward a ‘bagel’?

One of these economists actually had an interesting thought. When they started talking about consumer spending, they said that surprisingly consumer spending has continued as if there were no economic problems on the horizon. So people obviously didn’t want to accept the thought that the economy might be slipping, and people aren’t really feeling the pinch of a recession just yet.

So the question is… are you having your own personal recession yet? Most of us who are steadily employed have a pretty “fixed income.” So usually, if a recession hits, it hits some people extremely hard (they lose their employment), while the rest of us just lose opportunity (fewer raises, bonuses, etc). When people ask “how bad will the recession be?” what they are really asking is, “is it going to threaten my job?”

So the idea is… all economics are local, right? So… anyone here feeling the effects of the economic slowdown?

I have felt them in two conflicting ways… 1) my retirement fund slowed growth last year by about 8%. Betting on a slipping economy, and being young and willing to take the risk, I changed over 50% into foreign investments, due to the weakness of the dollar. Hopefully that will perform better this year.

On the other hand, though, I’ve been starting a business… an expensive venture, but which is already showing promising financial futures. I’m not getting rich or anything, but it’s paying for itself, and has growth indications.

I personally think this will be a mild ‘bagel’ if it’s a ‘bagel’ at all, mostly because of the weakness of the dollar and the ubiquity of the global economy. Exports will raise and foreign investment in the US will increase (speculators looking for a deal on a sure thing). This will create jobs and stimulate growth once more.

So, stay tuned… we’ll see where this thing goes. One thing’s for certain, it’s way too early to tell.

If it is a bagel, hopefully it’s smothered in strawberry cream cheese!

The Obsession of Being First

blue-ribbon.jpgToday is the day of the New Hampshire Primary, the first presidential primary in the nation… kind of. We saw last year the scrambling and craziness that ensued when several states tried to put their primaries ahead of New Hampshire and Iowa. Wyoming actually succeeded, paying the meager price of only having 1/2 of its delegates actually be able to attend the national convention. So it’s only “pseud0-first”… it’s not really first.

Not only is New Hampshire obsessed with being first, there are certain small towns in New Hampshire who hold their primary at 12:01am on the day of the primary, making them the FIRST of the FIRST. The most prominent of these towns are Hart’s Location and Dixville Notch. With 42 total residents of voting age, Hart’s Location is a great little voter microcosm for the world, and was fictionalized on a memorable episode of The West Wing entitled “Hartsfield’s Landing.”

But what is with this crazy obsession to be first?

When I was in grade school, it was a big deal to be first. You always wanted to be first in line after recess, first to turn in your work (no matter how sloppy), first to finish lunch, first to be ready to go home. Some times when your glee would reach peak levels, you would scream out “first!!!” as if to declare your order superiority.

Having a last name which started with “A” only made this problem worse for me. We often lined by in alphabetical order by last name. This put me right at the front of the line, and usually first. Except for those years when whats-his-name Adams was in my class… oooh how I hated him and the “D” in his last name!

Well, the good news is, we grow out of grammar school and we become pimple faced teenagers. Suddenly it’s no longer cool to be first… or eager… or even conscious. Just try teaching a group of teenagers in Sunday School. You ask them a stupid question, and they look at you like an idiot. You ask them a good, thought provoking question, and they look at you like an idiot. I’m not sure if it’s puberty or what… no one wants to be first, and no one wants to stick out.

Except me. I always stuck out, what with my white eyebrows.

But, you know, some little part of us never forgets how awesome it is to be first. We first-hogs just want to be first for the sake of being first, mostly. It makes us feel superior. It makes us feel smart and capable and better than everyone else, even when there’s no logical basis for that conclusion.

So New Hampshire… Iowa… everyone… chill out. You might be first, but you aren’t the big deal you think you are. California, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas are all waiting to show you who is last the best of all the game!

Romney Down But Not Out

Did you see the rapid fire personal, visceral attacks that Romney took in last night’s ABC/Facebook debate?

If not, here they are:



What a cowardly, insulting interjection.



What a smug comment followed by the most self-conscious laugh. I doubt McCain won some of those independents he wants so badly with such an underhanded, glib comment.

These guys just make me sick.

So much for Huckabee’s feigned “Christian” non-negative campaign. At least Romney has the guts to put up issue ads, not just broadly and personally attack his opponents.

And again we see McCain’s true colors… his pompousness, temper, glibness, rudeness, and superiority complex is something only that many years in the senate can produce in a person.

So, here’s how I see it playing out… Romney is in a pretty close race in New Hampshire with McCain. He came in 2nd in the Iowa caucus. He won the Wyoming Primary. So currently, nationally, Romney is the front runner. Even if he comes in 2nd in New Hampshire, he will still gain more delegates, and still (likely) be in first place nationally. Even if he came in 2nd in every primary and caucus before Super-Duper Tuesday, he will still be in the lead nationally. Every state might have their differnt fair haired child republican, and choose Mitt second. Surprisingly, Mitt might just win on the Guiliani strategy… except Mitt is going all 9 rounds, not just waiting to throw the hail mary on the last play of the game.

On the other side of the aisle, Hillary had one of her best moments in this little clip:



Mitt Romney: More than just a sound bite

Tomorrow, Iowa will be first in the nation to caucus for the next President of the United States. For those who’ve been paying attention, this race is certainly one of the most interesting in my lifetime.

The Republican camp has never been so wide open, with such a dizzying array of choices. Even the Democrat party, with presumptive nominee Hillary, is in a statistical photo finish.

I have been watching this race pretty closely since November of ’06. Having tired of our current president’s less appealing attributes, I got excited early at the prospect of a new CEO for the country. It was at this time that my uncle clued me in to Mitt Romney’s possible candidacy. At first I thought it was a fluke. How was this unknown supposed to make a run at the most powerful office against national names like Guiliani and Clinton?

After careful consideration of all candidates, both Republican and Democrat, today I am announcing the official WhiteEyebrows endorsement for the primaries in ’08 is: Mitt Romney.

mitt-romney-for-president-3.jpg

Why do I support Mitt?

  1. Mitt is articulate. This was the first thing that impressed me, mostly because it is the foremost attribute lacking in our current president. Mitt is able to clearly articulate his positions, and reasons and justifications for those positions. For example, Mitt was the first (and only) candidate to offer a reason why he is against same-sex unions: he says “because marraige isn’t about adult rights, it’s about children’s rights, and that [he] thinks every child should grow up with a father and a mother.”
  2. Mitt is smart. He loves data. He loves bringing in experts, not just to tell him what to do (like Bush/Rumsfeld/Cheney), but to present every angle of the issue; to argue both for an against. This allows him to make decisions based on facts, rather than “gut”.
  3. Mitt is a true fiscal conservative. As a former CEO, venture capitalist, and turnaround artist, Mitt knows how to reign in spending. I heard an anecdote that when he took over the olympics, one of his first actions was to stop all expensive, catered staff lunches and only bring in pizza when necessary. Mitt will cut spending, duplication, and waste in the federal government like no other president. In one of his debates, he points out that more federal workers will retire in the next 8 years than ever before, offering a great opportunity to cut back on all these federal overlaps.
  4. Mitt’s got the right idea on social values. Mitt has been given a hard time on this, and the opposition will paint him as a flip flopper on abortion, especially. I’m talking about something more than an issues checklist (pro-life, judicial litmus test, same-sex marraige) though.  I think Mitt understands two things when it comes to social values, that his job as President will be to 1) promote the ideal, while 2) he works within the reality of the system as it exists today.
    1. Mitt is the only candidate who has said that he believes that we have a real education problem in the country, in that our children want to have babies out of wedlock. He wants to fix that problem.
    2. When asked in an interview why he doesn’t support a constitutional amendment banning abortion, he said that he believes the best next step in the national abortion debate is to repeal Roe v. Wade and allow states to legislate for themselves. He demonstrates a clear ability to understand the current state of government, and work toward the next steps on these social issues. (unlike Ron Paul who just wants to nuke 200 years of governmental evolution in his first 180 days)
  5. Mitt is young and energetic. If we elect McCain, he will be like 107 by the time he leaves office.
  6. Mitt understands the nuances of issues. As a moderate, this is super important to me. My problem with President Bush is that he will always do what he thinks is “right,” no matter the cost to the country. In my opinion, a president must do what is best for the nation, not necessarily what he thinks is right. For example, I don’t think the best thing for this country would be to outlaw abortion. I don’t think it is right, but there are certain times when it is the best available alternative (rape, incest, life of mother). Outlawing it would be more disastrous, in my opinion.
  7. Mitt is in it to win it. In 2007, Mitt went from 0% national recognition to leading the republicans in a national poll last week. Mitt will put up the best fight against any and all of the Democrats that could be nominated. He has no relatively little baggage, and is the republican’s best hope for keeping the White House.

In a phrase, I support Mitt because there is more to him than just a sound bite. He has well thought out positions and often what he says right after the sound bite is just as important and well thought out as the sound bite itself.

See for yourself at http://www.mittromney.com/.

Earth to the Evanglicals

I thought the speech was masterfully written, and well delivered.

Today, I’m just a little angry at those who say, “Mitt still didn’t address the “issues” we have with his faith.”

First of all, Mitt said (rather eloquently) that he does not owe it to anyone to justify his faith. He went further to say that discussions of such topics have no place in presidential politics, a sentiment Mike Huckabee echoed when he was recently pressed about his views on female clergy in his own Baptist sect.

Second of all, Mitt, if we didn’t reach ’em by now, we’re not going to reach ’em. There is a very vocal minority out there who simply will not vote for a Mormon. They have been brainwashed by their pastor or by anti-mormon literature to a point where Mormons are the devil incarnate. They will not ever support you, so let’s stop trying to win them over.

Along those lines, I’m going to go out on a limb here…

I just want to ask any Evangelical out there who might come across this blog… why Mormonism? Why must you attack it so vehemently? Mormon doctrines and practices are no more crazy than those of other faiths who disagree with your theology. Why aren’t there scads of anti-Muslim literature papering our public school’s parking lots? Why aren’t you devoting full sermons to anti-Catholic rhetoric? Why aren’t you publishing anti-Semitic films and protesting outside every Synagogue and Diocese?

Why are you so focused on Mormons? You must be afraid of us for some reason. Why is that?

Shifting gears a bit, let me ask you this. Where is Jesus in this video? Where is the Christianity in this?

Please tell me that at least one of you Evangelicals out there is appalled by how this minister would sit there and denigrate such a dedicated, faithful woman. He shrouds his hate speech in a feigned “love” and “reaching out.” His real purpose is to spread the half-truths about the Mormon belief system.

I find this kind of personal attack appalling, ugly, and unchristian.What ever happened to “Love your enemies?” How is this preacher emulating the love of Christ by spewing this kind of hate speech over the public airwaves? How can he honestly look into that camera, say those awful things, and then claim he is a true Christian? (and a Christian leader at that…)

If people and the media were attacking Obama’s race or Hillary’s gender as much they are Mitt’s Mormonism, there would be a fierce public outcry. It would be deemed an unacceptable and immoral attack. People all over the country would just shake their heads…

So why do these hate and fear mongers get a pass? Sounds like a religious test to me.

Mitt Will Give Mormon Speech

mitt-romney-for-president-3.jpg… and it’s about freaking time!

Voters, media, and some advisers have been poking and prodding at him to do this for months. Ever since he came into this race, he has been constantly questioned about his LDS faith. Imagine being him; everyday a new attack, a new ornery attitude. I’m sure there were days where time after time he was confronted with the “mormon” question. If I were Mitt, I be sick of it and would have put the issue to bed months ago.

But the fact that I thought he should have given this speech in August or September is irrelevant. The fact is, he is going to give it now, and here is what he needs to do:

  1. Manage expectations. The temptation of the media will be to compare this to the John F Kennedy speech. That speech was incredibly historical and brilliant, and in an incredibly appropriate setting: a southern baptist leader’s conference. The Mitt Machine needs to lower expectations that this speech will be anything close to JFK.
  2. Over-deliver. After successfully managing expectations, Mitt really needs to hit this one out of the park. This is quite possibly the largest single opportunity he’ll have to convince America (at least the ones who aren’t out Christmas shopping) that he is their man.
  3. Re-think your venue: Why not Iowa? That is where you need to regain your ground anyway.
  4. Get a large Evangelical endorsement to go with it. A big name standing by his side will certainly help seal the deal.

Above all, Mitt needs to laser focus the content of this speech to the anxieties that voters have toward his religion. :

  • Priority A1 is to express that he will not be taking orders, instruction, or even counsel from church leaders regarding the decisions facing the country.
  • Priority 2 is to somehow express how his faith will affect his decision making, and how it informs his thinking. A personal anecdote here will go very far. He should tell how his faith informed a decision made while serving as governor or even share an experience from church leadership that is illustrative.
  • Priority 3 is to continue to refute and disavow strange religious practices and rumors. No need to explain or defend practices of Mormonism, just express the concept that when it all comes down to it, all belief systems defy logic and understanding. It’s something you feel, rather than know. Tell the voters they shouldn’t punish you for feeling and believing in Jesus Christ as you understand him. This is the old “bear your testimony” tactic. No one can argue it or refute it, cause it’s just how you feel.

Above all, Romney needs to dig deep in his soul for this one. An academic treatment of the subject will suffice (Kennedy’s was debatably a very pragmatic, unemotional approach), but I think an emotional approach will gain you more traction with the actual voters. In short, show us this Mitt.