Show me the money . . .

I haven't been able to put a finger on what is bothering me about the current political climate. I don't mean the obvious things like Sarah Palin, John Boehner's dimming orangeness, or wicken candidates (although I am surprised that FOX missed the obvious angle on the Christine O'donnell story. The lead in:
"Witches, from being the hunted to being in the hunt for the U. S. Senate, there's a lot at stake in the heart-warming story of Christine O'Donnell.")

No, I have been plagued by something indiscernible, something more pervasive, an overlay that might explain the inexplicable absurdity of what American politics has become.

I thought about deregulation of the media and the loss of the fairness doctrine. The Tea Party. FOX news and its nutty talking heads. But these are just a few symptoms of something deeper, something profound.

I think it has come to me, courtesy of Benjamin Franklin. No, not any of the wise sayings or writings of the original American philosopher.

Just the realization provided by his picture.

It's all about the Benjamins.

All the craziness is just window dressing, like the puppets on display in the department store windows around Christmas, a way to draw us in, a distraction from what is really going on, so that we feel good about giving up our money for something shiny.

Our elected offices are sold to the highest bidder, and that isn't the candidate.

Polls of potential voters are passe'. Comparison of campaign spending is the new measuring device.

And it has only become worse as corporations and unions have been designated as persons by the non-activist U. S. Supreme Court in the Citizens United case, and are therefore not subject to previous limitations in campaign contributions.

I don't know how to change it.

So, I've got a proposal.

Money is going to control who wins, right?

Our country is in dire financial straits, right?

Then let's quit pretending and cut to the chaste. Auction off the offices. The highest bidder wins. No restrictions on contributions.

Think about it. All the money goes straight to the federal government and no more ridiculous television advertisements. A win-win.

Well, I feel better.

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Where did we put that collective mind?

Shortly after our country became constitutional, Thomas Paine, the author of "Common Sense," the political pamphlet said to be responsible for convincing the common man to rebel against England, exercised his brand new first amendment rights and published another influential pamphlet. It was called "The Age of Reason" and dealt with what he considered to be the problems and excesses of the Christian church. He advocated Deism.

It would be interesting to see what Paine might entitle a pamphlet about today's American political and religious scene. I suspect he would have to change directions to come up with something relevant. Common Sense and Age of Reason have no place.

We have lost our collective minds.

You believe that somebody has taken God out of our public schools? What kind of God do you worship? One of those little statues with fake ruby eyes? A small simulated golden calf? Something that can be conveniently carried from place to place and stored on a shelf when a more prominent place would be uncomfortable?
God with a big G doesn't need defending. He cannot be removed from anyplace that He doesn't want to leave. Wouldn't be much of a God if that were true. He promised that He would always be with anyone who wanted Him around, and when two or more are gathered in His name, you can count Him in. He never asked us to fight for Him. He asked us to love and serve. Everyone. Quit worrying about whether God is at school. I wouldn't blame Him for leaving considering how small we have made Him with our ridiculous, self-serving distractions about Him being expelled as if He had been just another victim of zero tolerance . . . hmmmmm.

You're just concerned that the first amendment right to free exercise of religion is being eroded, right? What about the right of the Muslim, or Jew, or atheist whose child is in the class? Quick, hand me the irony-meter. The reading should be off the charts.

You want government out of your life? Maybe Hollywood could make a movie. . . call it "It's a Not so Wonderful Life." No roads. No clean water. No safe foods. No safe transportation. No child labor laws. No secure monetary or banking system. Quality medical care only if you can afford it. No medicaid. No social security. No military. No protection of your rights by the courts. No prosecution of criminals. No recourse for civil wrongs. No protection of minorities. No protection of exercise of religion and speech. No regulation of utilities. No guarantee of education for children. No organized and funded relief effort for major natural disasters. No regulation of electronic media, communication, or the internet. No restrictions on business.

You don't want government out of your life. You just don't want to have to pay for it.

You believe the deficit will be our downfall, but you insist on cutting taxes? Cut spending you say? Good idea, actually. Medicaid, Social Security, and military. That's where the cuts must come. Cut the pork, you say? Another good idea, except cutting all the pork would not make a dent in the deficit. Besides, you don't mean it. Oh, you mean cut my pork, not yours. But we can't cut enough to handle the deficit. We must reduce it with taxes. Enough to make you tolerate the deficits, is it?

President Obama and the Democrats are to blame for the situation we are in? Finally, you got one right. The economy did not collapse. Financial institutions did not fail. We are not in a depression. The abysmal economic free-fall that began in 2007 was halted and reversed within months. America's standing in the world has recovered. A discernible foreign policy has appeared. Government is acting like government; addressing the economic crisis, making progress on healthcare, financial reform, and justice for minorities.

But that's not what you mean. President Obama and the Democrats are to blame for the bad economy. Really? In the month or two before President Obama took office responsible economists were talking global economic doomsday. Offices with windows on Wall Street were only valuable as a means of potential escape.

Ezra Klein of the Washington Post recently quoted economist Ron Shapiro who dug into labor statistics. Starting in early 2007, the U. S. economy began losing jobs at an alarming rate. During the last two years of the Bush administration and the first six months of the Obama administration, before any of his policies could have taken effect, about 7.7 million jobs had been lost. But three months later,the job loss bottomed out in December, 2009, and job increases, however slow, have continued since. The Bush Administration was responsible for more than 7.7 million of the job losses before the turn around. The Obama administration was responsible for less than 250,000.

The sorry mess we had gotten ourselves into was not President Obama's fault. But this is his recovery, for better or for worse. I think he would be satisfied with that.

And one last thing before I turn in for the night. Good, intelligent people have sent me emails and facebook posts saying that President Obama is an illegal alien, a communist, a socialist, an atheist, a Muslim, a boob, an idiot, a Manchurian candidate, and a liar.

Why? You don't know the guy. He has done nothing that would support any of these assertions.

I guess its the Rage of Treason, or perhaps Common Dense.

A real paine.

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Rash decisions

I've got poison oak.

I went out Sunday and cleared brush and limbs along the driveway and then piled them up to burn. I knew there was poison oak all over the place. I know the plant well, because this has become an annual event, or at least bi-annual. So now I suffer the itching, oozing, and distraction of this ridiculous reaction.

I don't know why this happens to me.

I blame Obama.

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Haiti final

Haiti suffers from deep, abiding poverty. The reasons for the poverty are complex and beyond the scope of a daily post. I don't know enough to offer conclusions, but I can tell you that the poverty is not the result of lack of industry and effort on the part of the average citizen of Port au Prince.

Every street is lined with vendors selling everything. Fruit, vegetables, meat, corn. Some feature food cooking over charcoal, charcoal which is made and sold by other Haitian entrepreneurs. One could find almost anything one might want. It would just take a terribly long time to find it. In fact we hired Edward, the metal worker whose work shed was on our road, to make a gate for our chicken fence. Metal workers, wood carvers, furniture makers and other artisans sold their wares along the road.

T.J. told me that everything in Haiti took longer than I was used to. He was right. In fact, looking back on it, a great deal of our time was spent walking, which I learned is very therapeutic for the back. The few times we rode in a car we were on a mission to the newest building supply store in town, and to buy chickens, and a few other errands. Those trips inevitably killed half a day and almost killed us. Riding in the 4-Runner through the cratered streets and the chaotic traffic was far more taxing than the walking. One trip we had eleven people in the vehicle.

I am still processing what I saw during my brief stay in Haiti. Like so many, I feel urgency. But I also learned that care is required when trying to help another country or culture. The earthquake, which was horrific, left thousands injured. It was absolutely necessary for international medical relief to come to their aid. But the free medical clinics remain open even after the immediate disaster is over. So the people take advantage of the free clinics, which is good for them for their everyday problems. But the major hospital in Port au Prince closed a few weeks ago for lack of revenue. The fees for regular medical treatment disappeared as people took advantage of the free clinics. But you can't have surgery at the medical clinics.

One of the most consistent sources of economy in Haiti has been similar to what we in the south call truck farming, growing fruits and vegetables, picking them, and taking them to market. After the earthquake Port au Prince, the principal market for many farmers, was inundated with free food as a part of the earthquake relief, which is still available. The people took advantage of the free food, and the farmers business suffered greatly.

The help came with great intentions. But apparently it is necessary to be good stewards of servant hood. Sometimes helping can hurt if it is done without thought or for the wrong motivations. Sometimes our need to satisfy the urgency we feel, or our need to feel good about ourselves, or maybe even to diminish our feelings of guilt for averting our eyes for so long, can convince us that it is okay to act without thinking things through, without trying to understand as much as we can about the people and place we are trying to help.

The trip to Haiti was so full, but it is time to move on to other topics. I will be bringing Haiti up again from time to time, however, because half a million men, women and children are still living in tents, tents that are wearing out. I am thankful to Dan for inviting me to go, and to John and Curtis for their companionship, and to Corrigan and Shelly Clay for letting us be a part of their chaotic community for a few days.

Bon soir.