The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs

If you are anything like me, you read and re-read and sometimes still read the Chronicles of Narnia. I have always especially loved The Last Battle, with its nefarious plots, darkness, and heroics. It is perhaps the most obvious in its Christian allegorical implications, but any reader can create meaning and draw parallels, and as a nonbeliever, the most striking and current parallel I have is pulled from Chapter 13: "How the Dwarfs Refuse to be Taken In:"

"Romney and his campaign had gone into the evening confident they had a good path to victory, for emotional and intellectual reasons. The huge and enthusiastic crowds in swing state after swing state in recent weeks - not only for Romney but also for Paul Ryan - bolstered what they believed intellectually: that Obama would not get the kind of turnout he had in 2008.

They thought intensity and enthusiasm were on their side this time - poll after poll showed Republicans were more motivated to vote than Democrats - and that would translate into votes for Romney.

As a result, they believed the public/media polls were skewed - they thought those polls oversampled Democrats and didn't reflect Republican enthusiasm. They based their own internal polls on turnout levels more favorable to Romney. That was a grave miscalculation, as they would see on election night."

Wait, that's an article about the Romney campaign on November 6.

Let's try this:

Tirian had thought... that they were inside a little thatched stable, about twelve feet long and six feet wide. In reality they stood on grass, the deep blue sky was overhead, and the air which blew gently on their faces was that of a day in early summer... Lucy led the way and soon they could all see the Dwarfs. They had a very odd look. They weren't strolling about or enjoying themselves (although the cords with which they had been tied seemed to have vanished) nor were they lying down and having a rest. They were sitting very close together in a little circle facing one another. They never looked round nor took any notice of the humans till Lucy and Tirian were almost near enough to touch them. then the Dwarfs all cocked their heads as if they couldn't see anyone but were listening hard and trying to guess by the sound what was happening.

You remember it, right? Everyone emerges through the door into a bright, sunny paradise, but the Dwarfs sit huddled in a circle, only able to see the dark, dirty stable. They close ranks and refuse to listen to anyone:

"Now it's time for the president to propose solutions that actually have a chance of passing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a closely divided Senate, step up to the plate on the challenges of the moment, and deliver in a way that he did not in his first four years in office.
"To the extent he wants to move to the political center, which is where the work gets done in a divided government, we'll be there to meet him half way."

Oops. That was Sen. Mitch McConnell.

"But it isn't dark, your poor stupid Dwarfs," said Lucy. "Can't you see? Look up! Look round! Can't you see the sky and the trees and the flowers? Can't you see me?" 

"Are you blind?" said Tirian.
"Ain't we all blind in the dark?" said Diggle.

"There is no black hole, save in your own fancy, fool," cried Tirian. "Come out of it."

Now, I don't expect republicans to be wandering about a post-election world in which they lost, taking gulps of bright, autumn air, sighing sparkles, and peeing rainbows, but the choice has been made, it was clear, and people want action.

They don't want yammering about a republican mandate when House republicans, while still in charge, had fewer votes than House democrats. They don't want continued obstructionism from a Congress with historically low approval ratings.

All the "modern" GOP has to offer is denialism and the inability to prepare for all outcomes if those outcomes do not fit with their created reality. Karl Rove going live on Fox News to tell them they had it wrong when they called Ohio for Obama. Running an entire end-of-campaign strategy on the belief that polls are skewed and that your anecdotal observations and internal polling tell the Real Story because the other one doesn't look good. Choosing to believe that the Obama ground game was all just smoke and mirrors, and that their own ground game was superior and would carry the day when they had not even truly tested their big, expensive GOTV apparatus. Ignoring any data showing Obama in the lead in both electoral and popular counts. Thinking that we still live in an America where all that counts is GOTWV: Get Out The White Vote.

And closing ranks on November 7, vowing to stick to their dark, fantasy-based belief in cutting taxes and obstructing the President, all in the name of party and politics.

“Well, at any rate there’s no Humbug here. We haven’t let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs."

Mr. President

This past weekend, I volunteered at a rally that featured President Obama. I was working in the Accessibility area, right next to the stage. When the President went down to the crowd to shake hands, the people who could walk (including other volunteers) rushed to the front. I stood about a third of the way back, near an older gentleman who sat in a wheelchair, wearing his veteran's hat and jacket.

I thought "If anyone should be shaking the President's hand today, it's this man." So I asked him if he would like to try, and he said yes, after only a little equivocating. I asked his wife if I should lend my arm, and she said, "Yes." He stood with some help from me and from his cane, and we moved a few inches forward and waited. I said I would get the President's attention when he came along. I asked him where he served, and he said "Korea, for 19 months." He said he would like to say "Hello" to his commander, and did I think his commander would like to say hello to him. I said that I thought he would. We talked about how exciting it all was. Senator Dayton shook his hand when he came along, and when President Obama came by, amid the screams and outstretched hands, I shouted "Mr. President!" and pointed to the gentleman next to me when I caught his eye. The President shook his hand and said thank you. The Veteran greeted his commander.

The President moved on, and I helped the Veteran regain his seat.

"You made his day," said his wife. "Thank you."

I am not sure whose day was made more, really.

It's hard to tell here, but there are two senators, a vice president, and a mayor in this picture.

(Sens. Franken and Klobuchar, Vice President Mondale, and Mayor Coleman of Saint Paul).

Oh, Please

I've been really busy lately; I am tired, and I have almost no patience left for idiocy. Something is again making the rounds out there in the "news" world, which exhausts me to the point of exasperated, glassy-eyed rage. I don't have time for this. Collectively, as a country, we don't have time for this.

President Obama, our duly-elected, American-born President of the United States, does not have to tell us what religion he is. Indeed, it's one of the many things that make this country great. So it does not matter if he's Christian, Muslim, or, indeed, if he is neither of those things and doesn't believe in a higher power. It's unfortunate that the political landscape in America makes it practically impossible to get elected unless you are a Christian, and that those who are most concerned with this are also often the ones waving the flag and bleating about "freedom," but it's not a real requirement. I think that Colin Powell summed this up best during the campaign:


"I'm also troubled by, not what Sen. McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said, such things as, 'Well, you that know Mr. Obama is a Muslim.' Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is: What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, 'He's a Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists.' This is not the way we should be doing it in America."

So people, please. I know it won't happen, but President Obama could be a circle-dancing pagan, and it would not make a difference. He's the president. I am sorry that it freaks some of you out, but there it is.

ARRA

In my zip code, there are 27 grants, loans, and contracts totaling $11,200,898 that have come from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). They have gone to small businesses, really small businesses, neighborhood organizations, nonprofits, and advocacy groups. I just think that's pretty cool.

Oil

Roger Ebert doesn't need little ol' me to link to his blog, but just in case you don't already go there once in a while, this is a good one. It brings to the surface some of the things that have been troubling me about the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and subsequent spill. Some of the things. He scratches at the political surface of the issue. I have much more thinking to do about the political turmoil of the situation, and this blog has helped me on my way.

If you go there, and read it, come back here and comment. I am interested in what critically-thinking individuals have to say. By that, I mean, not a comment argument on Facebook, which thrown ridiculous rhetoric around like confetti at a prom.

Donate to Charity, Get Ripped On

President Obama has announced the list of charities who will receive a portion of his monetary award from the Nobel Peace Prize. It seems like a well-thought-out and well-rounded group to me.

And the comments on articles like this one go to show you that he could personally save a child from a burning building and people would say he hates firefighters.

Boys and Girls, the President of the United States

OK, America. Pull your head out.

At least, those of you who have your collective panties in a bunch over the POTUS wanting to address public school children on their first day of classes. Were I Mr. Obama, I would be screaming in the shower nightly over the hateful insanity running rampant through this country.

Can you imagine? You are thinking how nice it would be to welcome kids back to school, wish them luck, and remind them how important a good education is. You feel that, as the leader of the country who in fact has two school-aged children, it's your duty to be a good example.

And then this hot mess happens.

President Obama, I would like you to know that I wish my boy were old enough to be in school to hear your speech, and I might make him watch it anyway, even though he will be more interested in his blocks because he's only 15 months old.

To me, it makes sense for the POTUS to address school children, regardless of his political affiliation. He's the commander-in-chief; the man. Why should he not check in to say "Hi, how's it going? Good luck!" Like it or not, he was elected, he is the president, and if you think that a short speech is going to "indoctrinate" your children, like, say, into being better citizens or listening to their teachers or caring for their fellow students (OH, the HORROR), then maybe your children need some help in the critical skills department.

Anyway, weren't public school children being bussed to some McCain/Palin campaign events? Was that OK?

In my mind, if you are going to use public resources to transport public school children to campaign events, then you would have to take the same children to events from both sides and do critical thinking exercises with them, which would be educational.

Pres. Obama's desire to address public school children on the first day of classes is a different situation, in that he is the duly-elected President of the United States of America, though teachers could still use critical thinking exercises to get kids to consider issues. Like the whole controversy itself.

Mr. Obama is the president. Deal with it.