I started seeing people mention Kanye West in their facebook status today. Not knowing what happened, I tracked down the "story". First of all, I really can't stand celebrity gossip, so I'm already half tuned out. Second, I can't stand awards shows. I'm almost completely apathetic at this point. Third, I've never bought into the hip-hop angst. Anyone making that much money, and is still angry and crying foul, really needs to go away. Add in that I really don't care about country music, and this story has as much appeal to me as an exhibit of roadkill art.
Curiosity being a driving force for me, I press on to read the story. Drunk star is mad that his girl didn't win award, and steals the show from the girl that did win the award. Whoop-dee-do. Later both girls share the stage in this happy land full of group hugs. If I cared at all, I might be touched.
Then it hit me. The cynic in me took over and noticed a little detail in the photos accompanying the story. Taylor Swift is wearing some sparkly thing when West storms the stage. Beyonce is wearing a red dress throughout. When both appear on stage together they are both wearing red dresses. Now my inner cynic is really shouting. Was this whole thing staged? It's not like it hasn't ever happened before *cough* "Bruno" and "Eminem" *cough*. It just makes me wonder. Either way, I put far too much thought into something that I really don't care about.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
JFK's "Revolutionary" Idea, Well, Today at Least
In my last blog post I made reference to this famous quote from Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address:
"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."
I think it is almost a perfect quote. It captures the spirit of America really well. It is Americans that make America great. After finding the speech online to make sure I didn't get the quote wrong, I went back and read through the entire speech. I think that it was a really good speech. I can see hints of policy that I might disagree with, but I digress. The "ask not..." bit is by far the most memorable part. I think it is the most quote worthy part, for sure. But as far as ideas, I think that it takes second place to this:
"So let us begin anew—remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us."
This is truly a revolutionary idea, well, today at least. When one side or the other take the driver's seat, they always want to go their own way, and hope they have the votes to take the other side with them wherever they wish. Recently we have seen this with health care reform efforts. There was initially an attempt to get the ball rolling quickly with a sense of urgency. As recent as last night there was a statement that the time for bickering is over. To me that sounds like fear is in part a motivating factor, and there isn't a lot of room to negotiate on this. There is a lot of division on the issue of health care reform. I can't say that I blame the Republicans in the legislature. The biggest question seems to be more about if the Democrats have the votes to pass their whole package rather than get something that both sides can live with.
It would certainly be nice if the powers that be would take a look at what unites them on this, and every issue. To use the cliche, Rome wasn't built in a day. Reform can be done piecemeal. Start with what everyone can agree on. Get that going and in place. No need to let the whole process stall on figuring out how to get everything passed with just one side's votes. If memory serves a whole lot was done in the past with one side controlling the legislature and the other side the president. They weren't incorporating massive sweeping changes with each individual bill. We don't need to try to leap the Grand Canyon from rim to rim. There are hiking trails that will get you to the other side, one step at a time. Start getting things done and then work out the parts where there is disagreement. Who knows, maybe approval ratings for everyone will go up for a change.
"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."
I think it is almost a perfect quote. It captures the spirit of America really well. It is Americans that make America great. After finding the speech online to make sure I didn't get the quote wrong, I went back and read through the entire speech. I think that it was a really good speech. I can see hints of policy that I might disagree with, but I digress. The "ask not..." bit is by far the most memorable part. I think it is the most quote worthy part, for sure. But as far as ideas, I think that it takes second place to this:
"So let us begin anew—remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us."
This is truly a revolutionary idea, well, today at least. When one side or the other take the driver's seat, they always want to go their own way, and hope they have the votes to take the other side with them wherever they wish. Recently we have seen this with health care reform efforts. There was initially an attempt to get the ball rolling quickly with a sense of urgency. As recent as last night there was a statement that the time for bickering is over. To me that sounds like fear is in part a motivating factor, and there isn't a lot of room to negotiate on this. There is a lot of division on the issue of health care reform. I can't say that I blame the Republicans in the legislature. The biggest question seems to be more about if the Democrats have the votes to pass their whole package rather than get something that both sides can live with.
It would certainly be nice if the powers that be would take a look at what unites them on this, and every issue. To use the cliche, Rome wasn't built in a day. Reform can be done piecemeal. Start with what everyone can agree on. Get that going and in place. No need to let the whole process stall on figuring out how to get everything passed with just one side's votes. If memory serves a whole lot was done in the past with one side controlling the legislature and the other side the president. They weren't incorporating massive sweeping changes with each individual bill. We don't need to try to leap the Grand Canyon from rim to rim. There are hiking trails that will get you to the other side, one step at a time. Start getting things done and then work out the parts where there is disagreement. Who knows, maybe approval ratings for everyone will go up for a change.
Monday, September 07, 2009
The President's Address to School Kids
Sometime tomorrow, there will be a broadcast in schools of a speech by President Obama. There has been a bit of an uproar about this speech by conservatives around the country. Meanwhile others are wondering what's the big deal. It isn't like this hasn't happened before, the speech or the uproar. While I would describe myself as a conservative, I don't have these problems with the speech. It could be a really nice speech about doing good in school, and the kinds of things that really should be said. At the same time, there could be partisan bits in there. There could also be bits that I might think are partisan that others might think are completely benign. It doesn't really matter to me. There is no "damage" that can be done in the speech that cannot be "undone", as if that would even be necessary. My kids are canny, and I have full faith that they will grow up to be smarter than me. They might even disagree with me politically. I don't think that they will, but I'm OK if they do. But that isn't the problem that I have.
My problem is with the little lesson plan that was distributed to go along with the speech. In the original iteration of the lesson plan there appeared a question to the effect of asking the students what they can do to help the president. That question was removed after some grumbling. I have a fundamental problem with the question. Some guy a long time ago said,
"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
I think that this quote perfectly encapsulates what it means to be American. While I may not have agreed with some of Kennedy's politics if I were alive back then, I completely agree with that statement. The role of government is not to fix our problems. In regards to our problems the government for the most part needs to stand aside and allow us to fix our own problems. What can you do to help the president stands at odds with ask what you can do for your country. The two almost seem to come from opposite ends of the world. America is not a great country because the government fixes our problems. America is great because of American people who step up to the plate with solutions. If the lesson plan instead had a question about asking the kids what they can do to help America, I wouldn't have a problem with this in the least. I would hope that there wasn't any kind of partisan message in there, but I wouldn't be worried. If the outrage was still there, I would be thinking that there are plenty of conservatives that just need to take off their skirts and put their pants back on. I'm already leaning that way, but I'm giving the benefit of the doubt because of that ill conceived question.
Sure there was an admission that the wording on the question was poor, but I have a hard time accepting that. I guess that is because the wording in the question demonstrates a really basic misunderstanding of what it means to be American. I don't know who put that particular question in there, or decided on the wording, but I am assuming that it isn't a first draft that only passed the original author's path. I'm assuming that this question was seen by a few people at least and met with their approval. Apparently no one had a problem, and the lesson plan went "to press". Regardless of how many people saw it, or who wrote it, I sense this basic misunderstanding of the American experience. That is my problem with the whole presidential speech to the kids. Someone "in power", whether the president, or one of his appointees, put together this question, that might be perfectly appropriate in another government, into a lesson plan to accompany the speech.
I'm not sure what the best case scenario is with this turkey. Sloppy or lazy editing? The first draft made it into the wild? I can imagine all kinds of things in regards to a worst case scenario. I'm optimistic that the worst case scenario is just a case of someone that just doesn't understand what we really are about. Someone who doesn't get a little choked up when the national anthem is played at sports events. Someone who doesn't feel a little more than just their heart beat while their hand is over their heart during the pledge. Someone who maybe sees the warts instead of the greatness. I guess I just feel like they don't really know what it means to be a patriot. But they are part of the executive office of this great country, and that makes me sad.
My problem is with the little lesson plan that was distributed to go along with the speech. In the original iteration of the lesson plan there appeared a question to the effect of asking the students what they can do to help the president. That question was removed after some grumbling. I have a fundamental problem with the question. Some guy a long time ago said,
"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
I think that this quote perfectly encapsulates what it means to be American. While I may not have agreed with some of Kennedy's politics if I were alive back then, I completely agree with that statement. The role of government is not to fix our problems. In regards to our problems the government for the most part needs to stand aside and allow us to fix our own problems. What can you do to help the president stands at odds with ask what you can do for your country. The two almost seem to come from opposite ends of the world. America is not a great country because the government fixes our problems. America is great because of American people who step up to the plate with solutions. If the lesson plan instead had a question about asking the kids what they can do to help America, I wouldn't have a problem with this in the least. I would hope that there wasn't any kind of partisan message in there, but I wouldn't be worried. If the outrage was still there, I would be thinking that there are plenty of conservatives that just need to take off their skirts and put their pants back on. I'm already leaning that way, but I'm giving the benefit of the doubt because of that ill conceived question.
Sure there was an admission that the wording on the question was poor, but I have a hard time accepting that. I guess that is because the wording in the question demonstrates a really basic misunderstanding of what it means to be American. I don't know who put that particular question in there, or decided on the wording, but I am assuming that it isn't a first draft that only passed the original author's path. I'm assuming that this question was seen by a few people at least and met with their approval. Apparently no one had a problem, and the lesson plan went "to press". Regardless of how many people saw it, or who wrote it, I sense this basic misunderstanding of the American experience. That is my problem with the whole presidential speech to the kids. Someone "in power", whether the president, or one of his appointees, put together this question, that might be perfectly appropriate in another government, into a lesson plan to accompany the speech.
I'm not sure what the best case scenario is with this turkey. Sloppy or lazy editing? The first draft made it into the wild? I can imagine all kinds of things in regards to a worst case scenario. I'm optimistic that the worst case scenario is just a case of someone that just doesn't understand what we really are about. Someone who doesn't get a little choked up when the national anthem is played at sports events. Someone who doesn't feel a little more than just their heart beat while their hand is over their heart during the pledge. Someone who maybe sees the warts instead of the greatness. I guess I just feel like they don't really know what it means to be a patriot. But they are part of the executive office of this great country, and that makes me sad.
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