Just when I was losing all interest (and hope) in the 2008 election, The Drudge Report hit me with a surprise the other day. Michael Bloomberg, the socially liberal, fiscally conservative, and wildly popular Mayor of New York is considering an independent candidacy for the White House, and is reportedly ready to drop an unprecedented $1 Billion of his personal fortune to wage the campaign. If all of this talk materializes into something real and meaningful, the lackluster prospects of 2008 will suddenly at least become interesting. With 3 of New York's most powerful pols on the ballot, and a true choice for the vast swath of fiscally conservative people in the electorate who couldn't care less about government intervening in social issues, the race could finally be about issues rather than about the star power of the candidates and the media fanfare surrounding them all.
People will argue that we haven't elected a third party candidate since Abraham Lincoln, and that is true. But never underestimate the power of a billion dollars. I, for one, am excited...
Friday, May 18, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
The End of the Blair Era
Throughout the 1990s, Tony Blair was frequently compared to Bill Clinton--a distinct mistake for those whose shallow ideological comparisons defined the administrations of each of these men. The end of the Blair government more closely resembles the fall from power of Lady Thatcher than it does any other modern political figure. In fact, the parallels between the Thatcher government and the Blair government, (in all but ideology), are rather numerous.
* Both were elected subsequent to a major economic crisis or under very poor economic conditions.
* Both were responsible for reviving their respective parties out of the doldrums after years of political defeat.
* Both were involved in major military operations (though in Lady Thatcher's case, the Falklands War was quite popular, and in Mr. Blair's case, the Iraq war has not been)
* Both were wildly popular at the peak of their political power, and won astounding re-elections.
* Both have been among the longest serving British Prime Minister of the last century.
* Both ultimately met their political end because of internal division and strife in their own parties.
* (Forward Looking Prediction) Both had successors who served under them as Chancellor of the Exchequer and who were promptly met with horrendous defeats in subsequent general elections (Though Major won the initial General Election in 1992, it was by a narrow margin. He then went on famously to lead the Tories to a loss in 1997 to Blair). Indeed, it seems that Gordon Brown has his work cut out for him.
Tony Blair also shares something in common with another world leader, George W. Bush, in that both of these men have, through the War in Iraq, decimated their political parties' previously unparalleled strength and dynamic majorities and prepared them both for defeat. The Labour Party at least has the benefit of Blair resigning to allow for a more graceful transition.
If only we had a Parliamentary System....
* Both were elected subsequent to a major economic crisis or under very poor economic conditions.
* Both were responsible for reviving their respective parties out of the doldrums after years of political defeat.
* Both were involved in major military operations (though in Lady Thatcher's case, the Falklands War was quite popular, and in Mr. Blair's case, the Iraq war has not been)
* Both were wildly popular at the peak of their political power, and won astounding re-elections.
* Both have been among the longest serving British Prime Minister of the last century.
* Both ultimately met their political end because of internal division and strife in their own parties.
* (Forward Looking Prediction) Both had successors who served under them as Chancellor of the Exchequer and who were promptly met with horrendous defeats in subsequent general elections (Though Major won the initial General Election in 1992, it was by a narrow margin. He then went on famously to lead the Tories to a loss in 1997 to Blair). Indeed, it seems that Gordon Brown has his work cut out for him.
Tony Blair also shares something in common with another world leader, George W. Bush, in that both of these men have, through the War in Iraq, decimated their political parties' previously unparalleled strength and dynamic majorities and prepared them both for defeat. The Labour Party at least has the benefit of Blair resigning to allow for a more graceful transition.
If only we had a Parliamentary System....
The Blogosphere Buzzes about Ron Paul
Texas U.S. Congressman Ron Paul has hit a major milestone in his interesting political career. I pulled up Technorati.com tonight to find that the most searched-for term in the blogosphere is nothing other than "Ron Paul." For an obscure libertarian Republican known as "Dr. No" for his refusal to vote for legislation that is not specifically allowed by Congress's enumerated Constitutional powers, this is a tremendous achievement. He has also had stunning success in online polls following the Presidential Debate on MSNBC between the flooded field of GOP contenders.
I do not think that being #1 in Technorati's blog search is going to translate to electoral success in 2008, but my bet is that underfunded candidates with a genuine, no holds barred, honest campaign style will covet such a position in 2012, when the Web will slay the juggernaut of the Mainstream Media once and for all when it comes to influence over the political process.
There is little doubt that Congressman Paul is a different kind of politician. In a certain sense in which he is truly a "Web 2.0" kind of politician. He isn't interested in spin; he has definable positions that are relatively consistent over time, and he is not afraid to express the core tenets of his political philosophy without reservation. And yet, he's being completely genuine. He does not masquerade as a Conservative under the guise of the hot button, must-have issues of the day; he does not demagogue the divisive social issues that so many Republican hopefuls feel they need to slam their fists on the podium about. Instead, he talks about the very real economic and constitutional issues facing the country, and he does so without the drama of so many who are in his business.
I'm not sure what the future holds for him. Perhaps the Web's influence will improve his visibility and pull him into the mainstream. I'm afraid we aren't there yet, though.
The Web can have a major influence in the shorter term, both by leveling the playing field for candidates like Congressman Paul, who truly have something useful to contribute to the dialogue and who otherwise would never be heard, as well as by beginning nation-wide draft campaigns for the candidates who everybody wants to run, but aren't currently (Collin Powell, for example).
Politics 2.0 on the march...
I do not think that being #1 in Technorati's blog search is going to translate to electoral success in 2008, but my bet is that underfunded candidates with a genuine, no holds barred, honest campaign style will covet such a position in 2012, when the Web will slay the juggernaut of the Mainstream Media once and for all when it comes to influence over the political process.
There is little doubt that Congressman Paul is a different kind of politician. In a certain sense in which he is truly a "Web 2.0" kind of politician. He isn't interested in spin; he has definable positions that are relatively consistent over time, and he is not afraid to express the core tenets of his political philosophy without reservation. And yet, he's being completely genuine. He does not masquerade as a Conservative under the guise of the hot button, must-have issues of the day; he does not demagogue the divisive social issues that so many Republican hopefuls feel they need to slam their fists on the podium about. Instead, he talks about the very real economic and constitutional issues facing the country, and he does so without the drama of so many who are in his business.
I'm not sure what the future holds for him. Perhaps the Web's influence will improve his visibility and pull him into the mainstream. I'm afraid we aren't there yet, though.
The Web can have a major influence in the shorter term, both by leveling the playing field for candidates like Congressman Paul, who truly have something useful to contribute to the dialogue and who otherwise would never be heard, as well as by beginning nation-wide draft campaigns for the candidates who everybody wants to run, but aren't currently (Collin Powell, for example).
Politics 2.0 on the march...
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Living at Charing Cross
The center of London is the Charing Cross railway station. Samuel Johnson once said "I think the full tide of human existence is at Charing Cross." Perhaps this is why the poet Francis Thompson used Charing Cross as a metaphor in his beautifully penned "The Kingdom of Heaven," where he says:
But (when so sad, thou canst not sadder)
Cry and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's Ladder
Pitched betwixt heaven and Charing Cross,
And yea, in the night, my soul, my daughter,
Cry, and clinging to heaven by the hems,
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Gennessareth, but Thames.
Thompson himself lived at Charing Cross--down and out in the streets of London, with a brilliant intellect that had been squandered when he dropped out of Oxford University due to his opium addiction. Lowly he sank into that grave-pit of life, living and breathing depression. But he magnificently portrays the salvation of his depression with the lines above.
There is a story, probably apocryphal, though helpful, of Martin Luther when he was battling immense and sincere depression. He could not muster the strength to pull himself out of bed for days at a time during the greatest period of difficulty early in his ministry as the entire force of the Papacy had been brought to bear against this young German monk. His wife, one day (as the story goes), walked into Luther's bed chamber dressed entirely in black and announced "God is dead." Luther shouted that his wife had utter unfettered blasphemy. She replied to him "Is it not equally blasphemy to behave as if God were dead?"
It was supposedly out of this episode that Luther was inspired to write the famous hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," the third stanza of which is as follows:
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us,
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.
Being something of a materialist (not to be confused with being "materialistic"), I don't exactly see the world "with devils filled" in some sort of literal sense wherein there are these red or green demonic creatures roaming about the earth. The world, however, is filled with devils, devils of the soul. These devils plague us by manifesting themselves as selfishness, as unloving sentiments, unkind words, unfaithful actions, uncontrolled behavior. They destroy us from the inside out. But they can also destroy us from the outside, too. You see, it is not just the devils within ourselves we have to encounter and fight, but the devils in everybody else too.
We have to meet the selfishness in others with grace and peace. We have to meet the unyielding opinions and motives of others with patience and self control. We have to break the bone of the purveyors of these ills with that kind word the Proverbs speak of.
In the midst of living at Charing Cross, we might be enticed to bow our head under the weight of the miseries of the world. But instead we must look upward, for it is only there that we can see the Ladder of Jacob. From the Book of Genesis,
"Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
The beauty of the literature of the Old Testament is its universal applicability to the circumstances in our lives. Francis Thompson understood it marvelously well. We see Jacob's Ladder, not by traveling to a far off land, but in the place where we are supposed to be, or at least the place to which we are to return. We are shown the vision of promise in our own milieu, our own land. Moses may have encountered God atop Mount Sinai, but he would never have done so had God not first reached out to him at the burning bush. Peter would never have witnessed the majesty of the transfiguration had Christ not met him at his fishing boat.
And so Francis Thompson closes his poem with that most beautiful line "And lo, Christ walking on the water, not of Gennesareth, but Thames."
But (when so sad, thou canst not sadder)
Cry and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's Ladder
Pitched betwixt heaven and Charing Cross,
And yea, in the night, my soul, my daughter,
Cry, and clinging to heaven by the hems,
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Gennessareth, but Thames.
Thompson himself lived at Charing Cross--down and out in the streets of London, with a brilliant intellect that had been squandered when he dropped out of Oxford University due to his opium addiction. Lowly he sank into that grave-pit of life, living and breathing depression. But he magnificently portrays the salvation of his depression with the lines above.
There is a story, probably apocryphal, though helpful, of Martin Luther when he was battling immense and sincere depression. He could not muster the strength to pull himself out of bed for days at a time during the greatest period of difficulty early in his ministry as the entire force of the Papacy had been brought to bear against this young German monk. His wife, one day (as the story goes), walked into Luther's bed chamber dressed entirely in black and announced "God is dead." Luther shouted that his wife had utter unfettered blasphemy. She replied to him "Is it not equally blasphemy to behave as if God were dead?"
It was supposedly out of this episode that Luther was inspired to write the famous hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," the third stanza of which is as follows:
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us,
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.
Being something of a materialist (not to be confused with being "materialistic"), I don't exactly see the world "with devils filled" in some sort of literal sense wherein there are these red or green demonic creatures roaming about the earth. The world, however, is filled with devils, devils of the soul. These devils plague us by manifesting themselves as selfishness, as unloving sentiments, unkind words, unfaithful actions, uncontrolled behavior. They destroy us from the inside out. But they can also destroy us from the outside, too. You see, it is not just the devils within ourselves we have to encounter and fight, but the devils in everybody else too.
We have to meet the selfishness in others with grace and peace. We have to meet the unyielding opinions and motives of others with patience and self control. We have to break the bone of the purveyors of these ills with that kind word the Proverbs speak of.
In the midst of living at Charing Cross, we might be enticed to bow our head under the weight of the miseries of the world. But instead we must look upward, for it is only there that we can see the Ladder of Jacob. From the Book of Genesis,
"Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
The beauty of the literature of the Old Testament is its universal applicability to the circumstances in our lives. Francis Thompson understood it marvelously well. We see Jacob's Ladder, not by traveling to a far off land, but in the place where we are supposed to be, or at least the place to which we are to return. We are shown the vision of promise in our own milieu, our own land. Moses may have encountered God atop Mount Sinai, but he would never have done so had God not first reached out to him at the burning bush. Peter would never have witnessed the majesty of the transfiguration had Christ not met him at his fishing boat.
And so Francis Thompson closes his poem with that most beautiful line "And lo, Christ walking on the water, not of Gennesareth, but Thames."
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