Politics Can Be Tricky

One of my old blog posts has attracted some recent action. Go catch up on the comments, I'm responding here.

An old friend asked me if I felt differently about Obama now that he was in office. He also questioned if I still felt it was petty for Republicans to have attacked Obama based on his old statements and acquaintances. Actually, he asked a lot more than that, but that was the first bit, the part I began responding to, before the comments thread became an entity unto itself.

I do still feel it is a bad strategy, when running for office, to focus too vigorously on an opponent's flaws. I trust my own capacity to winnow out the wheat from the chaff in a politician's comments, and find it contentious and patronizing when someone tries to force-feed me all the reasons I'm stupid/bad/wrong/ignorant for not being outraged.

But that's what I want to hear; it is obvious from election success stories that lots of the electorate (*cough* that's you guys) responds to negativity.


But if you keep reading down the conversation, it morphed from that initial query. Don and my brother-in-law, Roger, started talking earnestly about the issues. Don spoke strongly. Roger responded. They seem to respect each other, mostly. But the conversation drifted into contention. Don is clearly well-read on things political, which I respect and am grateful for; I don't have time to be well-read, so I rely on the well-reading of others to get by.

But I hate conflict. Normally, when things are contentious online, I just tune out. Life's too short to be so angry. But it's my post. I feel responsible, like I need to say something. But I have been avoiding it. Every time I've wanted to blog for a month, I've felt stuck, like I need to respond to my old blog-post comments first.


I just didn't really see anywhere in the comments that I could contribute to the dialog. I believe any conversation, no matter how combative the individual opinions, can remain a civil discourse. It requires the participants to inhabit a collective fiction; the notion that any person might be right. This allows people to speak, to pose, to conjecture, and feel their words will be treated with respect. That's why, right there at the beginning of my post last year, I referenced an article that talked about polarization.

I'm tired of polarization. I think it's been bad for the country the last 8 years, and wish better for the country now. I think the Republicans lost this time because they relied too heavily on polarizing strategy, and I hope they learned their lesson.



It's great, awesome, participatory, responsible, adult behavior to take a stand. Be a partisan, they are the people that make things happen. I like that part of what Don and Roger were doing. But if you drift into demagoguery, then you cease to be persuasive to me becoming strident, fanatic. You are preaching to the choir, and chasing away anyone who doesn't already agree with you. It is off-putting to us moderates, to be accused of devilry because we are not offended enough.

So, a response. I decided to cherry-pick a few questions and comments, and respond to those.

I am quite sure that Obama is open to influences, but I am equally sure that those influences are in no way "divine".

Establishing an opening position that "Obama is evil" means there is no discussing left to be done. And I don't believe he is evil. I allow it is possible that he is, and acknowledge that certainly some his actions are, but that's not the same thing. He, like every elected official, merits our continued attention and input. I think we are citizens of the country, that the election was legal, and that we have a duty to pray for our leaders and obey the laws that are in effect.

Our freedom is being destroyed by the idea that it is moral for the government to forcibly confiscate the property of some, only to give it to others. If it would be immoral for you to do it, it is immoral for government to do it.

...fundamentally government is force. What gives you (or anyone else) the right to force me (or anyone else) to give my means to meet the ends that you view as worthwhile? The answer is that the concept is immoral to the core and no good thing can ever come of it.

I disagree that the taking/giving of property by the government is immoral. The government needs to be able to take property for the common good or safety of the public, and I think the fifth amendment (hey other readers, did you know the fifth was about more than the right to refuse to answer questions that might incriminate?) is sufficient protection of individual liberty and property rights. This is not a response to your opinions on welfare and the welfare state, just your categorical denouncement of government takings.

Do you support Obama’s efforts to foment thoughtless anger at said bonuses into a further power grab that would see the compensation for all executives be subject to congressional "oversight"?

Do you support the kind of power grab represented by Obama and his Democrat super-majority by demonizing and retroactively punishing--via the tax code--people for accepting bonuses they are contractually entitled to? Threatening to release names and addresses of those involved if they don't pay the money back... I will add that Obama and the Democrats knew well ahead of time that this was going to happen, and in fact included a clause that specifically allowed it to happen in the "Stimulus bill". One can only conclude that they meant for this to happen so that they could gin up misplaced anger. This whole episode is one of the most despicable acts of political theater and thuggery I've ever had the misfortune of witnessing.

I disagree with your premise that Obama is fomenting thoughtless anger. Well, maybe he is. I think we (the people) are pretty dumb, and are easily led off-track. I have a hard time blaming the media, because I think they give the people what the people want, or at least what the people will buy. Those little top ten most popular lists on news sites are pretty informative that way.



And as far as "One can only conclude", one of the most important things I learned in law school; when someone says "obviously", they have just highlighted the greatest weakness in their argument. There are a million conclusions someone could reach, based on the predicates you proposed. Maybe they knew this would happen, and hoped we wouldn't notice. Maybe they knew this would happen, didn't care, but recognized the political inexpediency of ignoring it once it gained traction.

Do you support the effort to grant newspapers (a Democrat house organ in the main) tax exempt status?

I have not heard of any effort to grant this status. I think that's pretty bold to label newspapers a Democrat house organ; I think news outfits in general are liberal, because it reflects the liberal leanings of the kinds of people who go into journalism.

Do you support your tax dollars being used to fund the world-wide murder of innocents under the guise of foreign aid?

I'm opposed to abortion. But I recognize that some people who defend it do so because they don't think it's murder, but a legitimate medical procedure. Hostile abridgement of your opponents' stances is rude and bad form. It makes me mad when people ask me why I am homo-phobic (because I oppose same-sex marriage). I don't think it is unfair to grant the same civility to others that I seek for myself.

Having said that, policy on funding abortion-related activity has sawed back and forth every time a different party has come into power for decades. I cannot generate anger at Obama for doing exactly what he said he was going to do, I can only continue to seek to influence the policy.

Do you support the registration and confiscation of firearms?

Do you support the back-door gun control measures aimed at making ammunition and guns prohibitively expensive to manufacture?

I think the world would be a better place with no guns. I think the mentality that we need guns to protect ourselves from the government is destructive. But I think the Constitution guarantees the right of citizens to have guns, but also allows the government the means to regulate them.

Are you bothered by Obama’s appointment of numerous tax-cheats, and dozens of lobbyists to his cabinet after running on a promise to NOT have lobbyists in his cabinet?

No. The tax-cheat thing, those mistakes/cheats have been made by dozens, if not hundreds, of appointed personnel over the last handful of elections. And as far as the lobbyist thing, I think lobbyists have too much influence in Washington, but the cure for that is disclosure. I would rather know the lobbyist history of a well-informed appointee, than have an executive office filled with uninformed rubes with no previous political experience.

Do you support giving nearly a billion dollars away to a terrorist group (Hamas) who has sworn the destruction of both the Great and Little Satan’s (the U.S. and Israel)?

I feel about the same as I do about the funding received by the descendants of the IRA; cautious, but hopeful. Hamas may be a terrorist organization, but that money was ostensibly for refugees. If it gets mis-directed, then hopefully it will be a lesson learned.

Do you support eliminating tax deductions for charitable donations? This goes back to your earlier assertion that the government wouldn’t have to do so much if there were more charity. This is the government intentionally working to dry up charitable donations so that they will have more of an excuse to intrude where they shouldn’t be in the first place.

I'm opposed to eliminating tax deductions for charitable contributions. But I've heard the political rhetoric every legislative season, and how every group gets threatened. I don't think anyone in office actually believes that such a notion would succeed, therefore, I don't believe they have any intentions attached to the success of such a notion.

Do you really believe that our problems with too much debt and spending can be fixed by running up more debt in three years than has been incurred in the ENTIRE history of the country?

Now here, I don't know. It seems counter-intuitive to spend our way out of debt, but all the economists I hear talking keep referring to Keynes, and FDR, and the stimulative effect of government spending. I'd be happy to read anything to the contrary.

So. I think Obama is doing a good job at some of the important things a President is supposed to do. He is a statesman, he is confident, smart, and seems (to me) to be genuine in his efforts to be bi-partisan. It doesn't worry me that he is President any more than it did when Clinton was.

I think that our country is too willing to subsidize bad behavior, too eager to bailout and extend welfare. I think our country is beset by well-meaning people who would destroy the concept of family in pursuit of liberty for all. I think the ranks of those well-meaning people are shot through with genuine I think one of the most effective things I can do is to be informed, and to participate in political processes. I think I have a duty to teach my children how to be intuitive but discerning in their politics, and to remain discerning in what influences they allow to affect their opinions, which is part of what I hope this blog entry is.

Look for primary source material. Be open-minded, but prove all things. Be open to persuasion, and when offered a chance to be persuasive, be civil.

Telework

I am grateful to telework one day most weeks. I do teleconferencing, work on papers from home. I get to see the kids before they go to school. Today, I discussed a position paper on a bill before the Senate. While watching my youngest son sled for a while before school started!

Two-hour delay + two-minutes from the sledding hill = morning fun! Sam tried a dozen times to hit this hill.



He finally did!

You can hear me during this one telling my older sons to finish getting ready for school so I can take them over. We are close, but with 4+ inches of snow on the field, it would be yucky to walk to school and then have wet socks all day long...

Go to Sleep! And Eat Your Vegetables!

We have an important rule in our house; Dad's a snoop. I occasionally browse through my kids emails, their browser history. Review what games are installed, what chats they are having. I saw this impressively self-aware comment in a conversation between two children;

"If I got mad at you at night that means I am sleepy"

I worry about my kids getting enough sleep. I tell them at night, when they are so anxious to stay up, play one more game, watch the rest of the movie, have one more turn on the computer, "Go to bed early. If you wake up early, THEN you can play some more!"

So, referral one of the day; go read this article about how to sleep better.


Referral two! I feel very fortunate that my kids are willing to eat stuff that we feed them. This article had some inspiring new ways to tell my kids to, "Eat your Veggies!"


Might as well trot out all the links I've had kicking around. SCIENCE! I love science, and am pleased my children do, too. This article gives us some new things to talk about around the dinner table.


The Economy is in rough shape, but maybe its not as bad as we think. Food for thought.


One author's opinion about the top 25 innovations in recorded history. Another fun one to discuss around the dinner table.

Finally, a thoughtful and adult review of the book "Twilight". Be warned, it's written by an adult, so there's lots of thoughts about sex and the extremely sexual (unconsummated though it may be) relationship between Bella and Edward.

Room Enough to Receive It

I learned something new today about my oldest son; his wrestling teammates call him "Stewie". This delights me. I had a nearly existential moment, realizing while he was wrestling that the crowd was calling his name, encouraging him. I had heard his teammates, that made sense, but it was a new thing to see adults, men and women my age and older, other team-parents, calling out to him, cheering him on.

Two weeks ago, I was late leaving with him for an early appointment. We hurried up the road. Coming around a corner, nearly half-way there, I swerved slightly (well, I thought it was slightly), whereupon the car fishtailed off of the road and hit a telephone pole.

It happened very quickly, so I am sure there are details that I missed, but there are certain memories that are bright and clear in my mind. My son's grunt of "Oh!" when the car leaped into the air after hitting a slight bump as we left the road.

The slow sliding across the grass towards the telephone pole. I thought we were going to miss it, go by it, but . . .

Nope.

The smoky chemical smell of the airbag detonation (which I didn't "see"; I wonder if the noise made me blink instinctively).

In the two weeks since, I keep having these moments of terrifying clarity. Images of my son, hurt in the accident. We weren't hurt, really; I skinned my shin pretty good on the dashboard. My son was sore, but thinks it was from the wrestling match the night previous. My nose hurt, I presume from the airbag pushing on my glasses.

My Dad came and got us. I've had car wrecks before, but before this one, I was always alone. This one has been much harder to shake off.



Since then, I find myself caught up short. Gasping nearly. You know, when you wake up from a horrible nightmare, and just draw a sharp breath? Like that.

Visions of how my son could have been hurt. While he is wrestling, the lurid image of how harm from the accident might have forced him to forfeit the rest of the season. When he got his A.C.T. scores back (34 composite), I feel the faint echo of worrying wonder, "What if we had spent that morning in the hospital instead?"

My life didn't flash before my eyes, but his has been...

The following Monday morning, we were running late to seminary, thus putting me at risk for missing my train. As we gathered for our mini-family prayer, I told the boys to stop rushing.

"Saturday, I almost killed us racing to be somewhere. I'm done racing, I'll just catch the later train."

He turns 17 in two weeks. Hearing the going-on-his-mission-in-a-month speaker today in church made my mind flash forward to my son, in two years. I am so glad I didn't hurt him in that stupid accident, feel so guilty for almost harming him. Be careful with your loved ones this week. They are our treasures.

Midwinter's Heart

I've spoken often about how much I love my walk to and from the train station at work. It reminds me every time how much aggravation I am avoiding, how beautiful the world is. But the ice storm last week added a new wrinkle.

The bridge was closed!

The snow, ice and then sleet/freezing rain on Tuesday-Wednesday made the bridge mighty treacherous. Well, I guess enough people complained about how dangerous it was, because by Thursday afternoon, they put up the emergency tape. And yes, the picture is oriented fine; whoever tied the tape just did it upside down. But I scoff at danger, because I have skills. And preparations!


These are called "Yak Tracks". A fellow train commuter showed me his before Christmas, and I requested them as a holiday gift. Here is a picture of my footprint from a few days earlier, where the coiled wire cut through the snow.


There is something primal about dropping things from great heights. The ice lent itself to this activity awesomely.


I could break off large slabs of ice, nudge them over the edge


and onto the frozen river below.




One other nifty feature of forging on through the crusty snow was how LOUD the walk is. Every once in a while, one of the boards of the bridge would pop. Turn the sound up and listen to the video. The BOOM is about 7 seconds in.




It was really a beautiful, if loud, morning walk.



This, for anyone interested, is my complete cold-weather kit. Please note the awesome BYU colored tuque. Thanks Laurajane!

What Are Snowy Days-off from School for? Watching 12 Hours of Tolkien, That's What!

The annual Landbeck Fellowship film festival and feast is upon us again. What follows is roughly the schedule of what we ate at which point of the film. The goal was to enhance the movie-watching by having food and drink which echoed the on-screen actions. This is the first year that I had substantial help (in the form of Grandma and Grandpa Landbeck) in orchestrating the food. Plus their surround sound and big TV! Thanks to my Mom and Dad!

With the beginning of the film, "ring pop" candies were distributed. The rules are simple, everyone be in charge of your own garbage, and no putting stuff down on the furniture.

Next is the celebration of Mr. Bilbo Baggins' eleventy-first birthday about twenty minutes in. The cake this year was sort of cheating; snack cakes. But easier to eat in front of the television than a real birthday cake.

50 minutes into the film, we passed around a plate of fresh, raw vegetables during Merry and Pippin's pilfering of Farmer Maggot's fields. We broke the carrots in half in salute to Merry's crash landing. Just after that, a glass of foamy apple cider while our four thirsty hobbits delight in drinking pints at The Prancing Pony. And next, oranges to throw around the room during after Pippin's complaints about needing to stop for second breakfast.

Now the next bit took some preparation. Time for the official breakfast, and someone had to scramble the eggs, crisp the bacon, and fry the sausages. Tried to have things ready to eat *just* as Frodo awakes to Pippin's cooking at Old Weathertop. This is about 70-75 minutes into the film. Your cue line here is "My to-mah-toe's burst!"

Then we cleaned up and watched the rest of the first movie. Though I walked around the room, scraping an ice cube across a zester, to make icy powder fall on everyone as Saruman tries to bring down an avalanche on the party as they make their way through the mountains.


For The Two Towers, it's time for shortbread. Early in the film, Frodo and Sam take a break and eat some Lembas bread; large cuts of Scottish shortbread make excellent Lembas bread. Please note; you can never have too much shortbread. Mmmm, flaky buttery goodness.

I saved some of the sausages from breakfast, and cut them in half. Yummy, icky finger food for when the Orcs fight amongst themselves, killing one of their own, declaring, "Meat's back on the menu, boys!"

When Merry and Pippin find and drink some of Treebeard's "mead" it's time for another glass of juice. Something exotic, golden-orange if you can. Passion fruit, or peach nectar, for example.

When Gollum complains about not being able to eat the "Nasty Hobbit Food" he finds and slurps up what looks like a long worm. The perfect spot to pass around a bowl of gummi worms.

And as Gimli feasts at Edoras, as Gollum berates Samwise for cooking the coneys into a stew, it was time for a stew of our own (we used Dinty Moore, and we were fine with it). And "Po! Tay! Toes!" too, of course. A hearty meal for the midway point of the day.

And as the movie ends, when Merry and Pippin raid Saruman's larder, we passed around a bowl of apples. No smoking, please.


The final film, in the beginning when Gollum catches, kills, and bites so grossly into a raw fish we had tuna on crackers.

By the third movie, everyone was pretty well fed, so we didn't break for food very often. As Denethor gorges himself during Faramir's futile charge, I passed out grapes and little cherry tomatoes (and napkins). And a final chance for Lembas bread near the beginning, when Gollum steals and throws it all away.

My favorite scenes are Gandalf's fight with the Balrog, and the calvary charge of the Rohirrim at Gondor. But the joy of the films watching them with family makes the whole thing wonderful. We had people coming and going all day long (wrestling practise, birthdays, what not). It's fun to do things together!

Why Blog?

So here's something curious to me; when I consider the blog authors I am personally acquainted with . . . why are they almost all women? I have a rich social network of interesting men-folk. Why aren't they out here being funny, profound, and interesting? Seriously, I know, like, two. Versus the dozens of women?

I know why I blog; I love words. I love speaking them, writing them, hearing them. The poetry of thought and reason is music to my brain. Do my fellow men just not love words like I do?

Are they too busy? Self-concious? Is self-publishing a vanity, so the avoidance is an act of humility?

There are lots of good things to compel our attentions. Too many to ever do them all. So maybe "blogging" as an activity just doesn't rank high enough on the list to compel obedience. And it's not fun enough to do for the sheer joy of it, perhaps?

"May I suggest to you that you write, that you keep journals, that you express your thoughts on paper. Writing is a great discipline. It is a tremendous education effort. It will assist you in various ways, and you will bless the lives of many--now and in the years to come, as you put on paper some of your experiences and some of your musings."

--Gordon B. Hinckley

But I think we (people-we, not men-we) have a duty to record something of our thoughts, our processes. We give our children the opportunity to learn from our history. By recording it, it is available for them.

OK, yes, maybe there is a little vanity, sometimes. But there is also the zeal of joyfully sharing truth. Beauty. I blog, because I am certain there are things I know that are important. By writing them down, by writing down HOW I came to know them, I make them more real. It is a joy to go back and read something I wrote, to feel the resonance in myself that I still feel that way.

" I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet . . . to share the gospel and to explain in simple, clear terms the message of the Restoration. Most of you already know that if you have access to the Internet you can start a blog in minutes and begin sharing what you know to be true."

--Elder M. Russell Ballard

Now, if I can just avoid the vanity trap . . .