Friday, December 21, 2007

How things look in Iowa

The Iowa caucuses are weird and interesting...especially on a year with no real clear front runner in either party. I thought this blog post from Iowa was really interesting and shows how up-for-grabs the votes really are there. My bet is on Edwards winning the caucuses - and maybe by a significant margin. Clinton will come in 3rd at best.

Click on the jump and read the whole thing..

Iowans Discuss What It Means to Support, And Then Support Again

Call it a testament to the seriousness of Iowa politics. Blame it on a field of so many acceptable candidates. Credit an Iowa caucus season that has now spanned two years. Regardless of reason, it's the stuff that drives pollsters and campaigns crazy: supporters realizing they're no longer sitting in a comfortable chair.

Nine Iowans have agreed to put their thoughts on the record and describe how they came to support one candidate -- and then another. Finish reading...

Wanna Bet?

I'm thinking about placing a bet that Rudy is going to drop out of the race because of "health problems." Anyone wanna take that bet?

Remember when he started to run against Hillary for the Senate in NY? It was pretty obvious he was going to lose, so he quit.

Just for fun...

Friday, December 7, 2007

"Freedom requires religion." Really??

Mitt Romney has been getting all kinds of praise from reporters and pundits for his speech trying to put voters at ease that he is a Mormon. I thought parts of his speech were good, but parts were strange and inconsistent. For instance, if there should be no religious test for presidential candidates, then why the need to proclaim your belief that "Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind?" Those two statements just don't fit together in the same speech...

But, the biggest failing of the speech, as noted in a Washington Post editorial today, was Romney's failure to include ALL Americans as equal. He may have reached out to other religious communities, but he purposely left out A LOT of good Americans:

Where Mr. Romney most fell short, though, was in his failure to recognize that America is composed of citizens not only of different faiths but of no faith at all and that the genius of America is to treat them all with equal dignity. "Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom," Mr. Romney said. But societies can be both secular and free. The magnificent cathedrals of Europe may be empty, as Mr. Romney said, but the democracies of Europe are thriving.

"Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God, not an indulgence of government," Mr. Romney said. But not all Americans acknowledge that, and those who do not may be no less committed to the liberty that is the American ideal.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

"One dude with a computer" - KG

It's that time of year again...time for the small group of Christofascists to try to tell parents not to let their kids think about big issues. Veiled as a warning to parents that "The Golden Compass" will lead their little kids into atheism and demonic influences, the Catholic League ("one dude with a computer," according to Kathy Griffin) is set for a new round of publicity seeking.

So, while I'd like to just ignore the guy, I do like that it gives thoughtful people (particularly thoughtful religious people) a chance to express why they want their kids to experience challenging books, movies and conversations. Mary Elizabeth Williams is one such Catholic, writing on Salon:

I want my children to understand that human beings and institutions are fallible. That sometimes those who claim moral authority can traffic in corruption and abuse. I want them to be angry at every wrong perpetuated in the name of God. To question authority. To be feisty troublemakers for positive change. I've told my daughters that no one knows for certain that there's a God or a heaven. I always thought that was the beauty of faith -- that it rests on our willingness to believe in the things we can't prove, to consider, when we look up at the stars or contemplate the elegance of a DNA sequence, the possibility of a higher architecture. I hope that my daughters will find contentment and community in their religion. But I would rather they grow up to be kind, generous unbelievers than sanctimonious, blindly dogmatic Christians.