The Parable of the Hummingbird
"A big fire was destroying the forest. All the animals fled, except the hummingbird. It flew to the river, picked up one drop of water in its tiny beak, flew back, and poured that drop on the fire. Again and again it returned to the river, each time scooping up a single drop and pouring it on the fire. The other animals watched from the far shore, laughing and mocking. 'Just what do you think you're doing?' the animals asked. Without stopping her work, the hummingbird answered calmly, 'I'm doing what I can.'"
--
Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, quoted in June 2005 O magazine
- posted by Chris @ 2:48 PM

 
Wouldn't it be nice ...
... to have a real government (of/by/for the people) and not just a perpetual election cycle?
- posted by Chris @ 2:16 PM

 
A Matter of Conscience?
Out of the bombardment of debate over the filibuster, I heard one senator say that members of the Senate should be allowed to vote their conscience in regard to judicial nominees.

Pardon me for a rather (informed) cynical view, but individual decisions of conscience in the august body of the US Congress are rather rare. By the time you get to be a senator or representative, you have racked up quite the scorecard of favors owed and earned. No vote, regardless of its rhetoric, is about conscience. It's about what you can afford to decide. And in this administration, there is a whip in the hand of Tom DeLay on the House side that no Republican can ignore (at his or her peril). In the Senate there lurks the shadow cast by K Street/Fox News and the lure of presidential aspiration.

What is a vote of conscience about a nominee (for life) to a judgeship? We can't guess what court cases may come before an individual judge in the future, so we have to evaluate a judge's decisions in the past. If a judge shows a marked preference for an interpretation of the Constitution that favors those who have power and choice over those who have little of either, then I don't want that person in judgment of anyone. Period.

But I dare you to try to get the proper number of Senators to consider the big picture instead of their electoral position. Ha.
- posted by Chris @ 3:57 PM

 
Attitude and Altitude
I have a friend who occasionally visits here to see what I'm saying/thinking/reading. He wrote me a very nice note saying I sound quite angry, shrill even. Hmm.

Well, I am. I don't want to be nice[r] here. I spend a lot of time in the real world having to be nice, pleasant, accommodating and acquiescent. Here is where I want to be able to say what's going on behind my pleasant facade. Here is where I can be angry, for now. I'm working on working out my anger in healthier ways ... not that this is unhealthy, you understand. Someday I hope to train my passion like a laser on people and places and make the world a better place.

For now, I'm venting here. And most times, even though it sounds angry, I'm SO right. So there.

Thanks for visiting.
- posted by Chris @ 5:06 PM