What buck? Where?
So House Speaker Dennis Hastert says "The buck stops here." But not on his desk, apparently.

"I'm deeply sorry that this has happened," Hastert said at a news conference in his Illinois district. "And the bottom line is that we're taking responsibility, because ultimately, as someone has said in Washington before: 'The buck stops here.'"
[By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
Last Update: 5:12 PM ET Oct 5, 2006]

Yesterday, Hastert said that any member of his staff involved in a coverup would be fired, although he doesn't think he should lose his position over mishandling the Foley situation.

So let me get this straight: The buck stops somewhere, just not on the desk of someone who could have made a better decision several years ago and thereby avoid the morass he's in now?

Enough already with this political pandering and game playing. It's time for people to step up and demand real representation in Congress ... and be willing to replace those who fail the test of common sense.
- posted by Chris @ 10:27 AM

 
Moral values?
WTF?!? And while this may sound partisan, it's really just about the party in power. Either party is as likely to try anything just this side of criminal to keep their majority ... this year it's the Republicans.

If you're going to tout yourself as the party of strong moral values, however, as the Republicans have inarguably done, then party members need to be a helluva lot more stringent when it comes to their behavior. It's not just about party leadership doing the right thing; it's about EVERYONE doing the right thing. And if you can't keep your hands and thoughts off teenage boys, get out of office and get some help. If you are compelled to cheat on your wife and get rough with your mistress, don't go home and campaign on the "I'm sorry" platform. Get out of office and get some help. If you think it's okay to take money from sleazy lobbyists, you may not be engaged in criminal activity, but are you really doing the best job for the people you represent? NO! Get out of office, get some help!

And Democrats? STOP MAKING THIS ABOUT BEING A REPUBLICAN!. This is only about trying to stay in power ... Democratic candidates could use that, but only if they acknowledge that their party has done some questionable things in the past as well.

What we need is more awareness of human nature, more honesty, and more transparency.
- posted by Chris @ 9:48 AM

 
Yes, it's been far too long....
... and subjects just seem to pile up. The new job has become a lot more time-demanding, and there's no space to login for a few stolen moments to post a thought. Now that I've discovered my local library branch has WiFi, though, I'm in heaven at the thought of being able to do more online. (Not just blog, but maybe go back to school?)

Here's what I think this week:

Too much religion poisons the spirit. Too little faith poisons daily life.

Read "Why the Christian Right is Wrong" and "Lighting the Way" ... one is a call to action, the other offers encouragement that action works.

Believe. Be. Do.
- posted by Chris @ 1:32 PM

 
Us And Them
It's a GREAT book. Author is David Berreby. We're tribal, we know. Why? Maybe because it's an essential part of being human, but choices are not hardwired one way or the other (we CAN choose our tribe). Thus, tribal thinking is a tool that can be used well or badly. The downside is having to recognize that people choose their groupthink largely for emotional reasons ... hard to argue logically with a person to change his or her thinking, then. Lead by example, seems to be his recommendation. although swimming against the tide, running against the herd, etc., seems like a hard haul. Have to try, though.
- posted by Chris @ 10:00 AM

 
Truth or Consequences
For as long as this link holds, it's worth looking at.
- posted by Chris @ 4:20 PM

 
Too much?
It's overwhelming! The effrontery ... the insolence ... the megalomania!!

You know all those sci-fi books you read back in the 60s 70s and 80s? Well, that Big Brother state is just around the corner ...

... not only will TeamBush listen in on whatever conversations they damn well please, thank you very much, they'll also tell us what to think about it, what we can do with our opinions to the contrary, and they'll pack the courts and Congress with people who don't say "boo" to the ravaging of not only the Constitution, but Enlightenment principles that have enabled America to avoid the kind of Third World messiness we're seeing in our Iraq experiment.

Whew ... it's been too long since I tried to blog about the state of the world. I need some chocolate.
- posted by Chris @ 1:21 PM

 
Theocracy?
If those who say they are "Christian" (i.e., our fearless TeamBush leader) were actually practicing "Christianity," we wouldn't be at war in Iraq, right? And the wealthiest 1% of the US population wouldn't be getting tax breaks, they would be breaking down the doors to give money away (because it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into Heaven), right? And we wouldn't be moaning about our poorly performing poor schools, we'd have Ph.D.s lining up to be teachers in them, right?

Instead, we have theocracy ... which I mean as a system of government that claims religious sanction for its actions, but which actually practices very little of what its holy books and men preach.

Again, religion is a human invention. Humans can suck at practicing it, just like everything else we try. Or we can be really good at it, but it takes a lot of practice in the right direction.

(We're not going in the right direction ... obviously.)
- posted by Chris @ 1:32 PM