On Mutts ... and Zebras

My family (of origin) moved a lot, like every two years or so. In each new town, I’d be asked where I came from, meaning what parentage we claimed. I used to think it was a way of asking what breed we were. My parents are from New England, I’d end up saying, we’re Yankees, because trying to describe my mother’s immigrant Finnish heritage and my father’s upright/uptight New England Unitarian genealogy going back generations was too difficult. To my father's parents, we must have been mutts: old blood & immigrant upstart. My son is a mutt and a half, born of myself (one mutt) and his Pakistani father (Pushto heritage, raised in Karachi, more of a displacement); my daughter, a sort of polyglot mutt: her father having German and English in various mixes on both sides, combining with my Yankee style Welsh-Finnish stew. Even my Finnish grandmother could have described my mom and her sisters as mutts, because their father, while Finnish, came from Swedish stock. Tsk, tsk, was the connotation.

I’d bet my bottom dollar that your family is part mutt, too.

and by the way: less than 12 hours! just can't wait!

An Inauguration for The People

For the first time ever, I not only know people who are going to this Presidential Inauguration but some who have been invited to it (Mark Doty, Paul Lisicky, among others) and someone who's going to speak, the poet Elizabeth Alexander. (no, don't know her well, but well enough--she was at the Napa Valley Writers Conference in 2007 and will be again this summer. Excellent choice, Obama!) Highly unusual on all accounts for moi. Generally speaking, my people go to Washington, DC either for protesting or touristing, although a couple of them have gone there for work, and one of them went to testify before a Congressional Committee of sort; I don't remember which one or about what, it was along time ago, and we've since forgiven him.

This is different. I even considered going myself except for the money, time, huge crowds, below-freezing temps. I am a temperature wimp these days. But people from my town, my work, my vocation, my community, from every strata that I deal with, are going. My people are going. And my people are welcome. I would not say that was true of many other Inaugurations; Bill Clinton's excepted, perhaps. Certainly not a G.W.Bush Inauguration. Not to say that many of my people would have wanted to go, but really, the little people, the worker-bees, the fabric of America? We didn't count for much in that regime, his protests to the contrary.

This outpouring of support, emotion, even gratitude, is the result of Obama's own sense of grace, his intelligent compassion, his attention to what matters to the vast majority of Americans, rather than the elite minority who attempt to wheel and deal their hold on power. The millions flooding into Washington this weekend are not just representatives of his constituency; they are his constituency: everyone, the full gamut, the entire enchilada. We worked for him; we believed in him. We couldn't offer him influence or even much money, but we volunteered what time and effort we could. We talked to strangers, to our friends and family, we blogged; we drove to other states, made phone calls, contributed $25 or $30 when we could. And he remembers that.

It just makes my little heart go pitta-patt.

Craftier Than We Even Thought

Radio, supermarket checkouts, furious flying emails, holiday and graduation parties: everywhere the talk has been about Obama's surprising move in choosing Rev Rick Warren for his inaugural invocation. Didn't sit well with many of his supporters. I have no love for the Reverend myself and am rather offended, to say the least, as were most of the people I came across. But. This is no casual move on Obama's part. I suspect that he's quote deliberately setting the tone of his administration from the very first moment. A tone of tolerance and acceptance rather than exclusion and demonizing. He's going to bring everyone, regardless of their position or viewpoint to the table, even if he disagrees with them, and get them to acknowledge each others right to their ideas and viewpoints. Or at the very least, be civil.

Tolerance goes both ways, I hate to say. Obama probably doesn't see eye-to-eye with Rev Warren on many issues, or even on any. But he's willing to listen to everyone, as he stated repeatedly during his campaign. Rev Warren certainly doesn't agree with Obama or his supporters. But that doesn't mean he must be shut out. That's the old way. We have to get past this all-or-nothing type of thinking. We have to be able to acknowledge that we all have our different viewpoints and opinions and come up with tolerant, inclusionary solutions for everyone rather than the current it's-my-way-or-the-highway.

Obama is way smarter than we think. I think he's capable of true Christian compassion, of being able to say: I don't agree with you, but I respect you; I think you are wrong, but to and for yourself, you are right. That's a toughie, isn't it? To fully grasp that other people have right ideas, too. And not all right ideas are the same ideas. Very post-modern. I think he's going to work hard to get us out of the dichotomies we are so stuck in and move us to higher ground and a higher discourse. This is his strength, this is how he operates. These are the true skills of a Community Organizer. And it will be a very new way of doing business.

Here we go...

I just can't take it anymore and I know you all are going bezerko-nutz, so here's a link to a sweet news story from Dixville Notch, New Hampshire: First Voters. I think they have the right idea.
One down, several hundred thousand to go.
Enjoy!

We Stand for Change

The other evening, armed with my cell-phone, I went halfway across town to join about a dozen complete (though quite friendly) strangers to do some phone-banking. I can hear you now: "You did what? I can't even get you to go to the movies." Well, I did. These are desperate times. Faced with the specter of another Republican president, even us de-motivated, low-energy, depressed peoples are restless and unable to sit still . We've learned the hard way what can happen when we assume no one could possibly vote twice for the same idiot a village in Texas has been looking for. The village can't believe it either.

The house, tucked down a side-court off a minor cross road, was easily identified by the row of cars in front all sporting Obama/Biden spots, linked to corresponding signs on the lawn and in the windows. I was welcomed at the front door; the greeter took me to a table in the den for a 10-minute briefing. All around me, on the sofa, in every corner, in the two bedrooms and scattered about the back yard, women and men sat with phones to ears and a few pages in front of them. I found a recently vacated patio love seat, the cushions still warm from the previous phone-banker, and set to work in the quickly chilling air. We were contacting supporters, so I shouldn't have been so surprised when most of the people I talked to said they'd already voted, or contributed last week and/or were ready to join us for another round of calling this weekend. Still, I was charmed,encouraged and thrilled.

So where is this going? to this music video that I received today from one of the crew. Check it out. We Stand For Change .

If you think you hear some David Grisman influence, you would be right. Snoop around the Cast and Crew links on the video.

Barak Hussein Obama

As most of us know, sharing a notorious name does not mean one shares those notorious qualities, despite what some Republicans currently running for office try to say. If it did, then all Timothys or McVeighs should be rounded up and put away because, of course, one day they’re bound to blow up a few government buildings.

Nevertheless, some continue to make a big fuss about Barak Obama’s middle name, Hussein, trying to make a link to extremists that simply doesn't exist. Obama deals with the issue so elegantly and honorably, refusing to be baited with this most ridiculous of arguments, directing the discussion instead back to the more important issues facing the country: the economy, energy and education.

Hussein is an extremely popular name in the Arabic world; it comes from "hasan," meaning good, handsome or beautiful. (Wikipedia:Hussein) It’s the name of one of Muhammad's two grandsons, who became the revered leader of the Shia sect of the Muslim faith. Giving the name Hussein to a child is the same as giving the name Jesus or Mary or Linda; we want to infect him or her with the wisdom, heroism or beauty carried in the name. That some people with such a name cannot live up to it does not poison the name for everyone else.

McCain’s attempts to use such shoddy tactics to frighten voters dries up any respect I have for him. It reveals his hypocrisy, for honorable men, men of principle, true mavericks, wouldn't stoop so low ... just to win.

Final Debate 08

...did everyone else hiss when McCain said that Sarah Palin reached out to women? maybe to the Stepford Wives.....but I wouldn't want her to touch my dirty laundry.

....what about the statement that she "understands Special Needs kids more than anyone else." Ha! Her baby's only a few months old and there's a nanny involved. I think my friend Gail who has raised her Down's Syndrome kid at home for the past 18 years and about half of that as a single mom (no nanny ever), knows a whole hell of a lot more than Mrs Sarah "I can too fire you" Palin.

....for McCain to say that "the health of the mother issue has been overblown" ? Hello! Guess you've never been in 48 hour labor with a breach baby with one leg behind his shoulder. Guess we know what he thinks about women, too. They're expendable. They are not precious, like "children." Especially boy-children, I bet. "Get the baby out of there, to hell with my wife." Feels so good to be appreciated for bringing life into the world. They forget that in a biological sense it's far more important to have 10 women and 1 man, than the other way around. In the actual fact of it, men are more expendable. That's why women are in general healthier and live longer. Get it, McButthead?

As you can tell, someone pissed the living hell out of me.

I will also say, that on presence alone, Obama is Presidential: he kept his cool, stuck to the issues, promoted his program, revealed his plans, pointed out all the times that McButthead distorted the truth (lied), maintained a confidential manner, and was neither ruffled or flappable. He looks like he could handle any situation and any head of state.

McButthead looked desperate.

'nuff said.