Sunday, May 17, 2009

Thank you, Father Jenkins for that generous introduction. You are doing an outstanding job as president of this fine institution, and your continued and courageous commitment to honest, thoughtful dialogue is an inspiration to us all.

Good afternoon Father Hesburgh, Notre Dame trustees, faculty, family, friends, and the class of 2009. I am honored to be here today, and grateful to all of you for allowing me to be part of your graduation.

I want to thank you for this honorary degree. I know it has not been without controversy. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but these honorary degrees are apparently pretty hard to come by. So far I’m only 1 for 2 as President. Father Hesburgh is 150 for 150. I guess that’s better. Father Ted, after the ceremony, maybe you can give me some pointers on how to boost my average.

I also want to congratulate the class of 2009 for all your accomplishments. And since this is Notre Dame, I mean both in the classroom and in the competitive arena. We all know about this university’s proud and storied football team, but I also hear that Notre Dame holds the largest outdoor 5-on-5 basketball tournament in the world – Bookstore Basketball.

Now this excites me. I want to congratulate the winners of this year’s tournament, a team by the name of “Hallelujah Holla Back.” Well done. Though I have to say, I am personally disappointed that the “Barack O’Ballers” didn’t pull it out. Next year, if you need a 6’2” forward with a decent jumper, you know where I live.

Every one of you should be proud of what you have achieved at this institution. One hundred and sixty three classes of Notre Dame graduates have sat where you are today. Some were here during years that simply rolled into the next without much notice or fanfare – periods of relative peace and prosperity that required little by way of sacrifice or struggle.

You, however, are not getting off that easy. Your class has come of age at a moment of great consequence for our nation and the world – a rare inflection point in history where the size and scope of the challenges before us require that we remake our world to renew its promise; that we align our deepest values and commitments to the demands of a new age. It is a privilege and a responsibility afforded to few generations – and a task that you are now called to fulfill.

This is the generation that must find a path back to prosperity and decide how we respond to a global economy that left millions behind even before this crisis hit – an economy where greed and short-term thinking were too often rewarded at the expense of fairness, and diligence, and an honest day’s work.

We must decide how to save God’s creation from a changing climate that threatens to destroy it. We must seek peace at a time when there are those who will stop at nothing to do us harm, and when weapons in the hands of a few can destroy the many. And we must find a way to reconcile our ever-shrinking world with its ever-growing diversity – diversity of thought, of culture, and of belief.

In short, we must find a way to live together as one human family.

It is this last challenge that I’d like to talk about today. For the major threats we face in the 21st century – whether it’s global recession or violent extremism; the spread of nuclear weapons or pandemic disease – do not discriminate. They do not recognize borders. They do not see color. They do not target specific ethnic groups.

Moreover, no one person, or religion, or nation can meet these challenges alone. Our very survival has never required greater cooperation and understanding among all people from all places than at this moment in history.

Unfortunately, finding that common ground – recognizing that our fates are tied up, as Dr. King said, in a “single garment of destiny” – is not easy. Part of the problem, of course, lies in the imperfections of man – our selfishness, our pride, our stubbornness, our acquisitiveness, our insecurities, our egos; all the cruelties large and small that those of us in the Christian tradition understand to be rooted in original sin. We too often seek advantage over others. We cling to outworn prejudice and fear those who are unfamiliar. Too many of us view life only through the lens of immediate self-interest and crass materialism; in which the world is necessarily a zero-sum game. The strong too often dominate the weak, and too many of those with wealth and with power find all manner of justification for their own privilege in the face of poverty and injustice. And so, for all our technology and scientific advances, we see around the globe violence and want and strife that would seem sadly familiar to those in ancient times.

We know these things; and hopefully one of the benefits of the wonderful education you have received is that you have had time to consider these wrongs in the world, and grown determined, each in your own way, to right them. And yet, one of the vexing things for those of us interested in promoting greater understanding and cooperation among people is the discovery that even bringing together persons of good will, men and women of principle and purpose, can be difficult.

The soldier and the lawyer may both love this country with equal passion, and yet reach very different conclusions on the specific steps needed to protect us from harm. The gay activist and the evangelical pastor may both deplore the ravages of HIV/AIDS, but find themselves unable to bridge the cultural divide that might unite their efforts. Those who speak out against stem cell research may be rooted in admirable conviction about the sacredness of life, but so are the parents of a child with juvenile diabetes who are convinced that their son’s or daughter’s hardships can be relieved.

The question, then, is how do we work through these conflicts? Is it possible for us to join hands in common effort? As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate? How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?

Nowhere do these questions come up more powerfully than on the issue of abortion.

As I considered the controversy surrounding my visit here, I was reminded of an encounter I had during my Senate campaign, one that I describe in a book I wrote called The Audacity of Hope. A few days after I won the Democratic nomination, I received an email from a doctor who told me that while he voted for me in the primary, he had a serious concern that might prevent him from voting for me in the general election. He described himself as a Christian who was strongly pro-life, but that’s not what was preventing him from voting for me.

What bothered the doctor was an entry that my campaign staff had posted on my website – an entry that said I would fight “right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman’s right to choose.” The doctor said that he had assumed I was a reasonable person, but that if I truly believed that every pro-life individual was simply an ideologue who wanted to inflict suffering on women, then I was not very reasonable. He wrote, “I do not ask at this point that you oppose abortion, only that you speak about this issue in fair-minded words.”

Fair-minded words.

After I read the doctor’s letter, I wrote back to him and thanked him. I didn’t change my position, but I did tell my staff to change the words on my website. And I said a prayer that night that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that the doctor had extended to me. Because when we do that – when we open our hearts and our minds to those who may not think like we do or believe what we do – that’s when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.

That’s when we begin to say, “Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions.

So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term. Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women.”

Understand – I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. No matter how much we may want to fudge it – indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory – the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.

Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words.

It’s a way of life that has always been the Notre Dame tradition. Father Hesburgh has long spoken of this institution as both a lighthouse and a crossroads. The lighthouse that stands apart, shining with the wisdom of the Catholic tradition, while the crossroads is where “…differences of culture and religion and conviction can co-exist with friendship, civility, hospitality, and especially love.” And I want to join him and Father Jenkins in saying how inspired I am by the maturity and responsibility with which this class has approached the debate surrounding today’s ceremony.

This tradition of cooperation and understanding is one that I learned in my own life many years ago – also with the help of the Catholic Church.

I was not raised in a particularly religious household, but my mother instilled in me a sense of service and empathy that eventually led me to become a community organizer after I graduated college. A group of Catholic churches in Chicago helped fund an organization known as the Developing Communities Project, and we worked to lift up South Side neighborhoods that had been devastated when the local steel plant closed.

It was quite an eclectic crew. Catholic and Protestant churches. Jewish and African-American organizers. Working-class black and white and Hispanic residents. All of us with different experiences. All of us with different beliefs. But all of us learned to work side by side because all of us saw in these neighborhoods other human beings who needed our help – to find jobs and improve schools. We were bound together in the service of others.

And something else happened during the time I spent in those neighborhoods. Perhaps because the church folks I worked with were so welcoming and understanding; perhaps because they invited me to their services and sang with me from their hymnals; perhaps because I witnessed all of the good works their faith inspired them to perform, I found myself drawn – not just to work with the church, but to be in the church. It was through this service that I was brought to Christ.

At the time, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin was the Archbishop of Chicago. For those of you too young to have known him, he was a kind and good and wise man. A saintly man. I can still remember him speaking at one of the first organizing meetings I attended on the South Side. He stood as both a lighthouse and a crossroads – unafraid to speak his mind on moral issues ranging from poverty, AIDS, and abortion to the death penalty and nuclear war. And yet, he was congenial and gentle in his persuasion, always trying to bring people together; always trying to find common ground. Just before he died, a reporter asked Cardinal Bernardin about this approach to his ministry. And he said, “You can’t really get on with preaching the Gospel until you’ve touched minds and hearts.”

My heart and mind were touched by the words and deeds of the men and women I worked alongside with in Chicago. And I’d like to think that we touched the hearts and minds of the neighborhood families whose lives we helped change. For this, I believe, is our highest calling.

You are about to enter the next phase of your life at a time of great uncertainty. You will be called upon to help restore a free market that is also fair to all who are willing to work; to seek new sources of energy that can save our planet; to give future generations the same chance that you had to receive an extraordinary education. And whether as a person drawn to public service, or someone who simply insists on being an active citizen, you will be exposed to more opinions and ideas broadcast through more means of communications than have ever existed before. You will hear talking heads scream on cable, read blogs that claim definitive knowledge, and watch politicians pretend to know what they’re talking about. Occasionally, you may also have the great fortune of seeing important issues debated by well-intentioned, brilliant minds. In fact, I suspect that many of you will be among those bright stars.

In this world of competing claims about what is right and what is true, have confidence in the values with which you’ve been raised and educated. Be unafraid to speak your mind when those values are at stake. Hold firm to your faith and allow it to guide you on your journey. Stand as a lighthouse.

But remember too that the ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt. It is the belief in things not seen. It is beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what He asks of us, and those of us who believe must trust that His wisdom is greater than our own.

This doubt should not push us away from our faith. But it should humble us. It should temper our passions, and cause us to be wary of self-righteousness. It should compel us to remain open, and curious, and eager to continue the moral and spiritual debate that began for so many of you within the walls of Notre Dame. And within our vast democracy, this doubt should remind us to persuade through reason, through an appeal whenever we can to universal rather than parochial principles, and most of all through an abiding example of good works, charity, kindness, and service that moves hearts and minds.

For if there is one law that we can be most certain of, it is the law that binds people of all faiths and no faith together. It is no coincidence that it exists in Christianity and Judaism; in Islam and Hinduism; in Buddhism and humanism. It is, of course, the Golden Rule – the call to treat one another as we wish to be treated. The call to love. To serve. To do what we can to make a difference in the lives of those with whom we share the same brief moment on this Earth.

So many of you at Notre Dame – by the last count, upwards of 80% — have lived this law of love through the service you’ve performed at schools and hospitals; international relief agencies and local charities. That is incredibly impressive, and a powerful testament to this institution. Now you must carry the tradition forward. Make it a way of life. Because when you serve, it doesn’t just improve your community, it makes you a part of your community. It breaks down walls. It fosters cooperation. And when that happens – when people set aside their differences to work in common effort toward a common good; when they struggle together, and sacrifice together, and learn from one another – all things are possible.

After all, I stand here today, as President and as an African-American, on the 55th anniversary of the day that the Supreme Court handed down the decision in Brown v. the Board of Education. Brown was of course the first major step in dismantling the “separate but equal” doctrine, but it would take a number of years and a nationwide movement to fully realize the dream of civil rights for all of God’s children. There were freedom rides and lunch counters and Billy clubs, and there was also a Civil Rights Commission appointed by President Eisenhower. It was the twelve resolutions recommended by this commission that would ultimately become law in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

There were six members of the commission. It included five whites and one African-American; Democrats and Republicans; two Southern governors, the dean of a Southern law school, a Midwestern university president, and your own Father Ted Hesburgh, President of Notre Dame. They worked for two years, and at times, President Eisenhower had to intervene personally since no hotel or restaurant in the South would serve the black and white members of the commission together. Finally, when they reached an impasse in Louisiana, Father Ted flew them all to Notre Dame’s retreat in Land O’Lakes, Wisconsin, where they eventually overcame their differences and hammered out a final deal.

Years later, President Eisenhower asked Father Ted how on Earth he was able to broker an agreement between men of such different backgrounds and beliefs. And Father Ted simply said that during their first dinner in Wisconsin, they discovered that they were all fishermen. And so he quickly readied a boat for a twilight trip out on the lake. They fished, and they talked, and they changed the course of history.

I will not pretend that the challenges we face will be easy, or that the answers will come quickly, or that all our differences and divisions will fade happily away. Life is not that simple. It never has been.

But as you leave here today, remember the lessons of Cardinal Bernardin, of Father Hesburgh, of movements for change both large and small. Remember that each of us, endowed with the dignity possessed by all children of God, has the grace to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we all seek the same love of family and the same fulfillment of a life well-lived. Remember that in the end, we are all fishermen.

If nothing else, that knowledge should give us faith that through our collective labor, and God’s providence, and our willingness to shoulder each other’s burdens, America will continue on its precious journey towards that more perfect union. Congratulations on your graduation, may God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Interestingly, there were things they could not secure the rights to – including they could not use the name Dorothy – called her the farm girl – and her dog, the blonde ditz Glinda called him Dodo. And the lion could not appear on stage, they just showed his tail! We saw Tinman and figured out how he got that way, and the Wizard did hold a resemblance to the real Wizard.

The flying monkeys weren’t scary, and the Good Witch was funny, with smart-assed throw away lines that got the audience roaring at times. She totally toasted bimbos, and Fiyero gave himbos a good roast, and was redeemed when he screwed up and used his brain. (Portender of things to come, shall not spoil with further hints.)
So if you like witches and good music, can find $35 or do the lottery for $25, max 2 per person allowed, go see Wicked and delight in the talent!

“It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone? ‘ “

Obviously, not.

No one can see that I’m on the phone, or cooking, or vacuuming \the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.

I’m invisible. The Invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, ‘What time is it? ‘ I’m a satellite guide to answer, ‘What number is the Disney Channel? ‘ I’m a car to order, ‘Can you pick me up at 5:30? ‘

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I w as sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, ‘I brought you this. ‘

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription:

‘To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees. ‘

In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, 4 life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

1. No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names.

2. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

3. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

4. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of the Universal Divine saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam.. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it. ‘ And the workman replied, ‘Because the Universal Divine sees. ‘

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard the Universal Divine whispering to me, ‘I see you, Charlotte . I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile about. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become. ‘

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.

It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don’t want my daughter to tell the friend she’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table. ‘ That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want her to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to her friend, to add, ‘You’re gonna love it there. ‘

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we’re doing it right.

And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

for my colleague's impending birth - her first son

*(“roberta” spelled backwards, I couldn’t make it look like anything, so I boldly told the teacher it was a contemporary free style piece.)

He’s helping his 42-YO wife deal with new info on the need for 4 or so months’

chemo after a bit of lung cancer is determined to have spread. She was gunna stop smoking for Beltane, but it didn’t happen that way – a heavy feeling in the chest turned out not to be a heart attack, but showed spots, and … well, we all know people who don’t smoke can die of lung cancer, so it’s not okay to blame folks for getting sick. But I am all about telling smokers, “Please make your last drag your last, ever.”

More on that when I can get time to do it justice.  Barb-fromJim’NBarb  had a partial lung excision (there’s a word I cannot recall for it, but when they cut a person open from side to back, move ribs and remove lung tissue, it’s a big deal no matter what it’s called.)  She was home in under 80 hours, doing really great considering what her system’s been through. It’s not as scary as a lot of diagnoses, but, hey, when it’s yours and you have more uncertainty and misery to fight this bastard beast…it’s a hard time.  More later, for now, I’ll greatly appreciate prayers for Barb’nJim. They’ve been remarkably focused on managing to an environment of positivity and faith. Let’s do our part to help ‘em stay there.   love and light, b

Wonder why a huge population of TG kids commit suicide? The friggin’ church letterhead is the biggest oxymoron I’ve choked down, in awhile.  “Sharing the Vision…Teaching Values.”  NOT SO MUCH.

Kids on the playground encircle one child, telling another, “You can’t play with her because you are friends with him.”  Where are the teachers and parent aids – off sharing vision and teaching values to the 2nd graders spitting on the scared little boy who sat recess out, literally, on the grass, new to the school and afraid to make friends? 

I am told Katie has asked if she will be able to have babies when she’s grown, and whether she will have to tell her husband about how her gender  ID correction occurred…she has said she’s a girl, “in my soul.”

Children this age shouldn’t have to confront such concerns because their church/school cannot discern between a gender assignment genetic medical condition and a moral choice. I suspect the administrator’s logic breached, “oh, gender is about sex, so it must be related to homosexuality, and the Church doesn’t tolerate that.”  Or some other il-logic leap they’re historically known to make.

Here’s the mom’s letter I’m trying to get posted EVERYWHERE.  I have the church doc, if anyone wants to see that drivel… “We will be treating Ben as a boy for the remainder of the year.”  Hoping everyone sends ‘em a whopping $0.00 this week, and tells ‘em why! They historically reverse themselves when facing large financial losses associated with poor decision rendering or illegalities they can’t blink away.

You got friends, or someone who’ll read something and act out of respect for you?  Send this on! Do!!!

Love and much light,

Cronessa

Subject: “Empty Envelope” campaign
Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2009, 9:13 PM

Hi Family and Friends, 

I think most of you have already heard that Katie was allowed to receive her
First Communion at XYZ Parish, last Sunday.  The day was bitter sweet knowing
that she has been "uninvited" to attend St. Home Church for 3rd grade.
St. Home Church has a tradition over the last few years that in the week
following the last of the 3 First Communion weekends, the 2nd graders have a fun
activity day in causal clothes after attending mass in their Communion outfits
and participating in a class picture.  I advised Katie's teacher and the
principal weeks ago that I planned to bring Katie to school following the mass
to participate in the activity day.  As you can see from the attached letter,
she's been "uninvited" to participate in that day as well. 

For those who may not be aware of the background.  I approached the school
counselors about Katie wanting to attend 3rd grade as herself and they were both
very supportive.  They then met with Katie's private counselor. One of the
school counselors then discussed the issue with the principal, who
was also very supportive.  By the time Fr. Pastor had
recovered from his knee surgery, and was well enough to meet with me, Fr. Chancery Guy,
from the archbishop's office, had already issued a directive that
Katie would not be allowed to attend school as herself.  When I later met with
Fr. Chancery Guy, he was unable to provide any church teachings which oppose
transgenderism, but told me that he had made a "prudential" decision.
 I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but it sounded like a bossy way of
saying "because I said so."  I later looked it up and, in fact, it
means just that - a decision made with discretionary authority. 

The Omaha Archdiocese has been  blaming the economy for lower tithing rates
since 2000 (and, no, that date is not a mistake.)   Since money is the only
thing that seems to capture the attention of the archdiocese, I am asking that
you consider participating in what I hope becomes an annual "Empty
Envelope" campaign.  I am asking Catholics in Omaha (or former Catholics)
to offer an empty parish envelope (or a regular white envelope) on Mother's
Day weekend (May 9th and 10th) with a statement of support of the GLBT (gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender) community and/or a statement of
disappointment at the bigotry extended to Katie by the archdiocese. 

I am going to go a little further and ask that you also consider to whom in
your address list you would feel comfortable extending this request via an
e-mail tree. Non-Catholics who would like to be heard, may write a letter to the
St. Wences_laus Church at: 15353 Pacific Street, Omaha, NE 68154 and/or the
Archdiocese of Omaha, Chancery & Bishop's Office, 100 North 62nd Street,
Omaha, NE 68132. 

I also want to thank all of you for all of your prayers, support, and
encouragement through all of this journey so far.  I know it's far from
over for Katie, but each heart that can be opened makes the world a little safer
for Katie and all children of God ---- and yes, unlike the Catholic church, I do
mean ALL! 

God bless, Katie's Mom
And finally, from the friend who got me involved... "First Communion mass at school today was so sad as I couldn't think of anything except the discrimination that was occurring and the fact that Katie was not allowed to attend even dressed as a boy.  The Prayers of the Faithful were read  "For the 8th graders, as they prepare to leave St. Wenceslaus, that they will remember what they have learned and be living examples of Jesus' love"  and "For equality and justice for all".  I wanted to stand up and shout, "hypocrites!!!"

Then, get job applications in by 11 pm. I am determined this will work, and at some point, so will others. Positivity, dammit.

And remind self to come here and start writing!

See if I make it back … will find something fun in the news – told my friend across the pond I’d do this, so now I’m on it!

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry someone you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, ‘I love you,’ mean it.

FIVE. When you say, ‘I’m sorry,’ look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.

TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don’t judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN! .. When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, smile and ask, ‘Why do you want to know?’

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say ‘bless you’ when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice

TWENTY- ONE. Spend some time alone

Had enuff of dat tuff stuff, baby? Where are the 50+% of the populace who voted to hire a ne’er-do-well faux-cowboy whose only efforts at completing anything, ever,  started and ended with his 2-for-1 home run resulting in his twins.) He gets on the helicopter and shortly after, it is revealed…we’ve been in a recession for a year…A YEAR!!!

I met an entrepreneur here on business from India, and he said many of his business colleagues will not work with Americans because we’re thought to be ignorant, hostile and condescending.  He said when he goes home, he is going to share what he learned…the American people are absolutely delightful, caring, sharing, bright, funny. He said we  are especially considerate of and kind to someone far from home…he said he will make it clear it is our politics that color us  incorrigibly ugly and corrupt across the globe.

It’s hard living in an area where people still don’t see what the f’ing geobush has done to us in his reign of terror as idiot-in-chief.

So what do his followers have to say?
largely irrelevancies, like, “Well, let’s see how much Obama can change. I’m not sure he’s up to it, but, that’s what we’ve got to deal with.”

Gawdsdammit, people, we had a balanced budget and strategic alliances all over the world. .. li’l tough-talkin’, hair-grayin’, war-mongerin’ Bush and his WMD Cheney have us drowning in a gazillion bucks of blood-tinged treasury defecit and we are reviled worse than a  Heathen boy showing up at the Archbishop’s chancery to pick up an illegitimate daughter for a date…anything Obama does to stop the hemmorhage and reverse this travesty is better than what was crammed down our throats and up our bums for 8 years.   Blaaach.

Prayers for peace and Divine guidance that lead the geobush to a safe perch on a ranch where the wings, beer and an occasional ho[e]-down  keep him satisfied in all important ways, and bless our new administration with the patience and insights to fix what the derelict asshat broke.