Obama Too Honest To Win??

The following is part of a summary by NPR of a news piece they broadcast this morning:

"...........As the Pennsylvania primary approaches, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) appears to be cutting into Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) once imposing lead in the state. Polls show Obama gaining ground — even with one of Clinton's strongest groups of supporters: younger, middle-class women who are rising through the professional ranks much the way that Clinton did. ........Carolyn Coleman, a hospital administrator, says it confirmed her view that Clinton would be a better general election candidate. "I read the quote in the newspaper. My first reaction was, 'Wow.' I can't believe that he actually said it. It's so insightful, and it's accurate," she says. Then, she realized that his opponents might take Obama's comment and spin it. And that, she says, is what concerns her about Obama: his honesty in a national campaign, where the Republicans are waiting to pounce." (end of summary)

My comments:
There's not a lot left to say about the future of America when intelligent, well-educated and successful citizens decide to NOT support a candidate because he is insightful, accurate and honest. We complain that our candidates pander to us, tell us what they think we want to hear. And, then, when they ARE honest (and in this case "accurate and insightful" also), we somehow decide that makes them unelectable. Keep this up, and we'll keep getting presidents like the one we have now, who few would describe as being either accurate or insightful.

Religion and Politics

Until recently, I have been afraid of the increasing mix of religion and politics in America. Religious activism has often not been kind to Jews. And the discussion of the past decades has been dominated by religious conservatives, to the point where "values voters" were defined as being those on the right.

But now, I sense that this is changing. There is much discussion in the media of religion and politics, and I am hopeful that it will be positive and foster progressive goals. For many persons, their ideas and values that they hold, around subjects like compassion, justice and equality of all humankind, are based to a large part, in their religious faith or tradition.

And, now, we are hearing more and more from religious voices who are other than evangelical and right-wing. Obama's speech after the Rev Wright hubbub addressed his religious connections in an intelligent and honest depth, not hiding the complexity, but opening it for consideration, and treating his listeners as an intelligent audience. I am hopeful.

The Decline of America

It is becoming clearer and clearer to me that our country, the USA, is in a decline that will be major. I also suspect that this is beginning to enter the awareness of more and more Americans. Our war against Iraq goes on and on, with no end in sight. Home prices decline, and many home owners are facing foreclosure. Despite the reported growth of our economy, as measured by economists, middle class incomes are stagnant, and the poor increase. Millions lack health care, our schools lag many other industrial nations, we fail to take a leadership position on global warming and environmental protection.

Many politicians, especially Republicans, will treat this as a temporary situation, that can be reversed with some relatively minor adjustments on our part. Obama may be criticized for saying that persons are "bitter", but at least he has focused on the truth. Jobs in many areas and industries are gone, and the hope of their return is just that..only a hope, a dream. But our political system and political class are conservative to a large degree, and real change is hard to come by.

The truth of this decline will be a bitter pill for most of us to swallow. At first, most of those who suffer the least, those at the top, will be most in denial, unwilling to sacrifice their material styles of living, as they do not share the suffering of those below. Most of the pain for a while will be felt in the middle and at the bottom, just as the pain of the war is felt by only a small portion of Americans. But as the decline continues, the awareness will spread, from the bottom up. Sounds like the basis for a revolution.

Jacob's Dream of the Ladder

Thoughts from Rabbi Wolpe's Torah study class today. Genesis 28:10: Jacob's dream and the ladder. Whatever is creative and original in what I have to say please attribute to Rabbi Wolpe. I take responsibility for whatever is confusing or incorrect in what follows.

In the ancient world, people perhaps believed in angels much more than today. There may have also been a belief that angels could operate in only certain geographical areas...perhaps an angel could operate in Canaan, but not cross the border to Haran. Why are angels going up and going down the ladder? If Jacob had guardian angels, then perhaps those who had come this far with him on his journey were done, and a new shift is coming to work, to go on with him as he journeys on to Haran.

Another interpretation is that Jacob was already known as a celebrity; he had indeed inherited the blessing originally given to Abraham. His person may have already been known about in heaven. When the angels in heaven heard that he had been "sighted" at Bethel, where the dream occurs, they came down to get a look at him in person...a "celebrity sighting".

Another interpretation: the ladder, with angels going up and down, is a foretelling of Jacob's life, and indeed all our lives, which will have periods where things are going "up" for us, and periods which are "downers" for us. Sort of an ancient version of a roller coaster.

( For more on angels, see Psalms 91:11 and John 1:51 )

Too Powerful a War Machine

Senator Rockefeller was quoted recently as saying that John McCain was not in touch with the concerns of average people, and used as an example the fact that as a Navy pilot, McCain had dropped missiles without knowing who or what they hit. It is reported that Rockefeller later called McCain personally and apologized for these remarks.

It seems unfair to single out McCain or any other American service person for these events, which have happened in many wars fought by Americans. If McCain is guilty of something here, then there are thousands of others who are guilty as well, including those at the top who have authorized such tactics and paid for them with public funds.

But, this somewhat indiscriminate bombing troubles me greatly. The position that we are in, and have been in since at least WWII, is that we have the capability to bomb others and cause great death and destruction from a distance, with relatively little loss of life on our side.

This situation has been greatly heightened recently, starting at least with Vietnam, where our technological superiority, compared to the groups we are fighting, is vast. So that now, we can "call in" air strikes against real or supposed centers of enemy concentration, with very little risk to the American pilots who are flying the missions. The risk ratio is greatly in our favor; the usual result is significant loss of life to our enemies, and little or no loss of life to Americans. This kind of power is morally risky. The ultimate single example is Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Similarly, our invasion of Iraq, publicized as "shock and awe", was extremely lop-sided with respect to the power and capability of our forces versus the Iraq forces.

I wish no disrespect for Senator McCain and all the others who have fought America's wars, and the real risks and losses that they underwent, for causes which I think they generally believed in. But with a military budget which exceeds all the rest of the world's nations put together, I believe America has too much military power, and has succumbed to often to the temptations to use it, when other less violent avenues would have led to better outcomes, for all concerned.