bodhi tree swaying » election campaign 2008

My life in bullet-points (again)

bodhipaksa — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:01:54 +0000

I read Zits every morning. Today’s was particularly funny, I thought.

Liked this quote: "You cannot live an authentic life without mastering the art of disappointing people." Cheryl Richardson
And this one: "Thinking without awareness is the main dilemma of human existence." Eckhart Tolle
But this is another fake Buddha quote doing the rounds on Twitter, quotations sites, etc: ” ‘If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change’ – Buddha.” The entire tone of that statement is so far from anything I’ve read in any form of Buddhist scripture that I’m astonished anyone familiar with Buddhism would think for a moment this is genuine. And yet I see Buddhists passing this quote on as if it were.
It’s good to know I live in the land of the free. Now you’re not a criminal in Colorado for watering your garden with rainwater. (But I believe it’s still illegal to fill your own gas tank in Oregon).
Interesting article about fireflies. I’d have titled it, "Why females prefer flashers." That’s why the NYT will never employ me.
Speaking of which, here’s the NYT on the Dalai Lama’s Science Initiative.
I think it’s interesting how many people call the iPod Touch the "iTouch." Suggests the real name is a bit awkward. A bit of a mis-step by Apple, I think.
The very talented E. Christopher Clark is raising money through Kickstarter. Donors get copies of his new book once it’s done (and other goodies).
Norm Coleman conceded! Go Franken!

Tears to Remember – Judith Warner

bodhipaksa — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:45:47 +0000

Judith Warner:

Two images will forever stay in my mind to mark this epoch-breaking Election Day. One is that of Jesse Jackson’s face, drenched in tears, in Chicago’s Grant Park on Tuesday evening.

And the other is a photo that ran in The Times on Wednesday. In it, a black mother and daughter sit on the floor of a church in Harlem. The mother, Latrice Barnes, having heard of Obama’s victory, is doubled up in tears; her daughter, Jasmine, is reaching a tentative hand up to soothe her. To me, she looks like the future, reaching out to heal the past.

Tears to Remember – Judith Warner Blog – NYTimes.com

Is a fertilized egg a person?

bodhipaksa — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:05:40 +0000

Scientific American reports:

In Colorado voters shot down Amendment 48, the “Personhood Initiative,” by a three-to-one margin. The measure would have defined human life as starting “from the moment of fertilization”—which in essence would have made abortion a crime and put the brakes on embryonic stem cell research there.

I’m not pro-abortion by any stretch of the imagination, and neither is my wife. We (or more strictly she) would never have an abortion, and I wouldn’t encourage anyone to have an abortion. I do support abortion (albeit with some reluctance) when the life or health of the mother is seriously in danger. I can understand when someone chooses to have an abortion because of some serious developmental abnormality of the fetus. I’m pro-contraception. I’m pro sex-education (countries with better sex ed have lower teen pregnancy rates).

But I consider the idea of legally defining a fertilized egg as a person with legal rights as not just silly but dangerous. Here are some things I wonder about, should a fertilized egg ever be considered as a person with legal rights:

When a child dies in the home there is an investigation because of the possibility of infanticide or neglect. Given that about 1/3 of conceptions end in miscarriage or the death of the embryo, should we investigate every miscarriage as a possible crime in case negligence (or worse) was involved?
It’s not commonly acceptable to freeze one’s children. Should parents be legally able to freeze embryos as part of IVF treatment?
In IVF treatment, should it be legal to discriminate between embryos that are malformed and stand no chance of developing normally, and those that are considered viable? Should all have an equal chance to be implanted?
Should a father be able to sue on behalf of a frozen embryo, demanding that it be allowed to gestate and come to term?
What if there are a dozen frozen embryos? Two dozen?
With advances in cloning, all stem cells will have the potential to become a full human being. Should stem cells be granted legal rights?
Should we issue “conception certificates” to all fertilized eggs to legally mark their personhood (after all we keep track of persons)?
Should parents have to file a death certificate in the case of miscarriage?
Is it murder for a surgeon to remove an embryo that’s developing abnormally and might kill the mother — as in an ectopic pregnancy?
Should women be charged with murder if they use IUDs or hormonal contraception? Should they be subject to the death penalty in states where that method of punishment exists?

I’m sympathetic that people want to create a clear line. My personal feeling is that at some point a developing fetus does attain some kind of personhood, in that killing it deliberately should be criminalized (with health exceptions, etc). If a woman and her 8 month-old fetus are murdered, for example, I’m sympathetic to the idea that there be two murder charges. But there are few clear-cut lines in nature, and fertilization is not to my mind a socially acceptable line to draw for personhood.

My first “utter” – Prison, elephants, and becoming a bigger person

Gail Collins is soooo hot

bodhipaksa — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:39:24 +0000

I love Gail Collin’s sense of humor. She manages to be hilarious while being insightful, which makes her a very attractive woman in my eyes. Here she is on Elizabeth Dole’s scurrilous campaign ad:

North Carolina tossed Elizabeth Dole out of office despite her ad campaign aimed at convincing the state that her opponent, Kay Hagan, was an atheist. This was accomplished, you may remember, through the creative strategy of showing Hagan’s picture along with another woman’s voice saying: “There is no God!” If Dole had won, by the next election we would have been bombarded with ads that appeared to show candidates saying “I support adultery!” or “Let’s kill the puppies!” Now that won’t happen. Thank you, North Carolina.

More hilarity can be found here.

And in case you missed it, here’s the ad. Watch it now before Dole uses the DMCA to have it pulled from YouTube.

Hagan, Dole’s opponent, is an elder in her church and a Sunday school teacher. Dole knew this, of course, which makes her ad all the more slimy. The bigger question of whether it should matter whether someone is an atheist tends to be eclipsed by the fact that Dole brazenly lied about Hagan’s religious beliefs. Hagan is suing. Good.

Conservatives accuse Obama of murdering his grandmother

bodhipaksa — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:12:47 +0000

A brief mention of Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Dunham’s, passing was posted on Lucianne.com a right-wing “news forum”. The comments became so toxic that the site owner had to remove them.

Conservatives rejoiced. Conservatives implied that her death had been “conveniently timed” to help Obama win the election. That she’d been killed to boost him in the polls. A MsMontana commented, “R.I.P. old woman…you deserve it.”

I have to say I fear for America. Where is all this poison going to go now that Obama’s been elected? Is it just going to dissipate as people find that Obama is a likable, honorable, and talented president? Or are these people so out of touch that they’ll continue to adopt a poisoned view of everything about him?

Because they lost the election, and because of the nature of hatred, some of the poison will be directed at other Republicans. On the same site they’re already looking for scapegoats for the loss. Culprits include Mike Huckabee, McCain himself, moderate Republicans, the electorate, Mitt Romney supporters, and the media. The only person who is blameless in the comments is Saint Sarah of Wasilla. I predict a bloodbath for the GOP.

You can read the comments on Obama’s grandmother below, and marvel at the mentality that produced them.

Obama’s grandmother dies of cancer in Hawaii
Reuters, by John Whitesides

Original Article

Posted By:Photoonist, 11/3/2008 4:54:55 PM

Washington – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s grandmother died of cancer, he said in a statement on Monday, a little more than a week after Obama interrupted the White House race to say goodbye to her in Hawaii. ”It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer”

Comments:
Just in time for a little election bump.
Reply 1 – Posted by: rollingcow, 11/3/2008 4:57:58 PM

And?
Mrs. Cow

Reply 2 – Posted by: glcinpdx, 11/3/2008 4:59:23 PM

From under the bus to in the hearse the day before the vote…how convieeeeenient. I hate to think I’ve become so jaded by this creep that I wouldn’t put it past him to time the announcement for maximum political effect. But, unfortunately I have.

Reply 3 – Posted by: Marzon, 11/3/2008 4:59:38 PM

Also just in time to knock his comments the coal industry and skyrocketing electricity costs off the evening news and tomorrows front pages

Reply 4 – Posted by: sae4236, 11/3/2008 5:01:47 PM

How convieeeeenient!!

Looks like he may be not as confident as he projects looking for the sympathy vote for a grandmother he threw under the bus, pulling her out to bolster his polls pretending to visit her and now using her death to help him over the finish line.

Reply 5 – Posted by: GOP_U_BET, 11/3/2008 5:02:22 PM

In any case, may she rest in peace.

Reply 6 – Posted by: Phil_hk, 11/3/2008 5:07:48 PM

Having him for a grandson sure wpuld have killed me.

Reply 7 – Posted by: John C, 11/3/2008 5:09:40 PM

He flew 12 hours to spend one hour with her, what a prince.

Reply 8 – Posted by: FelineFine, 11/3/2008 5:09:43 PM

Have a feeling ol’ granny didn’t “die” today.

Reply 9 – Posted by: dio444, 11/3/2008 5:13:16 PM

Sadly, the derangement extends to both sides of the political aile. As National Review’s Jay Nordlinger has pointed out- this country is sick. Too many people are filled with hate for people they disagree with. I abhor Obama’s politics and I am concerned with what the country’s future.

But if Obama wins, I wish him well and I pray that he will guide us during these turbulent times. I also pray that he will govern from the middle. It is either that or I go around believing that Obama timed his grandmother’s death for political gain. I would be a lesser person for such an absurd, and dark view of our fellow Americans.

Reply 10 – Posted by: jkendal, 11/3/2008 5:13:23 PM

It does seem too much of a coincidence, but forget how it looks. Any criticism will be seen as extremely mean-spirited (which WILL work in his favor) so it’s best not to say anything negative about it at all.

Reply 11 – Posted by: MsMontana, 11/3/2008 5:14:23 PM

I’m sorry she’s passed, but I’m sure she’s in a better place.

R.I.P. old woman…you deserve it.

Reply 12 – Posted by: david999, 11/3/2008 5:14:34 PM

I thought she broke her hip?

Reply 13 – Posted by: liberty girl, 11/3/2008 5:17:55 PM

Anyone here know when Barry last took his kids (not to mention his wife) to visit their Great Grandma? I’ve often wondered if his girls have ever even MET his Granny. Anyone here know?

Doubtless most people here would have brought your kids to visit with you if you thought your Mom or Grandma were dying. I know I would.

Reply 14 – Posted by: jkb, 11/3/2008 5:18:20 PM

And just in time for the East Coast news feed.

It’s hard not to be cynical about her death and the timing of the announcement.

She’s in God’s merciful hands now…it’s a better place, to be sure.

Reply 15 – Posted by: Reaganorama, 11/3/2008 5:19:28 PM

I’m sorry Granny passed away. It has to happen to everyone. Perhaps he can take more care of his Auntie in Boston. Hire an immigration attorney, perhaps?

Reply 16 – Posted by: hhttwo, 11/3/2008 5:20:29 PM

Cancer, now?

Reply 17 – Posted by: hammondb3, 11/3/2008 5:21:22 PM

OK, actually reading the statement, the following information is NOT revealed…

WHEN she died. The story only says that Obama made the announcement today. I would bet my bottom dollar she died a few days ago and this announcement is, just like everything else about the man, a political tool.

Show me the death cert and while you are at it I could stand a good look at the birth cert of Obama too.

Reply 18 – Posted by: OpaKnows, 11/3/2008 5:22:16 PM

It was probably better to go today peacefully as opposed to seeing her grandson go down to defeat and having a massive heart attack!

Reply 19 – Posted by: madisonian, 11/3/2008 5:22:26 PM

Lead story tonight-Obama’s grandmother; swept under the rug-Obama to bankrupt coal industry.

Reply 20 – Posted by: Muncssister, 11/3/2008 5:25:44 PM

#12 me too. I don’t remember cancer being mentioned. Quote from Oct. 21 ABC article “The 85-year-old former bank executive is said to be “gravely ill” after falling and breaking her hip, and some reports suggest she might not live to see the results of the Nov. 4 election”

I hate that this election has made me so jaded that my initial thought was ‘this is political’. My condolences to his family. May she rest in peace.

Reply 21 – Posted by: manbearpig, 11/3/2008 5:26:05 PM

I had read somewhere that besides breaking her hip, she suffered from some type of cancer. I hope Mrs. Dunham rests in peace. However, I do hope her grandson has tremendous guilt for having thrown Grandma under the bus for his own gains. AND, I hope her grandson gets his rear end handed to him in the election tomorrow. GO McCAIN/PALIN!!!

Reply 22 – Posted by: minnievike, 11/3/2008 5:26:07 PM

will she have “a typical white woman funeral” or will Rev Wright fly in?

Reply 23 – Posted by: Redtide, 11/3/2008 5:26:45 PM

How sad that some people can be so cold and vicious as to imply he timed his grandmother’s death. If you are now the face of the Republican Party, you are ugly. Condolences to his family.

Reply 24 – Posted by: Midwest Mom, 11/3/2008 5:26:51 PM

My prayers go out to the family at this time.

Reply 25 – Posted by: ivehadit, 11/3/2008 5:32:11 PM

May she rest in peace.

As to mr. obama, I wish him well, just not as a president of the United States. Ever.

Reply 26 – Posted by: Rumblehog, 11/3/2008 5:34:00 PM

Victim #1 of Obamacide.

Reply 27 – Posted by: newfem, 11/3/2008 5:37:13 PM

I can’t find what kind of cancer recurred for her.
Just curious.
She was a bit of a leftist herself I think.
RIP Toots.
Obama disgusts me, but I’m sorry he has to go through this grief.

Reply 28 – Posted by: Reality, 11/3/2008 5:37:21 PM

I an as jaded as the rest of you.
My sympathy and prayers go to the 0bamas and Mrs Dunham.

But having said that and seeing the way his programmers have orchestrated this campaign, I would not be surprised if he left her an escape pill.

Reply 29 – Posted by: donna quixote, 11/3/2008 5:41:04 PM

I’m sorry ahe died but her death didn’t cause her grandson to miss a syllable. She would have been so proud.

Reply 30 – Posted by: Safari Man, 11/3/2008 5:41:10 PM

I join the skeptics here as well and do not agree that we should be scolded. Obama has been the most calculating, dishonest, deceitful, self-serving politician we have ever seen and the timing of this was actually predicted by several people here a week ago.

This story may be on the up-and-up, but Obama has given us no reason to believe him for anything he says. The article clearly says “we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died” but it doesn’t say when. As with all things Obama, you have to parse his words and infer the true meaning. All-too-often, we find out that the hidden meaning is the true meaning.

Reply 31 – Posted by: Spidey, 11/3/2008 5:41:13 PM

Did she ever endorse Obama? I have a feeling they wern’t close at all. I heard where she passed 4 hours before Obama found out.Anyway RIP Granny.

Reply 32 – Posted by: MousyMick, 11/3/2008 5:42:47 PM

Geez. It’s never a good time for a grandma to die. Rest in peace, Mrs. Dunham. Prayers for the family.

Reply 33 – Posted by: cannonball, 11/3/2008 5:45:27 PM

May she rest in peace and may God be with him at this difficult time. I hate his politics, but not him.

Reply 34 – Posted by: BlueRidgeMtn, 11/3/2008 5:47:22 PM

When he went to Hawaii to see his Grandmother I said to my husband, “I know this sounds terrible, but somehow I think she is going to die the day before the election”. When I heard it on the news this afternoon it was chilling.

Rest in peace Mrs. Dunham.

Reply 35 – Posted by: LComStaff, 11/3/2008 5:47:22 PM

We are going to close this post. It is bringing out the worst in some of us.

Reply 36 – Posted by: kiwinews, 11/3/2008 5:47:33 PM

I hope death came as a friend to her and her going was peaceful.

My cynical side now says, “oh, no inconvenient white relatives disturbing the picture on the podium now”. I’m ashamed to say it, but I do.

Thread Closed

More on “the truth in comics”

bodhipaksa — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:41:08 +0000

Monty provides another window today on the phenomenon known as “confirmation bias” in politics. Monty and Moondog both receive the same information and yet draw the opposite conclusions from it.

A message from David Byrne

bodhipaksa — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:31:43 +0000

I just got this email from my fellow Scot, David Byrne. Yes, he of Talking Heads fame.

He speaks, in effect, for me:

Pardon the bulk mailing. I Can’t Vote. I am an immigrant with a Green Card and, therefore, I am not eligible to vote in a federal election. FYI – I can get drafted (luckily, Daniel Berrigan burned my draft board’s records) and I pay taxes, yet I cannot vote for President. On Election Day, I see my neighbors heading to the nearby elementary school to cast their ballots. The voting booth joint is a great leveler; the whole neighborhood – rich, poor, old, young, decrepit and spunky – they all turn out in one day.

But most of you can vote. What can I say? The Republicans have made us less safe than before 9/11, bankrupted this economy, started an illegal war they can’t – and don’t intend to – finish, removed what sympathy (after 9/11) and respect the world had for the US, and have robbed US citizens of many of their basic rights. Global warming? What’s that? Science and education? Investment in our future? No, thanks – we’ll stick with a good ‘ole hockey mom. Ignorant, and fucking proud of it, as is always the case.

Although it looks like a shoo-in, it ain’t over ’til Florida. And there are plenty of racists in this country who will vote against their own best interests. So please, get to your local elementary school, post office, town hall, or whatever, and cast your vote and make this a country we can all be proud of. We can get out of this mess, and life can be better than it is.

David Byrne
NYC

Politics and the startle response

bodhipaksa — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:19:37 +0000

There was a lot of coverage a few weeks back about research showing that people with a tendency to experience anxiety are more likely to favor right-wing political views. To put it bluntly, Republicans scare easily.

That’s amply demonstrated in a post that the excellent Mahablog links to, in which Jonah Goldberg purports to write from 2012, reporting on Obama’s failed presidency. It’s a bizarre, even hysterical, piece of writing in which, apparently, Obama’s administration will be damaged by Biden making bizarre statements:

…he told the Russian foreign minister he’d “rather punch a nun in the throat” than cooperate on an Iranian nuclear deal, the Obama administration knew they had a problem on their hands.

The strange comments and behavior kept coming: at an international summit on child poverty, he accused the Dalai Lama of issuing a “brain fart,” he phoned Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts at home and called him a “[re]tard in short pants…”

And so on and so on. Goldberg manages to reveal his racism: “The last straw was Biden’s complaint, emphatically offered at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, that he would have more influence over foreign policy if he were black.”

See. A black president, ergo he won’t listen to white people.” Now imagine if this was a liberal saying not to vote for McCain because McCain’s too much of a racist to listen to the concerns of racial minorities.

The Mahablog, however, has I think missed an even nuttier example of fear-driven Republican prognostication: Fundamentalist Christian Janet Porter’s “A newscast from a future we must never see.”

Now at this point I’m cursing myself for having used the word “hysterical” to describe Goldberg’s writing. That leaves me, perhaps appropriately, wordless to describe Porter’s insanity.

“Obama campaign supporters from al-Qaida to Hamas to Hezbollah, to Islamic Jihad and the Muslim Brotherhood, continue to dance in the streets.”

See — Obama is a friend of terrorists! [Ignore that Al Qaeda in fact endorsed McCain].

The “Death to America Coalition” released a statement: “We have not celebrated like this since 9/11!”

See — Obama hates America.

And he plans to force Americans to have abortions!!!

“The only thing left of the abortion agenda not yet accomplished is the forced abortion policy of China.”

We will also see a “government takeover of health care” and of course guns will be banned. [Fundamentalist Christians apparently like guns -- What assault weapon would Jesus choose?].

The Osama bin Laden video released yesterday has been shown to be authentic.

OSAMA speaks in Arabic.

TRANSLATOR: I am looking forward to meeting with President Barack Obama without preconditions to negotiate our demands of “submit or die.” We have much in common: the same supporters, the same allies and we both have friends who blew up the Pentagon.

See — Obama really, really is a friend of terrorists — even though the core of his foreign policy is to take troops from Iraq so that we can finally destroy Al Qaeda.

[Louis Farrakhan] today received another honor from the president, who asked him to be the keynote speaker at the Presidential Prayer Breakfast. Attendees were reportedly told to face east.

Farrakhan called for the loud siren signaling the Muslim call to prayer heard in Muslim Countries (and in Michigan) to be sounded in the capital five times a day. Not surprisingly, President Obama repeated the words he said in a February 27, 2007, interview with the New York Times that this call to allegiance to Allah as the “one true god” was “one of the prettiest sounds on earth.”

And he’s not just a terrorist, but a Muslim terrorist!

Conservative talk radio just became a thing of the past with President Obama answering the Democrat Congress’ call for a gag rule on Rush Limbaugh, conservative and Christian talk radio.

And he’s against free speech and — well he’s a Muslim, isn’t he? — he wants to ban Christian radio.

And perhaps worst of all, he’ll “place vulnerable orphan children in the homes of homosexual activists.”

(Please make up your own subtext for that one].

And just to make sure you’ve got the message, she also has a column titled, “You cannot be a Christian and vote for Obama.” Subtle, eh?

It’s clear that these people see Obama as a monster, not as a human being. They believe he is capable of anything. Whatever the neuro-chemicals associated with fear, Goldberg and Porter’s brains appear to be swimming in them.

According to her website, Porter (née Folger) “has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Evening News, 20/20, and Nightline, CBS This Morning, FOX News including The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes, The Big Story and Heartland with John Kasich), MSNBC including Hardball with Chris Mathews, CNN, including Inside Politics and CNN Headline News, and the syndicated Extra among others.”

Dear, gods! How can someone like this be taken seriously enough to appear on all these TV shows? I excuse them for having brains intoxicated with anxiety. But aren’t there some sensible people out there who can say, “Wait, this person clearly has a diminished capacity for thinking clearly. Is this the kind of person whose views we want to foist on a world that needs a little wisdom, truth, and common sense?”

Good Republicans

bodhipaksa — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:40:19 +0000

I just want to praise Daniel Zubairi and other brave Republicans who stood up to a pair of racists at a McCain rally. It’s good to see people taking a stand against this kind of ignorance and hatred.

(Afterthought: It’s ironic that the McCain campaign wouldn’t let Zubairi be interviewed on TV after this incident. Zubairi is an asset to his party, but I guess the McCain team would rather not address racism head on and may be embarrassed at the idea of having a Muslim speaking on their behalf).

Something About Sarah – washingtonpost.com

bodhipaksa — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:28:51 +0000

In Something About Sarah, Kathleen Parker has some interesting things to say about men’s (and McCain’s) propensity to become distracted by pretty ladies:

…there can be no denying that McCain’s selection of [Palin] over others far more qualified — and his mind-boggling lack of attention to details that matter — suggests other factors at work. His judgment may have been clouded by . . . what?

Science provides clues.

At least her column seemed interesting to me, but maybe that’s just because she’s kinda hot.

Read the whole article