Keith Ellison and his consitutional oath

Keith Ellison, newly elected congessional representative from the MN 5th district, and the first Muslim to serve in Congress, plans to take his oath of office on the Qur'an. This has sparked outrage from the folks who haven't figured out that there is more than one way to be American. These people fear that the republic will crumble should Keith exercise his right. As Keith observed, atheists and agnostics are protected. Why not Muslims?

If people are really exercised about this, why not offer everyone an opportunity to swear on the Cosntitution? That's what it's all about, isn't it? But the flaming radical talking heads seem to have forgotten that, as they and their pals in the current administration seem to have forgotten many things about who we are and what used to make us great. For them, there is only one way to be an American, and that is their way. Amazingly, one commentator blogged that allowing Keith to exercise his right would do more damage to the United States than 911. Wow!

Even with all the warts of our system, the fact that someone like Keith can get elected, even from a never-vote-republican district like this one, speaks well for our future and badly for those who would like to turn us into a norte americana banana republic.

James A. Baker: not just for Florida anymore

I do find it interesting that people seem to be giving the Current Occupant a free ride on the James Baker appearance. This is probably because JB is more or less smart and politically aware, having served a number of Republican pols over the years. This seems, to us in the hinterlands, as a major improvement. You can hear the folks in flyover land whispering, "Well, at least there's someone in DC who knows the score." We feel this way because it's so apparent that the Current Occupant doesn't know the score, or even that there is a score. As Garrison said in today's column, the CO has the attention span of a 12-year old. Frankly, even 12-year olds with ADD have a better attention span.

Anyway, here we are, giving the Current Occupant a free ride because James A. Baker has flown to the rescue at the behest of Poppy. Have we forgotten already that it was JB who engineered the "election" in 2000 in Florida? Not so fast, folks. Let's keep on paying attention. We're not out of the woods just becuse the Dems won Congress.

Pie for breakfast

In Vermont, a Yankee is someone who eats pie for breakfast--EB White

Thanksgiving is a great holiday. There are no presents to buy, no decorations to dig out of the attic, and no need to answer the December-long question from well-meaning folks, "Are you ready yet?" While there can be great production values in a Thanksgiving operation, you can also lie around all day in your PJs or go out to dinner (if you can find an open restaurant) without it seeming to be a major federal crime. Of course, having lots of food, especially pie, makes it seem more festive.

But the really festive part of Thanksgiving is the aftermath. And I'm not talking about the shopping spree that retailers want you to undertake. I'm talking about leftovers. They start with pie on Friday morning. I make Thanksgiving pies with Friday morning in mind. The best pies for Friday morning breakfast are fruit pies, although anything will do in a pinch. As a pie-crust challenged cook (I don't use Crisco, so I'm doomed to failure), I focus on the fillings and take perverse pride in the very "home-made" look of the crusts. Today I had apple pie. The crust had kind of fallen apart, making the concoction into a kind of apple crumble. It was very good, going well with the French Roast coffee OLGS had made. If there's any left tomorrow, which I doubt, I'll have the blueberry.

And I've already blown my goal of gaining no weight during the holidays--I was going to just drink coffee all day today, with maybe a little side order of carrot sticks.

The secret of Michele Bachman

Michele Bachmann has been lauded in the STRIB as a fahionista. She is being compared favorably to the Nancy Pelosi-Hilary Clinton types who wear tailored pants suits and try to blend in. Michele does not blend in. She wears strappy high heals, upswept, artfully disarranged hair, and not the most modest of necklines. This, apparently, is part of Michele's campaign to bring back old fashioned femininity. "Since I was a little girl, I either wore my mother's high heels or aspired to wear high heels," gushed Michele in the Strib. The Strib piece notes that some fans call her "Senator Eye-Candy." A Strib columnist observed on election night, " She was dressed as though she'd been elected Homecoming Queen."

What was totally amazing in this article was the bit about her husband (the one who told her to run for Congress)and his shopping trip to Saks or NM--he came back with a slinky white dress with a jacket, which, Michele said, "I just slipped ...on." Listen, ladies. Would you let your husband go shopping for a major item of clothing for you without being present? This just confirms my very strong belief that Michele is not able to make decisions on her own. It doesn't bode well for the MN 6th district. But it will be interesting to see how official Washington greats Michele. She does look terrific for 50. Dorian Gray, anyone?

The color of purple, or Minnesota gets more blue

I wasn't going to say anything. I was just going to switch back to postings about teenagers, cats, and the Minneapolis Public Schools. But this has been a great week. American people awakened from their long slumber, looked around, and wondered what had happened. And they voted.

Not all is rosy. Some of the Dems elected are only slightly different from the Republicans they beat except for their opposition to the war in Iraq. And Dems now need to get stuff done that actually benefits the citizenry. This will be difficult when the Current Occupant has his veto pen out, wedded to his program of benefitting his friends at Haliburton, the pharmaceutical lobby, and people with enormous incomes. We'll see what they can do.

In Minnesota, the joy was somewhat muffled because our Republican governor, no-new-taxes Pawlenty, squeaked to re-election. And Michele Bachmann, the nut case we love to hate, also won in the MN 6th district. Not totally surprising, given the population of that district and the amount of outside money poured in, but disappointing. But, despite that, Minnesota is now more blue than purple. Even for the color blind, this is good news.

Houston, Texas, and the country mouse

It's not often that I feel like a hick from the country. I've lived in New York, have visited DC frequently, and usually feel as if I'm dressed appropriately and am using the correct fork. However, I went to Houston this week. And felt like the poor relation from the outback. The women dress. Really dress. And they shop. And they wear LOTS of jewelry. And they shop some more.

Of course, the good part about Houston is that everyone is friendly and polite. That goes a long way. But I still can't forgive them, and the state at large, for giving us the Current Occupant, no mater how chastened he appears at present. They really should have stuck to shopping. The world would be a better place.

Garrison kicks butt

You go, Garrison. Today in your weekly newspaper column, The Old Scout , you refer to the Current Occupant and his gang as merging "blithering corruption with murderous incompetence." I couldn't have said it better myself. Garrison's words were part of a persuasive essay on the joys of retirement, especially as they apply to Bush, Rove, and Cheney.

My papa, who is old and frail, is still very much aware what has happened to the country he served in WWII. His goal in his own retirement was to live long enough to see the Red Sox win the World Series. That has happened. So now he's on a roll: his plan is to live long enough to see the Bushies go back to the place from whence they came. If Bush took Garrison's advice and retired, my father could set himself yet another task--to see the Red Sox win twice in his lifetime. I'm not betting on either Bush or the Red Sox to do the right thing, but I am betting on my father and his cohort to do all they can to throw the bums out on Tuesday.

Vote early and often

If you need some relief from the relentlessness of the current drive to unseat the Bushies and all their works, take a peak at Edwin O'Conner's 1956 book, The Last Hurrah. Loosely based on the life of James Michael Curley, perennial mayor of Boston, governor, representative, and jailbird, the book will make you laugh until you cry, and cry until you laugh.

And "vote early and often" is actually from a campaign song for Curley. That's what we need right now--a campaign song. I just can't decide which of our great pols it should feature. There are so many who would be perfect subjects.

Romania and USCIS

In the wake of 911, our government no longer represents the people. It represents itself, and that is quite different. Here's a case in point:

My church, a large Unitarian Universalist congregation in St. Paul, has a partner relationship with a Unitarian village in Romania. Our tradition is to bring people here every other year. We have brought the minister of the Transylvanian village church, and an elderly couple who had never been on an airplane until they visited us in 2002. We had hoped to bring two younger couples to visit us this year. Guess what: they were turned down by USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Service) after travelling over the mountains to the US Consultate in Bucharest. Because they did not have "compelling" (USCIS language, not mine) reasons to return to Romania, the two couples were denied visas.

What is "compelling"? You might well ask. These folks are substantial village citizens, church-goers, land owners, and parents. This was not enough for the United States, which apparently fears that these Romanians will become a drain on the body politic. On appeal, the USCIS reversed itself, offering a compromise. The two women can come to the US, leaving their menfolk behind, adding to the existing hostages--children, the farm animals, the house, the barn, the parents, and the jobs.

Is this retalliation for the Romanian president having the temerity to ask the US to drop visia requirements? Whatever the reason, this is pretty sad. But they are coming, which is great. I hope we can show them that not all US citizens are afraid and that our present government's fearmongering is not representative.

John Kerry does it again

Come on, John. Why give in to the fearful Democrats, and the incessant marketing of the Bushies? Tell it like it is, which is that what you said about being stuck in Iraq is nothing compared to the "weapons of mass destruction", "yellowcake" and the rest of the bald lies that have come out of this administration.

You don't need to pander to these guys. You don't tell jokes very well, but are you so weak in the knees that you can't stand up to idiots? You know, and I know, that picking on you is an act of desperation. Why not just toss it back at them and hope it explodes?

Dick and Harry

I went to a Halloween party this weekend. The prize costume was a two man show, one dressed up as Dick Cheney in full hunting gear, the other as the hapless Harry Whittington, complete with buckshot all over his face.

And Dick Cheney is the guy who is telling anyone who will listen that if we allow the Congress to slide in the direction of the Dems, the terrorists will win. Doesn't this sound a little desperate? I thought, silly me, that the possibility of changing your government peacefully was one of those blessings of democracy that we were trying to impose on the Iraqi people. I must have misunderstood ....maybe I have buckshot in my ears and don't know it.

Michele Bachmann

It feels like such a cliche to pick on Michele Bachmann. Nevertheless, the voters in the Minnesota 6th District need to think about whether they really want a representative in Washington who relies on her husband (and through him, God), to tell her what to do, what to think, and how to be. She, my friends, is not an independent thinker, capable of evaluating the current Washington nuttiness through any lens at all, let alone her own understanding of the needs of the MN 6th.

Both Michele and her husband, Marcus, have degrees from institutions such as Regent University or Oral Roberts U. These institutions, among other things, are known for their allegiance to a fairly particular and pecular variety of Christianity (I'm being polite here). I have to wonder, for example, what the Oral Roberts natural history museum features. Surely there are no displays illustrating geologic time, as, according to folks like Michele and her classmates, there is no such thing. Another telling feature of Oral Roberts is that, according to their web site, 572 applicants of the 594 who applied were accepted. This is not a selective institution.

But this is really not important, just illustrative of Michele's background. What is important is that Michele is apparently incapable of thinking for herself. Her husband told her to go to law school, study tax law (which apparently she hated), take in foster children, run for the MN House, and then run for the US Senate, changing quickly to the House of Representatives when it became apparent that Mark Kennedy was the annointed one for Dayton's soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat. She may not be able to think for herself, but boy, is she flexible.

And Michele still has a chance, at least if you read the tea leaves, or the national republicans coming to her aid. Laura Bush, Cheney, Norm Coleman, etc. But, sadly for Michele, not the Current Occupant himself. Apparently Michele has the hots for cheerleader in chief. The Current Occupant, says Michele, is "buff".

Hey, 6th District. Let's not make Minnesota a laughing stock. Vote for Patty Wetterling.

Woof, Woof, or Norm Coleman chases the stick

I used to think that Tony Blair was the ultimate lap dog, doing whatever his master in DC wanted in order to receive treats and lovin'. But Norm Coleman is an even better model. He is the darling of the RNC, because he comes from a blue state (sort of), and even used to be a Democrat (sort of), and pro-choice (sort of). But ol' Norm has religion (sort of). Today in the Strib, he was shown to have floated a "don't let all the states become California" measure to stop individual states from taking a stand on carbon emissions and, by extension, global warming. Nuts, but, given his current willingness to follow along two steps behind his master, fetching sticks and chasing random squirrels, not surprising.

But I do think Norm's tail has not felt the Minnesota change in the wind. The RNC has pulled out of Minnesota, except for the Michelle Bachman-Patty Wetterling race. Michelle is the kind of right-winger we secular humanists (haven't heard that for a while, have you) love to hate. Anti-choice, anti-public schools, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, Michelle stands only for turning back the clock to about 1880. And she still has a chance, in a district that is consistently Republican and a tough slog for any Democrat. So the RNC is in there fighting. But they don't seem to be bringing Norm in to stump for her. As the Strib observed today, Michelle is genuinely nuts, whereas Norm is only nuts because that's what his master wants. It's a head shaker--what happened to this nice Jewish boy from Queens?

Minnesota weather and liberal politics

It's snowing in Minnesota, or at least parts of it. This is not typical, although we denizens of the North Star State certainly pride ourselves on our harsh weather and our ability to tolerate it. We often exaggerate how cold it gets. It makes us feel important, unusual, unique. Certain pundits think that the weather, and our traditionally liberal politics (more or less), are linked. So here's the question: is the fact that MN is now seen in some quarters as a purple state, rather than a blue state, a consequence of global warming? The warmer we get, the less liberal? You wouldn't believe there is such a thing as global warming today--it's 35 degrees, with a 40 MPH "breeze". This may bode well for the DFL candidates for Congress, as long as it stays cold. If there's Indian summer, watch out....

Congressman Foley and sexual harassment

Poor Congressman Foley. But nobody gets what is going on. I find myself infuriated that this matter now seems to be about everything except the kitchen sink. The pundits talk about pedophillia, predatory behavior, and who knew what when. This last is the most on target, but everyone still misses the point.

What Congressman Foley did was sexual harassment. I'm no lawyer, but I believe that sexual harassment is when someone in a position of power requests sexual favors in an explicit or implicit quid pro quo. Teachers (you'll get an A), clergy (I won't tell your parents), employers (you say you want a corner office?), or congress persons (would you like to meet the President?). Co-workers and managers (i.e., Dennis Hastert) can be liable for sexual harassment even if they didn't do anything themselves, but allowed someone else to continue to harass employees, students, or pages. Both harassment, and allowing harassment, are in violation of federal employment law.

I'm so sick of people focusing on Congressman Foley's homosexuality, or the morality of his behavior, or the general tone of Congress. That has nothing to do with this. It's harassment, and Hastert should get out while the getting is good. It happened on his watch, he knew about it, and he did nothing. Whew!