Bathtub in the Road

No, I am not making this up. In traffic reports one recent morning there was word of a rush hour delay because a bathtub was in the road. I've been thinking about it all day. What does it mean to be blocked on your way by a bathtub in the road? It's a powerful metaphor for something. I just don't know what.

This slice of real life comes on the morning after a dream I had. I was digging up a broken sprinkler valve in the front yard. Because the water had been flowing freely it had carved an underground chamber. I was peering into the hole trying to decide how big it was when I saw a light. I looked deeper and saw that the hole expanded into a large cave with smooth concrete floor that ran from my yard to somewhere under the street. Then I saw a man, kind of Mexican looking. I yelled (or tied to yell in that dream-paralyzed state) at him to get out of there and he ran off deeper into the cave. I suddenly knew how they were getting access to my house! Then I woke up.
Perhaps the Mexican living under my street had something to do with the bathtub in the road.

It’s the ideology, Stupid.

It’s the ideology, Stupid. The Republicans have one. The Democrats don’t.

I know what the Republican Ideology is: Smaller Government, Lower Taxes, Fiscal Discipline, Lower Taxes, limited-entitlements, Lower Taxes, Personal Freedom, Lower Taxes, Military Might, Lower Taxes, Higher Security, Lower Taxes, Domination over Consensus in International affairs, Lower Taxes, Good Business Climate, Lower Taxes, Pro Gun, Lower Taxes, Pro Life, Lower Taxes, Anti-Gay, Lower Taxes, Moral Values, Conservative Good, Liberal bad, and Lower Taxes.

Now in practice, the Republicans have completely abandoned any semblance of smaller government and fiscal responsibility. They have embraced costly entitlements, and would sacrifice more personal freedom in the name of security and ‘moral values’ than anything since Jim Crow and Grandfather clauses. So it’s not that they strictly follow the ideology, it’s that they have one.

I can take a stab at the Democrat’s apparent Ideology. Lets see – how about “We’re sort of the same as the Republicans just not as extreme or mean spirited and we most definitely are not Liberal.” Yeah, that’s how to build a base, and formulate a message.

Given that we were not running for anything, but against Bush, without articulating a clear new direction is it any wonder more than half of American voters decided to stay the course? If we had to lose, we should have lost on what we stand for, because we are never going to win by pointing out how far to the right the republicans are and then saying were not that far right.

We need to stop defining ourselves in terms of the Republican’s Ideology, and define ourselves by what we really stand for. We need to reclaim the term ‘liberal’ from the ash heap of political pejoratives and restore is as a proud tradition. A tradition that stands for:
Stewardship of our environment and resources.
Helping those in need of basic human services.
Defending basic human rights.
Preserving rights for the minority.
Expanding rights for the oppressed and disenfranchised.
Investing in sound science for the betterment of all.
Leading the world, not bullying it.
Making America a better place to live and prosper.

Moral Values?

In the Election post mortem, many stated that their biggest reason for voting for George W. Bush was moral values. Moral values? That is just code for outlawing abortion and seeking legal ways to treat gays and lesbians as second class citizens.
What we need is moral courage. Courage to recognize that safe, legal but rarely chosen abortion is the only acceptable balance between the tragic loss of the unborn and the horrific specter of state control over reproductive and health choices. Courage to understand that there are no second class citizens of this country and to stand against any law, policy, or group that says otherwise. Courage to hold dear the separation of Church & State so that we may worship without fear and suffer civil consequences only when we break man's law and not someone's
idea of God's law. Courage to disagree without hate. Courage to act
on principal with understanding rather than on fear with ignorance.
I wonder if anyone claiming to have voted on 'moral values' ever stood
up for anyone other than themselves and those just like them?