Apples and Rotten Oranges: Comparing Carter and Bush the Unready
I first encountered this line of argument in class. My student is a midlife empty nest returning student. Her husband is ex-military and now makes his living working for one of the many defense contractors lining the perimeter of our campus to whom my university, like most others today, have sold their very souls. Her comment came out of the blue and caught me completely off guard: “If we can survive four years of Jimmy Carter, we can survive four years of Obama.” My surprise must’ve been obvious because she immediately followed up that comment with the observation that Jimmy Carter was responsible for the current economic meltdown the country is experiencing. At the time, all I could think of in response was “Huh?”
What I didn’t know was that this was one of the many creative fabrications brought to us by those wonderful folks at Fox “News.” My partner had heard the same thing from his parents in darkest Augusta, Georgia and my own father parroted the same tune at a family dinner. (As my saintly mother used to say, "I don't know why your father has to watch all that stuff.") Given the inability of Fox to deal with the fact that their corporate sponsors, those same wonderful people who brought us Herbert Hoover, had now brought us George “the Unready” Bush with much the same results, it’s not surprising that its talking heads would stretch to find a scapegoat for the abject failures of its current regime. Jimmy Carter will do in a pinch, I suppose. G-d forbid we should ever have to examine closely the disasters wreaked upon the world through the Reaganomics and the clueless Bush the Elder who couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag in a grocery store with a scanner who followed candid Jimmy.
This week, a young evangelical Protestant man in Korea began interacting with one of the few remaining listservs on which I still write. (I do try to live into my own maxim which used to be physically taped to the top of my monitor: “Life is too short to argue with stupid people.”) I suppose he is driven by the evangelical compulsion to testify regardless of whether the content of one's message is worth purveying to anyone other than true believers. His contention was that George Bush and Jimmy Carter were both failures as presidents but also good Christians, whatever that means. I guess there was just something about muttering Carter and Bush’s name in the same sentence that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I provide my response below:
In my opinion, George Bush failed as President of the United States.
You don’t have to go too far out on a limb to make this observation. He inherited a budget in surplus and now it’s in the largest debt in US history. The economy is in the worst shape since the Great Depression under his regime which allowed the industry representatives to deregulate every aspect of the economy they could with predictable results. We’re in two wars in two places in the world with little to show for it but ongoing enmity and death and destruction. Mr. Bush should never have been president and in fact was not really elected. History will judge him harshly.
However, he is a good Christian too.
Well, I don’t know that. And you don’t either, actually. George says he’s a Christian and I think we have to take him at his word on that. Whether that’s a good thing or not is a different question. I see very little about George’s life and policies that even hint at Jesus. I do hear a lot of rhetoric that sounds like evangelical Protestantism. Those things may or may not be related.
Same applies to Jimmy Carter.
Mr. Carter had at least twice the IQ of George Bush and half the ego. He dealt with very trying conditions and had the nerve to actually tell the American people the truth about our situation: “We are addicted to foreign oil, it’s going to destroy our economy and our environment. We need to deal with our addiction.” The American people rewarded his candor by electing a washed up B actor named Reagan who promptly ran up the second highest deficits in history, armed most of Central America for a series of catastrophic civil wars and dumped millions of mentally ill people onto our streets while cheerfully declaring “It’s morning in America.”
Sometimes we get the leadership we deserve. Carter was probably too bright and too honest to be president. Reagan reflected our superficiality and our greed. Bush reflects our mediocrity of character and our denial about the end of our privileged empire.
I really think of George Bush and Jimmy Carter as family.
When I meditate on loving my neighbor as myself, I often find it helpful to visualize the people I have most difficulty loving. The two who almost always come to mind for me are George Bush and Osama bin Laden. And for many of the same reasons.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Relief, Joy, Hope, Tears
It’s been two weeks now since Barack Obama made history by becoming the first African-American to be elected US President. In the weeks before the election, I found it difficult to sleep. I spent hours checking the pollster sites, particularly those predicting the vote in Florida. The day of the election, after spending no more than 10 minutes at my polling place to vote, I was too full of nervous energy to concentrate on much of anything. So I went down to Obama headquarters, got a sign and went to the corner of Bumby and Colonial, near several shopping centers, and waved my sign shouting “Obama! Obama! Time for change, America!” punctuated by honking horns, a lot of thumbs up and a few birds. By 11:30 that night, we knew Obama had won and by midnight we knew Florida’s votes for the Democratic candidate would count this time.
I was surprised by my response to Obama’s victory speech, a speech marked by generosity of spirit, a realistic assessment of the enormous job he faces of cleaning up eight years of damage from the Bush team, and the sudden realization for many Americans captured by the cameras scanning the audience at Grant Park in Chicago that we had actually elected a black president. That realization was marked by tears on the faces of Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey in the crowd that night. And suddenly, I felt my own heart erupting in a flood of tears as I watched Obama’s family and his new vice-president and wife come to the stage to congratulate the next president of the United States.
In the days since the election, the news and photos have poured in from all around the world. My lawyer buddy from New York sent a series of photos from around the world documenting the reaction of people hearing the news of Obama’s victory. In almost every photo I saw my own reactions: elation, shock, and tears. And even now, two weeks after the election results were announced and the hangovers of Wednesday, Nov. 6 had subsided, seeing the photos of that night's events can still bring a lump to my throat and a tightness in my chest.
I have asked myself what in this election has so deeply touched human beings around the world, what has produced the nearly universal response of tears. I know in part it is a sense of my countrymen and women finally realizing a milestone in – though hardly a conclusion to - our long, long fight against racism. My students cannot completely comprehend how astounding this is for a man who spent the first six years of his life in segregated schools, lived through desegregation and riots that left whole sections of America’s cities empty lots, taught in formerly all-black schools in ghettos and spent much of his career as a lawyer working with poor people, many of them people of color whose understanding of the justice system was that the burden of the laws applied to “just us.” Seeing a black man standing on that victory podium after growing up in a South of segregated water fountains, restrooms and dining rooms, in a Florida with miscegenation statutes on the books and a common sense that said “It will always be this way, just as G-d intended it” – well, that’s enough to bring a grown man to tears. Apparently, I was not alone.
But it took the comments of one of my students in a response to a film we saw in class yesterday to put it all into focus for me. As I read her paper, I felt my chest tighten, the tears welling in my eyes once again. Here’s what she said:
“I cried when Obama was elected as our next president, not only because it was such a relief from the debacle of Bush’s terms, but also because of the symbolic element. The US, a country that fought a civil war and spent many years steeped in bitter prejudice, had managed to elect a black man. I thought people had really grown desensitized and apathetic beneath Bush and I help out little hope that anyone would care enough to try to make a difference with this election. But the outcome really makes me optimistic about the future…”
Indeed. Relief in a president who can construct a sentence in proper English that makes sense. Relief that I am not embarrassed anymore when I go overseas to reveal that I am an American, a citizen of a country no longer led by a privileged frat boy cum cowboy who never grew up and nearly destroyed my country and a good chunk of the world in the process. Relief that the values I have always held dear as an American – justice, equality, opportunity for all – might yet replace the values of the last eight years – cynicism, privilege and fear mongering - values that my young student so eloquently noted seemed almost a foregone conclusion as recently as a year ago.
Along with relief, like my student, I am also daring ever so cautiously to hope once again. And what makes me most hopeful is the fact that this assessment came from a member of Gen Y, the Millenials, the students who stood in line up to 5 hours on election day with an 80% turnout at our campus precinct, who voted 60/40 for Obama and 60/40 against the Yes-on-Hate Amendment 2. It is these young women and men who may well end up spending their lives saving the world from the mess we’ve made of it. And they will have their work cut out for them. The people of California, Arizona, Arkansas and Florida gave notice in this same election that the next round of the culture war will be fought over whether people like my gentle spirited partner of 34 years and myself will be treated equally under the law.
But, for tonight I am hopeful. I am encouraged by the daringly optimistic insights of my college sophomore, whose voice unabashedly proclaims the hopes of an entire generation of young Americans in a mundane classroom writing assignment. Most of all, I am grateful for the privilege of being one of their teachers.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It’s been two weeks now since Barack Obama made history by becoming the first African-American to be elected US President. In the weeks before the election, I found it difficult to sleep. I spent hours checking the pollster sites, particularly those predicting the vote in Florida. The day of the election, after spending no more than 10 minutes at my polling place to vote, I was too full of nervous energy to concentrate on much of anything. So I went down to Obama headquarters, got a sign and went to the corner of Bumby and Colonial, near several shopping centers, and waved my sign shouting “Obama! Obama! Time for change, America!” punctuated by honking horns, a lot of thumbs up and a few birds. By 11:30 that night, we knew Obama had won and by midnight we knew Florida’s votes for the Democratic candidate would count this time.
I was surprised by my response to Obama’s victory speech, a speech marked by generosity of spirit, a realistic assessment of the enormous job he faces of cleaning up eight years of damage from the Bush team, and the sudden realization for many Americans captured by the cameras scanning the audience at Grant Park in Chicago that we had actually elected a black president. That realization was marked by tears on the faces of Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey in the crowd that night. And suddenly, I felt my own heart erupting in a flood of tears as I watched Obama’s family and his new vice-president and wife come to the stage to congratulate the next president of the United States.
In the days since the election, the news and photos have poured in from all around the world. My lawyer buddy from New York sent a series of photos from around the world documenting the reaction of people hearing the news of Obama’s victory. In almost every photo I saw my own reactions: elation, shock, and tears. And even now, two weeks after the election results were announced and the hangovers of Wednesday, Nov. 6 had subsided, seeing the photos of that night's events can still bring a lump to my throat and a tightness in my chest.
I have asked myself what in this election has so deeply touched human beings around the world, what has produced the nearly universal response of tears. I know in part it is a sense of my countrymen and women finally realizing a milestone in – though hardly a conclusion to - our long, long fight against racism. My students cannot completely comprehend how astounding this is for a man who spent the first six years of his life in segregated schools, lived through desegregation and riots that left whole sections of America’s cities empty lots, taught in formerly all-black schools in ghettos and spent much of his career as a lawyer working with poor people, many of them people of color whose understanding of the justice system was that the burden of the laws applied to “just us.” Seeing a black man standing on that victory podium after growing up in a South of segregated water fountains, restrooms and dining rooms, in a Florida with miscegenation statutes on the books and a common sense that said “It will always be this way, just as G-d intended it” – well, that’s enough to bring a grown man to tears. Apparently, I was not alone.
But it took the comments of one of my students in a response to a film we saw in class yesterday to put it all into focus for me. As I read her paper, I felt my chest tighten, the tears welling in my eyes once again. Here’s what she said:
“I cried when Obama was elected as our next president, not only because it was such a relief from the debacle of Bush’s terms, but also because of the symbolic element. The US, a country that fought a civil war and spent many years steeped in bitter prejudice, had managed to elect a black man. I thought people had really grown desensitized and apathetic beneath Bush and I help out little hope that anyone would care enough to try to make a difference with this election. But the outcome really makes me optimistic about the future…”
Indeed. Relief in a president who can construct a sentence in proper English that makes sense. Relief that I am not embarrassed anymore when I go overseas to reveal that I am an American, a citizen of a country no longer led by a privileged frat boy cum cowboy who never grew up and nearly destroyed my country and a good chunk of the world in the process. Relief that the values I have always held dear as an American – justice, equality, opportunity for all – might yet replace the values of the last eight years – cynicism, privilege and fear mongering - values that my young student so eloquently noted seemed almost a foregone conclusion as recently as a year ago.
Along with relief, like my student, I am also daring ever so cautiously to hope once again. And what makes me most hopeful is the fact that this assessment came from a member of Gen Y, the Millenials, the students who stood in line up to 5 hours on election day with an 80% turnout at our campus precinct, who voted 60/40 for Obama and 60/40 against the Yes-on-Hate Amendment 2. It is these young women and men who may well end up spending their lives saving the world from the mess we’ve made of it. And they will have their work cut out for them. The people of California, Arizona, Arkansas and Florida gave notice in this same election that the next round of the culture war will be fought over whether people like my gentle spirited partner of 34 years and myself will be treated equally under the law.
But, for tonight I am hopeful. I am encouraged by the daringly optimistic insights of my college sophomore, whose voice unabashedly proclaims the hopes of an entire generation of young Americans in a mundane classroom writing assignment. Most of all, I am grateful for the privilege of being one of their teachers.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Friday, November 14, 2008
Things that make you go Hmmmm…….
All stories from today’s paper:
http://OrlandoSentinel.com
Cards pile up, tears fall for slain Dillard High School student
By Macollvie Jean-Francois, Kathy Bushouse and Robert Nolin
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
November 14, 2008
It's an all too familiar coming-of-age ritual: An outpouring of grief from high schoolers mourning the loss of one of their own, confused hurt manifested in flowers, teddy bears, and awkward messages scrawled on walls.Thursday, the scene played out once again, this time in memory of Amanda Collette, a 15-year-old Dillard High School student who police say was shot and killed by a single bullet fired by a childhood friend.
Student may have told Dillard High officials about gun
District looking into whether Dillard shooting was avoidable
By Kathy Bushouse, Tonya Alanez and Mike Clary
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
November 14, 2008
FORT LAUDERDALE
Broward School District officials are investigating whether a student told a Dillard High School teacher or staff member that Teah Wimberly had a handgun before she used it to fatally shoot a friend and classmate in a school hallway, Superintendent James Notter said Thursday.
Editorial: Metal detectors at school entrances?
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
5:59 PM EST, November 13, 2008
In the wake of Wednesday's tragedy at Dillard High School, it is the question of the day — and it's the wrong question: "Why aren't there metal detectors to stop guns from getting into schools?"Metal detectors at school entrances aren't the answer, and they aren't happening. Not when the Broward School District has to cut another $34.2 million from the budget, and Palm Beach County schools are cutting $23.4 million. Even if money was available, turning schools into fortresses is not the answer.So it is time to ask the better question: "How can we be more vigilant in recognizing problems before they escalate into violence?" It's a similar question asked after every campus homicide.
Gun sales up after Obama openly supports banning assault weapons
Henry Pierson Curtis
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 14, 2008
Gun sales are up across Central Florida, dealers say, part of a nationwide pattern after President-elect Barack Obama's open support of permanently banning assault weapons.The buying spree reminds local sellers of a 1994 surge that preceded the 10-year ban on semiautomatic military-style rifles. The trend began last summer when anti-Obama posters became marketing tools at Florida gun shows.
All fired up: Gun owners rush to buy guns for fear Obama, Democrats will curb gun rights
By DENA POTTER
3:59 AM EST, November 8, 2008
MIDLOTHIAN, Va. (AP) _ When 10-year-old Austin Smith heard Barack Obama had been elected president, he had one question: Does this mean I won't get a new gun for Christmas?That brought his mother, the camouflage-clad Rachel Smith, to Bob Moates Sports Shop on Thursday, where she was picking out that special 20-gauge shotgun — one of at least five weapons she plans to buy before Obama takes office in January.Like Smith, gun enthusiasts nationwide are stocking up on firearms out of fears that the combination of an Obama administration and a Democrat-dominated Congress will result in tough new gun laws.
Obama: Your guns are safe
—James Oliphant
September 6, 2008
DURYEA, Pa. — Barack Obama got a chance to go back to Scranton on Friday and talk about guns. And he made the most of it.This week, Obama was on the receiving end of a blast from Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin, who accused him of talking "one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco," a reference to Obama's now-infamous comment about how some people in America "cling to guns or religion."Obama toured a glass factory in Duryea, a small town outside Scranton, and took questions afterward."There are rumors going around that ... you're going to take away our guns," said Joan O'Neil. Obama said: "I believe in the 2nd Amendment, and if you are a law-abiding gun owner you have nothing to fear from an Obama administration."
But are your children?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
All stories from today’s paper:
http://OrlandoSentinel.com
Cards pile up, tears fall for slain Dillard High School student
By Macollvie Jean-Francois, Kathy Bushouse and Robert Nolin
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
November 14, 2008
It's an all too familiar coming-of-age ritual: An outpouring of grief from high schoolers mourning the loss of one of their own, confused hurt manifested in flowers, teddy bears, and awkward messages scrawled on walls.Thursday, the scene played out once again, this time in memory of Amanda Collette, a 15-year-old Dillard High School student who police say was shot and killed by a single bullet fired by a childhood friend.
Student may have told Dillard High officials about gun
District looking into whether Dillard shooting was avoidable
By Kathy Bushouse, Tonya Alanez and Mike Clary
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
November 14, 2008
FORT LAUDERDALE
Broward School District officials are investigating whether a student told a Dillard High School teacher or staff member that Teah Wimberly had a handgun before she used it to fatally shoot a friend and classmate in a school hallway, Superintendent James Notter said Thursday.
Editorial: Metal detectors at school entrances?
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
5:59 PM EST, November 13, 2008
In the wake of Wednesday's tragedy at Dillard High School, it is the question of the day — and it's the wrong question: "Why aren't there metal detectors to stop guns from getting into schools?"Metal detectors at school entrances aren't the answer, and they aren't happening. Not when the Broward School District has to cut another $34.2 million from the budget, and Palm Beach County schools are cutting $23.4 million. Even if money was available, turning schools into fortresses is not the answer.So it is time to ask the better question: "How can we be more vigilant in recognizing problems before they escalate into violence?" It's a similar question asked after every campus homicide.
Gun sales up after Obama openly supports banning assault weapons
Henry Pierson Curtis
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 14, 2008
Gun sales are up across Central Florida, dealers say, part of a nationwide pattern after President-elect Barack Obama's open support of permanently banning assault weapons.The buying spree reminds local sellers of a 1994 surge that preceded the 10-year ban on semiautomatic military-style rifles. The trend began last summer when anti-Obama posters became marketing tools at Florida gun shows.
All fired up: Gun owners rush to buy guns for fear Obama, Democrats will curb gun rights
By DENA POTTER
3:59 AM EST, November 8, 2008
MIDLOTHIAN, Va. (AP) _ When 10-year-old Austin Smith heard Barack Obama had been elected president, he had one question: Does this mean I won't get a new gun for Christmas?That brought his mother, the camouflage-clad Rachel Smith, to Bob Moates Sports Shop on Thursday, where she was picking out that special 20-gauge shotgun — one of at least five weapons she plans to buy before Obama takes office in January.Like Smith, gun enthusiasts nationwide are stocking up on firearms out of fears that the combination of an Obama administration and a Democrat-dominated Congress will result in tough new gun laws.
Obama: Your guns are safe
—James Oliphant
September 6, 2008
DURYEA, Pa. — Barack Obama got a chance to go back to Scranton on Friday and talk about guns. And he made the most of it.This week, Obama was on the receiving end of a blast from Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin, who accused him of talking "one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco," a reference to Obama's now-infamous comment about how some people in America "cling to guns or religion."Obama toured a glass factory in Duryea, a small town outside Scranton, and took questions afterward."There are rumors going around that ... you're going to take away our guns," said Joan O'Neil. Obama said: "I believe in the 2nd Amendment, and if you are a law-abiding gun owner you have nothing to fear from an Obama administration."
But are your children?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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