Culture

Today is November 11th.  It is also Veterans Day and Armistice Day.  Armistice Day commemorates the end of ”the War to End All Wars,” otherwise known as ”The Great War” or World War I.  WW I formerly ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.

President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed an Armistice Day for November 12, 1919.  It was later changed to the 11th of November each year.  In 1953 a Kansas shoe storeowner had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who served in World War I.  Congress liked the idea and passed legislation to that effect.   President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it into law on May 26, 1954.  And with that signature, Veterans Day was born!

As a child in the 1970s, my family often visited my grandmother in the small town (population 512) of Balsam Lake, Wisconsin. The town was patriotic and had a ceremony in the local cemetery honoring the fallen soldiers each year.  The highlight of the ceremony was Ernie Pearson dressed in his Doughboy uniform shooting his World War I rifle (in what I assume, but don’t remember exactly was a “21 Gun Salute“).  Ernie was probably in his late 70s or early 80s back then.  It seemed like it took all of his energy to raise the weapon to his shoulder.  But he did so every year until he died because it was important to him to remember and pay tribute to those who died for America.

I am thankful to Ernie for the magical stories he told me as a pre-teen about the War and his experiences fighting in it.  The world he shared with me doesn’t exist anymore but I had a glimpse of what it was like.  If you want a glimpse into World War I, I recommend THE GREAT WAR by PBS.

Thank you Ernie and your fellow vets who fought for our freedom!   I hope we as a nation are worthy of your sacrifices and remember you all on this Veterans Day!

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In my last blog post entitled “We Need To Get Behind Obama!” I said that I believe one of the reasons Obama won the election was because people voted tribally and put together a coalition of special interest groups in support of electing him. 

Here is an example of tribalism.  Please note, I am using this as an example to illustrate tribalism only because I am aware of this personally.  I am not making any broad political, religious, or moral comments with this post (i.e. don’t send me hate mail accusing me of being a “this” or a “that”).

Joe, not his real name, is a friend of a friend.  He’s a nice guy.  We have common interests and I like him. Joe is gay and is in a long-term relationship.  He and his partner live together, own a house and run a successful small business together.

Joe goes to church and is generally a moderate sort of fellow.  His partner is a Conservative Jew, they support Israel, and regularly donate to the Jewish National Fund.  They supported the war, although were worried about the financial and human costs associated with it.  Like a lot of Angelinos, Joe and his partner are concerned about illegal immigration and how it is really draining the city, county, and state’s infrastructure.

Several months ago Joe said that he believes marriage is between a man and a woman, it was inappropriate to define marriage as a union between same-sex couples, and he was completely ok with domestic partnership laws to protect his civil rights.   At the same time he expressed concern over California’s rising taxes and how that was hurting their business.

Joe voted for Obama because he wanted change.  I didn’t but I understand why he did so and respect his intent.  Joe voted against Proposition 8 (the Amendment to the California Constitution to ban gay marriage). I also voted against Prop 8.  My motivation was that I didn’t think it is wise to change the Constitution on cultural or political whims, which is one important difference between America and a “Banana Republic“.

Joe said that he voted against Prop 8 because “I am personally aware of how [Prop 8] would discriminate against me and close friends!”  Some would argue that Joe was voting tribally at this point: He was looking out only for his interests and not looking at the bigger picture.  You could also argue that he voted the way he did because he is trying to protect the civil rights of a minority group.  Again I’m not going to question his intent.  

It is what happened next that I found fascinating and illustrates tribalism.  Prop 8 passed in California by a slim majority and faces many lawsuits before it becomes the law of the land.   There have been many protests.

Joe has started sending out emails to his network this week advising people to attend protest marches and rallies and get involved with a group called ANSWER LA (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism).  In looking at ANSWER LA ’s website they are not only for overturning Prop 8 but for ”socialism and liberation” and are educating people on “why socialism is the only answer to the misery created by capitalism.”  They are also for giving, in their words, the “racist state of Israel” back to the Palestinians, and legalizing illegal immigrants. As you might have guessed, they are against the “Imperialist” war.

Look at Joe’s character arc: Two months ago he didn’t agree with ANSWER LA’s stand on anything.  Today he agrees with their stand on everything.  I asked about his change of position.  His reply was simple: “ANSWER LA supported Obama like I did. They are good for my people so I support them unconditionally.”  Joe by his own admission now belongs to a tribe and he is putting his tribe’s interests above his own beliefs.  

Joe isn’t unique.  There are countless tribes in America and more developing every day.  The tribes represent every imaginable race, creed, color, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, deviation, like, dislike, political view, religion, social position, class, and interest.   If we try to solve America’s problems by bringing together coalitions of tribes, we will never succeed.  Success will come only when we unify and put the best interest our nation first, while of course protecting the rights of minority groups. A tribe is, what a tribe does.

The challenge for America is whether or not we will be a nation of tribes or one tribe!

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For any of you who know me or have read my comments about Obama these last few months, you’re probably thinking this is a joke. If it were, I could come up with a few punch-lines, but it is not.  I am very sincere when I say: We as a nation need to get behind President-elect Obama and we need to do so today!

Early this summer I looked at supporting Obama.  I liked many of things he said.  I didn’t support him, not because he is African-American, not because he’s a Democrat, not because he’s young and inexperienced, and not even because he’s liberal.  

I didn’t support Obama because he repeatedly either lied about his associations and beliefs or was incredible stupid and naive about them.  Either scenario disqualified him in my mind to be President.   We had the former for eight years with the Clinton Administration and the later for eight years with Bush Two.  I wanted real change not Chicago-style politics!  I want a Vision Caster!  Obama is not one.

I believe Obama is bad for America and I have made that point quite clear!  But I was in the minority. Barack Obama has been elected to be the 44th President of the United State of America for better or worse.

I believe he won the election for seven reasons:

1. People were very angry (understandably) with George Bush and wanted change.  Obama was not W.
2. John McCain and Sarah Palin weren’t very impressive candidates especially compared to Obama.
3. Obama represented himself as a centrist (as am I) and hid his far-left leaning beliefs from the voters.
4. There was such a lovefest with Obama in the mainstream media that the Press didn’t do its job and scrutinize him like they should have.
5. The financial crisis scared people into reacting emotionally and irrationally rather than logically and thoughtfully.
6. People didn’t take the time to research the candidates and issues.
7. And most troubling to me, people voted tribally.  Many say this election represents a milestone in America by electing the first African-American President.  To me the election results merely indicate that like countries with a Parliamentary system of government, Obama was able to put together a coalition of special interest groups to support him.   There was no “mainstream” consensus to elect him.  The country is more divided than before with anger on both sides of the electorate.  For America to solve her problems, there needs to be more than a coalition of special interests, there needs to be a Republic-wide mandate!

All this being said, as Christians we are told in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 to pray for our leaders.  Additionally we are told to submit to our leaders in Hebrews 13:17.  I will be doing both during an Obama Administration and will try to do so with joy.  To be honest, this is going to be hard for me, but I will try my best.

For non-Christians, I encourage you to support Obama as well.  If for no other reason than it is in your personal and our national best interest to do so.  He already has the “deer in the headlights” look after one day on the job and I am certain the problems are only going to get worse and worse quickly.   If he fails as President, we’re all going to go down with him!  So let’s try and keep that from happening!

No one is 100% evil or incompetent all of the time so I’m sure there will be some good that comes out of his Administration.   Additionally he’s probably a nice guy and is someone I’d want to have a beer with.  Although when I interned in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office many years ago I said the same thing about a serial killer I had to interview in jail…

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“The [U.S.] flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property”
- Title 36, U.S.C., Chapter 10

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This is a 2001 radio interview with State Senator Barack Obama.  He says quite clearly in this interview many times in many different ways that one of the failures of the Civil Rights Movement was that the Supreme Court didn’t provide for redistribution of wealth or “economic justice.”

Folks, Obama’s beliefs are so radically socialist that if elected, he will make Fidel Castro seem like a capitalist!  He will destroy America and I am not exaggerating!

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As a kid I loved watching Star Trek. My hero at the time was a man’s man: The heroic, swashbuckling, and ultimate ladies man Captain James T. Kirk played by William Shatner.

A friend who writes a lot of SciFi for both the big and small screens says that Science Fiction is just a Western set in space. Ron must be right since Star Trek now seems to share some theatrical elements with Brokeback Mountain.

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I saw the Lucy’s Legacy Exhibit at the Pacific Science Center Saturday. It was opening day and I was very excited to be able to attend!

I love archeology but I didn’t dig this exhibit (pun intended). It was well done, professional, and there really were a few “Lucy” artifacts present.  But the focus was on Ethiopia and that country’s cultural heritage rather than on archeology or Lucy.

According to the exhibit website, the “More than 100 artifacts in the exhibit illuminate this rich heritage, including fossils, historical manuscripts, paintings, coins, musical instruments, implements of daily use, religious artifacts and more.”

I saw the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit there last year and this had the same sort of feel to it. I think both events were created to generate revenue rather than to exhibit artifacts: Everything was very simple and painted with a big brush.

Bottom line, it might be fun for kids and would be more stimulating than taking them to the movies, but if you’re an adult and love archeology I think you’ll be disappointed too.

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This isn’t new, but a reader just made me aware of this. What do you think?

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