Politics Archives - Page 6 of 31 - Ramblin' with Roger

Preachers, politics, and the Christian Left

“This need not be our normal.”

Love thy neighbor People of faith have been, and ought to be involved with small-p politics, in terms of feeding the hungry, but also pointing out injustice, opposing immoral wars, and the like.

I’m fascinated that the Washington National Cathedral, the closest thing the US has to a national house of worship, issued a strong statement about the White House resident. “The racial overtones are clear, and they are building,” says Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. “This need not be our normal.”:

The new DC Archbishop, Wilton Gregory, and the only black archbishop in the nation, said 45 is “diminishing our national life,” by attacking non-white members of Congress. “I have stressed that I am a pastor and fellow disciple of Jesus, not a political leader,” Gregory, the former archbishop of Atlanta, said in a statement to the Catholic Standard. “There are, however, sometimes, when a pastor and a disciple of Jesus is called to speak out to defend the dignity of all God’s children.

“Our faith teaches us that respect for people of every race, religion, gender, ethnicity and background are requirements of fundamental human dignity and basic decency,” Gregory said. “This include newcomers to our country, people who have differing political views and people who may be different from us. Comments which dismiss, demean or demonize any of God’s children are destructive of the common good and a denial of our national pledge of ‘liberty and justice for all.'”

You can tell these comments were made reluctantly, lest their intentions be misunderstood, their parishioners offended, their sincerity attacked.

Someone, I wish I remembered who, noted recently that Paul Tillich, one of the most important theologians of the 20th century, said c. 1960 that we should declare a 100-year moratorium on the use of the word “God.” “He’d simply grown weary of people dropping the name to support their utterly non-scriptural, usually bigoted, fundamentalist agenda, and wanted time for the air to clear, and to let real theologians set the record straight.”

I’m not crazy about the term Christian left, because it seems to suggest a primarily electoral agenda. Still, John Pavlovitz lays it out correctly. “The loudest people get to write the story that everyone hears, the one they come to believe is the only story. In this way, they get to define what is true for those looking on, who may not hear anything else.

“Right now there is a story being written about Christians in America; a story saturated with cruelty and absent of compassion, and because the authors’ volume is so great and their profile so high and their political position so unrivaled—that is becoming the singular story. It is becoming true for all of us.

“But that is not our story.” And he goes into great deal about what IS an alternative narrative. This important to me personally, because those louder, more Politically connected, but less spiritually compassionate have been a stain on my faith for WAY too long.

Finally, an old IRL friend of mine said recently, “You know, Roger, so many ‘good’ people who claim to follow Jesus Christ also support racism in this country. Do they really think they won’t burn in hell for their greed and bigotry?!” To which I can safely answer, these things are WAY above my pay grade.

Wilmington, NC coup d’etat of 1898

The mob broke out windows and set the building on fire

The only coup d’etat In U.S. history took place in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898. “Almost two-thirds of its population was black, with a small but significant middle class.” There were a number of black businesspeople and civil servants. “A good feeling between the races existed as long as white Democrats controlled the state politically.”

In the Jim Crow south, the race relations were practically idyllic. “But when a coalition of predominately white Populists and black Republicans defeated the Democrats in 1896 and won political control of the state, Democrats vowed revenge” two years later.

The outbreak stemmed “from an editorial published by the Wilmington Daily Record, an African American newspaper edited by Alexander Manly. In response to an appeal for the lynching of black rapists made by crusader Rebecca Felton in Georgia, Manly wrote that white women ‘are not any more particular in the matter of clandestine meetings with colored men than are the white men with colored women.’

“Moreover, Manly argued, many accusations of rape were simply cases where a black man was having an affair with a white woman. Because it involved the sensitive issue of interracial sexual relations, the editorial struck a raw nerve with many whites and led to bitter denunciations of Manly in the Democratic press.”

“On November 10th, Alfred Moore Waddell, a former Confederate officer and a white supremacist, led a group of townsmen to force the ouster of Wilmington’s city officials… Waddell led 500 white men to the headquarters of the Daily Record on 7th Street. The mob broke out windows and set the building on fire. Manly and other high profile African Americans fled the city; however, at least 14 African Americans were slain that day.

“When their criminal behavior resulted in neither Federal sanctions nor condemnation from the state, Waddell and his men formalized their control of Wilmington. The posse forced the Republican members of the city council and the mayor to resign and Waddell assumed the mayoral seat.

November 10, 1898 is considered a turning point in post-Reconstruction North Carolina politics. The event initiated an era of more severe racial segregation and effective disenfranchisement of African Americans throughout the South, a shift already underway.

Read The Lost History of an American Coup D’État in The Atlantic magazine.

For ABC Wednesday

Congressperson Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – AOC

Almost immediately, well before the November general election, when AOC was actually elected, the 29-year-old organizer and former bartender, became a cause celebre.

AOC Some weeks ago, when I roughly plotted my ABC Wednesday for this round, I decided on O is for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I thought it’d be simple. HA!

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ran for Congress in 2018. She entered the Democratic primary in New York’s 14th House District, representing parts of northern Queens and eastern Bronx.

Her opponent was the incumbent, Joseph Crowley. She campaigned hard, while Crowley, who had not been primaried since 2004, only started taking the challenge seriously in the latter stages. On June 26, she won the primary.

Almost immediately, well before the November general election, when she was actually elected, the 29-year-old organizer and former bartender, became a cause celebre. From Vanity Fair: It appears Republicans have finally learned that criticizing social-media-savvy freshman [AOC] only makes her stronger. And She Quotes Watchmen in Response to Critics.

Are the attacks because of anxiety, as one neuroscientist who studies such things suggests? Something is driving faux scandals such as a fake nude photo or dancing in college (horrors!) or not being “hot” enough.

Perhaps it is their fear of her support of a high marginal tax rate for rich people, which is supported by people such as Peter Diamond, Nobel laureate in economics “and arguably the world’s leading expert on public finance…

And “it’s a policy nobody has every implemented, aside from… the United States, for 35 years after World War II — including the most successful period of economic growth in our history.” She is on Financial Services Committee, and Banks Are Afraid.

The New York Democrat has been met with warm welcomes from working people in red states, such as Kentucky, where poor communities would benefit from progressive policies, such as the Green New Deal, a framework for environmental considerations.

The Onion kiddingly said that Fox News debuted a premium channel for 24-hour coverage of AOC. Fox News’ Laura Ingraham actually did rant about AOC’s “Minority Privilege”. Rush Limbaugh complains
the Member of Congress is too “uppity.” James Woods calls her “The Most Dangerous Person” in the nation.

On the other hand, her lightning-round exploration of government ethics limits was brilliant as was her questioning of Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney. Her explanation of a broken system was spot-on. She encourages people to “shake the table” in pursuit of justice.

Even an AIER writer believed that The Amazon Deal Was An Outrage From the Beginning, something AOC opposed for NYC.

As a novice political entity, she’s been told to “wait her turn,” advice which she has largely ignored. Noam Chomsky says she and other newcomers are rousing the multitudes. And don’t we want an engaged electorate?

Film director Michael Moore dubbed AOC the leader of Democratic Party now. Surely, she is challenging the Democratic establishment.

As a result, a least one House Democrat is trying to recruit someone to run against her in a primary in order to make her a ‘one-term congresswoman.

AOC says “I’m not a superhero. I’m not a villain.” Well maybe; there IS a comic book about her. She’s normal enough to gush at meeting Bill Nye, the science guy.

For ABC Wednesday

Whither? Zither! I still don’t care

It’s my general disdain for having to deal with the political process this early.

zither Another Ask Roger Anything reply! Bill, who I know because he’s a friend of my sister Leslie: OK, here’s my question: Whither?

There’s obviously a lot going on in my subconscious.

To which, Dan, who I know IRL, replied: Wither? Zither!

In a recent dream, I’m at some sort of conference, where the participants are sitting in a large circle. The instructor is riding me constantly for being so backwards. I’m using a tablet when everyone else is using their smartwatches.

I’m becoming increasingly irritated. After repeated snark, I storm out of the room.

For some reason, rioting ensues on the campus. I am sitting on a toilet, with people pounding on the door to get in; it is NOT the only stall.

Bernie Sanders walks into my stall. I get up and throw him down a flight of stairs.

This is obviously a dream about my technophobia. Plus it’s my general disdain for having to deal with the political process this early. It’s not so much antagonism towards Bernie, who I voted for in the 2016 Democratic primary.

To wit, Kevin, who I’ve known since college, asked: Who do you favor for the Dem. nomination for Pres at this point in the campaign?

As I noted here and especially here, I don’t care all that much, yet.

I AM grumpy about people saying that Joe or Bernie or Elizabeth – who appear to be the front runners, so far – should not run because they’re over 70, or will be soon.

This piece about Mayor Pete pleased me.

I don’t think my senator Kirsten Gillibrand has a shot. She was perceived as too “corporatist” early, and she got Al Franken booted out of the Senate. (The actual facts re: the latter are irrelevant to the narrative.)

Re: Beto, I’m still trying to figure out if there’s a there there.

I get more email from Jay Inslee, governor of Washington state, than any other candidate, almost entirely on environmental issues. It IS a way to differentiate himself.

Who Do I Side With 2020 Presidential quiz

Pete Buttigieg is the mayor of South Bend Indiana, Mike Pence’s state. I had barely heard of him, yet he’s up at the top of my leader board. Who the heck is he?

I-Side-With-Feb-2019- There is a political quiz that Arthur took called Who Do I Side With? It contains questions on a wealth of issues from national security to education and health care.

If YOU should decide to fill it out, consider clicking on the “other stances” each time in order to get more nuanced responses. I filled this out in June 2016, and – SURPRISE – Bernie Sanders was my pick, with 92%, followed by Hillary Clinton at 68% and Jeb Bush at 28%.

Note that the guy who ultimately won the election isn’t even on the matrix, as he had just announced his candidacy that month.

You’ll see that virtually all the declared candidates on the Democratic side fare about the same with me. In other words, I REALLY don’t care yet.

That said:

Pete Buttigieg – he’s the mayor of South Bend Indiana, Mike Pence’s state. I had barely heard of him, yet he’s up at the top of my leader board. Who the heck is he? Arthur (oh, HIM again) needed to find out. Here’s an article from his hometown paper. There was a compelling interview on ABC News’ This Week earlier in February that I can’t access presently, but he was very impressive.

Beto O’Rourke – has a recently defeated candidate ever gotten more traction than he?

Kamala Harris – the US Senator from California sat down with an extended interview with Trevor Noah, and I found her impressive; you may not be able access it overseas. The noise about whether she’s black enough annoys me greatly.

Elizabeth Warren – she’s a loyal Democrat and Not a Socialist, But She Still Makes Wall Street Squirm

Bernie Sanders – Wall Street likes Biden, Booker, Harris, Gillibrand, and Beto. Guess who they hate? Sanders and Warren. All the rest is commentary.

BTW, the graphic that’s included Arthur kindly designed for me in Photoshop because I know where my skills lie, and it is assuredly NOT in graphic design. Gracias, amigo.