Oh Sarah, we hardly know you....or do we.

So Senator McCain chose the Alaska Governor to be his vice-presidential pick. Sarah Palen, a young exciting conservative who spent some of her tenure fighting the corrupt party in Alaska. It is amazing to me just how little she is known, seemingly even by Senator McCain. But she is a darling of the right-wing, pro-gun, pro-life, pro-death penalty (yes I get the irony), Pro-drilling, anti-polar bear, and yet some people think she was picked to woo the Hillary democrats. That is a insulting move. It suggests women are going to vote for anyone of their gender despite being the opposite with them on issues is silly at best but clearly a slap in their face. But I think the pick was even more sinister. I think that a woman on the ticket gives McCain the ability to call the Democrats misogynistic if they attack Palen, even for cause. That is how to get at the women who supported Hillary. They will say that they dissed Hillary and now dissing another woman. So in some ways poor Sarah is a woman being used not for her skills or for her political prowess but for bait to the left. McCain simply needed a woman, her conservative bona fides are just icing. Isn't their a word for a woman who is used in this way?

Obama/Biden '08

Why do I think Senator Obama made the right choice in Senator Biden for the Vice-Presidential pick? Well, while the critics think a Washington insider like Biden shows a sense of terror on the part of the capaign it makes perfect sense to get an older established, highly partian, Dem to act as the Obama attack dog. Biden can certainly do that. Beyond that he is a smart, somewhat articulate voice with a huge amount of foreign policy experience and a real understanding of the bigger parts of the Washington game. One can not change something one doesn't understand the rules to, so Biden adds to Obama in a way that Dick Cheney added to the current President. Back 8 years ago, when the GOP decided they wanted someone with a name and someone who could be cast as the anti-Clinton, GWB was the popular choice. The son of a pure Washington insider, he was seen as the maverick who went into the family business but did it in a way that created more of a rouge approach. He was clean, Christian and wanted to be a compassionate conservative (too bad the wheels came off that notion). Dick Cheney was the guy who could be demonized but added the foreign policy experience, the Washington connections, and gave pause to those in the GOP and independents who saw Bush as the frat boy who was next in line. Cheney was able to create a ticket that had the best of both worlds. I think Biden does that in the same way.

Democrats are going to vote, for the most part of Senator Obama, Republicans are for the most part going to vote for Senator McCain. There is about 10-15% of the population that waivers week-to-week about who they will vote for. Biden was chosen for them. I see a 5 point bounce coming in the daily tracking polls and a 10 point bump by Thursday night. (of course that will be erased quickly by the rise of the GOP convention and the attacks on Obama/Biden) But I think there will be some to look closer at this team. 70ish days to go. I can't wait.

The Saddleback Event

I was surprised that Senator Obama chose to enter into the psuedo-debate that was the Saddleback conversations with Pastor Rick Warren. Someone suggested that it would be a great way to show people he is not a Muslim. What is amazing to me is that anyone thinks he's a Muslim. Could it be because the crazy right-wing keeps questioning that? I think if someone knowingly perpetuates that he or she should be investigated for voter fraud.

As for the forum, it was pure silliness. Sen. McCain didn't come across as genuine, he sounded like a bumper sticker machine. It is easy to make such declarative statements but that is not how one governs. Sadly most Americans don't get that.

Senator Obama should take some of Senator McCain's answers to the first debate.

I could just hear him:

"Senator McCain, it is believed that Osama Bin Laden is in Northern Pakistan, not quite the gates of hell. Tell us all how you will be going there to get him."

"John, if human rights begin at conception, what do you tell a young girl who is pregnant by her father when she doesn't want to carry the baby to term. Why should she have to give up her human rights for the rights of the fetus?"

"Should there be an investigation into every miscarriage to make sure that the mom did everything right to protect the human rights of her child?"

"Sir, you spout a lot about morality and the failure of your first marriage. Tell us how soon after meeting Cindie did you start sleeping together? Were you married? Do you think that you are a good role model for our youth?"

Those who want to be bumper sticker politicians should be forced to answer real questions. But according to many Sen. Obama lost because of nuance and details. So sad when our society is all about nuance and compromise.

Quiz

I found it interesting, but most this I didn't learn in high school:

You paid attention during 100% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create

Politics and Islam

Recently there have been more reports of Senator Obama seemingly shunning the Muslim community. Staffers kept women with a Muslim headdress out of an important television shot and Mosques have been asking the presumptive Democratic nominee to come visit which he has refused. I think this says a great deal about our society and how we look at Islam. It isn't that Senator Obama is trying to avoid Muslims because HE thinks there is something wrong, he is avoiding giving fodder to the anti-Muslims crowd who continue to paint him as a secret Muslim. Daily I see someone say something that tries to link him to not only Muslims but Islamic extremists. If 9-11 and the aftermath taught us anything that the American people can't nuance their racial prejudice. Many people were harassed, assaulted, and some killed for simply looking like Arabs.

Obama, as well as many Americans, know that most Muslims are peaceful, but we will make them less so if we marginalize, discriminate against, and abuse. Obama will likely have to address this head on. Perhaps a speech in Detroit with a large Muslim crowd outlining why racism hurts the way the campaign works. Maybe he can invite people like Glen Beck to tell us how his race and religious are a factor and then play Beck crying when Gov. Romney was attacked for his Mormon beliefs.

The simple fact is that Senator Obama's race, his name, his family religious history and his current faith tradition will be a factor for some. Some of that may even be legitimate. But most is just crap. Too bad that is what helped win the last several elections.

John Freshwater

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/20/teacher.cross/index.html

(CNN) -- School administrators in Ohio voted Friday to begin the process of firing a middle school teacher accused of burning a cross into a student's arm and refusing to keep his religious beliefs out of the classroom.

The Mount Vernon School Board passed a resolution to terminate the employment of John Freshwater, an eighth-grade science teacher for the past 21 years.

Freshwater, according to an independent report, used an electrostatic device to mark a cross on the arm of one of his students, causing pain to the student the night of the incident and leaving a mark that lasted for approximately three weeks.

According to the Ohio Department of Education, the student's family has filed a lawsuit.

Freshwater was also reprimanded several times for refusing to move his Bible from his classroom desk and teaching creationism alongside evolution, according to the 15-page independent report. The report also cites evidence that Mr. Freshwater told his students that "science is wrong because the Bible states that homosexuality is a sin and so anyone who is gay chooses to be gay and is therefore a sinner."

This guy is a nut and if he did this he should be charged with assault. But what is more troubling is that so many people teaching science don't seem to understand science.
It turns out a study reveals that a large percentage of science teachers seem to discount evolution on the whole and teach creationism as a valid alternative:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13930-16-of-us-science-teachers-are-creationists.html

Teachers often say, while they teach it they don't believe in evolution.

Evolution is not a matter of belief, it is a matter of science. There is clear and present evidence for evolution. Replacing it with a belief in something else without evidence is not science. While there are various aspects of Evolutionary theory that continue to be studied, tweaked, enhanced and discounted the fundamental theory has lived up to its predictable expectations. If you are teaching biological science and reject evolution you need a career change. Oh and if you are a public school teacher, and you really want to be a preacher, get out of the classroom.

I think that we need a national science revolution. We need to focus our energies on creating true science literate individuals. So much misinformation causes people to not fully comprehend what is true science and what is pseudoscience. I think an educated population is much better than a ignorant one swayed by half truths and out right lies. Some people call it indoctrination. Funny, one is encouraged to question science with evidence. Can we say that about the ID crowd?

Expelled????? Really

There is a new movie out that is getting some press called Expelled. The idea behind the film is the Creation Science is being blocked out of Science classrooms by what is being called Big Science. This movie has some credibility because of Ben Stein, the actor/politico/pitchman who has become a bit of character to many age 21-45. While he use to write for Presidents Nixon and Ford, he also is famous for saying Bueller, Bueller Bueller (if you don't get the reference ask a friend).

Well, the movie is out and I hope that if you see it that you will at least see that from much of the press there was some deception in its creation. However one of the most interesting stories came out of one of the scientists that was interviewed in the film who went to a screening and was not allowed in. Read details here: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/03/expelled.php

Too often the debates in this country are black and white. At a time when we should be seeking a better understanding of truth we are struck by the growing community who calls science Godless or draws connections as this movie does between the theory of Evolution and the horrors of the Shoah (Holocaust). As a Jewish educator this movie offends me on its face. But the deception used to get scientist to seemingly endorse its message is unforgivable. I hope that in the long run this movie will be seen for what it is, propaganda.

Sorry for the rant, but this really got to me.

Barack HUSSEIN Obama

Many people recently have come under fire for using Senator Barack Obama's middle name. It is clearly an attempt by right wing nuts to link him to his Muslim ancestry and some how to terrorism. While Hussein is a powerful and common name in the Arab/Muslim world, the soft minded people who chose not to vote for Senator Kerry because of the Swift Boat ads or because they thought he was French (I did hear that) are the one's being targeted. Daily someone tells me Sen. Obama is a closet Muslim, ready to hand over the US to his Muslim partners. While I find this fantastical thinking disturbing it works and the right wing noise machine seems to encourage it in one voice while attempting to denounce it in another. It is clear to me that this take is troubling and certainly just another ploy by them to tarnish someone with lies.

But I was wondering, could the US elect a Muslim President? Could there be a different faith in the White House besides Christianity? We have flirted with Jewish candidates in the past, and I am quite sure there were a few atheists among the so-called Christian Presidents. But I have to ask is there any real advantage to having someone with a good Christian upbring in the White House. President GW Bush and President Carter probably wore their faith the most on their sleeve and seemed to live it out more in their walking around life. Both show good Christian cred, but neither was a great President, both probably make the most people's list of worst in the last 100 years. (there were a few dunderheads in the 1800s but that is like comparing running backs now to the leather helmet days).

You see maybe we shouldn't care what religion some is or isn't and see their character, their desire to lead us in an appropriate direction. To fight to protect America and Americans not only from foreign terrorists but from other forces that allow for poverty, depression, hate and fear to thrive so well in this country. Perhaps we should be less concerned about which language they call to God in, and more about what they say when they all to us.

Barack Hussein Obama, I don't know if I want him to be President, I still support Senator Clinton, but I could easily pull the lever for him in November if he is the chose of my party, even if we find a prayer rug in his closet.

I let this blog go dead but I am back.

I think now that the politcal season is what it is I think I will be back writing.

Coming soon more insight on social issues and politics.

Creation Museum

Answers in Genesis is finally opening their museum devoted to creation and the 'truth' of the Bible as they see it.

A quote from them: We’ll begin the Museum experience by showing that “facts” don’t speak for themselves . There aren’t separate sets of “evidences” for evolution and creation—we all deal with the same evidence (we all live on the same earth, have the same fossils, observe the same animals, etc.). The difference lies in how we interpret what we study. We’ll then explore why the Bible—the “history book of the universe”—provides a reliable, eye-witness account of the beginning of all things.

This so-called museum, suggests that the evidence in nature points to a 6000 old earth with the story of Genesis being the way the world was created. Now this is an interesting new develop in the anti-evolution world. They are building as place that mimics a natural history museum to promote their religion. I have no problem with that, it just isn't a true science museum and in fact it is full of lies and misrepresentation of the evidence. It is in fact a fraud.

Now this is nothing new, anti-evolution Christians are commonly known to lie about the facts of evolution. So my point is to ask, is it okay to lie to promote your worldview in the face of over whelming evidence? Is this place not sinful because it is trying to bring people to Jesus? Please tell me because the whole anti-evolution crowd seems to be getting more bold about lying and getting in people's faces. I wonder what that is about.

Viginia Tech and what we should do.

In light of the horror at Virginia Tech this week, I wanted to say something about a possible Jewish response.

There is a Jewish prayer that is said when taking a journey, T’fillat Haderekh. A line from that prayer seems to speak loudly as of late.

“Bring us to our desired destination in life, in gladness and peace and protect us from all enemies, from ambush, wild beasts, and all sorts of mishaps.”

We say these words as we embark into the unknown, leaving the safety of the place we call home. However, as we go through routines of our day we don’t anticipate the dangers that we see in these words. There are places that we feel safe our homes, our schools, our houses of worship. Repeated instances of tragedy shake our souls and remind us of the dangers of the world. On Monday at Virginia Tech, we saw once again the safety shattered. We were reminded of the ever-present possibility of horror.

But knowing that horror is possible should not force us away from community. The Great Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav said, “The whole world is a narrow bridge. The main thing is not to be afraid”. It is hard today not to be afraid, as we see the pictures of how a single person can cut down so many, at a place we all thought safe. But our sorrow at the loss should not just make us afraid, but revive our need to reach out to others.

Judaism calls us to social responsibility. Our values teach us a way to live, even in an uncertain world: Al tifrosh min hatzebur, do not separate yourself from the community. Kol Yisrael arevim zeh b’zeh, all of Israel is responsible for one another, and we extend this to the non-Jewish world that we share, as we see everyone created b’tzelem elohim in the image of God. We thus act for our sake and for the sake of peace mipnai darkai shalom.

Perhaps a way to deal with the fear and anger is to look in our own worlds for those individuals lost to the community. We can ask our children what or whom they fear in the world. What wild beasts they see in the places we always thought free of them. I hope that as we continue each day we aren’t frightened to embrace the greatness of God’s creation, in an attempt to avoid the fear within.