What does change mean?

Obama continued his streak of winning words, from my perspective, when he answered a reporter's question about change. The media has been all over Obama's cabinet selections. They keep asking how he can call it change when he is appointing so many familiar faces to his cabinet. They suggest he may alienate his supporters. When a reporter directly asked about this he demonstrated a perfect wisdom with his reply. He explained that we need experienced people but that the 'new vision is my job.' Bravo, President-Elect! The 'change we can believe in' does not happen by exchanging experience for inexperience just to be different. Change happens when a new vision is set and well-communicated to those charged with implementing that vision. Change happens when decisions are made by surrounding yourself with the best of the best and valuing their expertise.

I've tried to temper my expectations of an Obama administration. The road back from Bush's bungling is long and steep. Obama, however, continues to meet or exceed my best possible expectations every time he speaks. He consistently demonstrates the wisdom and judgment required to do this job well. Clearly Obama has a mandate for change. His definition of what that means and how to accomplish it does not disappoint this voter at all... it thrills me!

What's good for GM.....

Is good for the country... right? That's how the saying goes anyway. I've heard lots of historical analyses around how and why the auto industry is on the brink of bankruptcy. Here is one consumer's point of view.

I am disgusted with the industry at large. They certainly do not deserve a bail out. They are in this situation by their own fault. It is compassion for the workers and the simple fact that the auto industry is a huge segment of our economy that I will swallow hard and accept the inevitable.

My opinion is based on my own experience. My wife and I bought a brand new Chevy in 1980. I really liked the car at first but with extremely poor design, engineering and quality control the thing turned out to be an absolute lemon. When we finally traded it in, there were 111 recalls issued for it. Badly burned... it was many years before I could even consider another American car. We finally bought an early Saturn and liked it enough to recently consider another only to find that everything we liked about Saturn was ripped apart in a huge step backward by GM. We bought a Honda.

I travel quite a bit on business so I drive a wide variety of rental cars - some American some not. I am quite disappointed to report that I simply do not like American cars. The attention to detail is always lacking. The suspension is either too mushy or too stiff. I don't find the interior controls and dash layouts at all intuitive. The seats are less comfortable. The overall look and feel of the American cars are just not appealing to me and they are much less fun and relaxing to drive. Much of this is my own individual taste and I've always assumed that American automakers were designing for others, that I was simply not part of their target market. Apparently, their only successful target market is the gas guzzling one now disappearing. Apparently, I'm not the only one who doesn't particularly like the American automakers' product line. If these companies have ever actually asked real customers what they really want, they weren't listening very well. If these companies have ever thought strategically, they have not acted on it well. I don't doubt they have tried to do market research and strategic planning -- the point here is that they've failed miserably.

While I applaud the automakers for profiting from the SUV/Truck (i.e. gas guzzler) boom, it is unforgivable that they did not use those profits wisely and strategically to plan for the future..... the future that many foreign automakers had the foresight to see a decade or two ago. They'll whine about labor costs and unfair trade practices. Certainly some of these issues are real but they are not show stoppers. I imagine unions would be very open to all kinds of cuts when the alternative is wholesale job loss. The American buyer has shown over and over again that they're willing to pay a premium to get what they want, to get a better value through higher quality and/or more features. I see a sizable number of BMWs, Mercedes, Lexus, and on and on. If the big three would have built the better product, they could have charged more for it and it would have most certainly sold.

I know the auto industry will ultimately be rescued somehow.... but even this rather liberal and forgiving taxpayer will be mad as hell if one dime of taxpayer money ends up in the hands of the short-sighted, incompetent management responsible for this mess. Further, if taxpayers are footing the bill then the government ought to mandate intelligent forward-thinking design, as well as, innovation toward 'green' transportation.

By the way, in case anyone's wondering... I currently drive a '99 Volkswagen and love it.

California's Proposition 8

I grew up in a house where I was often judged more by the alcohol intake level of my father than by the merits of my actions. Growing up in the 60s, I remember even more of the racism that often still exists just below the surface... never blatant, sometimes wholly unconscious, but omnipresent. Traits I learned and inherited from my maternal extended family - representing for me what family and love were all about - very Italian and very LOUD, were often judged as obnoxious and overbearing. I've regularly seen some self-proclaimed Christians distort what I read as the message of Jesus to the point where I don't think Jesus himself would recognize it. Growing up is always a process of discovery and decision-making. These early experiences started me toward a belief I hold very strongly today. All human judgment is incomplete and, therefore, flawed. We are all a product of our own histories, our own frames of reference. Our knowledge and understanding are limited. Our societal norms are nothing more than a collection of prejudices shaped by our collective histories. I'm not proposing anarchy. I'm not suggesting that our societal norms are wholly invalid. I'm not even suggesting that our judgments are necessarily incorrect. I'm simply suggesting that, as individuals, we all have a responsibility to know that our wisdom is incomplete and imperfect. We all have a responsibility to accept the history of others as true and valid. We all have a responsibility to seek to understand rather than to condemn.

It is in this context that I express profound disappointment with the passage of California Proposition 8 banning gay marriage. To me this represents a collective condemnation and attempted invalidation of every homosexual American's experience. Whether I agree with or support gay marriage is irrelevant. What I believe with all my heart and soul is that everyone has the right to their own conclusions, to their own passions. Not I, or anyone else, can fully know another's history, can fully understand the path any individual life may take. I have no right or true knowledge to tell anyone their love is not valid... and neither does the voting population of California. Certainly that voting population has the right to pass laws - and has. That fact does nothing to change the individual experience of those affected.

President Obama

I'm still stunned. The media is well-articulating this historic shift in American politics represented by President-elect Obama's victory. Wow... that feels good to write. It has been a very long two years for this political junkie and I've never been more filled with hope for our country. My expectations, however, are easily kept in check. I'm old enough to have lost some of my idealism, but not my ideals. Agree or not - Obama's vision, values and priorities are nearly identical to my own and, for me, this is more than enough. Not since FDR has an incoming president faced such a daunting in-box as they enter the oval office. Succeed or fail, I know beyond doubt that President Obama will be working hard to move the bar in what I believe is the right direction! I hold out hope for a wildly successful administration but will be thrilled if President Obama only succeeds in reversing the disastrous direction of these last 8 years. Even that is a very tall order.

A fellow Catholic - Joe Biden

I am a practicing Catholic -- a practice increasingly difficult for me. This pre-election Sunday we were given the predictable, thinly-veiled mandate to vote 'pro-life'. Of course no one says it outright but the message is clear - vote Republican. I have argued before at some length that voting pro-choice is not the same as voting pro-abortion. My views actually parallel our new Catholic Vice President-elect, Joe Biden, who articulates his position well.
Here's a quote from his web site:

I remember vividly the first time, in 1973, I had to go to the floor to vote on abortion. A fellow Senator asked how I would vote. "My position is that I am personally opposed to abortion, but I don't think I have a right to impose my view on the rest of society. I've thought a lot about it, and my position probably doesn't please anyone. I think the government should stay out completely. I will not vote to overturn the Court's decision. I will not vote to curtail a woman's right to choose abortion. But I will also not vote to use federal funds to fund abortion."

I've stuck to my middle-of-the-road position on abortion for more than 30 years. I still vote against partial birth abortion and federal funding, and I'd like to make it easier for scared young mothers to choose not to have an abortion, but I will also vote against a constitutional amendment that strips a woman of her right to make her own choice.

This is America -- not an extension of the Vatican. To force papal opinion, or any religious belief, via legislation is nothing less than anti-American. I am quite pleased to see that a majority of voting American Catholics, 54%, voted for Obama. I'm sure this was a very difficult decision for Biden to make... as it has been for me and, I'm sure, the rest of that 54%. For anyone to dismiss our own struggle with the issue, to dismiss our long and hard consideration toward this decision made in good faith and good conscience is to dismiss the love of God. It dismisses the Sprit in all of us. I do not accept their judgment.

I came to the Church at the height of the post-Vatican II era. The Catholic church, then, valued a God of love and acceptance over one of judgment and damnation. It was a perfect fit for me at the time but now increasingly sacrifices compassion and broader social justice issues to a blind dogmatism. The fact that so many Catholics voted for Obama gives me a newfound hope for my church. The Catholic church, however, is not a democracy and I fear the respite will be brief. I'm sure if my own bishop were to read this I would be threatened with denial of Holy Communion... just has Biden has been... just as Kansas Governor Sibelius (who holds similar views) has been. I'm fine with that. My bishop may not understand, but I have no doubt that my God does. Opposing the criminalization of abortion simply does not imply that any of us are pro-Abortion. It is a ludricous assertion.

Resources are much better and more effectively spent toward changing hearts and minds instead of laws.

Message to Obama

With my final contribution to the Obama campaign today, a screen followed the usual confirmation providing me an opportunity to briefly "tell my story." This being my only opportunity to express my thoughts and appreciation to those directly involved in Obama's campaign, I seized that opportunity...

I am a 53 year-old white middle class male in the hard core conservative state of Kansas. McCain signs surround the Obama/Biden sign in my own front yard. When introduced to you the night of your 2004 convention speech I asked out loud (I thought rhetorically!) Why doesn't HE run for president!?!? I have been a passionate supporter ever since. Your books and your message speak to my soul. While I work a few extra hours to fund contributions to your campaign and the DSCC, my wife and 23 year-old son have been making phone calls at our local Democratic office. Thank you for your message. Thank you and your family for the willingness to serve. May God bless you all and your efforts to restore our great nation.

Thoughts on some current events...

• The 'Socialist', 'Communist', 'Marxist' charges against Obama are nothing more than the silliness of a desperate McCain campaign. If Obama is any of these things then so was Abraham Lincoln who instituted the first federal income tax in 1862 to fund the Civil War. The income tax was made permanent by a constitutional amendment in 1913 and we have been a 'socialist' country ever since -- by that standard anyway. Obama is talking about nothing more than restructuring our tax code. We've been 'redistributing wealth' as a nation for well over a century. Even if you believe this is wrong - it is undeniable that Obama is proposing nothing really new. Republicans are fast approaching the McCarthy era with their fear tactics.
  


• Alan Greenspan, a primary architect of modern-day economic policy, testified before congress that he had put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets and had failed to anticipate the self-destructive power of wanton mortgage lending. This is monumental. It seems to me that with all the college degrees and lofty theories that people sometimes lose a degree of common sense. I don't pretend to be an expert on anything. When the sub-prime thing started, however, I predicted that the house of cards would fall apart someday based on nothing more than simple common sense. The housing market has always been cyclical - and always will be. When vast numbers of people buy more house than they can really afford it defies common sense to think this sustainable in the long run. Yes, I'm angry at people who can't run their own budget numbers and realize they're in over their heads, but I'm even angrier at the lending institutions. The lenders are supposed to be the professionals. When a bank tells you that you 'qualify' for a certain amount and is willing to lend the money - it is not unreasonable to assume they know what they're talking about. The belief that free markets are fully self-regulating also defies common sense. Capitalism is greedy by definition. Stockholder value is the only thing that really matters in a totally free market. This truth is made irrefutable by the likes of Enron and Worldcom as well as the current economic crisis. Certainly the right balance of regulation is tricky, but a belief that fully open and free markets will self-regulate, or that CEOs will 'do the right thing' regardless of shareholder impact is truly non-sensical. If 'Reaganomics' has not failed outright it is certainly on life support. It is time for a change. It is time for a return to common sense.
  


• Palin is beginning to move toward a power position in the post-election Republican party. She's already speaking of 2012. I sincerely hope she succeeds. Her brand of radical conservatism is increasingly revealed for the sham that it is and quickly declining in popularity. With her at the helm, Republicans are virtually guaranteed to remain the opposition party for a long time. McCain pulled a political master stroke by announcing her nomination after Obama's outstanding acceptance speech and successfully grabbed the news cycle from him. She certainly has excited the base and I'm sure helped him get out that vote. Thankfully, it appears that exciting the radical conservative base may no longer be enough.
  


• I have already voted thanks to early voting here in Kansas. Despite the fact that an Obama vote is no more than a token protest here - I've never been so proud or excited to cast a presidential ballot.