For baseball fans, no time of the year is better than October when the playoffs and World Series roll around. This year, I am forced to watch simply as a fan of the game. My team, the Twins, failed to make postseason play. So, as I sit and enjoy the charged atmosphere evident in a few stadiums across the country, I wonder just what it is about a game, baseball, that has had the ability to make the game so popular for fans from all walks of life for so long.
I find, again, that baseball is just another segment of American life where Americans learn something about those things that make them all alike as a people. The game, for example has not always been at once fair and open to all fans, players, owners, etc. Generally speaking, however, the game of baseball has reflected something about the potential for hard workers to make it in America. Consider the way we fans of the game celebrate the story of a youngster, or even a seasoned veteran, who has put his time in while in the minor leagues, all the while waiting to some day make it big in the major league. In another example, Jackie Robinson did not just succeed without adversity when he first attempted to play in Brooklyn, but as he persevered he eventually had remarkable success to the point that fans around the country now recognize and celebrate his accomplishments.
Baseball also tells us something about the power of faith and hope. Just ask a lifelong season ticket holder on the north side of Chicago what it means to have faith and hope. What you might find is that for fans of the Cubs, as with the Red Sox a few years back, being a fan is often about being in tune with something larger than ourselves. There is a feeling of sorts, a connection with others who desire just what we do to such a great extent, which makes us believe that if we just hold out hope and believe in something, that anything is possible sooner or later. I think this is another area where we are similar as Americans, not just fans of different teams across the country. Through implementation of innovation, we have often come to believe as Americans that we can find workable, practical solutions to the problems we face. We believe in who we are and we cherish that to the point that even if we lose once or twice, there is always the chance we will succeed the next time out, the next season.
I look at the structure of an individual game, as well, and reflect on the war we are fighting in Iraq. Baseball serves as a sort of microcosm for the policies various candidates are pushing concerning Iraq today. If the War in Iraq were a baseball game and the Democrats were managing your team, you'd be playing the game under protest and the outcome really wouldn't matter. Additionally, even if you did play, whether you were winning or losing, you would be conceding the game in the 4th inning under a liberal democrat manager and heading home with the results as is. The game managed by a conservative manager is a different story, however. The Republican policy suggestions, except for those advocated by one Ron Paul, plan for a nine inning game. Within this game, it is apparent that the starter has worked well into the game, but is now experiencing command problems (this is fair to say about the current administration). The republican manager makes a pitching change, but yet the team's desire to win the game is not altered, it simply takes on a different look. Whether the game is decided in nine innings or extra innings, the commitment under a conservative manager is to play the game out and do what it takes to win at the end of the day.
So, as I relfect on why I love this time of year so much (still not quite as much as basketball in March!), I realize that I enjoy watching everything unfold in part because it tells me something about who I am in this world. I am an American who enjoys seeing people succeed when given the chance. I like seeing people believe in something larger than themselves and have faith and hope that something great and wonderful can and will happen. I appreciate the stick-to-itiveness we have as a people to finish what we started and to do things the right way, even if it isn't popular at the time. I realize I may be conjuring up utopian ideals, but as an American and a baseball fan in October, that's my right.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Vertical Day
Today is Vertical Day with the Huckabee Campaign. Please visit this link to learn more.
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=VerticalDay.Home&l=3C3B89446408A832576215B8D29288AB
It is fundamental, at this juncture in our history as American people that we elect a president who is committed to leading us forward as people, not as Democrats or Republicans, Caucasians or Asians, upper class or middle class, but forward as one people. We ARE Americans. That will always stand for something similar about us at heart, regardless of our various differences as people. There is a spirit behind convictions like this, a spirit that is emodied by Mike Huckabee better than any other candidate running in this election. This is a spirit, a faith in who we are as people, that tells us a great deal about how we want to exist as part of the world today and how we want to leave this world for the generations that will follow in our place.
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=VerticalDay.Home&l=3C3B89446408A832576215B8D29288AB
It is fundamental, at this juncture in our history as American people that we elect a president who is committed to leading us forward as people, not as Democrats or Republicans, Caucasians or Asians, upper class or middle class, but forward as one people. We ARE Americans. That will always stand for something similar about us at heart, regardless of our various differences as people. There is a spirit behind convictions like this, a spirit that is emodied by Mike Huckabee better than any other candidate running in this election. This is a spirit, a faith in who we are as people, that tells us a great deal about how we want to exist as part of the world today and how we want to leave this world for the generations that will follow in our place.
Monday, September 10, 2007
What If We Had Done Nothing?
I return in this post to my managerial job at a local video store. A few nights back, a man came into the store with his two young sons. As he wrote out a check at the register, I noticed the man's pullover jacket was bearing the logo of the New York Police Department. Looking back up at the man, I mentioned to him that I had noticed the logo on his jacket and I asked him flat out, "How many people in this country do you think have already forgotten about that day six years ago?" He tore out the check, looked me straight in the eye as he handed it to me, and said, "Far too many, young man, far, far too many." I have been thinking about 9/11 in recent days, and on multiple occasions, one recurring theme has "hit me".
What if we had done nothing? People everywhere, and practically every liberal known to man, spend time over their lattes or cappuchinos in the morning discussing how poorly the war in Iraq has turned out and, of course, how stupid we were to be there in the first place. Before that, the same people were upset we went to Afghanistan. If that isn't enough, don't even bring George Bush into the conversation.
While I may be as naive as the next person at times, I'm not naive enough to think that everything in Iraq is as good as it could be or that our President has always managed this War against Terror as effectively as he could have. Yet, even with that said, I will never ever ascribe to the belief that we should not be on the offensive in this War on Terror. Quite frankly, I remember so very vividly how I felt six years ago, sitting in a high school classroom unable to pay attention to the lesson at hand becuase of the images being unveiled from New York City on a television muted in the corner of the room. I deliberated a long time as I graduated from high school about whether I would join the Army as my father once did many years ago or if I would do as I always had wanted to and enter college and hopefully become a teacher. I wanted to do what was best for my country, and with the immediate emotions of 9/11 subsiding somewhat over time, I decided I could better be of better service by teaching. While I would gladly stand alongside any man or woman in our military and defend my freedoms and my way of life, I today stand on the front lines of another battle...the fight over curriculum in our public schools.
Every year that I am allowed to teach future generations of Americans, I will pause on September 11th and ask each and every one of my students, "What if We Had Done Nothing?" There will never be a year that goes by where I won't show the television footage as it unfolded that morning six years ago. While anyone that knows me at a professional level knows I would never attempt to push my values on students or indoctrinate them with my beliefs, I am of the opinion that simply showing the horrors of 9/11 to future generations just as they unfolded for us that fateful day will help students see what the War on Terror is about for themselves. I want students to answer carefully and authentically, after they consider multiple perspectives and critically engage a variety of sources, (of which undoubtedly will be textbook accounts that are somewhat unfair to the Bush Administration and American foreign policy this decade) "What if We Had Done Nothing?"
Even as this War on Terror has drug on, I have not forgotten why it began. I will never forget that day. I will never forget my fellow citizens jumping out of office buildings and plumetting to horrific ends. I will never forget the way it felt to see a flag draped over the side of a charred Pentagon. I will never forget the bravery that had to have occurred on a plane over a Pennsylvania field. That, all of that, is why I will teach future generations about 9/11 and show them, regardless of how others want to paint it, that we simply did not have the option to do nothing. The issue at hand, the real lesson for students, is not truly about Afghanistan, Iraq, Saddam Hussein, George Bush, Bin Laden, or even the United States. The lesson is about human beings and core human values. We had no option but to act after 9/11 not because we were the most powerful nation in the world, not because of fear tactics that superficial liberals suppose all conservatives now live by, not because George Bush was an imperialistic oil barron, but instead becuase our shared humanness demanded it. People will debate the outcomes all they want and history will see this decade painted in many different lights, but wtching the footage from that sad day makes it ever so clear, we simply could not have done nothing.
What if we had done nothing? People everywhere, and practically every liberal known to man, spend time over their lattes or cappuchinos in the morning discussing how poorly the war in Iraq has turned out and, of course, how stupid we were to be there in the first place. Before that, the same people were upset we went to Afghanistan. If that isn't enough, don't even bring George Bush into the conversation.
While I may be as naive as the next person at times, I'm not naive enough to think that everything in Iraq is as good as it could be or that our President has always managed this War against Terror as effectively as he could have. Yet, even with that said, I will never ever ascribe to the belief that we should not be on the offensive in this War on Terror. Quite frankly, I remember so very vividly how I felt six years ago, sitting in a high school classroom unable to pay attention to the lesson at hand becuase of the images being unveiled from New York City on a television muted in the corner of the room. I deliberated a long time as I graduated from high school about whether I would join the Army as my father once did many years ago or if I would do as I always had wanted to and enter college and hopefully become a teacher. I wanted to do what was best for my country, and with the immediate emotions of 9/11 subsiding somewhat over time, I decided I could better be of better service by teaching. While I would gladly stand alongside any man or woman in our military and defend my freedoms and my way of life, I today stand on the front lines of another battle...the fight over curriculum in our public schools.
Every year that I am allowed to teach future generations of Americans, I will pause on September 11th and ask each and every one of my students, "What if We Had Done Nothing?" There will never be a year that goes by where I won't show the television footage as it unfolded that morning six years ago. While anyone that knows me at a professional level knows I would never attempt to push my values on students or indoctrinate them with my beliefs, I am of the opinion that simply showing the horrors of 9/11 to future generations just as they unfolded for us that fateful day will help students see what the War on Terror is about for themselves. I want students to answer carefully and authentically, after they consider multiple perspectives and critically engage a variety of sources, (of which undoubtedly will be textbook accounts that are somewhat unfair to the Bush Administration and American foreign policy this decade) "What if We Had Done Nothing?"
Even as this War on Terror has drug on, I have not forgotten why it began. I will never forget that day. I will never forget my fellow citizens jumping out of office buildings and plumetting to horrific ends. I will never forget the way it felt to see a flag draped over the side of a charred Pentagon. I will never forget the bravery that had to have occurred on a plane over a Pennsylvania field. That, all of that, is why I will teach future generations about 9/11 and show them, regardless of how others want to paint it, that we simply did not have the option to do nothing. The issue at hand, the real lesson for students, is not truly about Afghanistan, Iraq, Saddam Hussein, George Bush, Bin Laden, or even the United States. The lesson is about human beings and core human values. We had no option but to act after 9/11 not because we were the most powerful nation in the world, not because of fear tactics that superficial liberals suppose all conservatives now live by, not because George Bush was an imperialistic oil barron, but instead becuase our shared humanness demanded it. People will debate the outcomes all they want and history will see this decade painted in many different lights, but wtching the footage from that sad day makes it ever so clear, we simply could not have done nothing.
Friday, September 7, 2007
He Speaks to Me and You
Wow....I started this blog just over a week ago. It was originally intended as a personal forum for my own thoughts. I never really intended it to be anymore than an academic exercise in honest reflection for me personally, but with technology and time, my thoughts have spread to people all over the country and the world.
I did not intend for this blog to be entirely political, but instead a blog about sincerely engaging with the important issues of our time. Instead, keeping with the theme of "then it hit me", I realized as this blog has rapidly become more popular, that I really do care more about this upcoming election in 2008 than I had personally acknowledged and let on. For example, for the first time in my life, I bought a political candidate's book and read it, almost overnight. I have carried that book around and had other people read excerpts, all the while saying, "You see what a great candidate Mike Huckabee is?" People everywhere nod their heads in unison.
Now, lets be real, I don't even know Governor Huckabee. I am 21 and I have no real reason to spend money I should be saving for tuition and car payments on donating to a presidential campaign. Yet, I believe for the future of a country I love so dearly, I can sacrifice to support a man who I pray my fellow Americans will help me elect as the person who can and will lead us forward as a proud nation. As the importance of my donating has sunk in with me, all of this has "hit me" again.
I am so encouraged to know I am not alone. You read posts on newspaper sites and blog sites, you hear people respond on talk radio, etc. and everywhere you hear people say that they, for the first time in their lives, wholeheartedly believe in a candidate and are invigorated by the process because of Mike Huckabee. The reason for this is that Mike Huckabee speaks to these people. His message hits home with the people in our schools, in our communities, and undoubtedly, in our churches, regardless of one's denomination. As it "hit me", I realized that as a future teacher, Mike Huckabee speaks to me because he not only talks a good game on education, but his record follows strongly in suit. I believe that Mike Huckabee understands the profound importance of educators presently and in the future and that he will go to bat for me, and more importantly, my students, as I search for and hopefully attain a job within the coming year.
That is just with me, however. Governor Huckabee's message speaks to more people and professions than teachers alone. I challenge those that visit and read this blog to visit his web site, to go to YouTube and watch clips of what he has to say. If, and when, you do, you may just find that Mike Huckabee speaks to you too.
I did not intend for this blog to be entirely political, but instead a blog about sincerely engaging with the important issues of our time. Instead, keeping with the theme of "then it hit me", I realized as this blog has rapidly become more popular, that I really do care more about this upcoming election in 2008 than I had personally acknowledged and let on. For example, for the first time in my life, I bought a political candidate's book and read it, almost overnight. I have carried that book around and had other people read excerpts, all the while saying, "You see what a great candidate Mike Huckabee is?" People everywhere nod their heads in unison.
Now, lets be real, I don't even know Governor Huckabee. I am 21 and I have no real reason to spend money I should be saving for tuition and car payments on donating to a presidential campaign. Yet, I believe for the future of a country I love so dearly, I can sacrifice to support a man who I pray my fellow Americans will help me elect as the person who can and will lead us forward as a proud nation. As the importance of my donating has sunk in with me, all of this has "hit me" again.
I am so encouraged to know I am not alone. You read posts on newspaper sites and blog sites, you hear people respond on talk radio, etc. and everywhere you hear people say that they, for the first time in their lives, wholeheartedly believe in a candidate and are invigorated by the process because of Mike Huckabee. The reason for this is that Mike Huckabee speaks to these people. His message hits home with the people in our schools, in our communities, and undoubtedly, in our churches, regardless of one's denomination. As it "hit me", I realized that as a future teacher, Mike Huckabee speaks to me because he not only talks a good game on education, but his record follows strongly in suit. I believe that Mike Huckabee understands the profound importance of educators presently and in the future and that he will go to bat for me, and more importantly, my students, as I search for and hopefully attain a job within the coming year.
That is just with me, however. Governor Huckabee's message speaks to more people and professions than teachers alone. I challenge those that visit and read this blog to visit his web site, to go to YouTube and watch clips of what he has to say. If, and when, you do, you may just find that Mike Huckabee speaks to you too.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Thank you....
Quickly, but importantly, Thank You to everyone visiting this blog on behalf of my roommate's request. Not only am I happy to have people engaged in important dialogue, whether you agree with me or not, but also, for every post to this blog I will personally donate $.o5 to the Huckabee Campaign.
Paul vs. Huckabee on the surge.
Governor Huckabee enlightens Congressman Ron Paul on what it truly means to be an American and what it truly means to be a country and military with honor and distinction.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Rebutting the Star Tribune
An editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune today enitled "So what if he did?" addressed the recent scandal surrounding Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig and his arrest for lewd conduct charges at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport earlier this summer. The editorial, which suggests that Craig was simply "an adult prospositioning another adult," perpetually shocked me as I read it, line by line, worse and worse.
Senator Craig's actions, followed by liberal rhetoric such as the article published today, beg the question: Have some Americans lost a moral grounding? The answer, if one merely reads this editorial, is overwhelmingly a yes. To suggest that a sitting United States Senator is not out of line when he/she somewhat clandestinely seeks sex in a public restroom in an international airport is beyond absurd. To turn the issue into one focusing merely on hetero/homosexual relations, as this editorial did, is beyond absurd. Whether Larry Craig was a man or woman seeking sex with a man OR a woman in such a setting is irrelevant. We wouldn't tolerate that type of action in a public place from an everyday electrician, stock broker, or retail salesperson, much less a United States Senator elected to represent those individuals.
The bottom line here, as with so many other cases that the mass media spin into headlines of seeming importance, is that like with Don Imus earlier this year, before this incident most Americans had no clue whatsoever who Senator Larry Craig was. Further, most of them simply did not care who he was, and many still do not now. What we are left to take away from the incident then is that, like with Imus earlier, Craig was absolutely in the wrong and most of those people who do pay attention or even pretend to care, would agree with that. When his fellow Republican senators ask Senator Craig to step aside from his job, it is not because they are all bigoted haters of all homosexuals eveyrwhere in America (which is not even clear if Craig is to be included as part of that population), as the liberal media like the Star Tribune would like to have readers believe. Instead, asking the Senator to step aside is merely saying, as the country did with Don Imus, that his actions were inappropriate and that his conduct was unbefitting that of a United States Senator, period. Reading any more into it than that is simply raising speculation. We have morality and we have ethics. In the terrain between right and wrong, Senator Craig was in the wrong. He has had a distinguised career and done much for his constituents. While a rational person would hope that is not to be overshadowed, quite simply, the legacy of this retiring Senator is now resting on his own actions, which cast a remarkably long shadow of their own.
Senator Craig's actions, followed by liberal rhetoric such as the article published today, beg the question: Have some Americans lost a moral grounding? The answer, if one merely reads this editorial, is overwhelmingly a yes. To suggest that a sitting United States Senator is not out of line when he/she somewhat clandestinely seeks sex in a public restroom in an international airport is beyond absurd. To turn the issue into one focusing merely on hetero/homosexual relations, as this editorial did, is beyond absurd. Whether Larry Craig was a man or woman seeking sex with a man OR a woman in such a setting is irrelevant. We wouldn't tolerate that type of action in a public place from an everyday electrician, stock broker, or retail salesperson, much less a United States Senator elected to represent those individuals.
The bottom line here, as with so many other cases that the mass media spin into headlines of seeming importance, is that like with Don Imus earlier this year, before this incident most Americans had no clue whatsoever who Senator Larry Craig was. Further, most of them simply did not care who he was, and many still do not now. What we are left to take away from the incident then is that, like with Imus earlier, Craig was absolutely in the wrong and most of those people who do pay attention or even pretend to care, would agree with that. When his fellow Republican senators ask Senator Craig to step aside from his job, it is not because they are all bigoted haters of all homosexuals eveyrwhere in America (which is not even clear if Craig is to be included as part of that population), as the liberal media like the Star Tribune would like to have readers believe. Instead, asking the Senator to step aside is merely saying, as the country did with Don Imus, that his actions were inappropriate and that his conduct was unbefitting that of a United States Senator, period. Reading any more into it than that is simply raising speculation. We have morality and we have ethics. In the terrain between right and wrong, Senator Craig was in the wrong. He has had a distinguised career and done much for his constituents. While a rational person would hope that is not to be overshadowed, quite simply, the legacy of this retiring Senator is now resting on his own actions, which cast a remarkably long shadow of their own.
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