In 1954, the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told Douglas Stringfellow that, for the sake of honesty, he had to end his run for Congress.
Is there any sense still in Salt Lake City? Have they been listening to Glenn Beck, lately?
Tip of the old scrub brush to MediaMatters and Crooks and Liars.
1 Comment | 
Accuracy, Political Smear, Politics, Rampant stupidity | Tagged: Accuracy, Glenn Beck, Political Smear, Politics, Rampant stupidity | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
From The Other 98%:
Which one would you choose to follow? Which one would you choose to emulate?
Teachers, don’t you wish a student would turn in something like this from time to time?
Tip of the old scrub brush to Earthaid3.
6 Comments | Advanced Placement, Civil Rights, Education, History, Martin Luther King, Politics, Student projects, Teaching | Tagged: Civil Rights, Education, Glenn Beck, Heroes, History, I Have a Dream, Martin Luther King Jr., Politics, Teaching | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Thomas Jefferson’s copy of the Qur’an, published in 1764. (courtesy of the Library of Congress). Image via 15-Minute History at the University of Texas at Austin.
The Center for Inquiry (CFI) joined in the calls to end plans for any worship center for Islam near the site of the destroyed World Trade Center. But they added a twist.
CFI called for the entire area to be free from religious institutions, since, they say, it was religiously-inspired violence that caused the trouble. Greg Laden has pithy comments at his blog, as does DuWayne Brayton from the opposite tack (Laden agrees with CFI, sorta, while Brayton thinks they’ve jumped somebody’s shark).
And Glenn Beck in ignorance leads us farther and further from the intentions of the “founders”:
Also at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:
346 Comments | First Amendment, Freedom - Political, George Washington, Political Smear, Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson | Tagged: Center for Inquiry, First Amendment, Freedom from Religion, George Washington, Ground Zero Mosque, Political Smear, Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Gordon Atkinson, who often blogs as Real Live Preacher (whose drawings I really like), has already walked a mile in the shoes of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. Perhaps we could learn from his journey:
I would be interested in comments from you about something else, though. Having been a clergyman for many years, I can’t help but watch the drama of Park 51 unfold with a different perspective. Because I know what it’s like to carry someone else’s reputation.
~~~~
When I was a Baptist minister, I could never get comfortable with the fact that Fred Phelps was a colleague. Whenever the people from Westboro Baptist Church were on the news with their hateful signs, I knew that some of Fred’s reputation was going to rub off on me.
Whether it’s fair or not, clergy share their reputations. Many people in our culture have never met, much less befriended a preacher. What little experience they have with ministers comes from television and the occasional wedding or funeral. When someone meets a Baptist preacher for the first time, they often have some preconceived notions.
That’s just the way it is.
Ah, shades of Bruce Hornsby. More at the link above.
2 Comments | Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom | Tagged: Empathy, Ground Zero Mosque, Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom, Westboro Baptist Church | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
An encore post from two years ago. 50,000 educators from Dallas ISD gathered at the American Airlines Center, and then-5th grader Dalton Sherman gave the performance of his young life.
That was 2008. Later that school year a $64 million shortfall showed up in the Dallas ISD budget, and many of those teachers were laid off mid-year. In 2010, Dallas ISD provided a short video of encouragement from Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, rather than a mass gathering and pep rally.
Below is the post from 2008.
______________________
Taylor Mali is one of my usual suspects for inspiring teachers. He does a great job, with just a tinge of profanity (appropriately placed, many teachers argue – if they ask for it, you have to give it to them).
This year’s inspiration for Dallas teachers comes from Dalton Sherman, a fifth grader at Charles Rice Learning Center. Here’s a YouTube video of the presentation about 20,000 of us watched last Wednesday, a small point that redeemed the annual “convocation” exercise, for 2008:
Sherman’s presentation rescued what had been shaping up as another day of rah-rah imprecations to teachers who badly wanted, and in my case needed, to be spending time putting classrooms together.
(By the way, at the start of his presentation, you can see several people leap to their feet in the first row — Mom, Dad, and older brother. Nice built-in cheering section.)
Staff at DISD headquarters put the speech together for Dalton to memorize, and he worked over the summer to get it down. This background is wonderfully encouraging.
First, it makes a statement that DISD officials learn from mistakes. Last year the keynote was given by a speaker out of central casting’s “classic motivational speaker” reserves. As one teacher described it to me before the fete last Wednesday, “It was a real beating.”
Second, DISD’s planning ahead to pull this off suggests someone is looking a little bit down the road. This was a four or five month exercise for a less-than-10 minute presentation. It’s nice to know someone’s looking ahead at all.
Third, the cynical teachers gave Dalton Sherman a warm standing ovation. That it was delivered by a 10-year-old kids from DISD made a strong symbol. But the content was what hooked the teachers. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa provided a death-by-PowerPoint presentation leading up to the speech, one that was probably not designed solely as contrasting lead in. In other words, Dalton Sherman’s speech demonstrated as nothing else the district has done lately that someone downtown understands that the teachers count, the foot soldiers in our war on ignorance and jihad for progress.
The kids came back Monday, bless ’em. School’s in session, to anyone paying attention.
Resources:
Full text of Dalton Sherman’s speech to Dallas Independent School District teachers, August 20, 2008:
I believe in me. Do you believe in me?
Do you believe I can stand up here, fearless, and talk to all 20,000 of you?
Hey, Charles Rice Learning Center – do you believe in me?
That’s right – they do.
Because here’s the deal: I can do anything, be anything, create anything, dream anything, become anything – because you believe in me. And it rubs off on me.
Let me ask you a question, Dallas ISD.
Do you believe in my classmates?
Do you believe that every single one of us can graduate ready for college or the workplace?
You better. Because next week, we’re all showing up in your schools – all 157,000 of us – and what we need from you is to believe that we can reach our highest potential.
No matter where we come from, whether it’s sunny South Dallas, whether its Pleasant Grove, whether its Oak Cliff or North Dallas or West Dallas or wherever, you better not give up on us. No, you better not.
Because, as you know, in some cases, you’re all we’ve got. You’re the ones who feed us, who wipe our tears, who hold our hands or hug us when we need it. You’re the ones who love us when sometimes it feels like no else does – and when we need it the most.
Don’t give up on my classmates.
Do you believe in your colleagues?
I hope so. They came to your school because they wanted to make a difference, too. Believe in them, trust them and lean on them when times get tough – and we all know, we kids can sometimes make it tough.
Am I right?
Can I get an Amen?
So, whether you’re a counselor or a librarian, a teacher assistant or work in the front office, whether you serve up meals in the cafeteria or keep the halls clean, or whether you’re a teacher or a principal, we need you!
Please, believe in your colleagues, and they’ll believe in you.
Do you believe in yourself? Do you believe that what you’re doing is shaping not just my generation, but that of my children – and my children’s children?
There’s probably easier ways to make a living, but I want to tell you, on behalf of all of the students in Dallas, we need you. We need you now more than ever.
Believe in yourself.
Finally, do you believe that every child in Dallas needs to be ready for college or the workplace? Do you believe that Dallas students can achieve?
We need you, ladies and gentlemen. We need you to know that what you are doing is the most important job in the city today. We need you to believe in us, in your colleagues, in yourselves and in our goals.
If you don’t believe – well, I’m not going there.
I want to thank you for what you do – for me and for so many others.
Do you believe in me? Because I believe in me. And you helped me get to where I am today.
Thank you.
1 Comment | Education, First day, Politics, Teachers, Teaching | Tagged: Dallas ISD, Dalton Sherman, Education, famous speeches, First Day of School, inspiration, Politics, Teaching | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Scott Hanley at Angular Unconformities used Google Earth to see how other nations deal with the placement of potentially-offensive installations near the sites of their great national calamaties.
Charles Krauthammer pushed the argument to the shark-jumping bridge in his regular column at the Washington Post:
When we speak of Ground Zero as hallowed ground, what we mean is that it belongs to those who suffered and died there — and that such ownership obliges us, the living, to preserve the dignity and memory of the place, never allowing it to be forgotten, trivialized or misappropriated.
That’s why Disney’s 1993 proposal to build an American history theme park near Manassas Battlefield was defeated by a broad coalition that feared vulgarization of the Civil War (and that was wiser than me; at the time I obtusely saw little harm in the venture). It’s why the commercial viewing tower built right on the border of Gettysburg was taken down by the Park Service. It’s why, while no one objects to Japanese cultural centers, the idea of putting one up at Pearl Harbor would be offensive.
We noted on another thread that there is, in fact, a Japanese Cultural Center at Pearl Harbor. Hanley wonders how the Japanese deal with reminders of the being the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare — a topic upon which the Japanese are understandably extremely sensitive.
Go to the photos, see what Hanley found:
Hallowed ground
Baseball and 7-Eleven, symbols of American cultural imperialism at the site of the world’s first nuclear assault. McDonald’s, by contrast, maintains a discreet 2000′ distance across the river.
This campaign against a Moslem cultural center in lower Manhattan is the prototypical example of where the “Ugly American” myth gets its roots. Hanley’s analysis is incredibly simple, no?
19 Comments | Atomic Bomb, Civil Rights, History, Political Smear, Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom, World War II | Tagged: American Icons, Atomic Bomb, Baseball, Bigotry, Civil Rights, Hiroshima, History, Manhattan, Mosque, Politics, Rampant stupidity, Religion | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Mark Fiore’s latest animated political cartoon won’t be popular with Newt Gingrich. But then, Fiore won the Pulitzer, not Gingrich.
(This cartoon is not available on Fiore’s YouTube Channel, yet.)
(Oh, and remember: This is the guy whose app got Apple’s panties in a wad — while you’re there, iPhone users, get the app that Steve Jobs thought mean for ridiculing those who so richly deserve ridicule. Ain’t the First Amendment grand?)
Tip of the old scrub brush to Jennsmom.
1 Comment | animation, First Amendment, History, Political cartoons, Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom | Tagged: animation, Cartoons, First Amendment, History, Mark Fiore, Mosques, Politics, Religious Freedom, zoning | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Who was it who pointed out that, no matter what a boob this guy Alvin Green is, he’d still make a better senator than Jim DeMint?
Still true. Green would be a better senator from jail, than DeMint is walking around.
Most South Carolinians plan to vote for the bad guy in this match up, the more evil of two lessers. But for the few thousand thinking voters in South Carolina, Green’s indictment probably pulls him down closer to the level of DeMint. What to do?
What a train wreck is South Carolina politics and government.
5 Comments | Elections, Humor, Politics | Tagged: All you can do is laugh, Alvin Green, Evidence of the Collapse of the American Empire, Humor, Jim Demint, Politics, South Carolina | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
An essay from a thoughtful Christian about the controversy over building a mosque in Manhattan; Kinnamon notes some of the history that should be considered:
For thousands of families, Ground Zero in southern Manhattan is holy ground. Thousands lost someone they love in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, and hundreds of thousands know someone who was directly or indirectly scarred by the collapse of the World Trade Center. The emotional investment in Ground Zero cannot be overestimated.
That is precisely why Ground Zero must be open to the religious expression of all people whose lives were scarred by the tragedy: Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, Hindus, and more. And Muslims.
No one knows how many Muslims died on 9/11, but they number in the hundreds. One was Salman Hamdani, a 23-year-old New York City police cadet, emergency medical technician and medical student. When Salman disappeared on September 11, law enforcement officials who knew of his Islamic faith sought him out among his family to question him about the attacks. His family lived with the onus of suspicion for six months until Salman’s body was identified. He was found near the North Tower with his EMT bag beside him, situated where he could help people in need.
The point of this now famous story is simple. Not every Muslim at Ground Zero was a terrorist, and not every Muslim was a hero. The vast majority were like thousands of others on September 11: victims of one of the most heinous events of our times.
But for the family of Salman Hamdani and millions of innocent Muslims, the tragedy has been exacerbated by the fact that so many of the rest of us have formed our opinions about them out of prejudice and ignorance of the Muslim faith.
It is that narrow-minded intolerance that has led to the outcry against the building of Cordoba House and Mosque near Ground Zero. It is the same ignorance that has led many to the outrageous conclusion that all Muslims advocate hatred and violence against non-Muslims. It is the same ignorance that has led to hate crimeand systematic discrimination against Muslims, and to calls to burn the Qur’an.
On the eve of Ramadan on August 11, the National Council of Churches, its Interfaith Relations Commission and Christian participants in the National Muslim-Christian Initiative, issued a strong call for respect for our Muslim neighbors.
“Christ calls us to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ (Matthew 22:39),” the statement said. “It is this commandment, more than the simple bonds of our common humanity, which is the basis for our relationship with Muslims around the world.”
The statement supported building Cordoba House “as a living monument to mark the tragedy of 9/11 through a community center dedicated to learning, compassion, and respect for all people.”
Now the National Council of Churches reaffirms that support and calls upon Christians and people of faith to join us in that affirmation.
The alternative to that support is to engage in a bigotry that will scar our generation in the same way as bigotry scarred our forebears.
Three-hundred years ago, European settlers came to these shores with a determination to conquer and settle at the expense of millions of indigenous peoples who were regarded as sub-human savages. Today, we can’t look back on that history without painful contrition.
One-hundred and fifty years ago, white Americans subjugated black Africans in a cruel slavery that was justified with Bible proof-texts and a belief that blacks were inferior to whites. Today, we look back on that history with agonized disbelief.
Sixty years ago, in a time of war and great fear, tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans were deprived of their property and forced into detention camps because our grandparents feared everyone of Japanese ancestry. Today that decision is universally regarded as an unconscionable mistake and a blot on American history.
Today, millions of Muslims are subjected to thoughtless generalizations, open discrimination and outright hostility because of the actions of a tiny minority whose violent acts defy the teachings of Mohammed.
How will we explain our ignorance and our compliance to our grandchildren?
It’s time to turn away from ignorance and embrace again the words of Christ: Love your neighbor as yourself.
In that spirit, we welcome the building of Cordoba House and Mosque near Ground Zero.
Michael Kinnamon
General Secretary
National Council of Churches
The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, a Disciples of Christ minister who is the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.
The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) clergyman and a long-time educator and ecumenical leader, is the ninth General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.
The NCC is the ecumenical voice of America’s Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican, historic African American, evangelical and traditional peace churches. These 36 communions have 45 million faithful members in 100,000 congregations in all 50 states.
More:
Also, at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:
197 Comments | 9/11, First Amendment, Freedom - Political, Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom | Tagged: Cordoba House, Freedom of Religion, Ground Zero Mosque, Manhattan, Matthew 22:39, Michael Kinnamon, Mosque, Politics, Religion, Salman Hamdani | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
According to the Associated Press, General Motors turned a profit of $1.33 billion last quarter. “Billion,” with a b.
Tea Partiers and Republicans have made a run on liquor stores to stock up on gin for the afternoon. News is turning against them.
First, they argued that the Obama administration was crazy to try to save GM. Couldn’t be done, won’t work. Cutting 3 million workers loose in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Texas would help depress the market for migrant fruit pickers in those states, the Republicans argued implicitly — and that would help reduce immigration troubles, which bug Republicans chiefly because it’s a sign of good economic times for working people.
Second, they argued that Obama had effectively nationalized GM and Chrysler. Nationalized companies rarely turn profits (except for tin-pot dictators). The simple reporting of a profit by the company reiterates the point that the GM rescue was not “socialism,” and was no nationalizing of the company. Obama starts to look like a hero, Tea Party dreams start to look like wet tea leaves.
Third, it means Tea Party self-enrollees may actually have to buy American. They had hoped to kill off the U.S. auto industry, so no one would complain when they drove Mercedes, Lexus, and the Kia they bought for their nephew. Now, with Cadillacs, Chryslers and Lincolns still being made, they have no excuse.
Fourth, it means there are three million voters in the American midwest who owe their jobs to Obama. While at least of million of those people may be convinced to buy the Tea Party Home Lobotomy Kit and vote against Democrats in the fall, the odds of even half of that group being suckered in are slight.
Fifth, and most important, GM’s showing a profit pulls the cloak from the platform of the Tea Partiers, and all that’s left is a naked guy with skinny legs and a sore need for a tanning bed and exercise. The Tea Party works on being against stuff. If they had to actually come up with a workable program for anything, they’d quickly be exposed.
So, that gut at the end of the bar finishing the fifth of gin and mumbling a lot? He’s a Tea Partier, praying for Chrysler to crash. Tell the bartender he is picking up your tab.
Tip of the old scrub brush to Jim Stanley.
5 Comments | 2010 Elections, Economics, History, Politics, President Obama | Tagged: 2010 Election, Economics, General Motors, History, Politics, President Obama, Tea Party | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Unlike the blog discussed in an earlier post at first, this blog seems to understand that it’s winter in South America. Still, the author can’t understand why record cold in one small spot doesn’t completely negate warming in the rest of the world: Minnesotans for Global Warming.
One almost expects to find it has sister sites: Minnesotans Love Cancer, Minnesotans for Child Abuse, and Self-Lobotomies R Us.
Maybe it’s not the concept of climate that confuses these people, but the entire notion of “average global temperature.” People who spend their entire lives below average, probably expect that’s the way it is in temperatures, too. (Is that nasty enough for today? I’m feeling crabby about idiocy.)
3 Comments | Climate change, climate_change, Cost of Green, Global warming, Green Politics, Politics, Rampant stupidity, Science, Voodoo science, Woo | Tagged: Politics, Woo, Science, Global warming, Rampant stupidity, Cost of Green, Green Politics | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Is Andrew Breitbart’s blog the world’s largest collection of misanthropes and pathological sociopaths on the internet?
Is there any fool idea that crowd won’t celebrate? Is there any fact they won’t ignore? Is that the ultimate result of people whose ears are burned shut by listening to Limbaugh and O’Reilly?
Just curious, and appalled.
7 Comments | Accuracy, Politics, Rampant stupidity, Weblogs | Tagged: Andrew Breitbart, blogs, Incivility, Pathologies, Politics, Psychoses, Rampant stupidity | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Some e-mail is more entertaining than others.
Linda Chavez-Thompson, the firebrand candidate for Texas Lieutenant Governor who has incumbent David Dewhurst so rattled he can’t debate her, was scheduled to introduce President Obama at an appearance in Austin today.
Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Gov. Linda Chavez-Thompson, on the view screen, addressing the Texas Democratic Convention in June - photo by Ed Darrell
Chavez-Thompson might be expected to shake his hand first, but she said no. Let her explain it:
Friends,
As you may already know, President Obama came to Texas today. And no, I didn’t shake his hand.
I walked up straight to him, stared him in the eye, and greeted him with a warm abrazo (hug). Because that’s the way you greet a fellow laborer.
And yes, I consider Barack Obama a laborer. As I told the crowd while introducing the President at the DNC event:
“He’s taken on the economy. He’s taken on health care. He’s taken on Wall Street. And he doesn’t back down.
What he does do, and Texans respect this, is extend his hand across the aisle in a spirit of bi-partisanship. After all, the challenges Americans and Texas families face don ‘t come with a Party label on them.
But when his offer is not reciprocated, he does what any Texan would do. He does the work himself, because at the end of the day the work still has to get done.
There’s nothing brave about ignoring problems. We had eight years of that. Bravery is going out in the hot sun and doing the hard work it takes to make things grow.
And that’s coming from the daughter of a cotton sharecropper, so I know what I’m talking about.”
For too long Rick Perry and David Dewhurst have been ignoring the problems in Texas. Today Texas has the highest share of minimum wage jobs in the country, and even the Texas Association Business has warned that we will not be able to compete for the higher paying jobs because too many students are walking out of high school without a diploma.
I’m traveling across Texas to hold Rick Perry and David Dewhurst accountable. And believe me, this isn’t about politics — it’s a responsibility we all owe to our children and grandchildren.
I’ve never been afraid to go out into the hot sun and do the hard work it takes, but I need your help. Your contribution of $25, $35, $50, or whatever you can afford will help me spread the word and let Texans know what’s really at stake this election.
As I told the President when I welcomed him to Texas, I wasn’t just speaking for myself, but “for the millions of Texans who voices are too seldom heard.”
Un abrazo a ti también,
Linda Chavez-Thompson
You might do well to send her campaign $5.00, or $500 if you can afford it.
Linda Chavez-Thompson wowed the 2010 Texas Democratic Convention in Corpus Christi - photo by Ed Darrell
Leave a Comment » | 2010 Elections, Politics, President Obama, Texas | Tagged: 2010 Elections, Lieutenant Governor, Linda Chavez-Thompson, Politics, President Obama, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
A more clear demonstration of bad weather vane politics could not be imagined, could it?
Republicans’ relying on focus-groups to determine their positions, instead of doing what is right, is a major problem for us all — but especially in an election year.
As we were saying . . .
Vodpod videos no longer available.
One thing should be clear: You can’t trust the Republicans to follow through on their campaign promises. Words to the wise.
Tip of the old scrub brush to Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars.
2 Comments | Campaigns, Elections, History, Politics | Tagged: 2010 Election, Campaigns, Elections, Politics, Rachel Maddow, Republicans | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
The Tea Party hopes you never learn about this.
Friday, August 06, 2010
The U.S. Senate has passed S. 632 — the Firearms Excise Tax Improvement Act — co-sponsored by Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Mike Crapo (R-ID).
* * * * *
The bill now goes to the President for his signature.
[You may do better trying to track it under the number of the bill that really passed, H.R. 5552.]
Did your local newspaper cover the story?
13 Comments | Legislation, Politics, President Obama, Second Amendment | Tagged: Gun Excise Taxes, Legislation, National Rifle Association, Politics, President Obama, Second Amendment, Tea Party | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
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