Debate night. We are a pretty polarized nation these days. I wonder what happened to statesmanship, cooperation, and compromise. Was there ever any such thing? Was Benjamin Franklin a statesman? Have our forefathers seen what was right for the country and done it even when their own constituents saw it another way. Or has that never happened? Have the rich always controlled the legislature and executive branch? Has the judiciary always been partisan?

Have polarizing issues always galvinized groups so that one issue became their only issue? Abortion, guns, prayer in school, the ten commandments, gay marriage, tax relief, welfare reduction.

It appeared to me that both debate candidates got to say the buzzwords they wanted to say. Mr. Bush seemed bewildered at times when trying to think of something to say. He also spent most of his time making sour faces when he wasn't responding to a question. I saw partisan groups on TV cheering or booing against what one candidate or the other had to say. Mr. Kerry was definitely a cool debater. He didn't get flustered and always had something to say. I was most amused that Bush had sort of blondish hair instead of his normal gray. That was cute.

I wish the president could put words together and make sentences that made sense. That clarity would seem to serve a president well. For the folks who were looking for incisive clarity on positions from Mr. Kerry, I thought he gave it, chapter and verse.

I was expecting it to be a close contest from what I had heard about Mr. Bush, but all in all, I thought the president got his ass kicked in this one. He looked bewildered and incompetent. If America wants to make our way in the world alone, living in our own little fantasy world, Dubya Bush is our man I think. If we want to rejoin the community of nations and realize that other voices must join with ours for right, truth, and freedom, in order for us to be successful, then Kerry seems to be the guy.

Religion and politics have gotten so entangled during my lifetime. I grew up in a pretty conservative church. They encouraged me to take my Bible to school everyday, which I did. They convinced me that dancing was sinful and I never went to a dance in high school. I'm not sure why dancing was a sin, (we didn't talk about that), but the implication was that dancing was just a warm up for sex. As an adult I found that dancing was fun and good exercise. One of the most delightful things that ever happened to me was when one of my students taught me to fox trot and danced with me at the prom. I've made a point to teach someone else to fox trot every year since then.

Jerry Falwell said the other day that evangelical Christians control the Republican Party. I'm an evangelical Christian and I think Jerry Falwell is a self-centered idiot. I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand God all that well. Rather, he twists the Bible around to say what Jerry Falwell wants to say. He was one of the group that would have celebrated that I never danced.

Conservative Baptists took over the financial assets of the Southern Baptist convention a few years back by seizing on a weakness in the Convention‘s political design. The Moderates (There weren't any card carrying liberals in the SBC) tried to rally support for their side at first. After awhile they found the whole fighting thing unseemly and they just withdrew. It wasn't that the moderates couldn't win a pitched battle. They just couldn't bring themselves to pitch a battle. The people who took over had not built the convention nor contributed very much to its infrastructure. They just took everything. Largely they were independent folks, not convention folks at all. It was an ugly sight and the SBC gets wackier and less Christian every year. Fortunately there are Baptists who stayed on the same course the convention had before the takeover. They are called the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Now Jerry Falwell assures me that those fighting, thieving conservative Christians are running the country. What are their issues in politics?

Abortion is number one isn't it? Never mind that the mother might die. She'll just have to die. It's God's will, they say. But John 10:10 quotes Jesus saying, "I came that you might have abundant life." Makes sense to me to let the pregnant person and a doctor make decisions about their life. It must be hard to have an abortion.

Guns are number one also. Can't have too many guns. Guns keep us safe. And guns kill thousands of innocent people each year. About as many as are killed in cars? Do we need guns as much as we need cars? I'm old and have never had a gun. Always felt pretty safe too. I wonder if I'd feel super safe if I went out and bought an Uzi.

Another Republican issue is locking up criminals and executing anyone that we can. They've also eliminated rehab programs in prisons. Those criminals don't need to know how to stay sober; they need to be punished. Since it cost less to keep someone in jail for life than to execute them, and since being in jail for life is terrible beyond my imagination, wouldn't it be worse punishment . . . Oh yes but there is the vengeance thing. Didn't God say something about that too?

Two other big issues. Rich pay too much in taxes. Poor people reap too many benefits from the government. Seems to me that capitalism has been pretty good to rich folks. Didn't the tax system tax up to fifty-something percent of high incomes years ago. Now it is only 35% isn't it? Now they want a sales tax so they will only pay 25% on a portion of their income.

I was talking to President Jimmy Carter a while back. At a little party. Family type thing. I was honored to be invited. We were standing around munching munchies and I said "I don't see how anyone can be a Republican these days." He shook his head back and forth and said quietly. . . "Me either."

Lot's of folks have badmouthed President Carter. I wonder if they have ever met him. He is a brilliant man. He does have principles though and that is a weakness in a politician. Still, he's my favorite President. What an impact on the world. He's like the eveready bunny. President Carter is a member of one of those moderate Baptist churches. I'll bet he can fox trot.

I guess the basic problem is that no one has the time to write carefully enough so as to be thoroughly understood. Then too, who has the time to read carefully enough to understand everything? For certain I know that in academic or scientific writing it sometimes seems impossible to write a sentence. Did you want to say that John was a great composer? Well "great" is not much of an adjective: overused, trite, general. It doesn't have much of a feel in the mouth even, when you say it. But if you wanted to say that, who cares? It's an opinion and why is your opinion more important than the next person on the street. Who left you in charge of Who's Who? You'll need footnotes to say "great." You'll need to find people older than you who already said John was great. I don't know why they could just say it except that someone has acclaimed them an expert on John, so they don't need footnotes anymore. If they say it, it is true.

I have searched for more than a day trying to find a footnote to back up an adjective I want to use. Fiction would be a bit easier. If you want John to be great, just call him great.

People don't like the SAT test much. It makes them feel small I think. I mean, if your score comes up 500/500 then that's it. You are average. It puts you in the position of having to say you just don't test well, you know? I think Mozart would have made 1600 on the SAT, but I don't know. Could he have been challenged somehow by algebra or by reading literature about some scientific field and trying to interpret it? But from what we know about him he was to music as Einstein was to physics, wasn't he?

The people who are in charge of things generally didn't score that well on the SAT. The smart people are doing something creative. Being in charge would be a waste of their ability to do.

Mozart was a great composer. I think I'll go do something.

Blogging seems like Dear Diary in a way, except everyone can read it. Better be careful what you say I guess. Don't want any hurt feelings. But I do like writing essays, so perhaps I should write something.

Things that I like to think, talk, write about:

The inexplicable mystery of why anyone could ever consider themselves a member of the Republican party.

The inequities of capitalism.

Taxation.

How remarkable it is to teach something to someone.

The mysteries of the creation of music.

The beauty of the world.

The fragility of life. The suddenness of death.

The mystery and wonder of relationships. Why do people like or dislike each other?

The urge to achieve greatness. The worthlessness of greatness.

Baseball, part horse race, part chess match.

Other stuff.