They’d Fire Me

 Posted by  2008 Election, Homosexuality  54 Responses »
Jun 222006
 

In light of our recent discussion on gay marriage last week, the news that Robert Smith was fired from the board of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority seems pertinent. He was fired for asserting, on a talk show which he frequently attended, that homosexual behavior was “sexually deviant.” This isn’t surprising, particularly in an election year, that a political appointee who made an offensive remark got fired. At the same time, it disturbs me, because I disagree with those who consider the belief he holds to be necessarily wrong and “beyond the pale,” and am not sure in any case that personal opinions expressed about a current legal question should be reason for removing a person from public office.

Is this wrong? It seems at the very least contradictory to views of “tolerance” and “anti-discrimination” held by those who opposed Smith. Or is it an appropriate reason to question the man’s judgment overall and fire him? When electing someone, I certainly pay attention to personal morality (as a possible indicator of integrity in office), although I would subordinate it to policy statements. At the same time, for an appointed position that has nothing to do with gay rights legislation, why should his personal opinions in this area be grounds for firing him?

If this becomes a trend, I may not be able to hold a job 20 years down the line. Not if there are any record of these posts around, anyway.

Ranking President Bush

 Posted by  Bush Administration, U.S. Politics  1 Response »
Jun 212006
 

President Bush is a terrible president. The Iraq War at best has been a good idea horribly managed, and at worst is an unnecessary and unjustifiable boondoggle. President Bush’s attempted expansion of executive authority must have Thomas Jefferson rolling over in his grave. No Child Left Behind, the Tax Cuts, and Medicaid Part D were all poorly timed and poorly implemented, even if you think that they were good policies (and I don’t believe that they were). If the President’s job were only to effectively execute the will of Congress, then this president has failed. If his job is to lead the country and make it safer and more prosperous, then his administration has been a travesty. But, of course, the United States has had a very mixed bag of Presidents, so where exactly does President Bush rank? To answer that question, we first need to look at which presidents compare best with President Bush.
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Glory Road

 Posted by  Education, Movies, Sports  1 Response »
Jun 212006
 

I was recently in L.A. More on that in another post. On the airplane the movie Glory Road was showing, so I watched it. A decent flick, but not great. If it’s on tv, it’s worth flipping to, but not worth going out of your way for. Anyway, I want to talk about an interesting case study raised in the film that’s totally unrelated to the central theme of overcoming racism. Note, this post contains a minor spoiler, so if you’re really excited about the film and don’t want to hear anything about it, you should stop reading now. Continue reading »

Let Him Live

 Posted by  Foreign Policy, Middle East, War in Iraq  2 Responses »
Jun 192006
 

Saddam Hussein is a bad guy, if ever there was one. He is personally responsible for the deaths of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people. He invaded two of his neighbors; the first time it sparked one of the bloodiest wars of the last fifty years and the second time he cruelly occupied a smaller neighbor until the world community evicted him. He had no compunctions about using torture or murder to strengthen his hold on power. He cares nothing for any other human being, and will sacrifice anything to draw more power to himself. That is pretty much the definition of an evil man.

And so yesterday the prosecution team argued forcefully that Saddam Hussein deserved to die, and that, in fact, justice demanded his death. That’s probably true. As a Christian I believe we all deserve to die, and certainly almost any standard of retributive justice would list Saddam Hussein’s crimes as deserving of death.
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Leadership and Partisanship

 Posted by  2008 Election, Bush Administration, U.S. Politics  No Responses »
Jun 122006
 

Last Thursday, Tom DeLay gave his farewell speech to the House of Representatives. I never liked Rep. DeLay; he had no respect for rules, tradition, or decorum when it came to a partisan fight, and frankly I’ve never thought that a man who professes to be a Christian should act that way in any setting. He spreads lies and myths about his political enemies in a conscious, calculating way that I find offensive. (And my ire on this matter is not saved for conservatives; show me a liberal who attacks conservatives in the same way and I will say the same thing.) That being said, I would encourage you to read his farewell speech.

If you ignore his opinions about the supposed beliefs of liberalism and the supposed triumphs of conservatism, he makes a lot of good points about the necessity of partisanship and principle in politics. As he says, there is nothing more democratic that disagreement, dissent, and debate, and those are the fundamental tenets of political parties. The whole point of those parties is for different sides to organize around their beliefs and then to try to convince everyone else that their side is the best. And, at its heart and at its best, that is what the political parties in Washington attempt to do.
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