Archive for June, 2008
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let own light shine, we unconciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
again thank you christine…
Modern psychology has a word that is probably used more than any other word. It is the word “maladjusted.� Now we all should seek to live a well adjusted life in order to avoid neurotic and schizophrenic personalities. But there are some things within our social order to which I am proud to be maladjusted and to which I call upon you to be maladjusted. I never intend to adjust myself to segregation and discrimination. I never intend to adjust myself to mob rule. I never intend to adjust myself to the tragic effects of the methods of physical violence and to tragic militarism. I call upon you to be maladjusted to such things. I call upon you to be as maladjusted as Amos who in the midst of the injustices of his day cried out in words that echo across the generation, “let judgment run down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.� As maladjusted as Abraham Lincoln who had the vision to see that this nation could not exist half slave and half free. As maladjusted as Jefferson, who in the midst of an age amazingly adjusted to slavery could cry out, “All men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.� As maladjusted as Jesus of Nazareth who dreamed a dream of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. God grant that we will be so maladjusted that we will be able to go out and change our world and our civilization. And then we will be able to move from the bleak and desolate midnight of man’s inhumanity to man to the bright and glittering daybreak of freedom and justice.
thanks christine…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM EVERYONE…!!!
not many men around strong enough to be my man or my friend – me thinks.
cause my majour pre-req’s are:
being honest – truly authentic – compassionate – loyal – kind – trustworthy – loving
silly – humorous – secure in their own sexuality [whatever that may be]
intelligent – extremely conservative [demanding accountability for any and all actions politically].
ability to forgive and move on – unselfish were it counts – comfortable in their own skin
enjoying their alone times – knowing when to be quiet – appreciating my need to sometimes be alone
being grateful for all we have – ability to just throw your head back and laugh even if sometimes
you wind up laughing at yourself…
thanks for the heads up MKF…
Heri ya Siku kuu! Mr. Mandela…
By George Stephanopoulos, PARADE Magazine
H.L. Mencken is often quoted as saying, “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
Great line, but Mencken got it wrong — at least when it comes to voters.
Ever since I planted my first lawn signs for a county judge as a high-schooler in Cleveland, I’ve been fascinated by campaigns and elections. Now, 30 years later — after working in the Capitol and the White House, serving in three Presidential campaigns, and covering three more as Chief Washington Correspondent for ABC News — I’m still fascinated.
And I’m still convinced that, in most elections most of the time, voters get it right. The process works. As we head into the most exciting, historic, and high-stakes Presidential election of our lifetimes, here are some suggestions on how you can be an even better voter.
KNOW WHAT MATTERS TO YOU
Start with a gut check. Sit down and really think about which issues are most important to you: national health care or national security? Global warming or the makeup of the Supreme Court? Consider what qualities you most prize in a leader: empathy, decisiveness, or intelligence? Candor or competence?
Then imagine that you are the President. What would be your top priority? Whom would you turn to for advice? Which principle or position would you be willing to stand by even if it put your whole Presidency at risk? How you size up the candidates should flow from how you answer those basic questions.
USE THE GODFATHER TEST
Political pollsters love the beer-buddy question — namely, to ask voters which candidate they’d most want to hang out with over a couple of cold ones or a cup of coffee. But I prefer to use the Godfather (or Godmother) Test.
What that means: Pick a candidate as if your child’s life depended on it. While liking the politician should be part of your thought process, having a Best Pal in the Oval Office isn’t enough. The decisions made by the next President will help determine whether your children will have to fight in wars, how dependent they’ll be on foreign oil, and whether Medicare and Social Security will be there when they retire. Vote for the candidate who has the competence and character to guide your child — and the country.
FIND OUT WHAT YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY REALLY THINK
In addition to getting news from the TV, try to check out a solid newspaper every day. It will give you some breadth of coverage about the election and the context of the campaign. And, as you’re making up your mind, don’t be afraid to engage friends and family in debate. Not surprisingly, I disagree with the old saw that you should never discuss politics at the dinner table (although I do my best not to bore my toddlers). When I worked in politics, the best decisions I ever made came after conversations with my friends. So go at it — just try not to pick a fight at every meal.
DURING THE DEBATES, FOCUS ON WHAT THE CANDIDATES SAY — AND DO
Record numbers of viewers tuned in to this year’s primary debates — and for good reason. They matter. Though face-to-face televised debates are a relatively recent phenomenon (the Kennedy-Nixon debates in 1960 were the first ever), they’ve been key turning points in just about every campaign since.
Both Richard Nixon in 1960 and Al Gore in 2000 might have been better off sticking with radio broadcasts. Many observers thought each had won his first televised debate on points, but Nixon was undone by bad makeup that failed to hide his 5 o’clock shadow, and Gore was undercut by reaction shots that caught him sighing and rolling his eyes while George W. Bush was speaking. Viewers were turned off.
Gerald Ford’s bid against Jimmy Carter in 1976 stalled at the second debate, when Ford declared there was “no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.” Meanwhile, Bill Clinton sealed his 1992 victory during a second debate with George H.W. Bush. As Clinton engaged a questioner on the economy, Bush was caught checking his watch. The metaphor stuck.
While nothing in a campaign can match the demands that a President will face in the White House Situation Room, debates can offer a glimpse of how candidates perform when everything’s on the line. Watch how they handle the pressure — and give extra credit for spontaneity. Are they thinking on their feet or reciting canned talking points? Which one can defuse a difficult moment with humor, recover from a gaffe with grace, or pounce on an opponent’s mistake without seeming too mean-spirited?
Wit and showmanship are important. They feed into what political scholar Richard Neustadt considered the most essential Presidential power — “the power to persuade.”
BALANCE IT ALL OUT
Where the candidates have come from, what positions they take on the issues, whom they listen to, and how they make decisions all matter. No one quality is the key to success. Take experience, for example. It’s hard to imagine a President coming to the White House with a more stellar resumé than James Buchanan, who had been a Congressman, a Senator, an ambassador, and Secretary of State. But he failed miserably as President — passive in the face of a looming Civil War.
Nor can a candidate who promises change necessarily achieve it. Jimmy Carter came in after Watergate promising “a government as good as the American people,” but he ended up not having the political skill to deliver one. Experience, judgment, and competence all have to be weighed in equal measure.
And think hard before disqualifying a candidate for being a flip-flopper. Flip-flopping can be the most devastating criticism — and deservedly so, if the candidate shifts with the political winds. But history also is full of Presidents who changed their minds for the right reasons. The Louisiana Purchase was the kind of power-grab that ran against Thomas Jefferson’s deepest principles, but he came to see it as a wise investment in America’s future, and supporting it turned out to be one of the best Presidential decisions ever. Abe Lincoln promised the South that he wouldn’t abolish slavery. Thank goodness he changed his mind.
ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT YOUR VOTE COUNTS
It’s a cliché, but look at recent experiences. The 2000 election was settled by the U.S. Supreme Court when the official count showed 537 votes in Florida separating Bush from Gore — a difference of less than one-tenth of one percent of the state’s electorate. Flip fewer than 60,000 votes in Ohio, and John Kerry is President in 2004. Nixon would have won in 1960 with 5000 shifted votes in each of Illinois and South Carolina, and 12,000 in New Jersey.
Who knows if this year’s contest will be a cliffhanger? What I do know is that 2008 is shaping up as one of the most consequential elections in U.S. history. More Americans will vote this year than ever before. I’m confident that we will prove Mencken wrong — one more time.
