Wednesday, 07 January 2009

  • So Long Folks...For now

    I have been thinking about this for awhile, and have finally decided to pull the trigger.  I am going to shut down this Xanga site.  There are a variety of reasons for this.   I would like to pursue some other forms of writing.  I had been asked by a local publisher awhile ago to consider trying a book.  I think I may start journaling again to see where that goes.  Also am technically no longer Lighthouse Dave, so even my Xanga name no longer works. 

    The last reason is that when my term on the School Board ends in June I am considering starting a political/news  blog and would like to start it under a new moniker.  Donna and I have canceled our subscription to the Grand Rapids Press out of protest for what we consider to be a biased way they cover this city. 

    I believe there needs to be other sources of news, and think the electronic format is the way to go.  If I start this local blog/news site, I will most likely use a different format like word press or something like that.  It would be a web site specifically for political blogging in West Michigan, where many people could contribute.  Besides, once I get off school board I can be more vocal about issues and not have to worry about it hitting the papers.

    So for now, its been fun folks!  Ta Ta for now

Monday, 29 December 2008

  • The GOP Needs to do some Soul-Searching

    Sam Stein has an interesting article on Huffington Post today regarding Chip Saltsman and the GOP.   In this article Stein talks about the importance discussions of race will play in upcoming Republican National Committee meetings this January.  Stein reports:

    The forums come at a time when the GOP is undergoing an intense bout of political soul-searching, made even more urgent by revelations that a leading RNC chair candidate distributed a racially insensitive CD as a Holiday gift.

    Then a high ranking RNC member said:

    "Look, the GOP needs to be inclusive and more sensitive,on the other hand if we are going to fall apart in pieces every time someone yells racism than we are going to lose the next four years.... Because that means that the left is allowed to talk about race but we are not. There has got to be a way to talk about the president's agenda without falling into this trap."

    I think there is a a significant difference between having a discussion about race and criticism over a candidate for the RNC Chair's distribution of a CD with a song called Barack the Magic Negro!  During the supposed scandal surrounding Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright, President Elect Obama gave what I believe to be a seminal speech on the issue of race.  I would recommend that the GOP find this speech on U-Tube and watch it...take notes.  President Obama is opening the door wide for a reasonable and rational discussion on race.

    Stein points out that:

    The GOP may need to entirely revamp its approach towards minorities in particular and politics in general if the party wants to regain a grip on power."The core play in the GOP playbook for 44 years has been the magic negro playbook," said Simon Rosenberg, head of Democratic organization NDN and one of the most well-versed party figures on racial politics. "They don't have another play or another playbook. Whether it is Willie Horton, or welfare queens and tax and spend, or the way they have dealt with immigration... they don't have a play in their playbook that doesn't start with the exploitation of racial divisions... They are going to have to reject 44 years of GOP politics in order to have any chance in the 21st century America."

    I believe that the GOP is at a cross road...America is at a cross-road.  Let the discussion of race and public policy begin, but let's be civil in our discussion.   In the words of Barack Obama, let us develop an environment where we can disagree without being disagreeable.

Sunday, 28 December 2008

  • Just When You Thought We Were Past This...

    Because I have seen NOTHING in the local Grand Rapids Press on this issue, I decided to post about this appalling story which has been unfolding this past week.  Chip Saltsman, Candidate for Republican National Committee Chair, distributed a Christmas gift to his fellow members of the Republican National Committee this past week.  It was a CD produced by the Rush Limbaugh show.  The CD is titled: "We Hate the USA, " and includes songs with the following titles:

    "John Edwards' Poverty Tour," "Wright place, wrong pastor," "Love Client #9," "Ivory and Ebony" and "The Star Spanglish banner."  As if these titles are not offensive enough, the most prominent song on the CD is titled, "Barack the Magic Negro."

    According to Chip Saltsman, "I think most people recognize political satire when they see it." Actually, and more importantly, I hope that most people recognize bigotry and racism when they see and hear it.

    For those who haven't heard of all the  tasteless gems thrown out by various leaders in the Republican party during the 2008 presidential campaign, let me emind you of a few.  First there is Diane Fedele, who produced the "Ten Dollar Obama Bucks" food stamp showing the then Democratic candidate's head superimposed on a donkey's body surrounded by a chunk of watermelon, ribs, a pitcher of Kool-Aid, and a bucket of fried chicken.

    Then there is Marcia Stirman, the chairwoman of the Otero County Republican Women in New Mexico, who wrote in the Alamogordo Daily News that "I believe Muslims are our enemies," and that "Obama isn't a messiah or a Democrat. He's a Muslim socialist."

    Of course don't forget Jeffrey M. Frederick, the Chairman of the Virginia Republican Party, who likened Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden in a pep talk to campaign volunteers, explaining that "Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon. That is scary."

    Of course leading the choir is Rush Limbaugh who, on a daily basis issued countless hours of slander and racially tinged commentary towards Obama and his campaign, like calling him a "street thug" or a "hip hop candidate." 

    Racism is based on ignorance and fear.  Upon Obama's landslide win this past November, I had hoped that America took a huge step forward...away from our racist past...a step towards healing.  Leave it to ignorant fools like those I mention in this post to attempt to keep the ugly head of racism alive and well in our country.

    Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul, and Mary, and writer of Puff the "Magic Dragon" puts it well as he said:

    The sending of a Christmas greeting by Chip Saltsman to the members of the Republican National Committee that includes a recording of the so-called parody, "Barack the Magic Negro" is not only offensive, it is shocking and saddening in the extreme. It flies in the face of America's deeply held hope for a new era in which common ground and mutual respect characterize the exchanges between our national leaders.

    I and my co-writer of "Puff," Lenny Lipton, have been eagerly awaiting an end to the mean-spiritedness, outright disrespect and bigotry that was commonplace prior to this last presidential election. What might have been wearily accepted as "the way it was" in the campaign, is now unacceptable. Obama is not a candidate. He is the President-Elect, and this song insults the office of the Presidency, the people who voted for him, as well as those who did not -- and taking a children's song and twisting it in such vulgar, mean-spirited way, is a slur to our entire country and our common agreement to move beyond racism.

    It is almost unimaginable to me that Chip Saltzman who sent the CD, would seriously be considered for the top post of the Republican National Committee.

Wednesday, 24 December 2008

Tuesday, 23 December 2008

  • Melissa Etheridge on Rick Warren

    Oscar and Grammy winning songwriter, and long time outspoken advocate for the gay community, Melissa Etheridge has a great piece on Huffington Post about Rick Warren.

    Apparently Etheridge was to perform a song at the recent Muslim Public Affairs Council.  When she got there, she discovered that the Council had asked Rick Warrren to give the key note address.  Etheridge describes how she immediately wanted to cancel and make this a political statement.  However, the focus for the evening's event was top promote peace.  Etheridge in her article describes her internal struggle and finally asked herself the question...

    Do I stand for peace or not?

    So Etheridge decided to invite Warren to meet with her.  Warren readily and heartily accepted.  Prior to their meeting Etheridge had this to say about Warren:

    I hadn't heard of Pastor Rick Warren before all of this. When I heard the news, in its neat little sound bite form that we are so accustomed to, it painted the picture for me. This Pastor Rick must surely be one hate spouting, money grabbing, bad hair televangelist like all the others. He probably has his own gay little secret bathroom stall somewhere, you know. One more hater working up his congregation to hate the gays, comparing us to pedophiles and those who commit incest, blah blah blah. Same 'ole thing.

    However, when Warren and she met, Etheridge saw something completely different as she says,

    Before I could say anything, he told me what a fan he was. He had most of my albums from the very first one. What? This didn't sound like a gay hater, much less a preacher. He explained in very thoughtful words that as a Christian he believed in equal rights for everyone. He believed every loving relationship should have equal protection. He struggled with proposition 8 because he didn't want to see marriage redefined as anything other than between a man and a woman. He said he regretted his choice of words in his video message to his congregation about proposition 8 when he mentioned pedophiles and those who commit incest. He said that in no way, is that how he thought about gays. He invited me to his church, I invited him to my home to meet my wife and kids. He told me of his wife's struggle with breast cancer just a year before mine.

    Etheridge ends her piece with this statement, one which I think everyone should heed in regard to Warren's choice as she says:

    Brothers and sisters the choice is ours now. We have the world's attention. We have the capability to create change, awesome change in this world, but before we change minds we must change hearts. Sure, there are plenty of hateful people who will always hold on to their bigotry like a child to a blanket. But there are also good people out there, Christian and otherwise that are beginning to listen. They don't hate us, they fear change. Maybe in our anger, as we consider marches and boycotts, perhaps we can consider stretching out our hands. Maybe instead of marching on his church, we can show up en mass and volunteer for one of the many organizations affiliated with his church that work for HIV/AIDS causes all around the world.

Friday, 19 December 2008

  • In Defense of Rick Warren

    One can hardly read any news outlet, or read a political blog without discovering outrage over President Elect Barack Obama asking Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration.  So-called Liberal Leadership, and leadership in the gay and lesbian community are outraged over this choice because Warren is openly opposed to any legal recognition of gay marriages.  In fact Warren is open in his views that he views the gay lifestyle as wrong and sin.

    I find this opposition and anger over Obama's decision almost laughable.  Barack Obama has been very clear from the beginning that he is going to not exclude anyone from his circle and in fact he even says he will purposely surround himself not with "yes" men and women, but with people that will openly debate and challenge his administration in an effort to make decisions that are good for all America.

    Rick Warren has never engaged in hate crimes.  He never carried signs at Anti-gay demonstrations condemning gays to hell. Warren simply does not agree with the view that gay marriages should be legally recognized.  I also do not happen to agree with Warren.  In fact I snicker when I hear Warren being called "Dobson Lite."  I laugh because of the kernel of truth in that statement.  I never even read Purpose Driven life.

    However, I applaud Obama's continued effort to unify our country and to pursue the mantra that Americans need to learn to disagree without being disagreeable.  Why is anyone surprised by the choice of Warren to pray over the inauguration?  Obama is simply doing something rare in politics today, being true to his word about how he would run his administration.

Thursday, 18 December 2008

  • More From Scrooge

    From age 15 to age 31, I worked in the grocery business.  Holidays were never very fun.  I always had to work tons of hours because we were so busy and it was a major hassle getting time off to accommodate all the family holiday parties.  I can honestly say for most of those years I never really enjoyed the holiday season.

    From age 31 to age 46, I worked for various non-profits doing urban community development.  The holidays were a pretty slow time.  In fact we would simply shut down the week between Christmas and New Year because nothing really happened.  I loved the holidays.

    As you know since this past April, I have been back in the retail business.  The folks that work for me have begun calling me scrooge.  I never really put the connection together between what I am doing now and what I did for the first 16 years of my career.

    Someone just sent me this funny story about Santa, and it reminded me of the type of crap I go through here are the factory and why I get so crabby this time of the year.  So enjoy this story from me...Scrooge!
    The Christmas Angel

    When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.  Then, Mrs, Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.

    When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.  And, when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.

    Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum.  When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drank all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.

    Just then the doorbell rang, and irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.  The angel said very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa.  Isn't this a lovely day?  I have a beautiful tree for you.  Where would you like for me to stick it?" 

    And so began the tradition of the little angel on top on the Christmas tree.

Sunday, 14 December 2008

  • Sick Sunday Morning

    I have been in bed (well sort of) sick with the flu  for the past two days compliments of my wife.  Lately a lot of people have been giving me crap about not blogging so much any more.  Since Thanksgiving, things have been CRAZY at work, plus it has been no picnic with Grand Rapids Public School Board either!

    At least today I feel well enough to sit at the computer and catch up with my blogsphere reading.  I came across this gem from Colin Powell.

    The CNN version of this interview includes Powell stating that the Republican Party needs to stop allowing people like Rush Limbaugh from being its spokesperson because people like him appeal the our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts.

    If you happened to watch the news this morning, you discovered that Pres. Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq today.  Well moments ago this happened at his press conference.

    Of course we all remember the Iraqi people toppling the statue of Sadaam and hitting it with thier shoes.  For an Iraqi touching someone with your shoe is an extreme show of disrespect.  To hit someone with your shoe is even more severe.  How far we have come since we invaded Iraq!

Saturday, 06 December 2008

  • Random Thoughts on a Snowy Day

    I have to leave tomorrow AM to New York on a sales call from Dr. John's Candies.  Donna woke this morning with a pretty bad case of the flu so I am staying very clear of her...sorry honey!

    I am sitting in the living room looking out our second floor window at a wall of white stuff falling.  Yep, we are in the throws of another West Michigan lake induced snow storm.  So, here is a set of completely random thoughts running through my mind...

    -I hate winter, always have...and wonder why I live in such a snowy place.

    -Pres. Bush announced that he was going to let the Big 3 use $15 Million of the $25 Million earmarked to help the auto makers re-tool to build greener more energy efficient cars.  I think this is a sad irony of where the auto industry is in America...take the money that is needed to help the auto makers compete globally in the next 20 years and use it to flush down the toilet to make up for their ignorance in the past 10.

    -Did you hear that GM won a rather prestigious award for a car they are making in Europe.  It is a sub-compact that looks kind of like a mini-cooper.  It is getting rave reviews for its efficiency and reliability.  Sad thing is that it is not available in the US.

    -Lighthouse Communities is getting ready to launch its Capital Campaign for their new Development Center located at 1167 Madison.  They need to raise $600,000.  It seems like a lot especially in this economy, but this is a VERY important project for this neighborhood.  I am chairing the campaign.  Get ready folks...the campaign committee will come knocking.  I am praying that people are generous.

    -I just spoke with my son Don.  He was at work out on the practice range for the Bradley fighting vehicle.  It was pretty noisy.  Don mentioned how ironic it was that I was sitting in my living room while he was surrounded by thousands of rounds of ammunition, and dozens of vehicles blowing stuff up.  What a weird connected world we live in.

    -As I look out my window, I can see 25 living units (houses and apartments) yet we only have 5 families living on our block.  That is really sad!

    -On a positive note, Lighthouse did sell the house on the corner to a new family.  I cannot wait for spring to get to know them and begin forming a community here.

    -Anyone want a cheap house on a good up and coming block?

    -Hope I do not get snowed in tomorrow AM, this is an important trip!  I pray it goes well...we could use some good economic news.

Wednesday, 03 December 2008

  • Micheal Moore Weighs in on the Big 3

    This is an absolutely MUST READ article.  I could start giving money quotes, but would ultimately end up posting the entire article.  Take a minute and read through it.

    Here is one simple money quote. Sorry Lions fans!

    Let me just state the obvious: Every single dollar Congress gives these three companies will be flushed right down the toilet. There is nothing the management teams of the Big 3 are going to do to convince people to go out during a recession and buy their big, gas-guzzling, inferior products. Just forget it. And, as sure as I am that the Ford family-owned Detroit Lions are not going to the Super Bowl -- ever -- I can guarantee you, after they burn through this $34 billion, they'll be back for another $34 billion next summer.

    After this quote Moore lays out a 3 step plan of action that is rather provocative.