The polling-booth line was already out the door at 6 am when I arrived to vote. Some Bethelites had arrived at 5:15 am to be able to vote and get to work or make trains on time. The rule prohibiting campaigning near the voting area meant that no one wore campaign buttons or t-shirts, so I had no idea about peoples’ voting preferences. Even as we sleepily joked about someone’s doing a coffee run, I was aware of the seriousness of our purpose. We had come to the voting booth determined both to have our say and to deal with whatever came at the end of the day. We were Americans, awake at this hideous hour, doing sacred work. The day wore on with extreme fatigue, and I, not knowing of course how the elections would turn out, nonetheless left “away messages” on my g-mail and instant message accounts that said “God bless America.” To some it may sound overly dramatic, but I am deadly serious: except for Israel, to which I have a strong attachment, I cannot imagine a country as magnificent as the United States of America. I have not always agreed with America’s leaders’ policies, the laws of the land, or my fellow citizens’ decisions on candidates or propositions, but I am truly grateful to have been born here, and I am beyond grateful that we all get a chance to have our opinions heard.
Do I wish some things were different in the US? Of course. Even as I am pleased that the vast majority of Americans elected the first Black president of the US and that Connecticut voters turned back an effort to legislate a ban on same-sex weddings following the state’s Supreme Court decision permitting them and at the same time opening the doors to young voters’ having a say in national primary elections, I am disappointed that three states chose to ban same-sex weddings on that same day. I was very distressed that some politicians derided those who disagreed with their platforms as being not “real” Americans or racists. But these are issues for another day and, as the saying goes, the perfect must not be the enemy of the good (which does not mean, by the way, that the good can’t be made better). The US is not perfect, but it is one of the best, and one of the best is a good enough start.
Dolls 1: There she is, smiling, sweet, happy, clutching her live cabbage patch doll to her graduation cap and gown. Bristol Palin has become the poster victim (or child, depending on your outlook) for a variety of strange-bedfellow policies and has been exploited by just about everyone who claims to love her. Her situation is an oxymoronic contradiction: the abstinence-only mentality colliding with “it doesn’t work;” teenagers needing real, solid and correct information on contraception colliding with “well, maybe we did it unprotected sometimes;” so-called “family values” colliding with a father from the wrong side of the tracks; the need for children to have both fathers and mothers in their lives colliding with the reality of a politician’s power to “negotiate” the rights of a father; and the sad reality of a teenager colliding with the perfect picture-bite on the cover of People magazine. So what is the message our teens are getting from this bizarre, contradictory media circus? Un...
There are many news media, internet blog and Jewish leadership POV's on Israels "Operation Cast Lead" Gaza campaign. Although you periodically hear some voices from the lunatic fringes that appear to rejoice in or black-and-white condemn Israel's actions, most Jewish leadership take the position that, sadly enough, sometimes war is necessary to protect a nation's citizens. Other than jingoists and Marx Brothers comedies, no one initiates war gleefully. At some point a country must say enough is enough and must respond, especially when its people are being bombed each day. Some voices declare a moral relativism between Hamas' bombing incursions into Israel and Israel's response. Some have insisted that Israel should be delivering a "proportional response." Some imply that if only Israel were to do this or that, then Hamas, Hezbollah and her other avowed enemies would go away quietly. I disagree with all these positions. There is NO moral relativis...
Yeah, I know - pretty ridiculous posting this with my profile picture as it is - I just haven't had a chance to change the picture. One week and 4 days into "healing," and Stan and I saw the orthopedist this afternoon. Stan first: he is healing nicely (which, I have learned, is relative term - as in, "relative to not going off the bike..." or "relative to not having our insides ripped out ..." or relative to not getting on a motorcycle in the first place ...") and progressing exactly as the doctor wants. His knee, which had previously resembled something you'd see in one of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" or similar slice-and-dice movies, is actually looking much better. Prognosis is good - and he has about 4-6 weeks of absolutely NO weight-bearing on his left leg. The doctor says he can go back to work as long as he's comfortable and doesn't put any weight on the left leg. Stan's aiming for a shortened day on Monday so he ...
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