Missing e-mails

Another White House scandal, this one to do with e-mails missing. What next? Outing a CIA agent on active service? Oh wait, that already happened. Making up one's own rules for which parts of the legislation one intends to follow? Oh wait, those are called signing statements. We have a three-legged stool as our system of government, as the founding fathers did not believe in trusting to any one person or branch other than to look out for their own interest. Seems like the executive branch wants to go off by itself and play. And that just isn't the American way.

Iraq and McCain

It seems that McCain's visit to Iraq was just one more photo op. I wish for something a little more real. We seem to be in the same morass as Vietnam and I'm afraid we will see the same sort of air-lifts out at the end.

And the truth is not in them.

The holocaust didn't happen and most blacks supported slavery so the War between the States (more commonly known as the Civil War) was about state rights.

Right....

Evidence is faked by those who would deny the truth.

Goodling and innocence

Everything I hear about the Goodling case seems to keep on raising questions about her credibility. From My way News comes:

After she was subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, her lawyer John Dowd told lawmakers last week that Goodling would not appear. He called the congressional investigation a perjury trap for his client and said she could be in "legal jeopardy" even if she testified truthfully.

I didn't realize that one could take the fifth just because of legal jeopardy. I thought it was because someone didn't want to incriminate themselves. Taking the fifth is an admission that one has acted illegaly. That's the plain and simple truth.

Speak the truth and shame the devil

One of the sayings that floated around the church while I was growing up was "Speak the truth and shame the devil." The practice was sometimes in harsh words against other people, but more often in calling ourselves as Christians to account. I saw this in practice in the civil rights movement as people started to speak out about the injustices of the law.

This is what comes to my mind when I hear that someone (Monica Gooding) is a good Christian who livesbut is taking the Fifth to avoid prosecution for some statements and actions in her job for Attorney General Gonzales. If she did the right thing, then as a Christian she should speak the truth and shame the devil. Instead it sounds like she's not acting as a good Christian though she proclaims that she is faithful and went to a religiously related college.

Ms. Gooding needs to stop her plans to take the Fifth. If she is Christian she will take responsiblity for her actions or, in other words - speak the truth and shame the devil

Gonzales and the problem

Daily Kos pointed me to an article at Salon which gets to the heart of the problem with Gonzales and the firings. The firings were fine, but the problem comes when lies are told about why they happened.

Here's the money quote:

The president had an absolute right to fire us. We served at his pleasure, and that meant we could be dismissed for any reason or for no reason. And we all accepted that fact without complaint. When challenged by Congress, the leaders of the Department of Justice could have refused to explain. Or, they could have explained the truth. But apparently the truth behind some or all of the firings was embarrassing. So, instead, they said it was because of "performance." We didn't accept that, because it wasn't the truth.

Gonzales in deep

Gonzales seems to me to be digging himself in deeper. I'm afraid that when you are supposed to be upholding the law it seems a bit disingenuous not to comment on a staffer pleading the fifth. Certainly it is a right that should be upheld. Yet those in the service of the law should be condemned for taking any action that says that they have broken the law. And that is what happens when someone pleads the fifth. If Gonzales has a staffer who pleads the fifth he should be mentioning how he is cleaning house to make sure no one else on his staff has done anything to break the law or thwart justice. That seems to me the hallmark of someone who is responsible and innocent. But nothing is happening along those lines.

Gonzales and more covering up

It seems that Gonzales not only has a weak memory when it comes to his involvement in firing some of his staff; it also seems he doesn't remember some child abuse cases that he failed to prosecute.

Thanks to Pam's House Blend for pointing me to the links.

The Fifth Amendment

Maybe I'm slow, but I would think that the idea that one of Gonzales' aides is going to cite the fifth amendment would be cause for Bush and/or Gonzales to be doing a whole lot of housekeeping. If the people we are trusting to prosecute our laws can't tell the truth without incriminating themselves, then something is very wrong.

Oh wait, Gonzales lied and it is clear that he did so.

Idiocy and global warming

Unfortunately I live in Longmont. Well, not because I live here, but because of some of the teaching. From Pharyngula comes this tip. And the original article. I seem to remember from my experience in debate and judicial proceedings within my denomination that not all evidence is equally credible. But the students seem not to have been taught such by the teacher responsible for their learning.

Kudos

Soulforce has been going around for a couple of years with college age kids talking to colleges that have morality codes or such stuff that is antithetical to accepting homosexuality as a natural part of what is. One of the colleges they visited is near where my father grew up. Namely Dordt College in Sioux Center. While it is certainly in the Dutch area of Iowa they are nowhere near as liberal as Holland. But they do have something of which I approve. A desire for neatness and a respect for each other. And so, when the bus was vandalized, the college apologized.

Too often the debate is couched in terms that demonize the other side. This is good news. We can disagree in way that doesn't call the other names and respects the viewpoint of the other. We don't have to accept what they're saying, only respect that they believe it.

So kudos to Dordt College. I may not agree, but I can appreciate them. They're taking responsibility for what happened during the visit. They're showing respect. I keep wishing we would do more of that sort of stuff, but until that day comes when we all show respect I'll try to give a word of thanks when I see it happen.

....

And my dad grew up in a small town called Hull just down the highway from Sioux Center.

Karl Rove and Howard Dean

Let's see - Howard Dean made a joke about whether the Republicans could get so many people of color into a room to the Congressional Black Caucus, but Karl Rove said about the immigration debate “I don’t want my 17-year-old son to have to pick tomatoes or make beds in Las Vegas.” Which one doesn't appeal to the Republican National Caucus? Who's Republican and who's Democrat? I guess that answers the question of whether a joke or statement is funny or too true.

So what's next

I wrote about some problematic guests in "Please, please take responsibility" and am finding that they've probably done more. They were using our guest computer. After they left we found a checkbook. That checkbook was stolen along with a car by several kids similar to our guests. I ended up talking to police officers from three different jurisdictions.

So what's next in their lives? I suspect nothing that I want to experience.

Politics and Katrina

One of the major players - former FEMA Director Michael Brown - in the disastrous governmental response to Katrina is now charging that politics played a role in the timing of that same response. I hope not. But in any case we should hear more about this. There have been too many cover-ups.

Here's where we need to get upset.

Selling a video where one of the people involved claims to be freed from homosexuality and is found - conclusively - to be having sex with those of the same gender and lying about his HIV status to his sexual partners. That's what gets me really upset. Saying bad words is wrong. Lying is wrong and damaging. Selling videos that have false information and lies is insupportable.

There's a balance. And where we shouldn't allow the use of bad language, what should really upset us is is lies. And that is what's happening with Focus on the Family, Americans for Truth, and the American Family Association selling this video.

Take responsibility rather than reorganize

A news article Friday mentioned that the House has overhauled the oversight committe for pages. But the problem wasn't with the committee structure, it was that people failed to exercise their responsibilities. The chair was told of a problem with Foley's, but didn't tell anyone else. That's a failure of responsibility not a failure of structure. My suspicion is that the same lack of communication will continue to happen if problems between adults and teens are treated as partisan issues rather than issues of responsibility. No manner of equalization will prevent the problems until they are thought of as a weed that will overgrow everything else rather than an issue that others can bring against us. And the latter is what happened. The issue was covered up and not dealt with.

Instead of changing the system, the person who failed their responsibilities - the former chair of the committee - should be held responsible.

Harsher than usual

I appreciate the judge in the Ney case imposing a harsher sentence than usual. It was done for all the right reasons. If we take a position of public trust we should be held to a higher standard. Here's a quote,

"The sentence was harsher than recommended by prosecutors, Huvelle said, because Ney had violated the trust placed on him as a public official. "Both your
constituents and the public trusted you to represent them honestly," she said.

Right on.

What happened in 2000

There was a list of things that the GOP disagreed with about Clinton's foreign policy in 2000. America Abroad took a look in an article called That was then. It's devestating, but not for Clinton.

So helpful

There's some kinds of help that just aren't.

I have many things arranged for breakfast in the morning. Sometimes I have containers that are about to run out and there's a helpful person who searches through my cupboards to refill them. Usually I have not filled the container up for a reason. I want to wash the cereal container out. And I have another one ready to go. But it's not in the cupboards and all your looking won't find it. I have another syrup container or two, but if I replace them too soon I'll have a multitude of half-empty containers. It's ten minutes before closing and I'm not ready to open another box of apple-sauce until the last one has been taken to the table. Come and ask me, I'll gladly help. But when I'm trying to make sure to follow health department regulations and keep up the breakfast I just don't find it helpful for someone else to go through my cupboards looking for something that probably isn't there.

I have pens on the front desk. I usually have them arranged in some sort of pattern. But then there's the helpful person who rearranges the pens. Usually just by picking them up and dropping them in a clump. I don't think they even realize what they're doing. And I really do expect the pens to be picked up and used. But one pen out of the pattern is easily put back or replaced. I once had someone pick up my patterned pens just before he signed the registration card. Then I answered some questions and rearranged the pens. And I watched, somewhat unhappily, as two seconds after I put the final pen into the arrangement while he picked up the pens and re-organized them. I didn't really feel like he'd helped me at all.

Expectations

I try to meet the needs of my guests. But I don't always meet their expectations. Our breakfast hours are posted as being from 6am to 9am. And if people ask I'll try to have something earlier. But I can't do everything.

For example, my waffle batter needs about an hour to get ready. If I have it pre-made, then it needs to warm up for about an hour before being used. If it's not already made, then it needs to sit for about an hour. If I don't get it warmed up, then the batter is cooked on the outside and runny on the inside - good for eggs served sunny-side up and bad for waffles. If I don't let the batter sit, then the waffles have a gritty granular taste - not good in waffles.

So the other day I had a request from some people staying a couple of weeks to have some breakfast ready early. I had rolls and breads and coffee and cereal out. That was fine for a couple of days, until they wanted waffles. I get here about 5am to start breakfast. I can get here a few minutes early and get a few items out before I start the morning coffee. But somehow the idea that I needed an hour ahead of time to put the waffles out didn't compute.

So I was asked for waffles and I said 'it takes an hour for the batter to be ready.'

'Couldn't you just put a few cups out that early.'

'The batter is prepared in a large container, so I'd have to get all of it out.'

'But couldn't you still have a couple out.'

;The batter needs to be out for a full hour either warming up or sitting before I put it into the pre-measured cups.'

But it's only a little bit.'

I'm not sure I ever really got through that there are some breakfast items that are easy to get out early and others that are more difficult. And so I sigh. I'm happy to get some of the breakfast out early, but please don't try to get me to get everything on the menu out early. I just can't. And if you nag me too much about what I can't reasonably do, then I might not be as enthusiastic about the things I can actually do. Meeting the needs of our guests for an earlier breakfast is soemthing I'm happy to do. Even when I complain a little about it I still want to do it. Getting all of breakfast out early just isn't going to happen.