Ugh.

OK so i finally get a breather between the financial meltdown, a diocesan convention, two client conferences (one of which I helped to put on) and basically taking a break from All Things Anglican (except for my own parish, of course), to find that we have a new Anglican-esque denomination that is calling itself the Anglican Church in North America.

What we have here is A Big Mess.

Personal History and Racism

I spoke a few weeks ago about my journey to North Carolina on the train.  One or two things happened which really brought to my mind and heart the effects of racism in this country.

The train ride back from North Carolina back to New York was quite an eye-opener.  To give a bit of background, the train started its journey in Miami, Florida, wound its way up through Georgia and South Carolina, and picked me up in North Carolina before winding its way up the eastern seaboard and terminating in New york.

Here I was, enjoying my time in a modest sleeper car.  Everyone else in the sleeper car sections of the train were white.  Everyone who was sitting in coach, at least those who I saw, was black.  Separating the sleeper cars from coach was the dining car and the cafe car.  The dining car was where we took our meals.  Those of us in the sleeper cars took our meals for free as they were included as part of the fare while those in coach paid.  Those who chose lighter fare ate in the cafe car and paid for their meals regardless of class, and sleeper car passengers got free non-alcoholic drinks.

I went to cafe car once or twice during the trip for a snack or a drink and every time my eyes were opened to the stark reality of how different my life was compared to the others.  While I am not rich by any standards, the distance in income level between myself and the African-Americans in coach was very stark. This was the vacation of a life-time, to ride the rails from the Deep South to the Northeast, gladly spending 10 – 18 hours in crowded cars and seats, while I lazed about in much greater comfort than those who were around me.

Enough already!

I repent. I’ve let secular politics get in the way of what this blog is about.

For many reasons, I have become caught up in the election obsession that has taken over the United States.  This is, in the words of Martha Stewart, A Good Thing, overall because we all know how IMPORTANT this election is, and will be one of the most pivotal in not THE most pivotal in our lifetime.

I do have to say, though, that I was very proud of what Senator Obama said this morning and I almost clapped myself when I heard him say this …

Quoting the NYTimes

Enough!” Mr. Obama said, interrupting a speech on education to address the latest controversy in the heated presidential campaign. “I don’t care what they say about me, but I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage and swift boat politics. Enough is enough!”

You may watch the whole thing below:

He’s right.  Enough is enough.  This has become too much about personality and popularity instead of about real substantive issues.

How does this pertain to the Reverend boy and his blog?  This blog is not about political commentary or contributing to the back and forth between the candidates.  I have not really written too much on spiritual matters and Lord knows when the last time I put up a lectionary reflection was!

Enough.  Time to refocus.   I am fasting from posting about the election on this blog.  Going forward, my sole witness to that will be the widget off to the right which shows the current projected electoral vote count.  I may comment elsewhere and comments here, of course, are always welcome, but for myself, I really have nothing more to post.  I’ll leave that to sages like Fran, That Kaeton Woman,  and the Slacktivist, who speak about these things much more eloquently than I ever could.

Time to refocus.

Questions, Questions

Maureen Dowd, Op-Ed columnist for the NYTimes, has written a list of questions she would like Charlie Gibson to ask the Republican VP Nominee when she sits for her interviews later this week….

What kind of budget-cutter makes a show of getting rid of the state plane, then turns around and bills taxpayers for the travel of her husband and kids between Juneau and Wasilla and sticks the state with a per-diem tab to stay in her own home?

Why was Sarah for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against the Bridge to Nowhere, and why was she for earmarks before she was against them? And doesn’t all this make her just as big a flip-flopper as John Kerry?

What kind of fiscal conservative raises taxes and increases budgets in both her jobs — as mayor and as governor?

When the phone rings at 3 a.m., will she call the Wasilla Assembly of God congregation and ask them to pray on a response, as she asked them to pray for a natural gas pipeline?

Does she really think Adam, Eve, Satan and the dinosaurs mingled on the earth 5,000 years ago?

Why put out a press release about her teenage daughter’s pregnancy and then spend the next few days attacking the press for covering that press release?

As Troopergate unfolds here — an inquiry into whether Palin inappropriately fired the commissioner of public safety for refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law — it raises this question: Who else is on her enemies list and what might she do with the F.B.I.?

Does she want a federal ban on trans fat in restaurants and a ban on abortion and Harry Potter? And which books exactly would have landed on the literature bonfire if she had had her way with that Wasilla librarian?

Just how is it that Fannie and Freddie have cost taxpayers money (since they haven’t yet)?

Does she talk in tongues or just eat caribou tongues?

What does she have against polar bears?

.Enquiring minds want to know …. The entire column is here

Frank Rich, NYTimes, gets it

There has been a lot of talk about the selection of Sarah Palin as running mate for Republican nominee John McCain.  Frank Rich, Op-Ed columnist for the NYTimes, gets what this is all about.

The main reason McCain knuckled under to the religious right by picking Palin is that he actually believes there is a large army of embittered Hillary loyalists who will vote for a hard-line conservative simply because she’s a woman.  That’s what happens when you listen to the TV news echo chamber.  Not only is the whole premise ludicrous, but it is every bit as sexist as the crude joke McCain notoriously told about Janet Reno, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.

It is obvious this faithful lady and mother of five is being used by the Republican party to appeal to the religious right.  This choice has been called “irresponsible” by one particular prominent lady, whose husband I had the privilege of working for during the first six months of my tenure at the investment bank I work for.  I just hope Governor Palin is going into this campaign eyes-wide-open and realizing that her gender and her faith are being used to further the secular political ends of a womanizer.