Early Skirmishes

An unusually heavy fog filled the air in The Lou on Election Day. Less than a month ago, canvassers, poll workers, volunteers and candidates clashed in the thick haze similar to smoke from a Civil War battle. By 1 a.m., it was obvious the Democrats had won the day in Missouri and nationally.

Democrats will soon control the House and Senate. New leaders like Tester and McCaskill will replace Talent and Allen. As these leaders, choose which positions they wish to push in the coming months others are looking ahead to the next battle.

The Presidency is open in 2008. No re-election possible, no VP or favorite son is running. It is a hard fight coming.

McCain and Giuliani have sent out skirmishers in exploratory committees already. Romney may skip the committee and rush full into battle. Gov. Vilsack has already announced his intentions to be President and is firing rounds all over his home state of Iowa.

Clark will decide soon, as will Edwards. Kerry wants to be President, but has the gall to run after loosing and gaffing the past two years? We knew Clinton would run. Now, the rumor mill is turning out reports she may not. She may sit this one out. The reason the few comments by Obama. He may have not done anything permanent but his sniper shots have put holes in HRC’s confidence.
It is snowing here in The Lou today. We are a year off traditional primary season and already the battle in Iowa is echoing down in rolling thunder.

An Old Fear

(Written on Thanksgiving Day)

I have been winning the war against anxiety the last few weeks. While I am nowhere near a panic attack as I would have been three weeks ago, two events have raised my fear.

The first is the loss of my cell phone. Yesterday, I used a small cup at the office. Half filled with water, it sat in my car while I drove home and over to a friend’s house for poker. After loosing early, I did a run to the store and without thinking I dropped my cell phone into its usual spot my driver’s side cup holder and into the cup. To this point, the cell phone has yet to recover.

Second, I am flying down to Austin for Thanksgiving Day. American Airlines assigned me the gate next to the one on the disastrous trip to Chicago.

As I wait for my plane, I watch the Loin-Dolphin game, write, pray and avoid bad thoughts.
(Update: A panic attack never happened. A nice lady waiting for the same plane was able to fix my phone.)

Contrasting Worlds

Last night, A, his fiancée C, L and I hit the town for dinner. Appetizers at my home were followed by dinner down in the Loup. The evening was capped off with Fitz’s root beer and floats. A Monday out where a future wife and an old friend met and the world between relationship A and single A collided.

The night held the promise of great things yet to be done, life beginning and hope for the future a far different experience than a few days prior.

I spent the weekend down in Texas attending B’s funeral and hanging around with her family. The night after the service was spent playing dominos, eating tamales, telling old stories all while pretending to enjoy ourselves. I am not suggesting the laughter was forced or there was a dislike of people for each other. However, something was missing.

B’s presence was not there. She did not ask how I was calling me by both my first and last name. She did not yell and scream with the highs and lows of the games. She did not hurry around making sure all had enough to eat. Her children kept the food coming out of the fridge and the margaritas mixed, but they did so awkwardly constantly searching for the proper utensils. L tried to spice up dominos with jokes and B impressions, but they were poor shadows. No one called me by first and last name, not even in a joking way.

As last night made me look forward to the future, last weekend made hunger for the past. While my parents and their friends’ age, mine become more mature and move fully into adulthood. While I get to pass major life markers, I am forced to see those who have walked with me fall away.

None of this is unique or original I know. Yet when experiencing it, I can not help but feel unprepared. No class or book has described this accurately. No one can capture it for others, it must be experienced.

A Day in Red Bud, IL

Spent a day in Reb Bud, IL talking to some fine people about how they can help others.

Had some of the best fried chicken ever cooked by these women.




Stopped by the high school football field were small town heroes play Friday nights.



A local country side selling grocery/liquor to the community.



Bought a case of Stag at the country side for $11.




Visits are all done, time to go back to my side of the river.

Sad

J called about noon. He lost his mom at 10:30 this morning. She passed away with the family she loved around her and faith in her heart.

J and I have been friends before memories were formed. Neither has a conscious memory of meeting the other. We were just always together. B watched over me as if I was her own son. She corrected me when I was wrong, defended me when bullied, and many times feed and housed me while my parents were away. Of all my memories of B, two stand tall as examples of what a caring person she was.

In middle school, my dad traveled frequently with his job. Every time a Texas thunderstorm would roll across radar with warnings of tornados from the meteorologists, B would call my mom and I and insist we spend the night at their home.

The evening my father had his gallbladder attack B drove at a break-neck speed to meet us at the hospital. B waited patiently while the doctors spoke to my mom and I. She would tell me it would be all right, drive me to her home and drop me off at school the next morning.

B was a caring, loving, individual who should be held up as a role model for others. She deserves this honor, not because of any athletic, capitalistic or philosophical accomplishment, but because she was a shining light of how humans should act towards each other: a Christian whose works displayed her faith.

Unnatural Coexistence

Saturday night, I spent a wonderful evening out at the Scottish Arms: the only bar in the Lou were waiters and waitresses are in kilts and scotch is separated on the menu by the region which distills it. Good friends, good food and a good Scottish band (pictured below) all made the night one of the most enjoyable in recent memory.



As is custom when I gather with this group of friends, the conversation turned to politics. With Tuesday’s elections, we had a great deal to discuss. I tried to be humble, showing my pleasure in victory, but not obnoxious. I was being a smartass though in joking that the revolution of the common man was coming and soon conservatives’ backs would be against the wall.

S and A rebuked me for believing I was one of the people. For them, I was another elitist Democrat who had no idea how the poor lived. Both A and S agreed that there were people who needed assistance, and they would go so far as to say that Democrats could provide better health care and education. But two things prevented them from voting Democratic and made them into GOPers.

The first issue was abortion. Both A and S strongly believe that life begins at conception. A human fetus is the same as a twelve year old. I respect their opinion and right to have it. As I have said in the past, if you believe that life begins the moment the sperm and egg meet then you should vote that way. Personally, I believe the GOP has used this issue to rally the troops and has tried little to actually make abortion illegal. So, while I respect their opinion and want them to vote for candidates who represent it, the Democratic Party is becoming a big tent party. Recently victorious, Senator-elect Casey of Pennsylvania believes abortion is wrong. The Democratic Party is beginning to get it right that pro-choice should not be a litmus test for the party. A person such as A or S may want better health care or education, but they need to be able to pursue their pro-life opinion as well.

The second issue was the people who are members of the Democratic Party. A stated it best, in that he viewed the party is that of self-labeled intellectuals who not only have little real world concepts, but be-little and mock those of faith and those who disagree with them. I can easily see his argument, and that is sad. Many times, the leaders and members of the Democratic Party appear as know-it-alls, not only know-it-alls, but those who smirk at the very foundations of many people’s beliefs. The idea of faith in God, working hard and the quite family life are cores, which guide the majority of our country. Yet, Democrats insist on being the popular, cool, and enlightened thinkers who not only know better, but will come to the defense of those who cannot take care of themselves: African-Americans, unions and the poor.

Friday night, I listened. As A said, most of his Democratic friends just listen and then tell him were he is wrong. I believe that he is wrong in this that all Democrats are what he described. The mass majority of Democrats are people of faith-mostly faith in Jesus. We desire a family to grow old with and believe those who work hard should be rewarded. We are not intellectuals or smarter than the average bear. We just want to help everyone have a fair shot at succeeding. We believe America is rich enough and strong enough that no one in our country should: go to bed hungry, not receive a good education or worry about medical bills. We believe America needs to reclaim its city on the hill light and point the way to democracy for other nations not through violence but aid and moral authority.

Like I said, I only listened, and soon the conversation turned to something else. Before we knew it, last call was on and the signing men in kilts struck up a tune.