all things great and small

well, folks. it's been awhile since i wrote a post. i take that back. i write blog posts all the time. it's just a rare event that i actually take the time type what i was thinking. i spend a lot of time shouting at the radio (i listen to conservative talk radio more than i prol'ly should) and scaring other drivers. i often wonder if i would be as good in a live debate on the radio as i am in the car. stray thought.

so, i watched the democratic presidential candidates debate the other day (i shall refer to them as the D8). for the most part, it was the sort of rhetoric i was expecting. most of the candidates shied away from saying anything to terribly controversial or even slightly different from their counterparts...i suppose no one wanted to risk being an actual individual. *shrug* i didn't think that hilary clinton seemed the least bit sincere at any moment during the debate. not even a little bit. i thought that barack obama actually looked like a rank amateur--along with bill richardson. as a matter of fact, if this had been my first exposure to obama i would have been asking what the big deal about the guy was. richardson did say a few things with which i agreed or at least applauded him for saying. sticking up for the second amendment despite the very recent tragedy in virginia i thought was..well, brave--but only in the sense that he risked political backlash to say something he thought was important. generally though, he looked incredibly unpracticed.

john edwards was sappy and forgettable. chris dodd -- who? joe biden...i like his attitude. his mannerisms make you think that he is forthright and a straight talker. i don't know him well enough to know if that is just an image projection or the unvarnished truth. but, like the others, there was more persona and style than substance.

i tell ya...the guy that i really liked on that dais was dennis kucinich. he seemed like an honest to God democrat. something that has been absolutely missing from the policitical scene for far too long. i generally agreed with all of his major policy positions that were touched on during the debate. there is something wrong with his website though. i wanted to do a little more research on where he stood on other domestic issues...no luck though. to my recollection, he was the only person on the dais to make the case for attacking global terrorism in a more fundamental and wholistic manner than has been tried thus far.

to me his position on global terrorism seemed to acknowledge that people are people. by in large, our politics and political morality are formed by the material conditions of the lives we lead. so, it only stands to reason that if you are born under the shadow of violence, live with violence, rely upon violence as the means to solve all your problems and hold your life together--you might have a slight inclination to strap bombs to your body and blow up buses. it's just speculation on my part...i think it might have some merit. in any event, there isn't anything in the republican bluster that acknowledges that fact--the material conditions of our lives MAY have SOMETHING to do with who we become as we grow older. if you want to attack problems like global terrorism at their root, you MUST change the conditions under which these people are molded. don't get me wrong. there are evil people in the world. people who were born evil and will create mayhem and carnage as naturally as breathing. i understand that if you cannot isolate those people then they will never leave you a choice that doesn't include violence.

but, it seems to me that kucinich, more than anyone else on that dais, understands that in order to create a lasting peace. a peace that is meaningful and doesn't rely on the presence of violence, you have to attack root causes: extreme and pervasive poverty, lawlessness, genocide, pandemic-like disease...one of the few things clinton (bill) did that i am proud of was he attacked these so-called "soft" economic issues. putting more cops on the street, affordable daycare, tax credits for continuing education or re-education...it was these things as much as loose accounting practices and internet pseudo-companies that led to the incredible expansion of the economy in the late 90's. much like clinton, kucinich understands that the only real solution to the problems we see in the world must include a comprehensive approach to solving these supposedly unconnected issues.

i mean...perhaps the single greatest piece of foreign policy ever developed by this country was the marshall plan. after WWII, without firing a single shot the US created democracies and "democracy-friendly" (even i can't say that without a little bit of a sneer) nation-states around the globe. i know that we prol'ly don't have the economic might and will to create another marshall plan for the 21st century, but with strong international support i believe we can come awfully close. otherwise, we just keep killing terrorists as they pop up. if we go that route, though, the limiting factor will become the birth rate of nations where we are currently warring. if we kill more than can be born, then we've got a fighting chance. hmph.

yeah, kucinich is a good choice.

on a completely different note...i've been writing with the movie "school of rock" playing in the background. you know you're a dad when you're watching a kid movie and you feel yourself start to cry because all of the kids are succeeding at something together. little fellas playing music.

peace.