Goodbye, Mr. President 2017

It's been eight years since this post. President Barack Obama is done. Of all the people that may be excited about that, I'm sure the President is most of all.

In these eight years since I (mostly) set aside the subject of politics on the blog, the intensity of partisan discussion and voluntary offendedness has increased massively. Enough so that I now hesitate to write a post on this subject.

(But it's never worked for me to not be respectfully real.)

One of the things I've always loved about President Obama is the affection he has for his family. His love for his wife and daughters is obvious for anyone to see. I think it's healthy for a nation to see its leaders doing and being what dads and husbands (or whatever the role) ought to be.

I have appreciated the Presidents's ability to keep his sense of humor and keep his tone measured in tough times. Many times he's chosen to fight back with his wit instead of with personal attacks. That ability is a gift that most people--that even most presidents--don't have.

I wish one of these things would be the first memory of our outgoing president, but unfortunately one thing will always push its way to the front:

I will never forget my cancer-stricken wife spending hours on the phone at the end of 2013 trying to fight her way through the system as her health insurance was in the process of being canceled by the Affordable Care Act just days before the biggest surgery of her life.

That happened. It was horrible. We got it worked out, but were fought every step of the way by that thing they call Obamacare.

I could get into ISIS, the NSA or unemployment. Conversely, I could talk energy prices, the demise of OBL, or the Dow Jones. I think when it affects your family it's different, especially when it's on that personal of a level.

I know that many of you did not have our same experience and that you may have different feelings about the ACA and the Obama administration, but in this house we are forever marked by that two weeks of panic during the darkest season of our lives. Knowing the situation was a direct result of partisan legislation driven primarily by the President (and a situation we saw coming for four years) made it even more difficult to swallow.

I acknowledge that the Presidency is a tough job. I know I wouldn't want to do it. The pressure, lack of sleep, criticism, knowing guys want to kill you everywhere you go. I could never do it.

Thank you, President Obama for your service these last eight years. While I strongly encourage you to stay out of the healthcare industry, I can always appreciate that you endured many long days and long nights to do your job. May you find non-political and stress-free ways to occupy your time from here on.

Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday

Today, February 6, 2011, marks 100 years since Ronald Reagan was born. Ronald Reagan was President of the United States of America from 1981 to 1989, which was when I was a kid. Former president Reagan died seven years ago in 2004 after a decade-long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.

I admire Ronald Reagan for a number of reasons, but if I had to pick one, it wouldn't be for that famous speech at the Berlin Wall. It wouldn't be about tax cuts and it wouldn't be about air traffic controllers. The one reason would be Reagan's undeniable love for his wife, Nancy.

Dear Mrs. Reagan,
And you are Mrs. Reagan because Mr. Reagan loves you with all his heart. Every time Mr. Reagan sees the evening star or blows out the birthday candles or gets the big end of the wishbone he thinks the same wish—a prayer really—that so much happiness will go on and somehow be deserved by him.
It is true sometimes that Mr. Reagan loses his temper and slams a door but that’s because he can’t cry or stamp his foot—(he isn’t really the type.) But mad or glad Mr. Reagan is head over heels in love with Mrs. Reagan and can’t even imagine a world without her—
He loves her
Mr. Reagan
- Ronald Reagan in an undated love letter to Nancy from the 1960's

So many times the negatives of celebrities and politicians personal lives are criticized, while the positives are disregarded as a facade. But now that this is history (albeit recent history), many people have opened up about the close relationship this couple shared. You can call it sentimental or sappy or mis-matched or whatever, but you can't call it fake.

AP/Peter Jones

The genuine emotion Nancy Reagan showed after the loss of her husband reminded me that all the things I accomplish in this life are not nearly as important as the love I leave behind with those closest to me. And the warm affection of one woman after I'm gone will mean more than thousands at a state funeral.

The Challenger disaster after 25 years

At the beginning of 1986, my childhood was one that many would consider typical. This included seeing my brother off to school in the morning and playing in the babysitter's backyard in the afternoon. Life was pretty innocent. On January 28, 1986, I realized the world could be a very painful place.

I don't really remember where I was when we lost the Challenger. I do remember the emotional reactions of all the grown-ups around me and the continuous news coverage. Newspapers ran cover stories about the shuttle disaster for months. Diagrams and experts tried to explain it to the public. All I knew was that something could happen that was so bad that it made everyone in the country sad.

Chernobyl followed soon after, then a lot of family difficulty and then I started school. Life's difficulties and unexplainable complications continue still, 25 years later.

Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short. But we must pick ourselves up again and press on despite the pain.
Ronald Reagan

Walter Hawkins (1949-2010)

When I was a little kid, my aunt Liz used to live with us. And Liz always had a stack of gospel LPs next to the stereo. One of those albums that we used to throw on the Pioneer turntable was called Love Alive III by Walter Hawkins and the Love Center Choir.

We'd jam this rollicking choir album over and over again on Saturdays. Those days as a little kid are probably what gave me the unusual love for gospel music that I still have today. (Not that I like gospel music only out of mere sentiment.) Those were great days and I can still sing along with all those songs on the CD version I bought a few years back.

I was surprised when I heard that Walter Hawkins died last week from pancreatic cancer. I guess he had been fighting it for two years and acted very strong until his last few days. Thanks, Bishop Hawkins, for all the great choir albums. I'm not the same.

Walter Hawkins was brother to Edwin Hawkins who wrote "Oh Happy Day". And was also married to Tramaine Hawkins and had many other talented family members. This got me wondering to myself, "What is the greatest gospel music family of all time?" If you know anything about gospel, check out the new poll.

Oh, and here's a little goin' way back Hawkins:

If yesterday was Good Friday and tomorrow is Easter Sunday what do they call today?

Maybe "I'm-totally-confused-about-what-God-is-doing Saturday"?

'Cause you know that's how those eleven guys felt.

Anyways, I've spent the last week and a half to two weeks giving you my opinions. That's what they were: opinions. Or I guess you could call them positions.

Opinions are those things that we in the USA are so good at blabbing freely. We argue our position on a topic or event that's completely out of our realm of influence and know full well that it won't change a thing. In fact, a lot of the stuff we throw our opinions out on are things that, in the course of history, come and go and life goes on.

This is different than belief. What I believe defines who I am. If I say I believe it, popularity and politics don't really matter. I guess that means I should be willing to admit those things we never say. I don't believe in any political party. I don't believe in some particular legislation. I don't believe in the government. I don't believe in the economy. I don't believe in medicine. I don't even believe in myself a lot of times.

I believe Jesus came to Earth to die in our place and make our wrongs right. I believe He rose from the dead to give us a chance to experience this redemption personally. I believe in Calvary. I believe in Easter.

Reason #8: Executive decision?

Oooh. This one's ugly.

Going into the week of the vote there was next to no chance that it would pass. This was due to some of the House members being against the provisions in the bill for abortion. These moderate representatives at some point during the week "struck a deal" with the White House. (We don't know all the details because it wasn't publicly broadcast. See Reason #5.)

Here's the rub: The President gained the deciding votes for the Health Care Bill by promising an Executive Order that makes federal funding for abortion against the law. So the legislation says "yes" to funding, but the administration says "no".

The reason why I'm not thrilled about this is, first, because during the the 2008 presidential campaign, President Bush was ripped hard for this. Along with this, promises were made that legislation would not be overridden by Presidential fiat any longer under a new administration.

The second reason I'm not excited about it is because it can be rescinded at any time. This makes the deal that the moderates agreed to a pretty bad one. The next president (or even this one) can, without any recourse, sign another order to enact the language of the original bill.

Why not just write a bill that can get support from people with more than just one viewpoint?

Reason #7: Fast food frustration

One small part of the Health Care Bill requires that fast food restaurants with more than 20 locations (and vending machines? wow.) to post calorie counts for all of their food items.

"What! The Six-Dollar Guacamole Bacon Burger is eleven dollars now? No, wait. That's 1100 calories!"

OK. Maybe I support a calorie label on that one particular burger. But overall, I don't like this a whole lot. Polls and studies are conflicting as to whether posting calories even works. And if I had my druthers, the government would stop mandating stuff like this.

Reason #6: It looks like the American people don't want it

By "it" I don't mean health care reform, but this particular version of it.

Rasmussen Reports polled Americans weekly about this for the last nine months, and of those 40 or so polls, only two had more people in support of the proposed legislation than against. In fact, all but seven of the polls had a plurality of people against the bill.

The most recent poll by Rasmussen has not on 54% of Americans polled against the bill, but 55% in favor of repealing the bill.

There is one recent poll by USA Today/Gallup that states that 49% of those polled thought passage of the bill was a "good thing", as opposed to 40% who thought it was not.

Polls aren't everything, but this many polls over this amount of time are at least something.

Reason #5: Wasn't this supposed to be on C-SPAN?

Two years ago, it was promised1 that everything in the Health Care Bill and all the negotiations that went along with its passage would be televised on C-SPAN.

Well, that's not exactly how it all went down. Instead, the full text of the bill wasn't released until a week and a half before the vote and the most important negotiations--mostly between moderates and the White House--were behind closed doors.

The C-SPAN thing was a great idea. I wish we'd have thought of it sooner, really. What we got instead was politics as usual. Major disappointment for me.

1. CNN Presidential Debate 1/2008, interview with St. Peterburg Times 5/2008, Virginia town hall meeting 8/2008, Google Q & A session 11/2008

Reason #4: It probably doesn't comply with the Constitution

Why? Because the bill will force American citizens to purchase insurance from a private company or face a fine from the federal government. This has never been done before. However, similar statutes have been struck down by the Supreme Court.

Randy Barnett from The Washington Post said it pretty well:

Regulating the auto industry or paying "cash for clunkers" is one thing; making everyone buy a Chevy is quite another. Even during World War II, the federal government did not mandate that individual citizens purchase war bonds.

If you choose to drive a car, then maybe you can be made to buy insurance against the possibility of inflicting harm on others. But making you buy insurance merely because you are alive is a claim of power from which many Americans instinctively shrink.

So do you want the federal government to have that kind of power?

Reason #3: The bill didn't go far enough

That's right. It would have been better if the bill would have been more extreme and took more control of health care. As it stands right now, we don't have what anybody wants.

Why? Because as part of the compromise that was needed to get votes in Congress, the people in Washington eliminated the "public option". What is the public option? More or less, it's when the US government has its own brand of insurance. So instead of getting your health insurance from a private company like Aetna or Health Net, you would have the option of getting it from a federal government run "company" which would be less expensive for you because it's subsidized by tax dollars. For the present, let's call the new government-company "Fedical" (that's really bad, I know).

Fedical is what people on the left wanted and wanted bad. In fact, Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich, who is well known for being to the far left, did not support the final version of the Health Care Bill for this very reason. That is, until the very last minute. He only supported the bill because he felt it would be a "gateway" to a completely public health care system.

It is my opinion that if you want to enact a plan to globally change America's health care system, why not go all the way? Let's not play games with it. Let's just make the switch instead of all this gradualism. I want Fedical! Or maybe something with a better name. But what's the point if we are only providing health care through putting a bunch of regulations on doctors, the insurance industry, the pharmaceutical companies and the average American. Why not just make a new government department to do that? That kinda brings me to the next reason.

Reason #2: I don't wanna be like Western Europe or Canada

Really. I don't.

The reason I mention it is because that's one of the arguments people used in support of the Health Care Bill.

Being like someone else has never worked out very good for America. We are indeed "a new nation, conceived in Liberty". It would be better to just be us. Which will segue into the next reason.

Reason #1: The bill was against Senate rules

OK. This reason is kind of boring.

The Health Care Bill was passed through a Senate process called "reconciliation". This is a process reserved for budget fixes that was invented in the 70's. What's unique about the process is that it allows the Senate to pass bills with 51 votes instead of 60 votes. This was invented so government wouldn't get all tied up with endless debate over something that was supposed to keep us in the black or change tax stuff around.

Reconciliation was never intended for the broad, sweeping legislation found in the Health Care Bill. In fact, not even close. It's never been used for a bill even close to as big as this. The majority party stretched a "special case"-type exception to the rules in order to push one of the cornerstone policies of the President.

Along with this, there is a special rule about reconciliation. It cannot cause the government to go into deficit (to lose money) for more than ten years. It appears this was overcome with fuzzy math. These type of programs always cost more than the paid experts say. Saying this bill won't be costing us for more than a decade would be like saying Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are big money makers.

In short, the majority party appears to have done all they could to avoid a vote by the people the public elected to represent them. If the Senate would have used the correct procedure--which they should be expected to do--they would not have had the 60 votes required to pass the bill. Using the incorrect process, it was passed.

It doesn't matter the bill and it doesn't matter the political party. I am against this type of behavior in government.

Why I'm not excited about the passage of the President's Health Care Bill

I've said it in the past and I'm sure I will say it again in the future: This is not a political blog. In fact, this is not an entertainment blog, either. Or a music blog. Or a sports blog. It's not even a religious blog. It's just a personal blog and I like to keep it that way.

So, I know anything political is--well--political. And divisive. But if it intersects with my life and if it teaches us lessons for the future, I just might talk about it. It's kind of like a study of very, very recent history.

Just so all the chips are on the table, let me tell you where I stand. I am a political conservative. I'm not "above the fray" or neutral. Many people will claim this (and are usually not being perfectly honest). I cannot. As a Christian, I am more concerned with social conservatism than fiscal conservatism. In general, I'm much more concerned about what is moral than what is legal.

Along with all of that, I will point out that our family would be in that group of Americans that benefits most from the Health Care Bill. As a family of four that tends to be sick and doesn't have much money, we are pretty much the target audience for this legislation. Without getting ahead of myself and weighing the finer points, I will just tell you that life at our house will be easier if this goes through.

Even so, I am opposed to it. In the near future, I will be posting reasons why.

Media Observation #27

5 1/2 years ago, I poked a little fun at CNN for using this image for their website's lead story:

Well today their competitor, Fox News, may have finally surpassed them in the lead story image category:

Ummm...WOW! Things that make you go back to CNN.com.

Colt McCoy

First, I'd like to say that being named "Colt McCoy" automatically makes you awesome.

Last night was the college football national championship game. The game was supposed to feature some close competition between the University of Texas Longhorns and the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. But instead, the star quarterback of the Longhorns was injured just a few minutes into the game. In his last game before he graduates from UT, this was Colt McCoy's childhood dream. Instead he watched from the sideline as his team could not win the championship without him.

But here's where it's intriguing enough to be on the blog. Listen to what he says in the post-game interview:



"I always give God the glory...God is in control of my life...Congrats to Alabama. Tremendous football team."

I love this. And I've gotta admit, if someone sticks a microphone in my face and says, "Hey, Eli! It's been a little under 3 hours since your 20-year dream was crushed! How does it feel?" I'd probably use my good arm to snap the mic in two before I walked away ('cause I'd be that strong if I were a football player).

The fact that it's a football player or a soldier or a factory worker makes no difference to me. I want more of this attitude in my life.

11/9/89

May these things continue to fall.

BatManu v. PETA

I don't blog on sports ever. But THIS is way too awesome...



Three days after the Halloween night bat-swat by Manu Ginobili, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has condemned the act, likening it to Michael Vick's dog-fighting operation. After seeing this, I don't think I'd mess with the guy.

Meet the Garcias

A few days ago, CNN.com put a feature story on their front page today called "Meet the Garcias". Part of the Latino in America series, the feature story focuses on 7 different people in America with the last name "Garcia".

There's a TV cooking show host who came from out of nowhere, a married couple who fears their culture will not be passed down to their kids, an actor who has to take on sterotypical-Latino roles just to pay the bills, [you start skimming right about here] an LA-area high school senior on the verge of dropping out, an immigration activist who believes that the US is Mexico, a recently-married young lady who struggle for years with body image and a pastor who works with both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking congregations.

I'm pretty disappointed that CNN didn't call me. But probably as soon as they heard that I was only half-Mexican--which might mean half-Latino, I have no idea-- and married to a Caucasian...

And as soon as they knew I have two kids from Africa...

They'd probably realize that I didn't quite fit into the special Latino slot they have in the newsroom. Maybe that's not true, but I gotta feelin' it is. I doubt interviewing me would help spread the news that Americans are all the same...but different.

Most of that was probably misunderstood, so anyways. I do think it's pretty cool that all the Garcias in the US are now famous.

Hello, Mr. President

It's President Barack Obama's first full day in office. It's time to say hello to the 44th Chief Executive.

Sorry to hear about the oath thing. The President and Chief Justice Roberts probably should have done a test run. I'm glad to hear they got it all straight today.

With such a young and relatively new face in the White House there's not much I could say about President Obama's background, history or family legacy. Let's just say that there's been a lot of stories flying around for the past couple of years, a lot of which have only been believed because they made us feel better about ourselves.

I will say a few things that will probably be somewhat unpopular. I don't believe Barack Obama is a Muslim. I don't believe he refuses to honor the flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm also pretty sure that was a Bible I saw him swearing in on (and PLEASE don't start talking about the absence of a Bible at the second swearing in--last thing we need).

I will admit that I laughed at the upside-down phone photo, the "fifty-seven states" thing, the gorging on room service caviar accusation, etc., but not while actually believing them. Really, I think arguments based on facts and substantive issues are infinitely more worthwhile. Barack Obama deserves credit for handling a lot of those things with a surprising amount of calm.

I have and will be praying for the President, his wife, Michelle and his (very, very cute) daughters, Malia and Sasha. That's the best thing we can do for them as they take the reins of leadership of this great country.

Am I saying that I'm pro-Obama? Yep. 'Cause we only have one President at a time, and we need him--especially in this troubled time--to do his very best.