progressive involvement

It's been done

When Kathleen Sebelius appeared yesterday before the House Republicans, Cong. Joe Barton said, “Dorothy at some point in the movie turns to her little dog, Toto, and says, ‘Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.’ Well, Madam Secretary, while you’re from Kansas, we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Barton meant this lame cliche as a display of his incisive humor and wit.  Does Barton know that that line has been repeated over and over in popular culture for over 70 years now?   

I wouldn't have been surprised if Secretary Sebelius had said, "Congratulations, Cong. Barton, you are the 1000th person to use that hackneyed and unoriginal expression with me, in the past 5 years alone!"  

 

Lectionary blogging: All Saints' Sunday: Luke 6: 20-31

²⁰Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²²“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. ²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. ²⁴“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. ²⁵“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. ²⁶“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

²⁷“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Translation:  And he lifted up his eyes to his disciples (and) was saying, "Blessed (are) the destitute, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed (are) the ones that hunger now, for you will be fed.  Blessed (are) the ones who weep now for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when people hate you and when they may separate you and reproach you and throw out your name as evil on account of the Son of Humanity.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold! your reward (is) great in heaven, for this is how your fathers did to the prophets."

"Moreover, woe to you, to the rich ones, for you have your comfort.   Woe to you, the ones who are full now, for you will be hungry.  Woe, the ones laughing now, for you will mourn and you will weep.  Woe when all human beings may speak well of you, for this is how your fathers did to the false prophets."

"But I say to you, the listening ones, love your enemies, do good to the ones hating you, bless the ones cursing you, pray concerning the ones falsely accusing you.  To the one who smites you on the cheek, give the other, and to the one taking your garment, you may not forbid the tunic.  Give to everyone who asks from you, and to the one taking away your goods, do not demand back.  And just as you wish people might do to you, you do to them in like manner.

 

Sermon for Reformation Sunday

I have always been what you might call an ecumenical person.  I even remember the exact moment when I became aware of this.  I must have been about seven or eight years old.  My parents and I were on our way to church.  

I don’t remember how we got into it, but what I do remember is that it was the very first time that the word “Lutheran” made an impression.  That’s what we are, my dad said, “We’re Lutherans.”  I remember thinking that this was a truly great word.  I repeated it, savoring the syllables, proud that I was actually such a great thing as a “Lutheran.”

What about Mrs. Tawney, my teacher?  “She’s Methodist.”  Methodist!—another marvelous word.  What a great thing it must be to be a Methodist, I thought to myself.  

Then I asked about my friends, the Eberles.  What were they?  “Catholic,” they said.  I loved this word too.  Cath-o-lic.  What a great word!  What a great thing it must be to be a Catholic.  I’ve been ecumenical ever since.

 

Works now

I went to healthcare.gov this morning and browsed around.  I know HHS has had problems with this website, but it worked just fine this morning.  

In fact, it seems pretty well laid out.  If you're a business you go one direction, if an individual you go another.  Simple enough.  For individuals, the next most important thing is what state you live in.  For Colorado, you are directed off the government site to the state site.

If you're in a state that doesn't participate in ACA, and has done everything it can to undermine it, like Texas, for example, you stay on the government website and then must open an account.  I would imagine that this is where the sand got in the gears.

Cruz crests as tea party favorite

Ted Cruz was the big winner in the government shutdown/debt ceiling debacle.  By posing as the nation's foremost opponent of Obamacare, to the point of suicidal mission, he has managed to separate himself from the pack by finding a way to be seen as the most conservative out of a slew of very conservative potential candidates.  This is quite extraordinary, and an exceptional display of political skill on the part of Cruz.

He was never very serious about his scheme to "defund Obamacare."  His alleged "strategy" was a chimera from the start and reminiscent of this classic cartoon which once appeared in the New Yorker.  The scheme is quite elaborate, but it depends on a miracle at the critical juncture.

Cruz's strategy to "defund Obamacare" was based on putting pressure on the Senate Democrats to do it.  The GOP House would be stalwart.  The Senate Republicans would be stalwart also, he supposed, but that would not be a majority.  In order to get a majority in the Senate, Senate Democrats would have to cave.

That's when the miracle would happen.  Cruz supposed that, because Obamacare was so massively unpopular, that public opinion would storm over the Senate Democrats and cause them to flip.

There are several flaws in that alleged "strategy," the most notable being that Obamacare is not that unpopular.  True, the polls are roughly 60-40 against Obamacare, but about one-fourth to one-third of the people who say they oppose it do so because they wanted single payer all along.  They fault Obamacare for not being liberal enough.  

Put another way, support for Obamacare, or a more liberal alternative, is about 60-40, which is a considerable majority, and which further means there is no massive groundswell of opposition that could shake the Senate Democrats. 

Ted Cruz knew all this, of course.  He went ahead anyway because the surest route to the heart of the GOP base is ideological fidelity combined with crusader-like zeal.  It worked like a charm.  One recent poll showed that Cruz was now the choice of 74% of tea party Republicans.  That's the base.  

His strategy never stood a chance, but that doesn't matter too much to Cruz since he accomplished so much by pursuing it.  In one swoop, he has assured himself of adequate financing for the 2016 campaign of which he is now the frontrunner.  

Lectionary blogging: Reformation Sunday: John 8: 31-36

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’³³They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free”?’

34 Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there for ever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Translation:  Then Jesus said to the Judeans, the ones who had faithed in him, "If you abide in my word, truly you are my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."  They answered him, "We are seeds of Abraham, and we have never been slaves to anyone.  How do you say, 'You will become free people?'"

Jesus answered them, "Truly, Truly, I say to you, anyone doing a sin is a slave of sin.  But the slave does not abide in the house forever.  The son abides forever.  If, then, the son makes you free, you will be free in reality."

Quote of the Day

"I think you might be confusing tyranny with losing."

Jon Stewart

He hears tea party footsteps

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) has not lived in the sunflower state for many, many years.  He lists an address in Dodge City, but I'm not sure that anyone has ever been able to find it.

Roberts went to Washington way back in the 1970's as a congressional aide to Cong. Keith Sebelius (R-KS).  When Sebelius chose not to run for re-election in 1980, Roberts stepped in, won his election, and served in the House of Representatives until running for the Senate in 1996.

Earlier this week, he called on Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, to step down from her post.  Kathleen is married to Gary Sebelius, son of Keith, the mentor of Pat Roberts.