Norman Rockwell Christmas

Christmas is over. The presents have all been unwrapped. Trays of snacks and leftovers fill every corner of our refrigerator. The stress of Christmas is matched only by the anticlimactic finish we feel when the day after Christmas comes. We chase the Christmas spirit like Ahab chased his white whale. The search for the perfect Christmas pushes us into stressful behavior that soon becomes post Christmas regret. Looking to this one day a year we wish that our lives might mirror a Norman Rockwell painting. Norman Rockwell painted pictures of idealized moments in life that we all dream of. Those paintings were snapshots of joys that do exist in the real world if only for a moment.
We spend so much time on the problems and pressures of the world that we rarely stop to notice that compassion and joy happens quietly around us. The amazing thing about Christmas is that it still works. We buy too much and eat too much. We put too much pressure on ourselves to express our love and appreciation to everyone we know and care for inside a wrapped box. Depression results far to often from all the expectation we put on Christmas. At the end of it, we buy more things for our children than they need. We eat food to the point of illness. Giving and receiving gifts that no one asked for fills the spaces under the living room evergreens of Christmas and eventually the backs of closets, destined for re-gifting next year. Still, with all its excess Christmas generates the kind of moments that are dreamt of all year round.
Christmas works because we believe for a moment in the hope of Norman Rockwell bliss. We believe that love can be expressed in the form of a foot massager. The smile of gratitude that we capture on Kodak and more often now, on digital pictures are our own Rockwell moments. In those few hours of Christmas morning we become givers of smiles and joy and all that is right with the world. When we look back on pictures from Christmas past we have great gaps in the narrative. The cameras are put away whenever arguments arise between family members. The flashbulbs are silent when the credit card bills are being paid. Our memories are as selective as our photo journalism. Christmas is a memory we carry without the baggage of the pressing issues of reality. This must be why we begin to anticipate this one day, one morning of a holiday as far back as Thanksgiving and beyond.
How much we must spend or what level of stress we must endure to produce these moments of Christmas bliss is always a topic of contention. How much does it cost to put the warm feeling of Christmas in our hearts throughout the rest of the year? Does it matter? The warm feeling of hope makes all of the excess of our traditions of Christmas burdens worth baring. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and that we will all have recovered before the next one comes again next year.

Plumbers and Firemen

When violence is necessary it is a standard tactic to use overwhelming force. Police swat teams and military planners always hope to have more resources than they would ever need to use in the field. Extra firepower and manpower keep their people safe and limit the amount of violent response that may come from an adversary. This idea was put to full effect at the beginning of the Iraq war. Fast moving, well-armed soldiers stormed through Iraq defenses with “shock and awe” on their side. Within two months the government of Saddam Hussein was broken and removed from the equation of Iraq’s future. Whether we agree that the war was prudent politically or diplomatically, it was a skillful use of our overwhelming military might.
The military did the job they were asked to do. They removed Saddam from power. Now they are being asked to police and secure the streets of the cities and towns in a country that is tearing itself apart. Has this use of a military occupation ever been an effective way of keeping the peace? Asking our soldiers to be policemen of a foreign country is similar to asking plumbers to be firemen. Plumbers work with water the same as firemen do, but to assume they have the same skills and abilities is to disrespect both professions.
The arts of war can defend borders, overthrow governments or enforce a political point of view. What war can’t do for us is make people want to live in peace. Now our warriors, the bravest amongst us, are being asked to do just that. They patrol the streets and stand between a population not looking for liberation or defense from outside forces. Iraqis are struggling with a sense of national identity. They yearn for security, justice and far too often revenge. The question at hand is whether the U.S. military is equipped to give any of these things to them?
Now the administration is proposing sending 30,000 more soldiers to the deserts of Iraq. Will this bring Sunnis and Sheites together? Are these soldiers going to give the new Iraqi government the will to stand up to the warring factions? Do they have a military objective in the same way that we had when Saddam was in power? It is my fear that the our soldiers that are there and those that might soon be sent, will be little more than additional targets for a society of people filled with the pain and anger that comes with the suffering of war. Our soldiers deserve better goals and clearer objectives for their service. Our soldiers deserve more from the person they call Commander and Chief. The truth is other more rational plans have already been proposed and presented. The willful disregard of the administration for the welfare of our troops and the realities of the situation they face troubles me deeply. Until the President is ready to give up his unrealistic expectations of the use of force our soldiers will remain plumbers trying to put out a raging fire.

Presidential Pardon

To say that the current administration has been ineffectual and plagued by incompetence is no longer a statement of controversy. Very few people are left to defend the policy choices of the President and his team. The Republican Party has taken a beating in the past election cycle in part because of this loss of confidence. We lost our trust in those in power. Now we wait to see if the incoming Democratic majority in congress can manage any better.
The President has done many questionable things while in office. He has brought this county to war based on ideological beliefs rather than concrete information. The president has lied to the American people boldly and repeatedly. In our modern times it has become the prerogative of the politician to lie to their constituency. Distorting the truth in national speeches is not by itself illegal but the consequences of promoting such lies have been devastating to our national standing and tragic for the lives that have been destroyed in the service of Bush’s fantasies about the world we live.
Hearings and subpoenas held in congress could uncover what was done that was illegal, unethical and harmful to the nation at large. We could spend months watching current and recently resigned members of the Bush administration dodge questions from congressional investigators. Millions of public and private moneys would be poured into lawyer’s bank accounts without justice ever really being served in the process. Meanwhile, the issues of pressing domestic and international policy would be regulated to the background of our national conscience. Precious time and resources would be lost toward the resolution of crises we are facing as a nation.
The first order of business for the new Congress should be passing a far-reaching pardon for all activities and actions taken by the president and his staff during the past 6 years. This would eliminate any question of whether Congress intended to waste precious time and money with public hearings intended to embarrass not only the president but also the nation as a whole. The second function such a pardon would serve would be to clarify that Congress and the American people believe strongly that the President and members of his administration all have done things that are in need of pardoning. With this one act of forgiveness the congress and the public could move on to issues and choices that need our full attention.
After 2008, the current Whitehouse officials will leave office and return to private life. At this time, there will be those that will feel that justice has not been served by the mechanisms of government. Those that have wronged by the actions taken by Bush and his allies could take their grievance to the civil courts. Taking the quest for justice to the private sector may be the most economically sound way to right the wrongs that have been done. Neo Conservatives believe that the private sector is often better equipped than government to address most issues. Why not let this philosophy apply to the pursuit of justice as well? Why not let Bush’s private fortune pay for his defense? If he is guilty, why not let him pay for his misdeeds out of his own pocket instead of ours?
A big ranch in Texas and even bigger bank accounts from which to console himself will buffer the indignity of Bush’s legacy of incompetence. For some, justice and success are measured only in dollar amounts. If this is what George W. Bush believes, he may leave office believing that he was one of the most successful Presidents of all time.