My beloved city of Denver has been taken over. Instead of regular hot dog stands gracing the corners of our up-and-coming downtown, vendors selling flashy “I Love Obama” shirts have taken over. Instead of leisurely strollers and tourists gracing the streets, fast-paced delegates with their DNC credentials ever-so ostentatiously draped around their necks clutter our typical thoroughfares. And instead of our typical clean and friendly aesthetic city, barricades, SWAT teams, sirens, heinous protest signs, and loud commotions have bombarded our cozy Goliath-of-altitudes metropolis.
So, why all the ruckus? Sure it’s the Democratic National Convention and it hasn’t been in Denver since 1908, but all the hype, all the hoopla, and all the media coverage seems a bit over the top. Ok, a lot over the top. In fact, it’s a downright circus around here of Roy of "Siegfried and Roy" tiger-mauling scenario proportions. And as I’ve scoped out the scene and observed the pandemonium (not harmonious), I’ve realized that in the end, all of this is not about the Democrats. It’s not about some silly clown convention. It’s not even about this election. Rather, all this bedlam, all this hype is about one man: Barack Obama.
I have always been fascinated with politics ever since I can remember which isn’t saying much because I am relatively young. But in my young life, I have never seen a politician treated with such acclaim and such irrational, emotional worship. This city has been turned upside down because of the arrival and the rhetoric of one man. And we’re not the first city to undergo such a consequence. He’s been all over the world and pretty much everywhere he goes he is treated the same way: like a mythical god.
However, despite what the media illustrates him to be. And despite the fact that some poor misled Christians label him as a prophet. Barack is just a man. A man who we still to this day know little about. A man that has risen out of nowhere and who can’t nail down a sound opinion to save himself because it is apparently “above his pay grade.” He is a man who a New York Times article states “has established dominion over not only what he does but also how he feels.” He is essentially, a robot and a product of sound-bite media coupled with an eerie charismatic anointing. However, he is, still, just a man.
Tonight, the whole world awaits as the Obama public relation and propaganda machine comes to full fruition as this man accepts his party’s nomination on a grandiose stage of frivolous and epic magnitude. And, to make it even more interesting, this is all going down on the anniversary of one of the most celebrated speeches in American history by the other most celebrated black man in American history. We’ve seen some crazy publicity stunts up until this point, but I think we’re all going to witness something tonight that topples any thing that we have seen before. To make sound sure of this, his loyal subjects and followers have built a shrine equipped with roman colonnades just for the occasion proving that this “Audacity of Hope” proponent has the audacity and the gumption to present himself to the rest of the world as a god.
The sad thing is, people are going to believe him. His delivery will be impeccable, his smile will be flawless, and the applause will be deafening. But it will be more of the same mantra. More of the same toothy grin and fist pumps. It will be all the same dog and pony show we have seen in this last year. But the world will be dazzled. Eyes will be moist and nostalgic feelings of the great Martin Luther King Jr. will be conjured to the surface. You think you saw tears when Hillary conceded the nomination? Get ready. In seven hours, Invesco Field is going to be awash with teary-eyed Dems and other confused and mesmerized charlatans.
But when all is said and done, and the ridiculous colonnade comes down and Barack and his cronies fly back to wherever they have come from, my hope is not all of us will have been deceived by this grandeur, glamorous charade we are about to witness. My hope is some of us will keep our senses and our intelligence and not cast it into the wind of false hope. And on top of that, my hope is after tonight, we’ll finally get our city back to normal.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Star Wars Weapons, God, & Love.
I had an extreme stroke of genius about what to write about tonight. It had something to do with Barak Obama and the possibility of his election to become U.S. President. But then I realized I just blogged about 50,000 words about this very topic last week and thought I was going to start losing my readership should I pull such a stunt. So, I’m switching gears a bit.
I had a conversation a few months back at a coffee shop with an old friend of mine. Now, this friend is someone who has an incredible passion, energy, and overall aura about her. Every conversation I have with her – which unfortunately have been few and far between -- reaches depths of epic proportions and her permeating words infiltrate my life at what always feels like the perfect time. Needless to say, our conversations are fresh and life- giving in comparison with my often bland and surface level “Oh. My. Gosh! Where did you get your shoes?!” like-conversations that seem to be peppered throughout my daily grind. (By the way, I’ve been hearing of a lot people buying their shoes at PayLess recently. What is this place? And I think I would rather PayMore.)
Anyhow, as usual, our conversation on this particular day reached depths that have had atomic bomb-like spiritual effects . Sipping our caffeinated drink that a lovely barista handcrafted for us, we suddenly stumbled upon the subject of love and forgiveness and how those two salient themes have – or have not -- been playing out in our lives. Being just a couple days away from her wedding, we were discussing her vows and what she was going to say in front of God and an assembly of believers and the gravity and binding nature of these statements.
As our discussion moved on, she stopped me at one point and said “Trac. We really just don’t know how to love. Love has been so perverted and so distorted that we don’t know what we are doing with it! It’s like love is a light sabor and we’re little kids just flailing it around without a clue! We have to ask God how do it right because that is what HE is. Our way of doing it is all wrong.”
As the conversation moved on and we polluted the environment with extreme bouts of boisterous laughter and consequently received a good amount of dirty looks from fellow caffeine patrons, I got sidetracked and kind of forgot about her statement above. But after we said our goodbyes and I was driving back to the office being sweetly serenaded by Wyclef Jean, I remembered her quip on love and had to laugh. A light sabor? C’mon!
However, in recent weeks in my dealings with co-workers, family members, friends, etc. her bizarre illustration and assertion has haunted me. And consequently, I have realized how right on she is. I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to loving other people. That is, truly loving them in the most honest sense of the word. Now, our culture and the media that exploits it, portrays love as something we as humans produce, wield, and control. We see love portrayed as strictly romantic, purely selfish or, in the words of one of the most ridiculous movies of all time “true love is the soul’s recognition of its counterpart in another.” However, clearly, this is not the comprehensive explanation of what Jesus mandates us to do to God and our neighbor. In fact, I think love is a lot more than what we think it is.
In hindsight, I have noticed when people attempt to love on their own ability or out of their own motives or ambitions, what they generate on to the other person is a perverted, deformed, and tainted love. Or, in more everyday terms, we produce a knock-off brand of love. And we all know that among such things as diamonds, cash, and jeans – with love, knock-offs just won’t do. We have to have the real thing.
In many ways, this is why so many people are walking around hurt, wounded, and forever scarred. They’ve been loved the wrong way. They, as my friend said, were struck with a swing of a misdirected light sabor and are now hurt and deformed. But since God is. And God is love. He can heal all wounds and He can show us how to love correctly in the first place and help us not make the same mistakes again. We would all be remiss if we rejected the advice of Albert Einstein when trying to figure out an equation for Relativity, why then do we reject God’s advice on something that He invented and embodied?
All this to say, I think my friend was right with the whole running-around-clueless-swinging-around- a-light-sabor-illustration. I suppose I just never fully grasped how entirely incompetent I really am on my own when it comes to the loving others or perhaps even myself. But the fact of the matter is, we are wired to love God, others, and ourselves and knowing and understanding the Creator is the only thing that will guide us in doing so in a manner that won’t – metaphorically speaking – inadvertently slice off the limbs of the recipients of our love.
I realize my metaphors are getting more bizarre by the minute. And you’re probably asking yourself at this moment, did she really just use a Star Wars weapon reference in her blog? I’m sorry. I really am. It wasn’t my illustration to begin with, I just opted to steal it.
I had a conversation a few months back at a coffee shop with an old friend of mine. Now, this friend is someone who has an incredible passion, energy, and overall aura about her. Every conversation I have with her – which unfortunately have been few and far between -- reaches depths of epic proportions and her permeating words infiltrate my life at what always feels like the perfect time. Needless to say, our conversations are fresh and life- giving in comparison with my often bland and surface level “Oh. My. Gosh! Where did you get your shoes?!” like-conversations that seem to be peppered throughout my daily grind. (By the way, I’ve been hearing of a lot people buying their shoes at PayLess recently. What is this place? And I think I would rather PayMore.)
Anyhow, as usual, our conversation on this particular day reached depths that have had atomic bomb-like spiritual effects . Sipping our caffeinated drink that a lovely barista handcrafted for us, we suddenly stumbled upon the subject of love and forgiveness and how those two salient themes have – or have not -- been playing out in our lives. Being just a couple days away from her wedding, we were discussing her vows and what she was going to say in front of God and an assembly of believers and the gravity and binding nature of these statements.
As our discussion moved on, she stopped me at one point and said “Trac. We really just don’t know how to love. Love has been so perverted and so distorted that we don’t know what we are doing with it! It’s like love is a light sabor and we’re little kids just flailing it around without a clue! We have to ask God how do it right because that is what HE is. Our way of doing it is all wrong.”
As the conversation moved on and we polluted the environment with extreme bouts of boisterous laughter and consequently received a good amount of dirty looks from fellow caffeine patrons, I got sidetracked and kind of forgot about her statement above. But after we said our goodbyes and I was driving back to the office being sweetly serenaded by Wyclef Jean, I remembered her quip on love and had to laugh. A light sabor? C’mon!
However, in recent weeks in my dealings with co-workers, family members, friends, etc. her bizarre illustration and assertion has haunted me. And consequently, I have realized how right on she is. I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to loving other people. That is, truly loving them in the most honest sense of the word. Now, our culture and the media that exploits it, portrays love as something we as humans produce, wield, and control. We see love portrayed as strictly romantic, purely selfish or, in the words of one of the most ridiculous movies of all time “true love is the soul’s recognition of its counterpart in another.” However, clearly, this is not the comprehensive explanation of what Jesus mandates us to do to God and our neighbor. In fact, I think love is a lot more than what we think it is.
In hindsight, I have noticed when people attempt to love on their own ability or out of their own motives or ambitions, what they generate on to the other person is a perverted, deformed, and tainted love. Or, in more everyday terms, we produce a knock-off brand of love. And we all know that among such things as diamonds, cash, and jeans – with love, knock-offs just won’t do. We have to have the real thing.
In many ways, this is why so many people are walking around hurt, wounded, and forever scarred. They’ve been loved the wrong way. They, as my friend said, were struck with a swing of a misdirected light sabor and are now hurt and deformed. But since God is. And God is love. He can heal all wounds and He can show us how to love correctly in the first place and help us not make the same mistakes again. We would all be remiss if we rejected the advice of Albert Einstein when trying to figure out an equation for Relativity, why then do we reject God’s advice on something that He invented and embodied?
All this to say, I think my friend was right with the whole running-around-clueless-swinging-around- a-light-sabor-illustration. I suppose I just never fully grasped how entirely incompetent I really am on my own when it comes to the loving others or perhaps even myself. But the fact of the matter is, we are wired to love God, others, and ourselves and knowing and understanding the Creator is the only thing that will guide us in doing so in a manner that won’t – metaphorically speaking – inadvertently slice off the limbs of the recipients of our love.
I realize my metaphors are getting more bizarre by the minute. And you’re probably asking yourself at this moment, did she really just use a Star Wars weapon reference in her blog? I’m sorry. I really am. It wasn’t my illustration to begin with, I just opted to steal it.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Lest We Be Deceived.
Be forewarned, I wrote the following on a long flight to Hawaii. There was a fairly large woman across the aisle from me that decided it was her time to awake the 4 corners of the earth with her snoring, so I resorted to a political rant to pass the time. Enjoy!
I’m a political conservative. Obviously. But I didn’t always used to be so adamant and opinionated about it. Back in college, I found myself being one of your typical naïve find-the-middle-of-the-road-opinion that sounded intelligent coupled with the twirl-your-hair-and smile maneuver kind of debaters. However, deep down I always knew where my convictions and loyalties existed even if I didn’t have the gumption to voice it loudly in a classroom setting. But now with this epic election and the need for citizens with actual firm stances and values, I have found it more important than ever for everyone to start voicing and understanding how Barack Obama is an extremely dangerous candidate for U.S. President.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not the biggest McCain supporter in the universe and I am currently not getting any sort of “McCain in ’08” tattoos -- fake or permanent -- on any portion of my body, but his competitor Barak Obama is by far and away the clear worse choice for this nation.
However, the exact opposite sentiment is being imparted by our media. Every morning there is a new headline splattered across print and online media detailing the every move of Obama while painting him at every moment possible – literally – as the savior of this country. I was watching a talk show program the other day featuring Ben Stein and their discussion breached the subject of how much of a “love affair” the media is having with Obama right now. All you have to do is watch 30 minutes of broadcast television and their incessant love-stricken coverage of the Illinois Senator and you’ll see how true this “love affair” is. In fact, you find yourself chanting “Get a room!” perhaps coupled with a foul gesture toward the television. Now, I do not recommend nor condone such gestures or behavior, but I understand your frustration. The media’s clearly one-sided coverage is truly sickening.
The most recent ungodly amount of coverage has been seen with Obama’s PR stunt to fly around the world gaining and garnishing support from other countries. Now, I have to ask you, as a U.S. citizen, do you really care about what Germans or any other kind of citizen beyond our borders have to say about who should be our president? If you have done any travelling before, you undoubtedly know, that people in other countries do not like the United States. They love us for our money, our tourism, and our innovation, but all in all, for the most part they hate us. Let’s be honest. I don’t think anything would please the majority of this world more if the “Giant” that is the United States fell flat on its face.
So why then is the media splashing half-page color pictures of Obama speaking to thousands of Germans, etc. on the front pages of their publications parading the fact that thousands of foreign citizens are supporting Obama? I am in disbelief. Is that supposed to make me want to vote for him more?
When I started to get emails about Obama and him not wanting to put his hand over his heart, wear an American Flag pin, and when I heard the sound bite of his bitter wife ranting about how “she had never been proud of this nation until now,” I sort of brushed it off as slightly exaggerated probable propaganda. But, after listening to some of his recent speeches hearing how he ever-so-slightly speaks of the United States negatively and our need for “change,” I begin to question his loyalty to this country. Is he so bent on change that he is forgetting the great traditions and values this country is rooted in? Is he so eager to please other nations he will say almost anything to garnish their support and remain the golden child of the century? Judging from his latest expressions, I would say yes. In fact, I am appalled, but not surprised, by his all too hasty desire to create what honestly sounds like a new world order.
Just look at his rhetoric in his recent speech in Berlin.
His rhetoric promotes what sounds like a united utopian world as he urges a renewed and intense collaboration much like that of the European Union. He praises the Europeans in their steps at oneness and touts the idea of the whole world coming together in more or less the same words. And this doesn’t scare anyone else? On the surface, yes, his utterances are beautiful. They are filled with hope. They are filled with elegance and poise. But underneath all of that, the consequences of his statements are chilling. He never mentions how he proposes to accomplish such unity and oneness and change. If we dig deeper, I think we will all find the actual implementation of such beautiful rhetoric to be disappointing and catastrophic at best.
On the contrary, today we need a leader that speaks to the real issues and does more than spouts niceties and looks pretty. We need more and we deserve more. Our Founding Fathers expected that of us when they created our system of government. And I guarantee they did not have this guy in mind to lead our country … Someone who can and will single-handedly bring about the demise of this nation and our quality of life one beautiful, lauded speech at a time.
I’m a political conservative. Obviously. But I didn’t always used to be so adamant and opinionated about it. Back in college, I found myself being one of your typical naïve find-the-middle-of-the-road-opinion that sounded intelligent coupled with the twirl-your-hair-and smile maneuver kind of debaters. However, deep down I always knew where my convictions and loyalties existed even if I didn’t have the gumption to voice it loudly in a classroom setting. But now with this epic election and the need for citizens with actual firm stances and values, I have found it more important than ever for everyone to start voicing and understanding how Barack Obama is an extremely dangerous candidate for U.S. President.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not the biggest McCain supporter in the universe and I am currently not getting any sort of “McCain in ’08” tattoos -- fake or permanent -- on any portion of my body, but his competitor Barak Obama is by far and away the clear worse choice for this nation.
However, the exact opposite sentiment is being imparted by our media. Every morning there is a new headline splattered across print and online media detailing the every move of Obama while painting him at every moment possible – literally – as the savior of this country. I was watching a talk show program the other day featuring Ben Stein and their discussion breached the subject of how much of a “love affair” the media is having with Obama right now. All you have to do is watch 30 minutes of broadcast television and their incessant love-stricken coverage of the Illinois Senator and you’ll see how true this “love affair” is. In fact, you find yourself chanting “Get a room!” perhaps coupled with a foul gesture toward the television. Now, I do not recommend nor condone such gestures or behavior, but I understand your frustration. The media’s clearly one-sided coverage is truly sickening.
The most recent ungodly amount of coverage has been seen with Obama’s PR stunt to fly around the world gaining and garnishing support from other countries. Now, I have to ask you, as a U.S. citizen, do you really care about what Germans or any other kind of citizen beyond our borders have to say about who should be our president? If you have done any travelling before, you undoubtedly know, that people in other countries do not like the United States. They love us for our money, our tourism, and our innovation, but all in all, for the most part they hate us. Let’s be honest. I don’t think anything would please the majority of this world more if the “Giant” that is the United States fell flat on its face.
So why then is the media splashing half-page color pictures of Obama speaking to thousands of Germans, etc. on the front pages of their publications parading the fact that thousands of foreign citizens are supporting Obama? I am in disbelief. Is that supposed to make me want to vote for him more?
When I started to get emails about Obama and him not wanting to put his hand over his heart, wear an American Flag pin, and when I heard the sound bite of his bitter wife ranting about how “she had never been proud of this nation until now,” I sort of brushed it off as slightly exaggerated probable propaganda. But, after listening to some of his recent speeches hearing how he ever-so-slightly speaks of the United States negatively and our need for “change,” I begin to question his loyalty to this country. Is he so bent on change that he is forgetting the great traditions and values this country is rooted in? Is he so eager to please other nations he will say almost anything to garnish their support and remain the golden child of the century? Judging from his latest expressions, I would say yes. In fact, I am appalled, but not surprised, by his all too hasty desire to create what honestly sounds like a new world order.
Just look at his rhetoric in his recent speech in Berlin.
His rhetoric promotes what sounds like a united utopian world as he urges a renewed and intense collaboration much like that of the European Union. He praises the Europeans in their steps at oneness and touts the idea of the whole world coming together in more or less the same words. And this doesn’t scare anyone else? On the surface, yes, his utterances are beautiful. They are filled with hope. They are filled with elegance and poise. But underneath all of that, the consequences of his statements are chilling. He never mentions how he proposes to accomplish such unity and oneness and change. If we dig deeper, I think we will all find the actual implementation of such beautiful rhetoric to be disappointing and catastrophic at best.
On the contrary, today we need a leader that speaks to the real issues and does more than spouts niceties and looks pretty. We need more and we deserve more. Our Founding Fathers expected that of us when they created our system of government. And I guarantee they did not have this guy in mind to lead our country … Someone who can and will single-handedly bring about the demise of this nation and our quality of life one beautiful, lauded speech at a time.
From day one, Mr. Obama's tired rhetoric speaks of joining everyone together as “one.” Additionally, we have seen that he is not discriminatory in this “unity” bit in that upon his presidency he wants to open negotiations with known terrorists. If I know my American History, this is not the kind of foreign policy that our nation was founded upon. We gained our independence and obtained the freedom that we enjoy today by setting ourselves apart, by being a distinctly different moral country than any other country at the time of our independence and beyond. But now, this toothy-grinned suave Senator wants to change all that and unite us all. Now, don't get me wrong, I am in full support of working together with other nations to end the travesties of the world, but it doesn’t require that we sacrifice the freedoms and the autonomy that millions of men and women have shed their innocent blood for us to have. Further, it doesn't mean that we abandon our patriotism, our pride in our country, and the very values that we were founded on. Call me a Chicken Little, but I think this is the very thing that will result should we vote in Mr. Obama.
Now, I say all that to say, while our nation is great, we are a nation with great problems. And currently there IS desperate need for change within our country. DESPERATE need. But the kind of change that is needed exists in the moral health of our citizens and, most importantly, our youth and the future generations. Relativism and our culture has trampled any sight of sound convictions within our value system and all the while no one – besides what many deem crazy, insane right-wing religious figureheads – are pointing to this as a major contributor to the decline of our nation.
However, consider such things as the fall of Enron, the crash of Bear Stearns, the ominous housing market, our current recession, etc. All these catastrophic events have been brought on by bad business practices of greed, lies, and deceit. Sure, these things are ancient sins, but when disasters such as these start happening in droves I think it gives fodder to the fact that there is a serious flaw in the moral fabric of the citizens of this country. There should not be any wonder why America is declining. It is obvious and blatant. Just look at the law of the land. Legalization and continued support for the murder of millions of innocent lives? The breakdown of our family system? Lackluster for the authority of our Constitution? All these things may be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things to some, but these facts are clear indicators of the state of this country and its citizens.
Electing someone like Obama who continues to side-track us with flowery, hope-giving rhetoric without pointing to or grappling with the salient issues of today is extremely dangerous for this country. We need a leader that has a vision, a true vision addressing the real place for change. Now, one may say that Mr. Obama is only one man, but think about the power he wields and the judges he could potentially appoint. It’s the trickle down effect: Put one clown in a leadership position and the rest will follow. This is why electing him would be such a collossal mistake. Sure, he’s got the support of most of the rest of the world, but as Americans we have to vote as Americans, not the rest of the world.
Finally, Mr. Obama wants us to think that he is the “one.” He wants us to think that he is hope personified and the answer to this nation's problems. But I submit to you that he would only lead us down a much darker path than we are on now and is a serious danger to the future of America. As a voter, we need to look for substance, for sound leadership, integrity, and vision. Mr. Obama has the appearance of all these things, but I believe if we take off the surface fascade -- the flawless skin, the amazingly white smile, the hypnotizing voice, the awe-inspiring speeches, and the unmistakable confident swagger -- he is nothing more than an age-old wolf in sheep’s skin.
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