George Bush, you’re no Bill Clinton

The current U.S. president and his immediate predecessor are an odder couple than the one on Broadway.

George W. Bush links with, and delinks from, Bill Clinton at will. While he often uses him as a benchmark for what a president shouldn’t be, Bush also pulls Clinton out of the closet to clean up messes, sometimes in the company of his father, Bush I. Recently, Bush sent presidents 41 and 42 off to deal with the aftermath of Katrina.

Bush’s latest and most curious use of Clinton is to cite his words as proof of the administration’s reasonableness in going to war. This comes just as the Senate is being forced into hearings on the possible unreasonableness of the intelligence Bush relied on for doing so.

The White House puts out talking points citing Clinton’s conviction that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction and that he was a menace in the region. If Clinton believed it, why shouldn’t the Bush administration?

The Difference

It’s a hard charge to answer because Clinton did say what Bush says he said. But the argument misses one big fact: Clinton signed off on a speech, not on a war; he agreed on the problem, not the solution.

Clinton was a president who demanded every available fact before proposing as much as uniforms in public schools. The certainty about the danger from Saddam that made it necessary for Clinton to rattle his saber at the dictator, as he did many times, is different from the certainty required to invade a sovereign country.

Clinton had many flaws, but he wouldn’t have ginned up intelligence to support a preconceived notion, nor suppress intelligence that didn’t. In the Bush administration there was a cabal just for that.

Colorfully described by Larry Wilkerson, former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s chief of staff, there were the neocons with their fantasies of spreading democracy, Dick Cheney with his Darth Vader post-9/11 desire to hit someone and his insistence that Saddam was tied to al-Qaeda, and Donald Rumsfeld with his streamlined, agile army that could whup anyone and sustain few casualties.

Pentagon Rogues

For conjuring up the intelligence the CIA couldn’t or wouldn’t produce, there was a whole rogue operation out of the Pentagon. These folks amplified the scary stuff and ditched the rest. They gave God-like credence to an Iraqi defector who said what they wanted, and then fed his stuff directly onto the front page of the New York Times.

Administration officials would then cite the front page of the New York Times in supporting their assertion about Saddam’s capabilities, and voila, they had their slam-dunk case.

Usually a cabal doesn’t have the official leader in it. Of course, this one did. Bush loved his cabal. The one leader left out of the loop was Secretary of State Colin Powell, who never had a chance of getting the true picture. By the time Powell went to CIA headquarters to prepare his speech to the UN, Cheney had been there multiple times to scrub the data.

Clinton would never treat fresh facts with indifference. When weapons inspectors couldn’t find weapons, Bush concluded that Saddam was a genius at hiding them, not that he should adjust his thinking to accommodate the findings, or at least wait to see if any weapons turned up.

Ignoring Condi, Sometimes

Bush blocks out info he doesn’t want to hear. White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett had to force-feed him tapes of the nightly news to show how desperate the situation in New Orleans was after Katrina. Bush preferred Brownie’s take.

A month before Sept. 11, Bush ignored Condoleezza Rice when she brought him a briefing book that said terrorists were plotting an imminent strike. (Yet he hung on her every word when she said that “the smoking gun could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”) He never questioned, although other analysts did, her assertion that Saddam was importing high-quality aluminum tubes suited only for nuclear weapons centrifuge programs.

This isn’t to say Clinton was a foreign policy genius. It is to say that with the information Bush had, Clinton would never had done what Bush did. And it’s ludicrous for Bush to say otherwise.

If Only

Indeed, if he had gotten the Condi intelligence warning that Osama was poised to attack, we don’t know what Clinton would have done. We do know there would have been all-nighters to assess it.

Bush was so convinced that Rumsfeld’s army would make quick work of Iraq he never thought he would end up being so desperate he had to quote Clinton to answer critics.

Rather than cite Clinton for the wrong proposition, he should recall what Clinton and his father actually did about Iraq. Both Bush I and Clinton knew enough to fear a post-Saddam Iraq, riven by civil war, and a post-Saddam America stuck in a country we can’t govern and can’t get out of.

If only Bush II had listened.

The Episcopal Church and Gay Clergy

The Episcopal Church and Gay Clergy: Past & Present

 Opposition, intolerance, and hate towards homosexuality originated in the church and that is where it must end.  Only then can the gays truly be accepted as contributing members of society.  This topic is also of particular interest to me because I am an aspirant for holy orders in the Episcopal Church; that is, I am to become a priest.  Additionally, I am an openly gay person who has struggled with my love for God and the church, and my sexuality.

            It is firstly important to explain the governance of the Episcopal Church and its relationship with the Anglican Communion.  The Anglican Communion is the worldwide church which practices the traditions and beliefs of the historical Church of England; with the Archbishop of Canterbury as a symbolic and spiritual leader.  The Episcopal Church of the United States is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion–as is the Episcopal Church of Scotland, The Church of England itself, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church of South Africa, as well as dozens of other independent churches who are bound together by: “our belief that Holy Scripture contains the very core of all Christian faith and thought, the many ancient and modern stories that connect us to Jesus and his teachings, discovering daily God’s hope and call to us through our life together”  (Episcopal Church of the Ascension 2).

            In the ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />United States, the Episcopal Church is divided into geographic regions known as dioceses.  Each diocese is then overseen and supervised by a bishop, who holds significant power and sets diocesan policy (although many times, the bishop delegates his powers to various committees, councils, and other governing bodies).  For example, the Diocese of East Tennessee is presided over by Bishop Charles G. vonRosenberg.  All bishops in the U.S. comprise the body known as the House of Bishops, which meets every three years in General Convention to make important church policy; and revisions, deletions, and additions to the Canon, or church law.  

            The first bold step towards inclusiveness was in 1977, by the then Bishop of New York, Paul Moore.  In a brave step forward, he ordained the first openly lesbian woman to the priesthood, Ellen Barrett.  Since her ordination, many priests have come out of the closet and are now openly gay.  Additionally, there has been at least one closeted gay bishop—Bishop Otis Charles of Utah.  After keeping his secret for decades, he retired in 1993 and came out of the closet. 

            Up until the 1970’s the Episcopal Church had no clear law established one way or the other in relation to acceptance and ordination of homosexuals.  It was largely discretionary on the bishop of each diocese—as it is to some extent today (which will be discussed later).  As far as church law is concerned, the first law passed in relation to lesbians and gays was at the General Convention of 1976.  This resolution stated that: “it is the sense of this General Convention that homosexual persons are children of God and have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church…this General Convention expresses its conviction that homosexual persons are entitled to equal protection of the laws with all other citizens, and calls upon our society to see that such protection is provided in actuality” (General Convention of 1976 C-109).  Now obviously this resolution was not one of open acceptance of gays and lesbians, and their relationships.  But it was, nevertheless, significant progress on the road towards all out inclusiveness–true to the slogan that is on all Episcopal church signs, “The Episcopal Church welcomes you!”  It should be noted, however, that at the time this resolution was considered radical by most other Christian denominations who then shunned the Episcopal Church.  The Episcopal Church has always been unique in its theology for it advocates faith by three pillars: scripture, reason, and tradition.  As opposed to the conservative belief in scripture only, the Episcopalians believe that one should apply logic, reason, and plain common sense when looking at the Bible. 

The Episcopal Church is particularly suited for those people who like to think for themselves and like to make up their own minds. In the Episcopal Church the priest does not preach at or talk down to the people in the pews. Instead the priest invites the people to think with him or her. As a result the Episcopal Church is a church of dialogue in which people are encouraged to make their own faith journeys. The clergy and other members of the congregation are there to support the person and to share their experiences with the person. But in the end the individual makes his or her decision in the faith journey. “ ⁽Trinity Episcopal Church 1)

 

            Several lesser convention resolutions were made concerning laity and church members, but the next significant one was in the General Convention of 1994.  At this convention, the House of Bishops decided to extend non-discrimination laws to homosexuals with regard to the selection process for ordination.  It also stated, however, that no right to ordination is guaranteed: “No one shall be denied access to the selection process for ordination in this Church because of race, color, ethnic origin, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disabilities or age, except as otherwise specified by these Canons. No right to ordination is hereby established” (General Convention of 1994 811-12).  Some bishops, however, have played around with this resolution so that it is followed to the letter of the law, but not to the implied meaning of the law.  For example, the Bishop of East Tennessee maintains a policy of refusing to ordain non-celibate homosexuals.  This means that he doesn’t discriminate based on sexual orientation–for gay people can, after all, be ordained.  They cannot be ordained, however, if they are in a relationship with someone of the same gender.  The Diocese of East Tennessee, however, is not necessarily indicative of all Episcopal diocese.  Many dioceses affirm and fully embrace the gay and lesbian community.  The General Convention of 2003 passed the following resolution, among other things: “That we recognize that local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions” (General Convention of 2003 615f).  This resolution, in essence, allowed for each bishop to set his or her own policies with regard to same-sex unions.  The dioceses of Delaware, Long Island, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Vermont, and Washington have official policies and rites (or church-approved rituals) which can be used in the blessing of same-sex partnerships; which is the equivalent of heterosexual marriage (this as far as the church is concerned—the civil state and federal law is a whole other story).  The dioceses of Hawaii and Massachusetts are also currently working on such rites. 

            In addition to the above mentioned dioceses, there are a dozens of bishops who do not maintain official diocesan policies, but instead leave it to the priests and their congregations to decide whether or not they want to have same-sex blessing ceremonies in their respective churches.  The Diocese of East Tennessee (or to be more accurate, Bishop vonRosenburg) has forbidden all priests under his jurisdiction from performing such blessings and rituals.  One lesbian woman, who serves as priest-in-charge for a small mission church in downtown Knoxville, was allowed to take the post (for her liberal congregation would accept no one else for their priest), but was forbidden to mention anything of her same-sex relationship in her sermons or in any other of her official capacities as priest.

            This brings us to the forefront of the issue of gay clergy in our present day.  In 2003, the first ever openly gay bishop was elected to the episcopate (or bishop hood).  After serving the diocese of New Hampshire for more than 18 years as Canon to the Ordinary (assistant to the Bishop), he was appointed by the bishop and confirmed by the House of Bishops as Bishop Coadjutor (a bishop who will succeed the current bishop upon his retirement).  On March 4, 2004 he was invested as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. 

United States and abroad.  Many bishops in the Anglican Provinces in Africa were urging the worldwide church to expel the US church from the Anglican Communion; while other bishops were trying to open dialogue and conversation.  On the home front, many people left the Episcopal Church and some Episcopal churches defected from the national church in an attempt to form their own independent church (although many of these congregations have since flickered and died). According to some bishops, however, the amount of people that have come to the church (both gay and straight) has more than made up for the people who left. 

            For the past century, Christian fundamentalists who claim to know of God and his divine purpose have violated, harassed, and utterly abused people.  First it was black people and interracial marriages, then it was women and their supposed subservient role in society.  Today it is the gays and lesbians whom they blame all of the world’s problems on—from hurricanes to wars, homosexuals are apparently the root of all evil.  Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”  We are sick and tired of our friends and allies doing absolutely nothing.  It is time the good Christians, the real Christians took back religion from the fundamentalists.  As the title of retired Bishop Spong’s book goes, “…Christianity Must Change or Die!”

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Works Cited

http://www.etdiocese.net/trinity/episcchurch.html >.

Minneapolis 1976 (New York: General Convention, 1977), p. C-109.

   

          Indianapolis, 1994 (New York: General Convention, 1995), pp. 811-12.

     

          Minneapolis, 2003 (New York: General Convention, 2004), p. 615f.

      

http://www.knoxvilleascension.org/beliefs.htm >.

 

BUT WAIT…THERE’S MORE!

For more information visit www.integrityusa.org .  This website is for an organization called “”Integrity” which is for gay and lesbian episcopalians.  The local chapter here in east Tennessee is at www.integrityet.org

The website for Catholic gays/lesbians is dignityusa.org

I’m sure there are websites for other religions and gays/lesbians, so you might try a google search for your specific faith.

 

~originally posted on The Gospel According To Matthew’s page, and can be found at http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=17825655&blogID=76632898&MyToken=7705ae19-37db-427b-a412-b936abf3d17a

goodbye spring break, hello floridian hell

so this is the last post for spring break. and has it been an interesting week. if i haven’t posted enough about it already, i was stuck between tampa international and the local hampton inn hotel between friday and sunday afternoon, followed by a filled but uneventful flight home to the freezing cold that is jfk airport in wintertime. i was pretty much able to do nothing but sleep in and do nothing for most of the week, with the exception of tuesday night (defensive driving course that took 4 hours to finish), friday night (goo goo dolls concert up at sacred heart which was AWESOME despite the fact that both allegra and britt decided to bag out on it), and saturday night (naked justice concert, which was awesome too, just not on the same level as the goo goos).

the goo goo dolls concert, by the way, was the first time i had ever gone to a concert for an actual band. and, by the term ‘actual band’ i mean a band that has actually released a record or two and is well-known. i’ve been to plenty of naked justice concerts to make it so that i haven’t never been to some sort of concert, but this is the first one where i’ve actually been somewhere other than the outback with a few hundred other people squished into a college gym in order to watch john rzeznik belt out 2.5 hours of very good music. the opening act, a very shoddy band called augustine, was about as enjoyable to watch as old person porn. it was honestly that bad. the lead singer does NOT know how to perform (he was wearing nothing but black AND had a face-covering hat on), and can’t sing for his life. if there was ever a band that i would suggest you not go to a concert to see, it would be augustine. and evanescence, but thats only cos amy lee sounds just as bad as the lead of augustine does live.

the goo goo’s show was amazing though, it really was. they really know how to work a crowd, and john rzeznik sounds exactly like he does on a record when he’s performing live. it was definately worth going, especially since tickets were only $25 (although britt was able to get them for $20 since she goes to sacred heart). so yea. i guess i’m just that awesome.

the naked justice concert was good too. there were two other bands who performed before them, and the band that performed first was worse than augustine. the guitarist played as if he was having some sort of seizure while holding a guitar. honest to god. no offense to anyone who has them or knows/is related to someone who has them, but he really did. plus i couldn’t tell if they were trying to be an emo band or a screamo band, but i guess there really isn’t all that much of a difference between the two.

the second band was actually pretty good. the lead singer could actually sing (a notable feat for a high school band), and with the exception for his jumping antics, i enjoyed their set. their name is pretty weird tho, they’re called ‘punt the baby’. now, if they were trying to play off south park, then wouldn’t they have named it ‘kick the baby’? cos i remember that episode, and they said ‘kick’, not ‘punt’, but whatever. maybe they weren’t playing off south park.

naked justice was good as usual. they’ve got a new drummer (now that greaney’s gone and andy goetz isn’t a permanent replacement), and he’s actually really good. naturally barely anyone could hear stoller singing, and when he was audible, you couldn’t make out what on earth he was saying. but hey, that’s just a normal nj concert.

so now i’m just sitting in my room charging my laptop battery before tomorrow, and am finally finished packing for the flight tomorrow. and it had better not get cancelled, because i really don’t want to be missing class because of yet another jetblue fuck-up. that would definately make the end of spring break suck.

oh well, this is the end. sorry it’s so long, but i haven’t posted in a while and had a lot to say. have fun, and don’t do anythin stupid.

why high expectations suck, and libertarians are far better in bed

so the past week has been hell. after spending 36 hours awake trying to figure out how to get home after the whole jetblue fiasco, now i get to deal with the DMV/NSC fuckers who seem to enjoy fisting 19 year old college students who are only home for a week and need to get their licenses back NOW, not after the 3 weeks it takes them to actually look at it and process it. of course naturally once (and if) i’m done having their fist up my ass, my parents get a turn. this is because they say that i’m not allowed to have a car on campus. well, how the fuck am i going to be an insured driver if i get kicked off their plan, and not have a car of my own? i know for a fact that i won’t be able to pay for insurance if i don’t have a job that pays for it. i really don’t see how letting me have a car on campus will affect my grades. i had a car senior year of high school, and my grades stayed the same until 2nd semester, when they went up, so i really don’t see how it’ll be much different. and, if i have my own car that i’m paying for myself in buying it, registering it, insuring it, and paying taxes for, then wouldn’t that mean that i’d be more likely to be careful with it? i know that i don’t have the best record, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for me to improve, nor does it mean that i won’t take care of my record/a car if i’m paying for my own. it just means that i’m not going to be able to go out and buy my mother the same perfume i got her last year for christmas this year. is that such a bad trade off? (well, i guess with the kind of perfume she’s got, she’ll tell you yes, but that’s beside the point)

it just pisses me off that i can’t do the things i want because of the fact that people would rather have me do things their way instead of my own. people often times wonder why i’m so open around people that don’t know my parents or aren’t a part of my family, and it’s because of the fact that there aren’t any restrictions. it’s because i don’t have to prove myself to them, to show them that i can meet their expectations/standards, because people that don’t know who i am don’t have expectations/standards right from the start.

it’s better than anythin else i’ve used before

over the past couple of days, i’ve been using my school backpack as a suitcase for my clothes for spring break, as well as where i put my laptop and broken glasses. it is by far the best backpack i have ever had, and is the most versatile, practical thing i have ever used to carry books, clothes, my laptop, and a boatload of other things that i’ve been able to pack into it. it has survived a thanksgiving trip all the way up to connecticut and back, in addition to a 600-page book on how the reagan administration did squat about the AIDS crisis during the 1980s, all 3 of alex sanchez’s “rainbow” books, as well as a poetry anthology book and the two hoodies i had previously left at home and thought i could use in the arm-numbingly hot winters down here in florida. as if i didn’t sweat enough with the shitload of jeans i currently store in my closet and wear on a constant basis. the backpack is a victorinox, which, seeing how their knives are amazing and the watch i have somehow hasn’t broken yet, proves that it can deal with whatever i throw at it. now, i’m the kind of person that doesn’t need much to like things, however i do have a tendency to play hard to get when it comes to loving things, and i absolutely LOVE this backpack. i am ashamed of myself for not getting it sooner.

this is all. hope your day will go better than mine will.

david neeleman, you are one huge fucking asshole

so i pulled another all-nighter last night (3rd one in a row) in order to get to the airport early to see if i could get on the stand by list for the 6 am flight to jfk, and they told me that they aren’t adding any more people to any stand by lists because of the fact that they supposedly have 17 flights worth of stand by lists. fuck you jetblue, fuck you. my sinuses are starting to act up (somethin that NEVER happens), and its all because jetblue decided to cancel a bunch of fucking flights to nyc and boston. i can’t fucking believe it. i was able to sign up for a monday afternoon flight to jfk, and i’m really pissed that i can’t get an earlier flight. this is supposed to be spring BREAK, not spring wait-in-the-fucking-airport-for-four-days-straight. i have NO idea what i’m going to do, because saint leo makes you tell them in advance if you’re going to be staying on campus, and it’s too far away for my parents to be able to drive down and pick me up. of course i could re-sign up for a hotel room, but that’s going to be annoying, because there really isn’t much to do around it, and i can’t get an internet signal on this in order to do my math lab, so it’s not like i can get that done while waiting for jetblue to finish fucking me over.

i really don’t know what to do, because staying at a hotel is going to be fucking expensive, and there’s really no way that i’m going to be able to stay at tampa airport until monday and not resemble some kind of hobo and kill people just with how bad i smell.

again, you are one huge fucking asshole mr. neeleman, you really are.

why i hate going to a school so far away

so i’m here at tampa airport, waiting for a flight. that’s correct, i no longer have a flight, due to jetblue going from having the biggest balls in the airline industry to having none whatsoever, and cancelling 11 of the 12 flights to the north today, that 1 that is going is going to boston. their next available flight to new york is on monday, at 2:20pm. now, it is friday afternoon. there is no way in hell i’m going to sit around in an airport for four days and then get on a 2 and a half hour plane ride without killing someone with the smell. yes, i’ve got deoderant, but that’s not going to suffice when you’re an overweight 19 year old guy in florida when the median temperature is in the 70’s, when it’s only march. luckily my mom was kind enough to find a local hotel for me to stay at tonight so that i can finally get some sleep/a shower. i’ll prolly come back tomorrow morning at 4:30/5am-ish to see if i can get a seat as a standby on the 6am flight. if that doesn’t work, then i’m up shit creek without a paddle. if you have my number, please don’t hesitate to call and shield me from boredom.

this is all for post #2. peace.

restlessly flying home

so it is currently 4:50am, on friday the 16th of march, 2007. this is the longest i have ever stayed awake, since wednesday morning until now. and theres no way in hell i’m going to be able to sleep until i get home. where, naturally i’ve got an 8am class over in stamford waiting for me. whoopie! not. oh, how i cannot wait until 12:30 tomorrow afternoon, when i shall finally go home, and sleep. and sleep. and sleep some more, and then possibly get some math homework done, like i promised barthel i would do. and my eyes hurt from being open for so long, however, i have another 7 hours before i’m forced into the back of a taxi, and taken to tampa international airport, where i’ll spend another 5 and a half hours sitting around waiting to get on the plane. then i finally get to spend 2.5/3 hours in a plane, and then another 45 minutes/1 hour trying to get from there on home. oh boy.

well, this is all, have a good day.

21 years later

so i’m currently not in english because i’ve been working on human behaviors for the past several hours (sorry brendan for sending my paper to you so late), and haven’t really had time to blog. today is the ides of march, or in my family, trevor’s birthday. he’d be 21 today. it’s weird to think that he’d be legal to drink if he were still around. it’ll be 4 years in june, and it’s weird that it’s already been 3 1/2 years so far. time seems to fly now that he’s gone. i was talkin to my mom last night, and she had mentioned that today was his birthday, even though i already knew, and had been thinkin about it.

i’ve got to send in the form to reopen my file up at curry today. i’m really hopin i get in there again, just because i really don’t want to come back here next year. this school’s just too blah for me, and swk isn’t what i want to do with my life. communications sounds better. i know that they offer communications here as a major, but one of curry’s biggest majors there involves radio, which is somethin i want to do.

so i’m currently listenin to the eurythmics album that i brought down with me back in august, and i’m just now listening to songs that i’ve never bothered to play on the album since i bought it. ’80s music at 9am is definately rejuvinating, especially when you’ve been up all night and could very easily pass out.

so, elections are over. steve, danny, and shaji all won, while dane unfortunately didn’t. oh well, there’s always next year.

so, this is the end. hope y’all have a good day

if it weren’t for his scooter, you would think he was nuts

i’m currently in science class (the fact that i’m blogging while learning about molecules and isotopes is totally ok, apparantly), and the guy’s a total nutjob. it kind of reminds me of mr benedict, my 11th grade english teacher, however they’re two very different breeds of nutjobs. mr peterson is the kind of teacher that doesn’t really give a shit, and seems to have way too much sugar in his system. mr benedict on the other hand also doesn’t really give a shit, but he’s so slow in everything he does in a classroom you’d think he was about to flatline right in front of you in the middle of class. i wonder why he bothers teaching, cos none of us seem to care about the isotopes of carbon, or anything else he talks about in class. supposedly we have to do a worksheet, but i doubt that we’ll get to it at all today.

we had a test in math today, with none other than dr white subbing in for barthel. i totally feel uncomfortable around her, and i didn’t know what to do on half of the problems on the test. i have nothing personal against dr white, i just don’t like her style of teaching. she’s very fast, and assumes you understand the information after the first light-speed rundown of the material. barthel is much better.

whatever.

in addition to writing on here, i’m trying to have a im convo with kris, a friend of mine that i met through kyle after he moved up to vermont, however she doesn’t seem all that keen on talking right now. apparantly there’s a new guy she likes talking to more than me. oh well. whatever.

here’s the end of yet another pointless entry.