I am proud of the Portland City Council today for re-naming a street just blocks from my home for Cesar E. Chavez. I cannot wait for the signs to go up when I will walk my daughters up the street and tell them the story of why Portland honors this American hero. A special thank you to former Mayor Tom Potter for his leadership on this issue.
Related Post: Why I Support Cesar E. Chavez Blvd
Loaded Orygun notes that MoveOn.org is holding a rally this Thursday (July 12th 9th) at Noon in front of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden's Portland office (1220 SW 3rd, Suite 585) to advocate for a public option in health care reform. The General Synod of the United Church of Christ recently called for a single payer system of health care delivery and while in a ideal political environment that would be my choice the reality is a public option is the best and most effective approach we can hope for. President Obama has endorsed a public option and so should Senator Wyden.
Related Link: (UCC) Marchers spill into the streets in support of universal health care
This morning at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ our Scripture readings included Isaiah 2:4 and Matt 5:38-41.
My sermon was a reflection on gun violence in America.
Use the below link to download the podcast of the sermon for your iPod or personal computer:
(click with the RIGHT mouse button on the hyperlink and choose “Save Target As” and save to your desktop or other folder – once downloaded click on the file to listen). Now On ITunes
You can now subscribe to my podcasts on ITunes by clicking here.
I just watched Sarah Palin’s news conference. Governor Palin said that four years ago (really it was two and a half) that she promised voters effectiveness in government to Alaska voters. And then she resigned. That might have been the most effective act undertaken during her failed administration. What was the real reason she resigned? More scandal (link via NYT)? That wouldn’t surprise anyone. Regardless, what America saw today was a politician that couldn’t handle the pressure of serving as governor of a small state. Another reason to celebrate the vice-presidency of Joe Biden.
Missouri State Rep. Cynthia Davis is against free summer lunches for kids. "Can’t they get a job during the summer?" asksthe politician / Bible book store owner.
The editorial board of the St. Louis Dispatch reports:
State Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O’Fallon, is staking out a strong position on child hunger: She’s for it. “Hunger can be a positive motivator,” she notes in the latest edition of her newsletter. More precisely, Ms. Davis is against summer feeding programs for poor kids. They are an excuse “to create an expansion of a government program,” she says. Ms. Davis chairs the House Special Standing Committee on Children and Families. In that position, she might be expected to have insight into child hunger in our state. She might know, for instance, that about one in five Missouri children lives with hunger. That ties us with Louisiana for the nation’s seventh-highest rate, according to a report released last month by the hunger-relief charity Feeding America. Or that the recession has pushed the number of poor Missouri kids who qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches by 8.3 percent this year, well above the national average.
Apparently not.
The ignorance is shocking enough for a politican but it is even more tragic coming from someone who calls themself a Christian.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Tip/Wag - Cynthia Davis & Fox News | ||||
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Come listen to my Sunday, July 5th sermon on “God, Guns & American Violence: Turning Weapons Into Ploughshares," Click here for all the info.
Politico (via) CNN has this quote from Friend Of Mark Sanford Tom Davis:
People be will watching for his sincerity. I think there's an incredible capacity in the American people for forgiveness. What they will not forgive is hypocrisy. And, so, I think the next few days are going to be very critical for the governor.
I agree with that and really believe that what the governor showed today is that he is simply a broken human (like the rest us). All of us are boken. Just in different ways.
But Stanford - as Politico notes in another story - has already shown his hypocrisy:
Mark Sanford, following a long procession of GOPers before him -- most recently John Ensign -- took a Draconian view of pols caught in in flagrante, when that pol wasn't them of course.
When it was revealed, back in '98, that incoming Speaker Bob Livingston (R-La.) had strayed big time, Sanford bucked many in his own party by suggesting Livingston get the boot.
He also wanted President Clinton to resign.
Davis is right: Americans won't forgive hypocrisy.
The decision by the Oregon Attorney General not to prosecute Portland Mayor Sam Adams does not answer some of the questions at the heart of the scandal.
All we know today that we didn’t know yesterday is that the mayor will not be charged with a crime in this affair. Mayor Adams has resisted calls for his resignation (including my own) since this matter first came to light in January and will likely see this report from the OAG as a personal vindication. He shouldn’t.
“Not getting prosecuted” is a pretty low bar for a politicalian awash in scandal. His actions that brought about this scandal and his actions in the aftermath have been indefensible.
The mayor isn’t going to resign. As I’ve said, I oppose a recall election because of the divisive impact such an election would have on the city. Clearly, this news from the OAG’s office takes the wind out of what was a doomed to fail recall effort from the start. The recall effort should now fold.
It is time for Portland to move on. Voters can impose their final verdict on this issue in 2012 if Mayor Adams seeks re-election.
As a citizen, I want Sam Adams to resign as the mayor of Portland (for all the reasons I’ve outlined in previous posts). But as a minister I’m reminded of the need for compassion as Mayor Adams’ political, personal and financial life implodes around him. The latest news, of course, is that the mayor has two properties – including his home – under foreclosure. Some opponents of the mayor seem to be taking glee in this. Instead, I want to offer my sympathy and prayers for the mayor. He brought this all on himself and he would be doing both himself and the city a favor by resigning his office and allowing Portland the chance to move on during a time of economic challenge for the community. But no one should take joy in his suffering. His actions that brought about this scandal and his actions in the aftermath have been indefensible. You might want him to resign or even support his recall (a step I oppose because of the divisive impact such an election would have on the city). We can want him out of office because of his actions but we should not forget the contributions he has made or forget that he is a human deserving of compassion even as we oppose him politically. So I pray for wisdom for the mayor in the face of adversity, the chance for reconciliation between him and the people of Portland, and that all of us opposed to Mayor Adams are reminded of our own brokenness so that our actions in civic life reflect humility and not hubris.
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