Minnesota Caucus

Well, they’re over! It was fun last night. I attended the Democratic caucus for my town and there were five (5) – yes, I said FIVE – of us there!
by Charlie Leck

There wasn’t much excitement in the Democratic caucuses here in Minnesota. President Obama is a shoe-in our state among Democrats. So is our candidate for the U.S. Senate – current Senator Amy Klobuchar.

The excitement was over on the Republican side and Minnesota turned things topsy-turvy last night. Rick Santorum won here and Ron Paul finished second. Minnesota Republicans are not your normal, everyday kind of Republicans, you know. Keep in mind, this is the state that keeps reelecting Michele Bachmann to the House of Representatives and the unbelievable and ungifted Tom Emmer almost became our governor 15 months ago.

This is the Lake Wobegon state and those folks hold a million surprises at the ready. They sprung one last night and Mitt Romney is reeling from it all. It looks like Santorum also won in Missouri and Colorado and, suddenly, he is a viable candidate and Romney has got to rebuild himself. Fortunately, for all of us, I think, Mr. Gingrich didn’t do well in any of these states (he finished last in Minnesota) and his tail is now between his legs and he’s running around in circles.

Over in our Democratic caucus we finished our work in about 45 minutes and there was plenty of kidding around and laughter. We passed about six resolutions urging our legislature to get people to work and another that urged voters not to support the constitutional amendment that will be on our ballots this November that would redefine marriage as only that between a man and a woman.

How will the general election go in November? Remember, this is Minnesota and it is only your guess!

Well, the short caucus allowed me to go out to dinner with a couple of my good friends. We drove over to Birches in Long Lake. It’s a terrific little restaurant and, if you’re a local, you should give it a try. Try the Buckhorn Chicken! My, it’s good; and so are the steaks. We had some roasted brussel sprouts last night that were fantastic.

My spirits are buoyed this morning by the federal appeals court decision in California yesterday that struck down the ban on gay marriage in California (if you want to read about it, here’s a good story in the Washington Post). I’m sure it will be taken on to the Supreme Court. If the BIG panel decides to hear the case it is anyone’s guess as to how they will rule. Remember, this is the same court that gave us Citizens United!

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Want Your Democracy Back?

How do you like living in a plutocratic nation? Two years ago the U.S. Supreme Court gave us Citizens United. Happy Anniversary!
by Charlie Leck

If you want some good reading for today, turn to E.J. Dionne Jr.’s column in the Washington Post, The Citizens United Catastrophe.

“We have seen the world created by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, and it doesn’t work. Oh, yes, it works nicely for the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country, especially if they want to shroud their efforts to influence politics behind shell corporations. It just doesn’t happen to work if you think we are a democracy and not a plutocracy.”

My wife has been saying for quite a long time now that we’ve become a plutocracy. Nevertheless, the sham that we are a democracy continues.

I suppose I can just keep whining about it and gnashing my teeth and writing seething blogs OR maybe I can do something about it. That’s what I’m trying to figure out. So are a lot of other people.

The facts are, however, that U.S. Supreme Court decisions are powerful instruments that establish abiding and certain law. Overturning them is extremely difficult. One sure way to do it is through a constitutional amendment; however, that’s not easy either. If you don’t know the process required to amend the Constitution, you really ought to find out about it. Constitutional amendments are rare.

U.S. Representative Jim McGovern has offered a bill in the House of Representatives that would start the process. It will not likely be passed. If you want to hear him explain the bill, take a look below.

Common Cause may be out biggest hope in driving some kind of action that will set aside the utterly stupid Supreme Court decision of two years ago. If you don’t know about this watchdog organization, you really ought to learn more. Their video, explaining how Citizens United happened, is the best Intro101 course you’ll ever find.

The Supreme Court of the United States, in this 5-4 decision, simply erred – they made a mistake. The decision has distorted the great American debate that should take place in our elections. They have tipped the balance and given substantially more power to corporate America than that held by the people.

Do we, as people, own equal shares of the nation? That was the idea behind the constitution – that you and I would own equal shares of the process behind the government of the United States. As I said above, that balance has now been tipped.

Here’s the deal!
It’s really quite up to you to figure out how we’re going to get this terrible situation changed. As a people, how are we going to take back control? If you haven’t understood that this is what the whole OCCUPY movement is all about, you’ve been sleep walking. If you do understand, you probably have more sympathy for the protesters than most people do.

It is going to take a new American revolution to return our political system to the place where our founding fathers intended it to be. It likely will not happen in my life time, but it will happen. It will happen as the realization grows that we, the people alone, no longer own the government.

This is what a plutocracy is!
Returning to Dionne’s column, you can get a pretty good picture of what a plutocracy is from the following …

“If ever a court majority legislated from the bench (with Bush’s own appointees leading the way), it was the bunch that voted for Citizens United. Did a single justice in the majority even imagine a world of super PACs and phony corporations set up for the sole purpose of disguising a donor’s identity? Did they think that a presidential candidacy might be kept alive largely through the generosity of a Las Vegas gambling magnate with important financial interests in China? Did they consider that the democratizing gains made in the last presidential campaign through the rise of small online contributors might be wiped out by the brute force of millionaires and billionaires determined to have their way?”

I like the image Dionne creates of contemporary candidates wearing corporate logos on their backs – smaller ones, of course, on their sleeves for those companies that have given only millions to the campaign. Oh, my, oh my!

Want your democracy back?
If you want your democracy back, then listen up! Do something, stupid! Do something!

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Bonhoeffer: a book by Eric Metaxas

“And when you pray, pray like this…”
by Charlie Leck

I noticed in a newspaper photograph the other day that President Obama was holding up a copy of a fairly new book by Eric Metaxas [BONHOEFFER]. The author had just given a copy to the President. Yesterday I stopped at our village bookstore and picked up a copy of the book.

I’ve written pretty extensively here about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. His life’s story is a compelling one and his mind was extraordinary. His faith is inspiring. I won’t go into the story again (perhaps, that is, until I’ve finished the Metaxas book, which has begun wonderfully), but I do want to remind you that should know about Dietrich and his life. It’s a requirement for the educated person.

He died in a German concentration camp just a few days before the allied forces arrived to free its prisoners. He was executed by the Nazis for playing a part in the attempted assassination of Adolph Hitler.

Affected by simple caprice, I am tempted to write more of him here. Instead, I’ll simply provide a link to one of those blogs of several years ago…

I posted this blog [Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)] in April, 2007. It is a copy of an essay I wrote in 1995 for a 50^th anniversary celebration of Bonhoeffer’s death.

Bonhoeffer is a giant among thinking Christians. He didn’t see Christianity as easy; it called for sacrifice and discipline. He understood the salvation in Christ that Christians talk about; he also understood the obligation it put upon the life of him/her who is saved. No work has influenced my understanding of Christianity any more than Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship!

Now I look forward to the next couple of days during which I will read Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. Look for a review and recap of the book here soon.

By the way, Metaxas spoke at that National Prayer Breakfast a couple of days ago and you can read an account about the prayer gathering if you’d like and you can also watch the President’s remarks and the statement by Eric Metaxas on this page. You can pick and choose and watch what you want of this gathering, but I went ahead and watched the entire hour and a half – and I’m happy I did. Metaxas was excellent. There were also some remarkably beautiful and meaningful prayers.

“Prayer is from the heart,” Metaxas said. “We do not try to fool God with phony religiosity! …Prayers come from a place of honesty!”

At another point in his remarks, Metaxas said: “Remember, when some people tell you… ‘I am a Christian,’ they may not know what they’re talking about!” Later he said: “Human beings do not do the right thing apart from God’s intervention!”

Metaxas is genuinely funny and he had me laughing pretty hard a few times. He’s creative and innovative also. If you do listen to his remarks you’ll be pleased you did.

It was extremely interesting to hear President Obama talk about his family’s visit to see evangelist Billy Graham at his Carolina home. Graham has prayed for U.S. presidents for a long, long time now and he prayed for the President during that visit. Obama was very moved and surprised the evangelist by asking if he might pray for him. Somewhere inside himself Obama had found the courage to ask and the ability to utter a simple prayer for the Reverend Mr. Graham.

We have a surprising president in this man. I wish more people in the country would be open to the possibility of getting to know him.

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Margaret & Helen Are Back

It’s an election year and the campaign is getting red hot! The heat brings Margaret and Helen out of hibernation and I’m so glad to have them back.
by Charlie Leck

"Good Lord, where did the Republican Party dig us these idiots?” [Helen Philpot, of Margaret & Helen Blog]

Hooray! Good old Helen Philpot is back out of her long lay-off and she is giving the Republicans hell again.

“Margaret,” Helen wrote yesterday, “tell Howard he is full of shit!”

That’s my girl. Helen sort of took Margaret and disappeared for just the longest time and their blog went for months without any entries. Now, beginning slowly late in the past year, they’ve emerged from hibernation – brought out of their hole by the coming election – and they are giving the Republicans hell again.

Oh, boy! I feel like a new man and I’m as happy as hell. Helen is wound up and ready to tell it like it is (which is the only way she knows how to do it).

I was so worried when their blog dried up. I had terrible imaginings that Helen was ill and unable to write (and I even thought things might be more final that that), but she seems like her old self in that blog of hers of yesterday (2 Feb 2012).

Who, for instance, can say it any better than this?...

“Despite what Gingrich wants you to think, Obama isn’t a Socialist. I doubt most of the Gingrich voters even know the definition of socialism. After all, it has three more letters in it than Muslim. I do know this – taxes piss everyone off. Nobody likes to be taxed. But we all kind of like our roads, schools, healthcare, national security, law enforcement, energy… Those things represent the majority of what our taxes go to. And speaking of majority, the majority of welfare recipients are children. You know, those precious little bundles of life that the Republican base likes to ignore once the cord is cut.”

Oh, my, oh my! I’m leaping for joy and my heart is pumpin’ and my corpuscles are jumpin’ this morning. Go get ‘em, Helen, and don’t let up on ‘em, girl!

“Three cheers for Virginia State Senator Janet Howell who gave the Old White Guys a taste of their own medicine. Virginia law makers are trying to pass their own version of the Texas law that requires a woman to have an ultrasound before terminating a pregnancy. Good ‘ole Senator Howell added an amendment that would require men to have a rectal exam and a cardiac stress test before obtaining a prescription for erectile dysfunction medication. I like how that lady thinks. Considering most of them have their head up their ass, a finger up the butt just might knock some sense into their brain.”

Hoooray! Helen is back and it’s just in the nick of time. No right wing nutcase is safe now!

All of you, you be sure now to start following Margaret & Helen! Carefully bookmark the blog where you can always find it.


And check out Helen's blog of a couple of weeks ago on Newt Gingrich. It is absolutely precious! Precious!

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Obama on Scripture

Oh, if only Jesus could have a little sit-down with Michele Bachmann and some of those who spew out Christian judgment of President Obama!
by Charlie Leck

"If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother." Deuteronomy 15:7

The President made a STATEMENT yesterday when he appeared at the National Prayer Breakfast gathering in Washington, D.C.. He clearly wanted to send a message that the fundamental and ultraconservative Christians out on the far right do NOT have exclusivity when it comes to spouting scripture.

In his comments, President Obama, made clear that he is influenced by the Judeo-Christian concepts of caring for those who are in need. Very casually he threw out verses from scripture that motivate him.

“For unto whom much is given, much is required!” [Luke 12:48]

“I am my brother’s keeper!” [Genesis 4:38-8]

“Care for the least of these!” [Matthew 25:40)

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves!” [Proverbs 31:8]

“They are values,” he said, “that have made this country great when we live up to them.”

I am not being simplistic here. Yesterday’s remarks were carefully planned. I think the President is tired of fundamental Christians speaking ill of him but not really defending their dislike of his health care innovations and his programs to serve the elderly and needy in relation to their scriptural beliefs.

You know, it is interesting to imagine what it would be like if Jesus were the chief advisor to the President of the United States. Fundamentalists ought to think about this! We would not, I guaranty you, reduce entitlement spending. We would not be cutting our financial aid to needy foreign nations. We would have American technicians working in those places that need to improve their water supplies and their ability to establish a sustainable agricultural system. No American would be turned away from proper health care assistance. All children would be enrolled in outstanding educational environments and teachers would be among the most highly paid workers in the nation.

Oh, my! The high and mighty would be brought low and those of low esteem would be lifted up! Those who pray on the street corners just to show off their religion would be chased away and the meek and fully faithful would be rewarded with God’s blessings.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  [Mathew 25: 35-40]

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What Does the Lord Require of You?

I am struggling with my conscience lately. I argue with it that I have done enough over the years and now I am tired and retired from the battles for justice; but my conscience stares me down, mocks me and decries my excuses!
by Charlie Leck

I’m moving through troubling days. This community I live in is very conservative. For instance, President Obama got very few votes here in the 2008 election. It went by about 75 percent for his opponent.

Now, this state I live in is going to face an incredibly significant decision in the election this November. In that election, my little town will again, I am sure, reject President Obama. However, it will also need to vote on the marriage amendment to our Minnesota State Constitution – an amendment that will define marriage as between only a man and a woman.

I stand on the other side of this issue and oppose the amendment with all my heart. As my wife said to me today, as we were pouring our morning coffee: “This amendment will actually legislate and give protection to discrimination! This has never happened before, has it?”

Well, actually yes, it has. The U.S. Constitution did not allow women to vote until it was amended. That amendment was an injustice corrected.

But, now, in our age, to think that we might very well create a clear and terrible, constitutionally endorsed policy of discrimination against those who cannot possibly define their lives and their sexually as many others of us do.

I am really and deeply troubled and saddened by this possibility. It shouldn’t be! It shouldn’t happen! Here in the quiet of my study I interrogate myself.

“Do you have any energy left in this old system of yours, sir? Are you both willing and able to wage a battle against such injustice and unfairness? There are people you care about, old fella, who will be hurt deeply by this proposed constitutional amendment! What can you do?”

 “Contributing money, you know, is too easy! Are you courageous enough to talk to neighbors and people in the community about your feelings? Can you handle the cruel things they might say about you? It is time you know, to decide – to act!”

And, God seems to interrogate me also!

“And what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I command you this day for your good?” [Deuteronomy 10:12]

 “He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” [Micah 6:8]

The God of Creation could not have put these children upon the earth, as he did, to be unhappy and unfulfilled and unable to take partners in commitments of love. Don’t all knowing, and caring, and thinking people realize this?

So, trembling and in the presence of my Creator, I filled out the volunteer form for Minnesotans United for All Families and sent it in. What can I do but “do justice and love kindness and walk humbly with my God?

You, too, wherever you live, if this proposed amendment to Minnesota’s constitution troubles you, can contribute to the cause at Minnesotans United for All Families! You can give funds or you can volunteer. Think! “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice and to love kindness?…”

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Freedom is what’s GREAT about America!

I wanna be free! I wanna be free! It isn’t just me… we all wanna be free!
by Charlie Leck

Watch this video and be wowed like I was – as my wife was! You will not be sorry for the three and a half minutes of your day that you gave up to watch this clip. It has been viewed by millions and millions of people and more and more people are finding out about it every day because their neighbors and friends and members of their families are telling them: “You’ve got to watch this kid!”

What a spokesman this kid is! And, how proud his two parents must be of him.

I stand four-square against a constitutional amendment that is on our ballot this November. It will be a sad day here if it passes. We’ve got to educate people and somehow reach into their hearts and open them up to other possibilities of love and devotion. If you can help, please do. You can contribute to the cause at Minnesotans United for All Families! I’m afraid you’re going to hear more and more about his issue from me as election day draws near because this amendment is cruel and unfair in a land of free people.

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