Public policy, social issues, gender politics, religion, civitas, and other taboo topics fall under the hammer of Shava's iconoclasmic force of natural philosophy.
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40%
Saturday, August 27, 2005
11:41 AM
Bush Approval Rating Continues to Drop
Current 40% approval is lowest of administration to date
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE - August 26, 2005
PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll reflects further erosion in
President George W. Bush's job approval rating, continuing the slow
but steady decline evident throughout the year so far. The poll --
conducted Aug. 22-25 -- puts Bush's job approval rating at 40% and
his disapproval rating at 56%. Both are the most negative ratings of
the Bush administration. Bush's previous low point in approval was
44% (July 25-28, 2005) and his previous high point in disapproval was
53% (June 24-26, 2005).
Compare and contrast:
LBJ
The major initiative in the Lyndon Johnson presidency was the Vietnam War. By 1968 the U.S. had 548,000 troops in Vietnam, and had already lost 30,000 of them. Johnson's approval ratings had dropped from 70 percent in mid-1965 to below 40 percent by 1967, and with it, his mastery of Congress. "I can't get out, I can't finish it with what I have got. So what the hell do I do?" he cried out to Lady Bird. Johnson never did figure out the answer to that question.
There will be a pop quiz in the near future.
Sins of omission
Saturday, August 06, 2005
9:15 AM
Sometimes, what you don't say is more important than what you do.
Right now, the Unitarian Univesalist Association is being questioned by some lay and clerical leadership on a number of fronts, two of which are "Why is the UUA so expensive?" and "What are we really *for* as a movement, anyway?"
I have my own answers to these questions that I've spoken before, but to a smaller interested audience. The answers I have are cynical but well founded. All established religion has faults.
There may be no one in the world with the same background in anthropology, history of religious ideas, organizational dynamics, marketing, and with a personal experience of the transitions in youth culture in the church around the time I graduated high school. My perspective is cogent. When I talk to people about the issues, they are generally taken aback but find nothing to disagree with.
And, they would be ammunition for people who might want to tear down what remains of the Church I grew up in.
I used to, as a child, pity ex-Catholics, because I found them bitter and adrift. Perhaps as an adult I have more compassion. I am not sure you can be an *ex* UU. I certainly have the worldview. But I am more disillusioned with the church as I get older, rather than more comfortable with the current culture and structure of the denomination.
I used to also have a feeling of self-righteous indignation when I would find places where clergy knew damn well that there were problems in their churches, their districts, the denomination, some committee -- and didn't talk about them publicly. But I think I am starting to understand that better too.
Speaking truth to power or airing dirty linen? I have no solutions, but I have a cogent analysis of the problems. Would it help tear down without building, or would it help others understand questions to find solutions I can't see?
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