Palin - Bono interview cancelled

The facetime that Sarah Palin was to have with Bono today was apparently cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. Just as well - since no press representatives are allowed in on her meetings with ... well ... anyone. God forbid we get a sense of what she really thinks.

In other news, despite the constant commentary from the Mad One and his minions, Paul Hewson continues his work on behalf of the United Nations' Millenium Development Goals. Along with Jeffrey Sachs, Bono is blogging about the Millenium Development goals over at the Financial Times blog - it is definitely worth checking out.

Budget Priorities

It seems to me that both candidates this year feel, rightly so, that our government is a little overextended - financially speaking. That pesky little deficit again.

The real question is not whether or not we need to adjust our national spending habits (has anyone thought about freezing the pentagon's credit card in a block of ice?), but what priorities and values will we use for that adjustment?

Will we, as a nation, invest in the education of our young people? Will we seek to eliminate hunger in one of the world's wealthiest countries? Will we provide healthcare to those who need it most?

Or will we continue to fund (expensive!) crazy-ass ideas in the name of "national defense"?

Myths & Morals go to Washington

As children, we were taught that Robin Hood was a hero, as he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Indeed, in 1938 this was a dominant enough truth to receive the star treatment in a feature film directed at adults.

The underlying assumption on the Robin Hood myth - the assumption that makes this thief a hero of morality and truth - is that the rich have gotten their wealth at the expense of the poor. In a culture with a very small upper crust, this is a popular and powerful truth. However, as the wealth of a nation/culture grows, this diminishes in popularity - the rich become rich by virtue (hard work, industriousness, etc) rather than at the expense of others.

Of course the question remains - at whose expense have we become wealthy? I don't think that it is a question that any of us is comfortable with.

And, larger questions about our current policies arise. When did the myth become reversed, so that we steal from others (as a nation) in order to give to the rich? When did the Robin Hood principle become called social welfare (with negative connotations), rather than virtue?

Political Sound Off

Let's be honest, in my line of work we don't much get to share our political views - at least not with full honesty. And, really, I'm ok with that. I don't want people to be unable to hear the Gospel because they are too preoccupied with my politics. I would rather have them hear the Gospel, and have it then inform their political decisions (which happens far too infrequently among those who follow Jesus).

That said, this political season in the US has me just about bursting at the seams. Never has an electoral choice seemed so very clear to me - especially for Christians. "Feed my sheep." "Whenever you have done it to the the least of these." What have McCain/Palin ever done for the "least of these" - except for look for ways to squeeze an extra penny out of them for the benefit of big business? The hypocrisy coming out of that campaign is sickening - I will follow up with more later.

I just don't get it, I guess. We have made personal moral choices - areas about which our Scriptures are (at best) ambivelent - into the defining issues for our political debates. Instead of abortion, maybe the candidates could talk about the mess of the housing market. Instead of worrying about who is screwing who in the bedroom, maybe they could address who is getting screwed by our ever-more lopsided economy (as we watch yet another major company fold, while the ceo has a golden parachute). Just an idea.