God Bless America?

Did you know today is the 57th Annual National Day of Prayer? Oh, stop rolling your eyes. Our country desperately needs all of the prayers it can get right now. The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. What? Are those crazy Christian fanatics at it again? No, this annual look to the heavens was actually created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress (PDF), and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.

"What about separation of church and state?" you worry (or in the case of Florida, the separation of church and plate). Where in the Constitution does it say as a nation we can't pray for divine guidance? Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history. Benjamin Franklin observed "the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men... and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"

I would submit that a nation can certainly fall without it. Some would say that America is on a precipice right now, very much in need of inspired aid.

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This May Be Our Last Chance

Photo: Candace Suerstedt

This week marks the 38th Earth Day. It seems impossible that nearly four decades have passed since the first one in 1970. Though I had grown up reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring , I don't think I realized the full significance of that first Earth Day. I do remember that a number of folks dismissed it as yet another "hippie commie" activity and even the news magazines were unsure of how to portray the event.

The Uppity Wisconsin recalled that Newsweek was bemused, and somewhat dismissive, calling Earth Day "a bizarre nationwide rain dance" and the nation's "biggest street festival since the Japanese surrendered in 1945." Time said the day "had aspects of a secular, almost pagan holiday..." Newsweek asked,  "whether the whole uprising represented a giant step forward for contaminated Earthmen or just a springtime skipalong."

At any rate, here we are 38 years later and the worst environmental predictions from those early years seem optimistic in relation to what has actually happened to our environment.

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Can You Pass The Test?

Illustration by Calvin Boice.

If you have a teenager or college student in your house then you probably already know about Facebook. It’s like MySpace but without all of the porn and spam. It’s a fun way to connect with your friends, and if you’re a parent, eavesdrop on your kids and their friends. I love it. One of my friends just sent me a challenge that has been circulating a lot lately on Facebook and a link where you can take a 20 question test entitled “Could You Pass The U.S. Citizenship Test?” The same test has even shown up on MSNBC where you can get your score. 

These are sample questions from the civics test that immigrants take as part of their naturalization interview. This test gives you multiple choices, but immigrants who take the real test are not, as their test is conducted orally.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services plans to revise its list of questions this year. Do you think you could pass the test? Could our presidential candidates?

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Imaginary War

One hundred and thirty-three American soldiers have been killed in Iraq this year. 

Fighter pilot Captain Lance Sijan, a friend and Air Force Academy classmate of my father, was shot down over Vietnam in 1968 and died in captivity. His 1976 Medal of Honor citation reads in part: “Capt. Sijan ejected from his disabled aircraft and successfully evaded capture for more than six weeks. During this time, he was seriously injured and suffered from shock and extreme weight loss due to lack of food. After being captured by North Vietnamese soldiers, Capt. Sijan was taken to a holding point for subsequent transfer to a prisoner of war camp. In his emaciated and crippled condition, he overpowered one of his guards and crawled into the jungle, only to be recaptured after several hours.”

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Fly the Friendly Skies?

I just flew in from out of town, and boy, are my arms tired. I’m exhausted, but finally home, after spending hours in airports and traveling in what used to be the friendly skies. After 9/11 we felt violated and shocked when we had to take our shoes off as part of the routine security check in airports.

After a few years of that we’ve grown accustomed to being considered terrorists by our own Transportation Security Administration as we strip belts and necklaces off our bodies and pull loose change from our pockets to pass through the gate. A small price to pay for security?

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When Will We Ever Learn?

Photo: Candace Suerstedt

When I heard this week that the Bush administration will use its authority to bypass more than 30 laws and regulations in order to complete the “Border Fence” by the end of 2008, I could hardly believe the idiotic arrogance, and complete disregard for due process.

Construction on the Great Wall between the United States and Mexico will go into overdrive so we (the taxpaying public) can watch $8 to $10 billion of our dollars get spent building a fence along select areas of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. This has to be one of the worst ideas the federal government has ever perpetrated.

Well, ok, at least one of the 100 worst… let's see, what other tragic moments in American history did our government tell us was “for our own good”, and, we, as a nation, were complicit in their actions.

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Confused? Not My Fault

Interesting to see in the news Tuesday that the Secretary of State is investigating complaints that some voters are making regarding party affiliations. According to the Associated Press report, some voters have complained that their party affiliations were changed when they filed address changes with the DMV.

Having worked at a poll during California's February primary, I can say there was certainly more confusion over party registration than I expected to see.

Not just independents concerned about being unable to vote in the Republican Party's closed primary, but self-professed independents finding themselves registered with the American Independent Party and vice versa. There were probably some confused Democrats, or wannabe Democrats, as well, but they didn't make as much of an impact on me as the others did.

Given that voter confusion in Florida arguably determined the outcome of the 2000 presidential election, I guess it's only natural that election officials are going to have a heightened sensitivity to it during this election cycle. But from where I was sitting, it seemed like a certain percentage of the electorate was going to be confused no matter what precautions were taken.

-Citizen Voices blogger Chuck Hartley is an attorney who lives in Escondido.

Time for War on the War on Terror

"I am a wartime President." - George W. Bush to Tim Russert before the 2004 Presidential contest.

Four years later and he's still very much a wartime president – it is in fact the most honest thing that can be said about his presidency. The next man or woman who swears the oath of office will inherit W.'s legacy and with it his mantel of Wartime President – none will relish and revel in it the way W. has and does.

Former presidents Abraham Lincoln (suspension of habeas corpus) and Harry S. Truman (seizing privately held steel mills) legitimized extraordinary executive acts as necessitated by wartime emergencies – both caught flak for it and both were rebuked by the courts. Bush has used the undeclared war in Iraq and more nefariously the War on Terror to pull off the most audacious and cynical power grab in the history of the American Presidency.

I don't think it is hyperbole to say that he has managed to blast a lasting crack in what seemed the most solid of American values –  the Constitutional system of checks and balances.

We have been taught and told that the War on Terror knows no single front and must be fought on all fronts at all times. The greatest weapon against terrorism, according to this President, is secrecy. Secret prisons, secret courts, secret wiretaps, secret renditions, secret violations of privacy and civil liberties.

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Following in Mitt’s Footsteps

Photo: Mitt Romney in San Diego, January 2008. Nicole Lozare/KPBS.  

Note to both Democratic candidates: Consider quitting.

It's not an option easily mulled over for highly educated, highly accomplished patriotic professionals, but consider the consequences.

By my biased calculations, Mitt Romney really should have won his party’s nomination. He has the familial and political pedigrees. He has the poise. Even for those critics who point to his record as governor of Massachusetts as proof of his being a flip-flopper, apparently it’s a non-issue.

After all, who blows hot and cold on more important issues than John McCain, the presumptive nominee? 

Just because Gov. Romney failed to hang tough in the race or to capture the popular right-wing vote, he still won respect. He showed a measure of leadership by choosing to withdraw from the race. I don’t buy that he was trying to save face after losing a string of states. Maybe he’s preparing for the 2012 race but even so, quitting didn’t hurt him.

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Blogku

Superdelegates
Michigan and Florida
Trouble in Denver

 
- Citizen Voices blogger Chris McConnell is a bookseller, freelance writer, former high school English teacher and odd jobber who lives in La Jolla.