Jacques the travel turtle, going to Canada.
photo by Rod

Our Changing America

I came across this article the other day while waiting at Red Mill for my chicken burger.

Quote of a quote:

"...I, said O'Connor, am against judicial reforms driven by nakedly partisan reasoning. Pointing to the experiences of developing countries and former communist countries where interference with an independent judiciary has allowed dictatorship to flourish, O'Connor said we must be ever-vigilant against those who would strong-arm the judiciary into adopting their preferred policies. It takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, she said, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington."

Yikes. Respected Supreme Court Judge sounds the alarm about the naked power-mongering of the current administration.

I went to Canada last weekend, and wistfully contemplated the concept of Canadian citizenship. Sure, no country is perfect. They have health care problems too, just a different kind. But really. They are so much more politically progressive than America! If I had a cute Canadian to marry, I really might switch my citizenship.

Because I'm a little scared of America. I'm afraid that I'm going to be someone who is Frowned On and Not Tolerated because of myinsistencee on civil rights for all, not just White, Straight, American Christians. Because I don't think capitalism and massive amounts of debt are necessarily the best thing for us. Because I don't think corporations should fuck the environment, their employees, and consumers with impunity. Because I don't think another empire is a good thing. I am not a good citizen. I Have Doubts. I'm educated, and I'll question things.

So America and I, getting a little distant from each other.

All about me

It's the all about me post. Throwing my voice into the rising din of blogland - yep, here I am. Why am I writing? Well, it's good practice to write. And I'm trying to sort things out, keep track of what I'm thinking. And I want a place to connect to other bloggers, and keep track of the links I find...

I'm a recovering conservative Christian. Trying to figure what a progressive faith is, one that gets down with Jesus on ministering to the poor, welcoming the oppressed and marginalized, and working for peace and justice.

You might hear some liberal, heretical thoughts. We might talk about environmental issues, feminist issues, or political issues. Whatever I'm thinking about, whatever I can marshal into coherence and put out for you.

Oh, and I'm in grad school. Only for another couple months, but that may slow the posts at first.

Welcome!