Post-Election Blues

Post-Election Blues

Election Day

Election day was exciting. I got to cast my vote for the best presidential candidate of my adulthood. Utah Mom and I waited in line for nearly an hour. We've never waited for any length of time at all in our precinct  before. Enfranchisement! A great Latter-Day Saint was running and this predominately LDS community was feeling what Black Americans were feeling four years ago and again this time. Turnout was incredible in our little place. For me, Romney's faith was reason number 58 or so for why I liked him so much. Well, reason 18 anyway. I felt great about casting my vote. By about 5:30 PM, we were eating a nice dinner to celebrate our country's great tradition of free elections. I couldn't fight off a sinking feeling at dinner time.

We quickly did bedtime and got the youngest tucked in for a good night's sleep. It wasn't long before things started looking very dismal. New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin; ouch. I didn't expect Romney to win many of those, but I really thought he would win one or two of them. When they called Ohio, I turned off my computer (I haven't had access to the networks on my TV for many years and have benefited greatly because of it). I went downstairs with my oldest and my wife and watched Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I had to watch something to capture my attention away from the disappointment.

So, What Happened!

I'm not an analyst. I know and respect a handful of people who voted for Obama. I don't understand them. I've heard their reasons and do not see any depth to them. But, I will not cut friendships over this! My pathetic limited attempt to explain what happened probably has more humor for people than enlightenment. I believe very, very few individuals voted for Obama. I think many groups voted against Romney. A few points that got my attention are below.

• Among some circles, Sandra Fluke's lifestyle won support for Obama. Young people today are very lost souls searching for that which simply cannot occur-happiness in permissiveness. They won't ever be truly happy, but they will always vote. Never mind that their ads accusing Romney of secretly wanting to reverse "reproductive freedoms" were all false. I believe they almost all knew that. They were just desperately trying to pacify their "doubts of their doubts" over their own lifestyles.  (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/04/becometh-as-a-child?lang=eng) I realize many people who do not live in northern Virginia, Denver, New Hampshire, and other areas where these ads were running like water will quickly dismiss this as reason number 1. For those who live in these areas, help a friend out in the comments below. I've heard from so many that they ran incessantly for over a week before the election in many critical areas. I'm sorry to say it to my friends who consider themselves thoughtful Democrats, but the face and substance of your party has now changed. It isn't Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, JFK, or even Hillary Clinton now. It is Sandra Fluke. That is the face of your party now. To anyone of serious reflection and conscience, you are a only a backstreet peep show now.
• In other circles, class warfare was engaged. I'm low to midland myself, so I can get away with calling the democrats tyrannical hypocrites where others may not. Romney and Obama were both millionaires. Most presidential candidates are. Neither were billionaires. One earned his way to the pinnacle of his career building businesses and creating jobs and the other did nothing. Please tell me what Obama has ever done for anyone anywhere. I'm open. I just can't believe that Chicago is really that much better because of him. Keep it. I don't want it. I will take New York over it any day. The class warfare angle helped in Ohio and Iowa. It was pounded into the poorer people that the reason things are so bad in the economy right now is because of the Mitt Romneys of the world. It worked. I think that Obama is not a very good president, but his people are the best spin doctors and strategists in the world. Did Romney err in the 47% comment? Yes, it is really about 51%.
• I could name a few others, but I want to turn the tables a quarter turn for my last point. Romney lost because of the tea party. The man Romney was the most substantial candidate for POTUS in my life time. Dennis Miller got it too. (I'm just saying.) I don't believe anyone else is even a possibility for a while who has a thumbnail of his sheer substance. Romney was also a center fielder and always had been. Our polarized nation made for a destructive and expensive primary process for Republicans. Romney came out of it with unintended baggage. He was made to look like a tea party style candidate to Americans who didn't know better. OK. Listen closely. I wish that Romney could have done more to convince voters of his own level-headedness in the face of the many extreme views from the far right. That is my first, last, and only criticism for Romney.
  

    Forward

  I'm sure I will recover and look at things more objectively in a couple years, but I can't stomach any of our choices right now. Our Republican Party is in better shape than the Democratic Party. Why? Because of my third reason above. We came together against all the odds and predictions. Romney won hugely among the tea party he wasn't a part of and among the southern Christians who used to say they would never vote for a Mormon. He won hugely among moderate Republicans who felt enlivened and empowered by his presence on the ticket (I know this one personally). He had Dennis Miller and Ann Coulter singing the same song. We really are the big tent and this election proved it rather than disproving it. The Democrats only proved that they were in a catatonic state of stale sameness without a fresh idea in sight. Misery loves company. Eventually, the cold comforted, limp, lame, lazy, mindless, shallow, thoughtless, hopeless, helpless, careless mass of codfish that is the independent voter will find a clue and come around for us. By their very nature, these people do get bored with the same rhetoric after a while. I also believe that good people who are Democrats will get past their racially minded thoughts and eventually see Obama for the failed extremist that he is.
  
  I'm really not that optimistic, but I am trying.

Mitt Romney's Vice President

There is no surprise that the media is pushing and probing continually to talk about Mitt Romney's possible Vice Presidential choices. That is the late July early August topic in an election year. I couldn't imagine it any other way. I wanted to do two things for this posting. First, I wanted to let all three followers know I am alive. Second, I wanted to possibly get a discussion going to see what people want in Romney's VP choice and how much it matters to possible swing voters.

• Condoleezza Rice-She is simply the most brilliant of the possibilities. She knows foreign policy better than anyone in the country (or at least equally with Powell but has such far superior judgment). She certainly won't sway many minorities to vote with Romney, but she could help squelch the white guilt that put Obama in office.
• Marco Rubio-Level headed youngster with very good judgment. He looks and sounds fresh and leaves you full of hope for the future of the country. I only hope his youth and inexperience don't become a problem in the election should he be chosen. Oh yeah, that mormon baptism when he was a kid might loom as a haunting fact for some in this election. You can almost hear the stupid brainless, hopeless, toothless South Carolina voters thinking, "Those damned mormons will be running everything soon."
• Tim Pawlenty-I like his great mid-western background and his good common sense. I know Tim is very near and dear to Romney's heart. He did a great job of exposing Bachman's lunacy early on in the race. He has been an effective executive and has the relevant experience to lead if needed. He didn't manage to do very well in the early debates.
• Bobby Jindal-I know so little. He is very well liked as governor of his home state in spite of being a minority in Louisiana. His smile and enthusiasm are infectious. He seems to work well across any lines you throw at him. Is he well enough known?

• Rob Portman-Perfect alternative to Rice. He is very level headed. He is well liked in some key states including, of course, his home state of Ohio. His very presence commands respect and allegiance. What an incredible choice Portman would make! But,...is he too perfect?

My completely ridiculous pipe dreams:

• Joe Lieberman-We need to come back to the middle. Our nation is so polarized that we desperately need to restore the respect for the American political system that only works with effective compromise and efforts at middling. Joe is in the middle and thank heaven for him. He is too old now and not as popular as he once was.
• Micheal O. Leavitt- I know, I know, I know! Too ridiculous to entertain. Chief of Staff, anyone!!!

Too Much, Too Early; a Bit of Holy Envy; Catch it High

Ah...I remember well my first crush. It was fifth grade at Mountainview Elementary in Chatham Township, New Jersey. I thought she was the best thing since sliced bread. She had green eyes and dark brown hair and she was at least 6 inches shorter than the average fifth grade girl. In my pre-pubescent mind, I had life pretty well worked out. Thinking about her occupied...well...3% of my time anyway. I had street ball on Johnson Drive and kick the can to worry about instead. I probably did some homework as well although not nearly as much as I should have done.

I drive two fifth graders and a second grader to school every morning. The fifth graders are obsessed with who's going out with whom and who likes so-and-so, etc. Even my second grader has a "boyfriend" that she swings with at recess. Healthy? Yes, and it proves that no one is born to be a deviant since the boys like the girls and the girls like the boys. However, it is too much, too early! Our children are growing up without childhoods. The home should be a refuge but not a fort. I am so glad that my neighborhood does a fairly good job of getting together. There are movie nights, backyard barbecues, and fun events for kids sponsored by our local LDS ward. All are welcome at the ward events and will have a good time as long as they avoid the ward mission leader.

Even so, I am amazed and appalled at how little true playing goes on here and everywhere else I have seen. I want my kids to enjoy these warmer days outside with their friends. Oh, how I wish they had woods to play around every day. Also, why aren't there any porches? While I am on my soap box, let me just say that developers are ruining our state and our country under the guise of being "sustainable". They cry sustainability, but it is pure greed to cram as many houses as possible onto postage stamp lots. I digress.

I want my kids to have childhoods. I want them to have fun just being kids. I hate television, video games, and the internet. Somehow, even without TV and extensive internet use, my kids are drinking in and spreading the poison. It's public school. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any use for home schooling. I could say something about the social abilities of those people I have known who were home schooled but I won't. The problem is that public schools are way too concerned with all the wrong things. Also, parents suck today. Some parents try to teach their children to avoid the "dross and refuse" of the world, but so many others drink it in whole hog. The mix produces wild branches where you thought the vines were pure and the soil rich. Of course, it can be turned to your child's advantage by making him/her stronger through strong lessons in the home.

Krister Stendahl (who, in all fairness, would disagree with one of the things I wrote up above) was a minister and professor of divinity at Harvard Divinity School. He taught the principal of "holy envy". This means that even though one believes (as I do) in his own church in deference to all others one can have "holy envy" for certain things about other churches. For example, Stendahl's "holy envy" was for the LDS practice of temple work (particularly baptisms) for the dead. Here is my "holy envy" for something Catholics and Lutherans do. They invest in schools for their young children and have their clergy run the schools. Imagine if we Latter-Day Saints had church owned elementary schools run under the direction of the priesthood with amazing non-unionized and bishop approved men and women running them. The CES folks do what they can for high schoolers, but it is getting to be a bit too late by the time they reach high school--don't you think? I know that some have tried to found "LDS standards based schools" independent of the church's official sanction, but these have been overpriced and have under delivered. Egregious, they have been! The American Heritage schools are successful among the very wealthiest 1% of Utahns. So much for that option.

In reality, the above is just a pipe dream. It isn't in the cards. All you can do is teach your kids how to be decent people at home. Teach your daughters and sons to avoid the backseat of the car with their boyfriend or girlfriend because all they will learn in school is to be ashamed of what is in the gas tank (even there they won't be taught or inspired to do anything about it, only to be disgusted and ashamed). Just like the state water authorities are telling us here in Utah this year, catch it high. If we can build dams high in the mountains, then we can avoid regular, costly flooding downstream. "Teach them correct principles and they will govern themselves." If that advice from Brother Joseph was good enough for the people in his day, then I bet it will work for us.

Oh! By the way, the girl I had a crush on in fifth grade couldn't have cared less about me. Luckily, I found a wife, Utah Mom, who likes me ever so slightly more than that.

April in Utah

Growing up in New Jersey, I remember April being my second favorite month (behind October) because of its frequent drenching rainfall and its vibrant colors and dramatic rebirths. April 1st was planting time (no fooling). Although late frosts did occur, they were a rare unwelcome visitor to Chatham Township. You could rely on variations between warm and wet and cool and wetter--rarely snowy. I used to visit relatives in Utah in July or August every other year or so. I was so excited to see the mountains and canyons and go fishing at Mill Creek or Walsenberg that I never really came to realize that it was hot outside. Now I live in northern Utah County at 4,893 ft. April for us means simply that a few warm, dry days will be scattered between the snowy, windy, cold days. More still, here in my little neck of the sagebrush, we really cannot contemplate planting a garden until May 25th. Even so, we have occasional frosts until late June requiring the covering of tomato plants and pepper plants.

So, why live in Utah with its two-extreme-seasons climate? The two states in comparison with pros and cons for both:
1. Utah has a repressive tax code that socks it to everyone unfairly.
1. New Jersey's tax laws are surprisingly good. There is no tax whatsoever on food or clothing (unless luxury).
2. Utah has Temple Square, Albion Basin, Nebo and Alpine loops, and St. George for the winter months.
2. New Jersey has Autumn.
3. Utahns still believe in the sanctity of the traditional family as the foundation of society and their marriage laws reflect the same.
3. New Jersey, despite the large volume of fantastic religious people of all faiths, has desecrated marriage and family with its laws.
4. Utah's public schools still allow "Merry Christmas" and "I don't believe in global warming" to be spoken.
4. Many of my friends of faith (Catholic, Lutheran, and otherwise) in NJ send their kids to private religious schools at great financial sacrifice to save them from the trash they would get at the public cess-schools. (It is worth noting here that if the UEA had their way, we Utahns would be right there with New Jerseyans.)

I guess I can put up with the two seasons and crappy gardening.

2012 Huntsman Candidacy

I can't wait to see how the whole Huntsman candidacy thing plays out. There may be a million theories out there. My theory is based on the fact that Obama's people are shouting Huntsman's praises from the rooftops and the media is very favorably speaking of Huntsman. Hmmm. Here's my prediction of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

First the bad! A Huntsman candidacy could undermine Romney's chances of getting the nomination. Splitting the mormon vote is not a big issue because the church is too small to matter that much. Huntsman will simply split the mainstream Republican vote enabling an extreme, unelectable candidate to receive the nomination ensuring Obama another four years. That is bad considering the shape the economy is in right now. We know that there is some very bad blood between Romney and Huntsman after the 2008 primary given Huntsman's support of McCain in Florida. The Governor was booed at his own state's convention that year.

The good is very simple. If the tea-party's horse gets the nomination but then loses the race, then that will be the end of the movement within the Republican Party. A few total whack jobs will leave the party to pursue some kind of third party thing that will never amount to anything. The rest will come to their senses and be contented with the genius of mainstream politics. This is the good because it will free the Republican Party of the malignant growth that is the tea party movement.

The ugly, as with the good and the bad, is pure speculation. Someday, the truth will come out about this backroom deal between Obama and Huntsman. With Obama done with his 8 years and safely out of the way, Huntsman will then be free to run again in '16. I will say no more. I hope I am wrong. I don't normally believe in conspiracy theories, but this just seems to weird to be on the up and up.

Utah's Funny Climate

If it rains in December and snows several inches on May 24th, where are you? If it frosts on Father's Day weekend and hits 90 degrees on October 1st, where are you? The answer could be hell, but it is just Utah. More still, there is no way to dress on a clear day under high pressure (which is the dominant feature). "Here kids! Come and get your coats on, it's cold...(6 hours later)...Where is your coat?" "Oh, I forgot it at school. It was so warm that I took it off during recess."

I have a very elementary understanding of the reasons for Utah's climate. Factors such as elevation, continentality, cyclolysis (or frontolysis), low dew points, and large areas of internal drainage shape the climate. The result is the second driest state in the United States.  There is very little dynamic about Utah's climate. The storms come few and far between and are usually dying when they reach us (cyclolysis). The weather of Utah reflects the stability of the climate. A perfect example is the so-called "Blizzard" in northern Utah in November just before Thanksgiving. There were locations that experienced "blizzard-like" conditions for an hour or two. Some locations even saw a few inches. However, a blizzard it was not. The warnings were laughable. Strangely, a couple weeks later many locations stretching from Bountiful to Cove Fort saw a foot to twenty inches. This is not indicative of dynamism. On the contrary, Utah is completely predictable almost all the time. On that rare occasion when a storm survives to reach the Beehive state, it is just a crap shoot. There are favored areas for snowfall (e.g. Bountiful Bench, Olympus Cove, Tooele, U of U campus, the cottonwood canyons, Ben Lomand, etc.). There are also rain shadow holes like Lehi or Vernal that usually get little precipitation comparatively. The same works in the macro scale. The Great Basin is a hole between the mighty Sierra and the lofty Rockies. By hole is merely meant that it is relatively low not actually low in elevation. When cold air flows over warm, wet land or water, storms flourish. That is why the East Coast from the Outer Banks to Nova Scotia experiences amazing storms. When cool wet air flows over colder dry air, storms die quickly. That is the story with the Great Basin. The storms that do come are only slightly less likely to dump snow on Utah in May as they are in December. During stable times, watch out. Spring, Summer, and Fall can bring 50 degree 24-hour temperature swings. Winter can bring days, weeks, or even months of inversion fog.

The original proposal for statehood (called Deseret) included parts of the southern coast of California. When that was rejected in Washington, any hope of variety was squelched. At least we still have St. George.

As A Man Thinketh

Everywhere you look, you see the grand blame game flourishing. In the political realm, every problem is blamed on the other party or other point of view. Homosexuals blame the misery they suffer on the religious for holding fast to their principles rather than their own diseased minds. One hears: "If only that Scoutmaster had been more understanding, my son might have..." "My daughter's coach was too hard on her, she quit sports because of him." "I would've graduated if it hadn't been for that stupid Professor." The list could go on forever. The only victim of the blame game either for society or for the individual is self.

In 1903, writer James Allen published a masterpiece As A Man Thinketh in England. In it, he lays out the intellectual and spiritual law of the harvest. This should be required reading for every citizen of a free society. I just poured over it for the first time since I was in high school. Here are some gems: "A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts." "cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things" "Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this - that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny." 

Here is a link to the free ebook.