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Thursday, December 20, 2012

New poll shows Scott Brown in "strong position" for special election

New reasons to smile

The poll was conducted with 500 registered voters on Monday and Tuesday, and Brown's favorables are very high, even though it is less than two months after he lost a brutal campaign battle against Elizabeth Warren. 

Monday, December 17, 2012

God is not dead, nor doth He sleep

Watching the news these past few days has been tough. The elementary school in Connecticut where those teachers and children were murdered is just a little more than two hours away from my apartment in Massachusetts. I have never been to Newtown, but it looks like so many of the idyllic New England small towns through which I have traveled this year, and it seems inconceivable that such a horror could happen there.

I cannot even imagine the pain for those families, losing a loved one so close to the holidays. And even for the many of us whose only connection to Newtown is through our televisions, there may be other reasons to have heavy hearts this year. A newly empty chair at the table, dreams that turned into disappointments, ongoing economic struggles, and so on. 

And yet there is always reason for hope. I believe that very strongly, and the Christmas season is a excellent time for all of us to take a few moments to find ways to renew hope in ourselves.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

In praise of simplicity

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'Tis the gift to be free...
- lyrics from "Simple Gifts," traditional Shaker folk song written and composed in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett
I'm writing from a coffee shop in Washington, D.C. this morning and my online news feed is full of discussions about this fiscal cliff mess: what the President is proposing, how the Republicans are reacting, whether there is any chance of a deal, how bad it will hurt our economy if we go off this fiscal cliff, whether it's even remotely possible to avoid it, and so on.

What frustrates me is that, as usual, the debate in this town misses the main point - neither side is taking any steps to address why we're in this mess in the first place.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Yawn. The news we all knew was coming.

Democrats, you can have him.
It's official. Our former governor and World's Tallest Oompa Loompa, Charlie Crist, became a Democrat today. 

Anyone who posted this news on Twitter as "BREAKING" as anything other than tongue-in-cheek should be thoroughly mocked, as this was one of the most predictable moves in politics since dinosaurs crawled the earth.

As the Tampa Bay Times reported earlier tonight:

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Rubio-sponsored amendment to protect military voting rights passes unanimously

Senator Marco Rubio's office just sent out a press release, touting an amendment he co-sponsored with Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) to the NDAA bill that is designed to streamline the process for getting absentee ballots to military personnel deployed overseas. The amendment passed the Senate unanimously. 

This is the type of issue that should be a no-brainer: the men and women who are literally putting their lives on the line to protect our country should have their rights to vote protected as well. 

Monday, December 3, 2012

Ain't that the truth!

Best depiction of the fiscal cliff negotiations I've seen so far: