Sigh

The Franklin News-Post:

Political pundits will debate for a long time to come the reasons why [the Perriello v. Goode] upset happened. Most agree it was a combination of several factors -- the Wall Street collapse, the popularity of Pres.-elect Barack Obama, tons of money pouring into the district to help Mr. Perriello and a general dissatisfaction with incumbents (as evidenced by many incumbents losing around the country).

Swing State Project:

Finally, we were caught off guard by the magnitude of the Obama coattails in Virginia, where we left Glenn Nye (VA-02) and Tom Perriello (VA-05) at Lean R. The polls just weren't there for them, in GOP-leaning turf, but the bluening of Virginia lifted them far enough. (If there's one candidate I'm personally shocked that won, it's Perriello; I was miffed to see the DCCC pouring money into a guy who seemed way too progressive for such a rural and downscale district. Here's one race where I'm super-happy to eat some crow.)

Where do I even start with these?

A guy stepped into a bar ...

A NYT opinion piece argues that bars and AA meetings, like churches, provide spiritual fulfillment. The money quote:

On the surface these three places — an Irish bar, an Episcopal Church and an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting — don’t seem too similar. They are not even sympathetic to each other. In bars they don’t like to hear about A.A., and in A.A. they don’t like to hear about church. But in many ways they are the same, whether we pass a plate or a basket, whether we sit in uncomfortable pews or on uncomfortable folding chairs, whether we share our experiences, tell our troubles to the bartender, or confess to our minister. They are all part of our human search for the divine, places where through ritual and community we reach for transcendence and sometimes find it. (emphasis mine)

Today's newspaper headlines: A glimpse into Southside

Perusing the local on-line newspapers, several distressing, yet interlocking, themes emerged. Just today, the following news headlines were front-paged on the local newspaper websites.

The city of Martinsville has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 14.9%. Danville has the second highest rate in the state at 14.4%. Pittslyvania County came in fourth with 10.1%, followed by Henry County at 9.6% The on-going exodus of local textile and furniture industries, among other leaving businesses, has devastated the Southside economy, and, unfortunately, I don't think we have hit the economic nadir in these areas. As an example, one local employer lays off 70 workers, an almost weekly occurrence.

At the same time unemployment rates are rising, funding for public education is going to have to be cut state-wide. Virginia is in a $3 billion revenue shortfall, and Gov. Kaine plans to cut $600 million from state education costs, according to the newspapers. This, of course, effects local school systems. Martinsville is losing $1.4 million in state education funding. Franklin County, a $3.9 million funding-cut. Bedford County, almost $5 million. In each locality difficult decisions are going to have to be made, inevitably causing both program and job loss. The Roanoke Time's editorial page wishes these cuts to be only temporary.

And, while our funding from schools is decreasing, our local and national competitive advantage is decreasing. According to the chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, Glenn DuBois, a high-school diploma does not adequately prepare a student for the workforce like it once did. According to the Danville Register & Bee:

[DuBois] warned that countries all over the world are improving their work forces’ educational levels to attract businesses, and that if this country doesn’t catch quickly, up more jobs will be lost overseas.

“The competitive world is looking to develop their talent, and that’s where the jobs are going to go,” DuBois said.

... “Good-paying jobs go where the work force is,” he said. “And that doesn’t have to be in the U.S.”

... “We have to skill-up in dramatic ways,” he said. “I’m very troubled about the emerging workforce.”

Needless to say, because of the current economic distress, we can't afford to improve our education or fully develop our talent.

A nasty cycle emerges. During difficult economic times for our nation, the Southside has seen amplified effects. We have the highest rates of unemployment due to industry and business departure. The state-wide economic difficulties necessitate cuts in local public education, even while our workforce is losing its competitive advantage. With these funding cuts, the emerging workforce is hamstrung, causing businesses to relocate, often overseas. Unemployment rates rise higher, and the workforce gets more depressed. Mix in the state's highest teen pregnancy rates, ridiculously high drug abuse rates, the flight of our most talented youth, and you start to understand the Southside economic condition.

These newspaper articles were only today's.

"So help me God"

A group of athiests, led by Michael Newdow - who unsuccessfully sought to remove "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance - has sued to "challenge the constitutionality of the invocation of God in the oath and in prayers" during the upcoming Inauguration. Of course, the argument here is that these invocations are a violation of the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment. According to the lawsuit, these invocations

"are completely exclusionary, showing absolute disrespect to Plaintiffs and others of similar religious views, who explicitly reject the purely religious claims that will be endorsed, i.e., (a) there exists a God, and (b) the United States government should pay homage to that God."

I'm not a constitutional scholar - I did take several church/state classes - but I think this would be considered a ceremonial display, like "In God We Trust" on our coinage.

The Supreme Court ruled more than two decades ago that such public "acknowledgments" of God are ceremonial, not theological, and serve "the legitimate secular purposes of solemnizing public occasions, expressing confidence in the future, and encouraging the recognition of what is worthy of appreciation in society.

The Inauguration is on January 20th, and the motion for the preliminary injunction will be heard on Jan. 15th. Of note, Newdow brought similar suits against the 2001 and 2005 Inaugurations, both unsuccessful.

You can read the full text of the lawsuit here.

Update: Obama requests the phrase "So help me God" be added to the oath of office.

Enter Goode pun here

The Danville Register & Bee notes that many of the last minute earmarks promised by Goode may not actually be forthcoming. Goode had several earmarks attached to the last Congress' final omnibus bill, but Congress expired before the omnibus bill was passed. Of course, because the bill expired, those earmarks cannot be honored and funded. Before his term ended, Goode took a media tour around the district trumpeting his final bacon-bearing actions as a congressman, and now Rep. Perriello has to send his new district representative, Ridge Schulyer, to each earmark-promised institution with potentially heart-breaking news.

This is shady. Goode travels the district promising earmarks one week before his term expires, knowing Congress was in recess and, therefore, couldn't pass the bill. And now Rep. Perriello has to break the bad news and clean up the mess.

Update: I might have jumped the gun. According to a Martinsville Bulletin editorial, there may still be a chance the earmarks can be passed:

The funds are not guaranteed. They are in the omnibus conference report package, which includes all appropriations not passed before Congress went into recess in October. The report will go before the House, Senate and president after Barack Obama’s inauguration, and legislators will have to vote yes or no on the entire package. The package cannot be amended, and Rep. Goode said he is confident it will pass.

Late Update: Rarely do these omnibus packages get voted down:

Since all of the outstanding bills, plus the earmarks, have been combined, it will be an all-or-nothing vote by the House and Senate. While it is possible for the omnibus to be voted down, such a vote is rare, Hing said, because the earmarks have already been approved by subcommittees and committees, and a “no” vote would send everything back to the beginning.

When bailouts need a bailout

The porn industry wants a $5 billion bailout:

[Hustler publisher Larry] Flynt and [Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe] Francis concede the industry itself is in no financial danger — DVD sales have slipped over the past year, but Web traffic has continued to grow.

But the industry leaders said the issue is a nation in need. "People are too depressed to be sexually active," Flynt said in the statement. "This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such but they cannot do without sex."

"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind. It's time for congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America. The only way they can do this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly."

So, the adult industry doesn't exactly need the money, but they want the money to put out more pornography so America can ... uh ... "rejuvenate its sexual appetite." Good luck with that.

I'm pretty sure there is a line in the sand when it comes to government-funded stimulus-es. Viagra to Afghan warlards, yes. Porn industry bailout, not so much.

Today's gubernatorial round-up

I like typing the word gubernatorial.

This is the worst editorial ever. I like Moran a lot, even though I was critical of his out-of-state money call-out. But, this editorial was just painful and awkward to read; awkward because someone thought they were clever coming up with that analogy and narrative. Quickdraw and Billy the Kid?!? You've got to be freakin' kidding me.

220South = Brilliant. Tim Craig notes that Minority Leader Ward Armstrong will host McAullife overnight this week. This is note worthy as Armstrong has endorsed Moran, but this shouldn't be taken as a sign that Armstrong is hedging his bets. 220South's take is classic.

Craig also reports that McAullife is investing heavily in building a large, state-wide ground game. Building upon Obama's success, McAullife will have field organizers in many cities throughout the state. Gulp.

A friendly shout-out

My friend, Rev. Ryan Eller, was spotlighted today in the Winston-Salem Journal. Ryan took the lead organizing position with Communities Helping All Neighbors Gain Empowerment (CHANGE). CHANGE is a non-profit organization comprised of local churches, charities, and neighborhood groups that seeks to impact local elections and promote social justice issues in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County communities. Ryan, himself, says it better:

"Our philosophy is that the government is organized by political parties, corporations are organized by boards and management, and people oftentimes get left out of the equation because they're not organized," Eller said. "And so our job is to organize people, to organize organizations. And through that, we want to give folks a voice in their own governance in a way that they've never really ever had before."

Ryan was a classmate of mine at WFU Divinity School, and, like me, he interned with CHANGE his second year. Ryan worked for Roger Sharpe and I during Sharpe's congressional bid in 2006 against Rep. Virginia Foxx in NC-5. After Divinity School, he served in the Navy's Chaplain Corps, and recently, he managed Roy Carter's campaign against Foxx.

Congratulations, Ryan, on your new employment!

(Guest Post) Quo Vadimus

(I am more than happy to post other voices on this blog, if those posts are thoughtful, respectful, and dialogue provoking. In this guest post, reader Roland the HTG discusses his political hopes for Rep. Tom Perriello. This is a great starting list, as I would also add a bypass around Charlottesville.)

Quo vadimus?

Latin for “where are we going,” it’s a question that should be floating around many offices on Capitol Hill. For freshman Democrat Tom Perriello, the challenge is even more daunting. Tom promised a different kind of politics on the trail through the Fifth, a promise he followed through on by staying above Virgil Goode’s false, negative attack ads. The old kind of politics that Goode had waged in his 12 years in office was most notable for his tendency to secure appropriations earmarks for certain community projects, giving him the opportunity to go to a ribbon-cutting and drum up goodwill, and then quietly vote against the federal programs that would make those projects last long into the future.

Tom faces the difficult task of not getting sucked into Goode’s old, tired tactics, while still getting himself the notoriety within the district that will get him reelected so he can keep fighting the good fight. With his seat on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, he’s well positioned to provide Southside and the Danville/Martinsville corridor with the framework they need for future economic development. Below are two short-term and two long-term initiatives that will both do real good, more than just a Band-Aid fix, and give Tom the chance to stand beside “his” projects in the District.

Short-Term
U.S. 58: It’s been begun, but the money isn’t there to complete it. Tom has expressed his support for the project, and his expectation that it should be near the top of the Transportation/Infrastructure agenda. One need look only at the Rt. 288 development around the West End of Richmond, connecting 64 to 95, to see what roadways can do. Oilville and the far West End was once the back of beyond, but now there are stores and new communities along much of the length of 288. For Martinsville and Southside to keep digging themselves out of the hole that they’re in, they need new tax base. Completing US-58 helps, and Tom will have the chance to stand with a hard-hat and a shovel, breaking ground and working his double shift.

Amtrak from Lynchburg to DC: Commuter rail connecting the Lynchburg area to D.C. would do much the same for Southside as US-58. Any rail going to D.C. goes through some of the state’s economic driving areas, including Charlottesville and virtually all of Northern Virginia (Leesburg, Gainesville, Herndon, etc.). Better communication and collaboration between those areas and Southside’s cornucopia of semi-skilled and highly skilled laborers lifts the Commonwealth as a whole, but especially Southside. Amtrak has submitted to the Commonwealth Transportation Board its desire to establish commuter service; the only issue is finding the funding. The state doesn’t have it now, so Tom will need to secure it through Congress.

Long-Term
I-73: If some highway is good, more highway is better. Tom can insure great strides on US-58 in his first term; I-73 can be a second-term (or beyond) project to keep federal funds and improved infrastructure flowing into Southside.

Expansion of the Youthbuild program: This morning, I worked on a Habitat for Humanity project in Florida with a group of young men and women from the Space Coast Youthbuild program. Youthbuild is a Department of Labor initiative that takes high school dropouts, and trains them in trade skills as they work for their GED. Here in Florida, the participants are paired with Habitat; when they’re on a job site, they’re paid minimum wage while developing carpentry, masonry, plumbing, and electrical skills. In addition to school and trade skill training, the program also provides life skill training: financial responsibility, leadership skills, and so on. Tom’s Volunteer Tithing Initiative (donating 10% of volunteer time on the campaign trail to work with local charities) meshes perfectly with Youthbuild. Development of infrastructure projects in Southside can use Youthbuild labor, providing a catalyst for expansion of Youthbuild into another area of the state.

Tom has good staff with him in D.C., staff that is tapped into what the Fifth District wants and needs. Hopefully these initiatives will get onto his radar; judged on Tom’s track record of getting results, I’m excited to see where he’ll take the Fifth.

Jesus and Empire

C.C. Sabathia. Mark Teixeira. Jesus Christ. Here is an amusing article mocking the imperial buying power of the New York Yankees. Irreverent, yet amusing.

I could have sworn that Jesus was anti-Empire. Oh well. It's on the internet, it must be true.

On Day One

Yesterday, I was in DC for a reception for newly sworn-in Congressman Tom Perriello. It was a great event, and I enjoyed catching up with Tom, local Democratic activists, and campaign co-workers. The reception was a great culminating event for me, the memorable and symbolic closure to the hard work of many.

Also stopping by the Representative Perriello's reception: Sen. Jim Webb (who introduced Tom), new Sen. Mark Warner, Congressman Jim Moran, and Congressman Bobby Scott. Gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran was also in attendance, subtly exposing the absences of State Sen. Creigh Deeds and Terry McAuliffe.

The Wasington Post today highlights Tom as a new breed of Democrat. As new representitives are coming from the non-profits and charities, we are seeing a service generation among our national political leaders. On an unrelated but important note, Tom got his committee assignment yesterday: Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. A joyous assignment for the Southside, as these committee members will help shape the upcoming economic stimulus package.

Self-reflection

I am going to be in DC all day until very late, so I won't be able to bring you some blogging goodness today. But let's not let that get in the way of our overall productivity.

Dem Bones has been active for about a month now and its readership is growing. Let's take the time to do some quick self-reflection in order to strengthen this community. What is working well? What not so much? What would you like to see more of? What less of? Or, are there any topics you would like to see discussed here?

Be constructive, and please drop a quick comment.

Shocker II

Dem Bones reader, Chad, asked that I update my previous and much commented post, Shocker. In that post, I wrote on a study by Janet Rosenbaum of Johns Hopkins who analyzed the efficacy of virginity pledges on teenagers. She showed that teenagers who took virginity pledges were just as likely to have premarital sex - and riskier sex at that - than students who did not take the pledge.

Rosenbaum also studied the ages in which religious and non-religious students became sexually active. According to her study, religious students were likely to become sexually active on average three years later than non-religious students, and religious students became sexually active around the age of 21. Saith Rosenbaum:

"It is something that I think can be looked on as encouraging," she said. "Kids who are choosing to be religious are also choosing to abstain."

Well, they aren't exactly choosing to abstain, but they are waiting longer.

Panetta on torture

By now you have probably heard that Leon Panetta, former Clinton Chief-of-staff and Obama's Transition Chair, has been tapped to head the CIA. Sen. Feinstein (D-California), chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, is not happy with the pick, but of concern to me here is Panetta's stance on torture. Torture is lazy intelligence gathering and produces questionable and suspect information. Torture is a dark blemish on our international reputation, is an assault on human dignity, and is a sin against the image of God. Oh yeah, let's not forget that torture is unconstitutional.

So what does Panetta think about torture? Last year, he wrote his beliefs on the subject in the Washington Monthly. Money quote:

We have preached these values to the world. We have made clear that there are certain lines Americans will not cross because we respect the dignity of every human being. That pledge was written into the oath of office given to every president, "to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution." It's what is supposed to make our leaders different from every tyrant, dictator, or despot. We are sworn to govern by the rule of law, not by brute force.

We cannot simply suspend these beliefs in the name of national security. Those who support torture may believe that we can abuse captives in certain select circumstances and still be true to our values. But that is a false compromise. We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground.

We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances. We are better than that.

Indeed, we are.

Kaine, the DNC, and religious outreach

Dan Gottleib thinks that Gov. Kaine's leadership at the DNC will likely "continue and perhaps expand on the unprecedented faith outreach initiatives that Howard Dean launched during his tenure as chair." For some unfairly-quick background, Kaine is a devout Catholic, and his 2005 gubernatorial campaign was loaded with religious language. (h/t Huffington Post)

Obama and constitutionally-minded faith-based initiatives

The Christian Science Monitor has a great article on Obama's approach to faith-based initiatives. Obama is seeking to expand upon Bush's program, but he is going to tackle the problematic church-state issues head on (h/t Blog from the Capital). During times of crisis economic distress, religious institutions are a valuable resource for helping those in need (think Katrina), and offering federal grants to these religious institutions is a way for the government to provide assistance for working programs in such areas as prisoner reentry, job training, after-school programs, among others. But, how do you fund these programs while rightly maintaining our 1st Amendment freedoms, a tension critics have charged the Bush administration for neglecting?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Obama is soliciting the advice of multiple advocacy groups from all sides of the ideological spectrum. He is planning on forming a Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships office as the governmental institution to handle, among other things, faith-based initiatives. He will, according to the CSM article, be sensitive to any constitutional concerns over the government establishing religion. For examples, any religious organization that receives these federal funds will not be able to proselytize to the recipients of its services, and the religious organization will not be able to discriminate in their hiring practices based on religious belief, the current top controversy in this area. Also, to help ensure that only constitutional programs recieve tax-payer money, the administration is going to strengthen its evaluation process for potential funding.

I have always thought that faith-based initiatives had an attractive upside but that they could never pass constitutional muster. If Obama addresses these constitutional issues, then I will be pleased - not that Obama is concerned with my opinion or anything. As such, I am cautiously hopeful.

The Presidency and the Papacy

I did not know that the US has only had a full diplomatic relationship with the Vatican for only 24 years, until I read a great Washington Post article describing the current and likely future relationships between us. According to the article, the US-Vatican relationship has never been "closer or warmer" than under the current Bush Administration, as the Pope agreed with Bush on many religious issues, only disagreeing on the invasion of Iraq.

This relationship is likely to change under the Obama Administration as, needless to say, President-elect Obama and Benedict XVI will have several differences of opinion. Watch for US Catholic leaders to apply pressure on Obama over his stances on abortion and stem-cell research, among others. At the same time, the Vatican will want a positive relationship with Obama to help promote international peace and the safety of Christians throughout the world. In this good cop/bad cop approach to the Administration, the Pope, naturally, will be "above the fray."

Quote of the Day

I think this quote warrants consideration given our current discussion on the relationship between science and religion. From Corey W. deVos at kenwilber.com:

... There is a widely-held misconception that once we begin to develop past the traditional or mythic stage and into the modern or rational stage of psychological development, there is suddenly no more room in the universe for God, and all notions of spirituality are seen as vestiges of an antiquated past, thoroughly dismantled by the cold gaze of scientific materialism.

It’s as if culture silently expects us to make a decision: religious fundamentalism or staunch atheism, one or the other; and anything in between amounts to either intellectual laziness or impotence of faith.

But this is a false choice—our spirituality is capable of growing and maturing right alongside every other facet of human development, including our cognition, our values, our aesthetics, etc. Individuals and cultures both grow through very real stages of development—what has been called archaic, magic, mythic, rational, pluralistic, and integral stages (and beyond) ... It is entirely possible, therefore, to be a rational Christian, following the universal teachings of Christ but without having to insist Christianity is the only exclusive path to God, and without having to literally believe in the pre-rational myths of virgin births, parting seas, and satanic fruit.

(h/t Homebrewed Christianity)

Quick political round-up

Shovel-ready projects. Representative-elect Perriello thinks infrastructure projects like I-73 and the expansion of US 58 should be included in the upcoming stimulus package, but projects nearer to start are more likely to earn funding. According to the Martinsville Bulletin:

Perriello speculated the U.S. 58 project would win support more readily than some other projects because it is “shovel ready,” meaning permitting and design work have been completed and projects could be implemented within 90 and 120 days, and would result in job creation.

McAulliffe in as gubernatorial candidate. Yeah, we already knew this, but I am including it here for the sake of thoroughness. Former DNC Chair Terry McAullife has now officially declared to run for the office of Governor of Virginia.

Kaine in as DNC Chair. Current VA Governor Tim Kaine will become the Chair of the DNC later this month. The official announcement will apparently come later this week. Kaine, a former contender for the vice-presidency and a close friend of Obama, will work as Chair on a part-time basis while he finishes his term as governor, and he will then take the position full-time.

Richardson out as Commerce Secretary. Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name for the nomination of the Commerce Secretary, citing an investigation into a New Mexico business dealing.

Jeb for Prez? Former President George H. W. Bush today announced on Fox News Sunday that he would like to see his son, Jeb, be President someday. To quote Bush:

"I think he'd be an outstanding senator ... I'd like to see him be president some day," Bush said. "Right now is probably a bad time because maybe we've had enough Bushes in there."

While I have a more faith in the American public, Matthew Yglesias thinks Jeb will be President someday, 2016 most likely. Lord, I hope not. I hope in eight or 12 more years we will still have "had enough Bushes in there."

Perriello on NPR

Yesterday I was catching up with Congressman-Elect Perriello on the phone as he was walking into a NPR interview. Good times. The interview aired earlier today, but you can listen to it here. In the interview Tom talked about, among other things, his congressional mentors, his housing situation in DC, and the scarcity of inaugural tickets. He finishes with a story about a young family and their Election Day experience. The interview is only four minutes long, so I encourage you to listen.

(h/t to BlueCommonwealth for catching the link)