f/k/a . . . the archives

I’m always a little skeptical when politicians talk about their children.  . . .

But, some of my favorite haiku feature the poet’s kids. 

 

Matt Morden is a great example:

 

 

summer’s end –
my children try to teach me
how to smile

 

 

winter sickness
my daughter tucks me in
for the first time

 

 

 

an old resume
my son colours in
his rainbow

 

 

  credits: “summer’s end” – The Hornet’s Nest  (Jan. 2003)

“winter sickness” - The Heron’s Nest, Valentine Award (July 2003)

“an old resume” – Snapshots #7 2000; World Haiku 

 

• 
  
  by dagosan: 

just one glass of wine -

Google keeps asking

“did you mean ______ ?”

 

                           [Oct. 23, 2004]

 

another stray dog

finds

her

          [for e, Oct. 23, 2004]

one-breath pundit  

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  In a thoughtful post, the Uncivil Litigator says he’s still undecided.
  
  
• 
  
  Athough she sure doesn’t trust Bar Counsel, Carolyn Elefant wants to let solo 
  

  practitioners read weblogs for CLE.  Call us skeptical about honest compliance.
  
  
• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Inconsistent Brits?  Although writing new laws to ban inciting religious

  
  

  hatred, 17th Century anti-blasphemy laws remain on the books, which

  
  

  penalize anyone who challenges the truth of  Christian doctrine or the Bible.

  
  

   (IndyStar.com, scroll to last item)

  
  

   
  
  
• 
  
  
  

  
  

  Interesting NYT Op-ed today (free reg. req’d):

  
  

  - Nicholas Kristof on God and Sex (NYT, free reg.)

  
  

  - Vaccine shortage priorities: liars, and Congress, and bears, oh my! [but, Europeans have enough]

  
  

  - David Brooks asks “why are we still tied?” and concludes

  
  

  
  

  “It just so happens that America is evenly divided about what sort of leader we need: the Republican who leads with his soul or the Democrat who leads with his judgment. Even the events of the past four years have not altered that disagreement.”

• 
  
  
  

    Longing to get away from presidential politics?  How about joining the COMPLETE 

  
  

  project — a collaboration among researchers in five countries aimed at fully mapping nearly

  
  

  1,000 square lights years of star-forming material in the Milky Way galaxy.  [Let's see,

  
  

  5,880,000,000,000,000 square miles.  Do they have tv election ads out there?] 

 

A little reality check for my fellow Democrats:  If we fail to win the Presidency, it will largely be because the leadership of our Party:

• 
  
  did the politically expedient thing and gave the then-popular President blanket authorization to start a war against Iraq
  
  
• 
  
  did the politically expedient thing and failed to point out early how disorganized our efforts were in Iraq after the swift “military victory”
  
  
• 
  
  did the politically expedient thing and started attacking the war when John Dean’s anti-war rhetoric was popular
  
  
• 
  
  did the politically expedient thing and sought “anybody but Dean” because they feared Dean’s approach to politics and/or thought he would surely lose the presidency if nominated
  
  
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  did the politically expedient thing and backed off on the anti-war talk as soon as the Kerry folk feared the swing voters would be turned off
  
  
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   etc., etc.

  My point:  If Democrat leadership had voted and acted wisely and courageously on issues relating to the Iraq war, we would almost surely be closer to victory right now (and the nation and world a safer, better place).  Therefore, I’m hoping the Party (even those politicians for whom honesty does not come naturally), will learn the lesson that doing the right thing can be good politics, and feels better, too.

 

I’m sure that I’m not the only member of the electorate who would rather vote enthusiastically for an honest politician who almost wins, than reluctantly for a cowardly, evasive, or shifty politician who almost wins.  [Nov. 2 better come quickly -- "pithy poetry not prolix politics" is supposed to be our motto!]

 

speaking truth
the rainy season’s crack
of thunder

 

in poor soil
blooming courageously…
chrysanthemum

Issa,translated by David G. Lanoue

 

 

p.s.  Please note that the Editor , David Giacalone, is solely responsible for all

commentary or opinion that appears in the postings on this weblog.   The haiku

poets who generously appear here as Honored Guests do not necessarily — or even

presumptively – concur.

 

p.p.s. Post-election update post is here.

 

“bombfuse”

 

update (April 29, 2006): The folks at True Majority have started a campaign to

bombard Democratic Leaders with the demand that they Not Be Fooled Again

and that they stand up against the Bush Administration’s plans and arguments

for bombing Iran over its future nuclear weapons.   Their Petition to Democratic

Leaders says:

Please, use all the influence you’ve got to convince Democrats to

find sufficient backbone to withstand any and all pressure from the

President or anyone else to go to war with Iran.

We wish would could agree that it was a lack of backbone and a problem

of believing bad information that got Democrats to vote to authorize the

Iraq War.  It surely was the fear of losing votes from a public that appeared

to support the then very popular President.   If Democrats do the “right thing”

now, it will surely be because voters are sick of war and its costs, and the

President is unpopular.  I’d still prefer integrity to political expediency, but at

least politics should help prevent bombing and war this time, rather than

promote it.

FYI: you can find the sticker here