One of these things is not like the other: Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Margaret Thatcher, Aung Sun Suu Kyi

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Gallup Poll released its list of the 10 most admired women.  First on the list is Hillary Clinton with 17%, next is Sarah Palin 12% and third is Oprah Winfrey with 11%.

1. Hillary Clinton
2. Sarah Palin
3. Oprah Winfrey
4. Michelle Obama
5. Condoleezzza Rice
6. Queen Elizabeth
7. Angelina Jolie
8. Margaret Thatcher
9. (Tie) Aung Sun Suu Kyi
(Tie) Laura Bush
(Tie )Barbara Bush

I get Oprah, and I was surprised to find out she has never topped the list, but the fact that Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin are so close floors me.  Hillary Clinton is a strong woman and hard worker, who raised an exceptional daughter.  She doesn’t complain or blame.  She is a leader in the truest sense of the word.

Sarah Palin is a glorified weather girl who was thrust into the national limelight, was unprepared and ultimately I believe caused John McCain to lose the Presidency.  She couldn’t finish her term as governor which was clouded by ethics issues.

As far as I am concerned it is sad that Sarah Palin is even mentioned in the same breath as Hillary Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, Aung San Suu Kyi and Condoleezza Rice, let alone is more highly regarded than most of them.

I guess in an era where the next presidential election might be brought to you by Exxon or Chevron, maybe my opinion doesn’t matter anyway.

Did you guess which thing was not like the others?
Did you guess which thing just doesn’t belong?
If you guessed this one is not like the others,
Then you’re absolutely…right!

Tim Pawlenty’s Message: Minnesota Made-Not Good Enough

I’ve been harping on buying local and buying American for years.  I don’t have hard numbers for proof, but I know it makes our economy stronger when we buy locally.  The dollars kept in Minnesota continue to turn in Minnesota.

As a family, we don’t just talk about it, we live that way because it is good for us.  This Christmas we gave gift bags that included honey from a farmer here in Farmington, maple syrup from Three Rivers Farm in Elko, pancake mix from Red Wing, jams made with Minnesota grown fruit, Woodbury’s Snappy Dog Salsa and St. Paul’s El Burrito Mercado tortilla chips.

Last year we gave goat milk soap from McCann Farm in Milaca, chocolates from Chocolat Celeste and Minnesota blue cheeses from Shepherd’s Way Farms down by Northfield. 

It isn’t just the holidays, we always lean toward local products in our daily lives like Holy Land hummus and pitas, Old Home products, a lot of Kowalski’s products, Bongard’s cheese and Schell’s beers to name a few that came quickly to mind.

It isn’t that I have extra money to forgo store brands to buy more expensive local products, (by the way they are not necessarily more expensive) I buy local and I buy quality, something the companies listed above are both.  I also recognize that a few cents extra for a local product, as opposed to a cheaper national conglomerate produced product is better for me and my community.

Good for my community.  Good for my state.  Good for my local economy.  Good for me.  The point is it is good for us.  That is why I get annoyed when people like Tim Pawlenty whose job it is to promote the good things in our state and its great resources chooses not to.

I recall him recently buying his hunting necessities from Nebraska based Cabella’s instead of a locally owned shop like Joe’s Sporting Goods.  Recently Tim Pawlenty chose an out of state artist named Rossin to paint his portrait at the Capital.  In my opinion, it is further proof that Tim Pawlenty is a politician more for his ego and the attention than for his accomplishment here in Minnesota or for the promotion of our state.  I know that is a giant step with a single choice he made, but there are hundreds of great artists in Minnesota who would have taken that $25,000 payment and spent it here in the state.  Rossin is a highly acclaimed portrait artist known mainly for his expensive portraits of CEOs, but has well known works of Lincoln both Bush presidents and other politicians.

To me it seems like an ego thing to be included with those paintings.  Oh well, Good riddance T-Paw.  It is too bad the state elected another group of self-serving attention seekers to the legislature to replace you.  My hope is that in the near future we elect a group of politicians who look at this state as a place that needs a higher quality of life and superior education to attract people to our area like the politicians a couple of generations ago did.  Mark Dayton might be one, but we need more Don Fraziers and even Arne Carlsons who place a higher emphasis on our community and future than on shortsighted ego-driven bucket lists.

Churches Cannot Bear the Brunt of the Government Budget Gap

There are gaping holes opening up in our social safety net as government budgets are being cut.  Right now, there are people working everyday and doing what they are supposed to do, but tomorrow an unexpected event like a layoff, a car accident, or even a major car repair, can force uncertainty in their ability to care for and keep their family safe.

And while politicians discuss where to cut and who deserves or doesn’t deserve what, there are some politicians calling for churches and charities to fill in the gaps they intend to create.  There are even illogical politicians who feel government safety nets should be cut altogether and that churches should replace the government providing these services. 

But churches are not in a position to do that.  True, there are churches stepping up to do it, and there are volunteers eager to help.  Our aunt’s church, Gloria Dei in St. Paul, was one of the churches featured in a recent Dan Olson story on MPR.  Gloria Dei is one of 34 churches and synagogues helping to house homeless people that cannot get into the county shelters that fill up every night.

Many churches, like Gloria Dei are already filling in the gap.  They already do what they can.  The tiny congregation of River of Joy Lutheran Church in the Spring Lake/Prior Lake area feeds 100+ people a homemade community meal once a month in Shakopee, and this month is upping the giving by handing out small gifts to as many of the attendees as they can.

A warm and safe place to sleep, a healthy hot meal and a gift of groceries can have a tremendous impact for a family fighting poverty, but churches cannot bear the brunt of the government budget gap.  The percentage of personal income given to churches has declined to a lower point than the first years of the Great Depression.  There are fewer attending church, and fewer seeing churches as the primary place for giving.  In the not too distant past, most, if not all charitable donations were given to the church, now there are thousands of charities competing for donations.

While churches like Gloria Dei, River of Joy and hundreds of others are working everyday to fill in the gaps, churches have not solved the problem.  The problem isn’t that churches aren’t doing everything they can, because they are.  The problem is that we still have a huge number of people in poverty.  We have a huge number of people who live paycheck to paycheck.  We have a huge number of people who are unemployed.  And it isn’t a matter of choice.  It is the nature of our society. 

In the name of capitalism we say a business can only pay a minimal salary, and at the same time we say an individual working in a job that keeps them below the poverty line doesn’t need to work that job if they don’t want to.  It is misrepresented as individual responsibility, but somebody needs to work that job.  At the same time we say people don’t need to work a job that pays too little, we also say that business needs somebody to be paid too little.  How do we resolve that issue?

We can’t resolve that without changing our way of thinking and living.  Until we begin investing in education, healthcare and infrastructure, and begin discounting the importance of being wealthy by taking advantage of others fortune, there will always be a place for church aid, government aid and individual aid.  When we all join these churches and start living by Jesus’ Golden Rule, we won’t need government aid, but until then we will destroy the fabric of our society if we eliminate it.

The Big Problem In “Conservative” Senate Districts

I see a big problem here in Senate District 36, and I think it probably applies to other “conservative” senate districts.  People have bought into the myth that Democrats don’t live here.  People are letting that idea influence what they do and how they act when it comes to politics and social justice.  People are afraid to act as individuals or fearful of being “outed” as a liberal to their conservative neighbors. 

The problem with that is that we are letting the conservatives tighten their grip on our district.  Every time a conservative political leader in our community makes an outrageous partisan comment and we let it go unchecked, an independent voter accepts it as reasonable.  Every time a Republican sign goes up in a neighborhood and we don’t counter it with a Democratic sign, an independent voter takes that as an indication of who to vote for.  Every time a donation is made to a Republican candidate, and a donation is not made to the Democratic candidate, an independent voter is hit with unmatched propaganda.

But I am here to tell you that there are Democrats in our district.  13,686 people voted for me, the DFL candidate for Minnesota Senate in District 36.  That is a lot of people!  True, it wasn’t nearly enough to win, but what if we could have gotten our message out to a couple thousand more people?  What if all the Democrats had voted?  What if 10 more people had door knocked?  What if we could have afforded 100 more signs?  There are 50 more things we could have done, and what if it all happened in a year that wasn’t a “wave” election year?  There is no reason to believe we could not have swayed a few thousand independent voters, after all, all those voters are not Republicans.

Districts like Senate District 36 are not unwinnable, they are just challenging.  It might take years to challenge the political status quo, but we can change it.  To do it, we all need to take a role in the transformation.   We are Democrats, and a democracy works best when everybody participates.  So take an active role over the next two year, and let’s work to change the attitude in this district.

I know it can be a pain to volunteer for a couple hours.  I know that the never-ending phone calls at election time are annoying.  I know that money might be too tight to donate.  I know that neighbor down the block might quit talking to you because of your sign.  But accept it as part of the price we need to pay for better schools, more jobs, a little more social justice and a brighter future.

Take the next step and be a part of the transformation.  The Senate District 36 DFL is holding a meeting at the Lakeville Heritage Library, Thursday, December 9, 2010, at 6:30 PM.  Show up, be a part of the democracy and make a difference.