On the Threshold of History...

Last night i watched American history being made..... and while i must admit i do not agree with most of the policies of either of the remaining candidates for President of the United States, last night was an evening for the history books. For the first time ever, one of our nation's main political party's placed into nomination for the highest office in the land, the name of a person of color, Barak Obama.

As someone who has a great affection and appreciation (and literally has family "skin" in the game) for all of the struggles of those who have gone before me, those whose blood flowed in the streets of our nation, those who were mauled and attacked by police dogs, those who refused to give up their seats at lunch counter or on a bus, those who toiled in cotton fields but knew the day would come when the bitterness of slavery would be wiped out by the sweetness of freedom... what i witnessed last night in many ways is what is one of the things i consider truly amazing about our nation. This undeniable ability to, even in the face of continuous self condemnation, self-doubt, internal rancor and disagreement do that which seems implausible, impossible and unthinkable.

Please do not misunderstand me, i do not think for one minute that the nomination of Barak Obama as the Democratic candidate for president has made (or will make) our long history and ugly struggle with regard to racial issues and racial justice simply disappear (i do have some ideas on that issue but that is for an other blog) ... but for this one moment we can and should celebrate this victory that is yes symbolic but it is also very, very real.

More Flags.... More Fun?!?

This past week i didn't write for my blog because my family took a couple of days and went to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. And except for a couple of minor inconveniences, we had a lot of fun! Of course the one who was most excited and couldn't stop talking about going to Great America for about a month leading up to it was our youngest, Levi.

The most interesting thing to me was the difference between Great America and a trip we took as a family a little over a year ago to Disney World... Now don't get me wrong, Great America was a ton of fun, and Disney was simply fantastic but in many ways the differences were pretty startling. For one, Great America is a place that a typical family could basically afford... my understanding is that the prices for Disney were increased this year... while the prices at Great America decreased! As a matter of fact you could purchase Great America tickets on-line for the typical admission price for a child! Which we did! Very nice!

On the other hand the difference in the parks was very obvious as well. While bands of pre-teens and teen-agers freely roamed Great America, unfettered from parents... at Disney, everywhere you looked it was family after family after family. Not only did you see tons and tons of roaming bands of young people at Great America... but the cleanliness factor was stark. Ask anyone in the church office, i am a freak about bathrooms being clean. i am absolutely convinced that the level of cleanliness of the bathrooms in a public place (like Great America or Disneyland or a library, school or a church) can tell you a whooooole lot about a place! And frankly in the bathrooms at Disneyworld the operative word was "spotless"... at Great America... mmmmm, not so much.

It was sort of weird to me... going to Great America brought me back to my High School days here in northern Illinois. Getting a chance to go to Great America was what you lived for! Back then it was a place of wonder and amazement... but i have to admit i sort of accidentally slipped into my evaluation mode and felt a bit sad that it seemed to have lost a lot of that luster in the intervening years...

It was still fun to go, ride the coasters (it was definitely affirmed *again* that i am too old for wooden roller coasters) and watch my kids have a blast! So maybe there slogan is really true... more flags... is more fun!

The New "Evil Empire"?!?

In a lot of ways it's back to the "bad guys" versus the world....

You remember don't you? i do! i recall vividly sitting in my living room in the winter of 1980 watching the US Olympic hockey team do the unthinkable... beat the dreaded U.S.S.R! It was sweet! i remember jumping up and down as Al Michaels asked..."Do you believe in miracles?!?" The US didn't win the medal that night but did a few days later after defeating Finland.




What about Mary Decker Slaney at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles? She was attempting to win her first ever (and best chance for a) gold medal in the 3,000 meter final. That is, until Zola Budd, who many Americans disliked simply because she represented the apartheid (at the time) nation of South Africa, crowded in on her causing her to fall. When Mary Decker fell, her race was over and she was not physically able to finish the race. We were not a happy nation that night.




Then, of course, there were the East German female(?) swimmers. Yikes!



Now as we prepare for these summer games in Beijing... it is quite obvious to me, that in the intervening years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the eastern bloc nation Soviet satellite nation-states... the world needs a "new bad guy". Ta-da... Hello mainland China!


The news of the repressive, ultra controlling, communist Chinese government has been pretty steady over the past few weeks and days. i have really liked in particular how they have recently indicated that they can deny a visa to whoever they want to (can you say Joey Cheeks?), for whatever reason they want, so shut up!

Or how they have indicated that speaking out about basic human rights is really none of President Bush's business... so he should just shut up too!

i honestly can't remember a time in the last twenty years when i was more attuned to what was happening with the Olympic games than i am with these Games! i guess the thing that really continues to pull me toward paying attention to the Games is my stupification (is that a word?) with just what the communist government of China can do and face little to no "outrage" from the rest of the world. They must have a great PR firm working this Olympics for them.

Well i just hope i don't have to apologize for writing this little blog like several of our Olympic cyclist had to a few days ago for taking precautionary measures with regard to the incredible smog and pollution that fills the air of Beijing.

Dude, this should be fun!