And that’s the end of that.

No, I don’t mean the election season (though good riddance), but the fall leaf season.

Up till now it’s been unseasonably mild, and most of the leaves still clung to the trees.

Today, after a warm dawn, the barometer dropped like a bowling ball, and rains and clouds rolled in on Harleys. At the center of the front was a nasty wind that lasted only long enough to strip the trees clean.

This weekend, raking. Except that it might rain again.

Since I did such a crackerjack job predicting the election, I’ll go right ahead and tell you what I think the Obama presidency will be like.

Franklin D. Roosevelt II. Continue reading History in advance →

At the end of my work day, I frequently talk to a lady who is starting her’s. She cleans part of the office building where I work. She’s a nice grandma, who has some leg and joint pains which I pray for when I remember. We’ve talked mostly about the weather. I wish I could say we praise the Lord together, but we’ve done that only three or four times so far. Mostly we chat about little things.

I haven’t asked her about political issues or pushed any serious theology into my statements. I did ask her if she would watch the presidential debates and when she would vote. She caught a bit of the debates, I think. They don’t say important stuff in those things, you know. She voted yesterday.

I don’t think I told her last week about the multi-congregation service I attended the last October Sunday. I sang in the choir, barely using the music because the notes to sing weren’t all printed. We had to pick it up by ear. The pastor, who teaches at the church from which most of the choir came, said he felt he had left Obama territory for McCain territory, judging by the bumper stickers in the parking lot. Some choir members who were over my shoulder murmured a bit of affirmation to the soon-to-be president elect.

I laughed a bit. It didn’t bother me to disagree indirectly with them.

I don’t know that I heard anything from Obama on the campaign trail that I agreed with. I don’t think I have hoped for a moment that he would keep his word on a certain campaign pledge. I’ve even accused him of lying to us, like Bill Clinton did in his campaign and in office. Obama seems like a nice professional, but I really don’t know him. I don’t know if his cool exterior hides a wicked heart, and I shouldn’t assume it does–beyond theological terms.

But today, I talked to a woman who thanked the Lord when she heard Obama would be our next president. She almost cried too.

That softens the political edges for me. I don’t know how many, if any, of his stated policies she approves. She may not have thought through the issues. But a black man will serve (Deo Volente) as the 44th President of the United States. And she’s a black woman.

That isn’t colorblind, and it isn’t a good reason to vote for anyone. But it is a good reason to give respect to whom respect is due and honor to whom honor is due. I can’t demonize someone I respect.

First of all, to any Democrats who happen by, congratulations on a successful campaign. May your candidate be as wonderful as you think he is.



You’ve probably heard about the near-tie between my senator, Norm Coleman, and an Anime character named Al Franken. Coleman ended up with just a few hundred more votes. A recount is mandated by law.

This is one of those situations where a voter can say to himself, “Good thing I got out and voted. My vote really does count.”

Except it really doesn’t follow. If somehow my vote gets disqualified, it won’t lose the election for Coleman by itself.

I guess it’s one of those “universalization” exercises you do in Ethics class. “If I break the rule, nothing will probably happen. But if everybody breaks the rule, bad consequences will follow. So I’d better follow the rule, even when I recognize that my own influence is negligible.”

But that doesn’t really satisfy me. Probably because I have low self-esteem, and should just avoid that kind of thought entirely.



I’m a little bothered by all the talk that says, “It’s a great day because America has elected its first African-American president.”

I can understand that black people in this country probably feel pretty good today, and I respect that. They’ve got it coming. It’s been a long time.

But it seems to me that framing it in those “significant because he’s black” terms is kind of… creepy. Like saying the man’s a credit to his race.

It seems to me, race is either something or nothing.

If it’s nothing, then it’s as meaningless when it’s seen positively as when it’s seen negatively.

If it’s something, then it matters as much when it’s seen negatively as when it’s seen positively.

And I don’t think we really want to have this discussion as a nation.

As you can tell, I didn’t get much sleep last night.

Marvin Olasky writes: “Abundance and ease dull our senses. Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance was common in the 1950s and early 1960s, when the United States faced great danger of nuclear annihilation from an evil empire that had hundreds of missiles aimed at us.

Some now say that the Cold War had the silver lining of pushing Americans to rally ’round the flag. But even if that were the case, let’s remember one thing: It wasn’t worth it. Depending on a balance of nuclear terror is no way to live. Only God’s grace prevented disaster, and we should never assume that God will protect us from all our folly.”

Still, we can pray “America, God mend thine every flaw. Confirm thy good in brotherhood, Thy liberty in law.”

I hate presidential election days.

I don’t want to follow the results on Fox News’ interactive map, but I can’t seem to keep away from it. And since we’re informed every year that it’s a shoo-in for the party I don’t subscribe to, I watch the map changes with a sense of dread. That dread hasn’t been justified for the last few cycles, but this year… I think it’s gonna be a squeaker. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if it ended up in the courts again. Obama may win, but I’m convinced it won’t be any blow-out. Call on me to eat crow tomorrow, if I’m wrong.

I voted bright and early this morning, in a crowded church vestibule with about a hundred other people, all winding around each other in six distinct but sinuous lines. The people in charge did a remarkable job, I think, in keeping some kind of order. We vote on paper ballots with those little Iowa Basic Skills ovals in this state. When it got to my turn in line, the volunteer told me the electronic ballot marker machine was available, “But it takes a little longer.” I figured that way I’d free up a booth for somebody else, and I planned to skip most of the judge races anyway (it only encourages them), so I used it. I think I figured it out.

I preferred that to standing and marking my ballot on a clip board, or sitting on a folding chair at a folding table, which a lot of people were doing rather than wait for a booth. I have this quaint idea that voting ought to be private.

If my guy doesn’t win, I promise to pray for wisdom for the other guy. I trust you will too.

But if you live in the west and haven’t voted, get out there and make that unnecessary!

Unless you’re voting for somebody I don’t like, of course.

Update: You know, with the proper blend of herbs and spices, crow might taste OK.



Update to Update: No. No, it doesn’t.