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Why, yes, as a matter of fact, Howard Dean does speak for me.

My friend Dale writes about not only his Kerry/Edwards yard signs being stolen, but his God is Not a Republican or a Democrat sign was taken, too.

I’m at 7-8 9 10 11 12 Kerry/Edwards signs stolen during this past month the past 6 weeks. Just flat-out made to vanish under cover of darkness. This phenomenon recapitulates for me an entire worldview’s unfortunate M.O.: trespass, steal, suppress dissent and all contradicting evidence. It’s a strange and unconvincing plan from people preaching “freedom” and “democracy,” I think.

Two things help me short to ground my occasionally flaring anger at practitioners of this M.O.: specifically, a boxful of K/E signs that allows me to replace the sign daily if necessary, and generally, (mis)remembering the adage “Anger is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” (Google reveals Malachy McCourt actually said “Resentment is like …” but that’s close enough to work.)

Beyond my obvious-but-ridiculously-hard choice not to take poison, my prayer asking how I’d best respond keeps returning an image of the prodigal father — that is, one extravagant with his love — who watches, watches, watches for his wayward son to repent and come home, and when he finally sees his son a long way off he runs out to embrace him.

Yikes, that’s a difficult example to follow. (Whether father or son.) But imagine the result — the homecoming — what a celebration that will be!

Dale’s sign, “God is Not a Republican. Or a Democrat,” refers to Sojourners’ ongoing petition to “take back our faith,” a stance I support as well. (Sojourners is “a Christian ministry whose mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice.”)

In his About.com article on this topic, Charles mentions the conviction —

A politics that privileges the powerful over the weak and the rich over the poor, and favors violence and the unilateral use of force over the use of diplomacy in the resolution of international problems, cannot be reconciled with biblical ethics.

That’s my inescapable conviction, too, one that arose in me during several years of seminary study:
I cannot reconcile prevailing U.S. political behavior with biblical ethics.

It’s not an exclusionary, “my way or the highway” kind of conviction — because I don’t know everything — but it’s nonetheless a fire-in-the-bones conviction in me that I understand as providing sufficient work-that-needs-doing to last me the rest of this lifetime.

For me and my house, then, this conviction is why I’m happy to support, work for, and vote for Kerry/Edwards and the Democratic worldview, however short of perfect it may be, and why I’m unable to ever, ever, ever support the Bush/Cheney worldview.

(“My house” tells me right away whenever she thinks otherwise. :-) )

half a day later:

And sometimes, like now, rage seems like a perfectly appropriate response, not to be shorted to ground. Meteor Blades reminds me:

In between my unfettered rage at the ideologues who lied us into the Iraq war and my cautious elation that we may elect someone who brings an end to that nightmare, I sometimes catch myself going numb. The statistics are numbing. Perhaps 25,000 people dead, most of them civilians. Perhaps 100,000 wounded, many of them maimed forever. …

Damn, bouncing between idealism, rage, and numbness is awkward. But part of human being, I think. Seasons turn: buds of spring burst to life, ease into fiery summer, wind down to autumn spent and brown, then cool down to icy winter, and back again. Likewise, our bodies run in cycles, ebbing and flowing throughout the day, the month, the years. Even scripture is cyclical, boldly wandering through the range of human emotions, unflinchingly touching on all extremes.

Life’s a rollercoaster all over, I think. Some of us loop-de-loop more than others, and some of us half fall out, but none of us bounces alone.

O Lord, just please deliver us from permanumb.

Orcinus: David Neiwert: ‘One of the real keys to understanding our situation is realizing that conservatism and the “conservative movement” are in fact two entirely different things.’

Sojo.net: ‘Remind America that Jesus taught us to be peacemakers, advocates for the poor, and defenders of justice.’

In the midst of today’s enthusiastic hubbub that Al Gore is likely to endorse Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination, Nathan in MN at Daily Kos provides my favorite quote of the day —

Dean’s campaign is not just about changing presidents, it is about changing the entire social fabric of this country.

Yes. The whole feel of this emerging drama is mercifully different than in 2000. There is pneuma in it this time, I think.

Thanks, Nathan.

2003-12-09 update: Indeed it’s happened, and I am jubilant about what an ascendant Dean candidacy means; the whole phenomenon is breathed through with hope.

As reported by CNN, Al Gore endorses Howard Dean —

Gore said part of the reason he chose to endorse Dean was his ability to appeal to the nation’s “grassroots” elements, a reference to Dean’s success in organizing and raising funds on the Internet and in small voter gatherings.

The Dean phenomenon has proven that grassroots works. You can, I can, anyone can truly make a difference. This is, in fact, what democracy is. $2000-per-plate campaign fundraisers as the price of admission — what you have to pay to play, which means hardly any of us can play — have now become optional.

Side benefit to this grassroots approach:
There is much less beholden-to-big-money sludge accumulating in this campaign.

Gore also praised Dean’s opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The former vice president called the Iraq war a “catastrophic mistake” by the Bush administration, a move that leaves the United States less effective in the nation’s battle against terrorism. …

“He was the only major candidate who made the correct judgment about the Iraq war,” Gore said. “And he had the insight and the courage to say and do the right thing. And that’s important because those judgments — that basic common sense — is what you want in a president.”

Yes, sound judgment arising from basic common sense is what I want. It is a baseline requirement in a president.

Our societal abandonment of basic common sense, a lapse we displayed so vividly in the buildup to this Iraq debacle, will be markedly less likely in the future, I think, if we’re listening to truth-telling, insightful, courageous, sensible elected leaders who credibly exercise a commitment to democracy and social justice. I am certain we’re not stupid, but we are too easily duped. It’s a bug, and we can fix it.

“When we set this event up,” Dean said to loud laughter at the rally’s start, “I had absolutely no idea that we were going to have the elected president of the United States here with us today.”

I watched Howard Dean on Hardball with Chris Matthews last night, broadcasting from the JFK, Jr. venue at Harvard University (transcript, video). Wow.

I can’t imagine George lasting five minutes in a context like that, wherein you need to be smart as a whip, historically and politically knowledgeable, think quickly on your feet, and be blisteringly articulate.

Damn, it’s exhilarating to witness principled intelligence in action!

I was sold on Dr. Dean’s principles and positions already, but man — now I find I like him.

Great response to a question about why African Americans should vote for Dean “do Republicans use race to divide whites and blacks as a campaign tactic, and how do we overcome that as a nation?”

Dean answered that this election’s focus must be on matters that are important to all of us [“our common interests”], crossing all divisions among us:

“We have got to stop having the campaigns run in this country based on abortion, guns, God, and gays, and start talking about education, jobs, and health care.” <huge applause>

Yes. The former themes — especially in the cognitively- and semantically sloppy way they’re most often used — divide us as a people; the latter can unite us.

With Dean’s campaign something new and wonderful is happening, I think, a profound grassroots phenomenon much larger than one candidate. I imagine I’m seeing democracy being reborn, like Professor Dumbledore’s elderly pet phoenix Fawkes in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, who bursts into flame as Harry watches him, only to arise again from his own ashes, fresh and new.

We may yet again achieve for ourselves — with God’s help, for real this time, eyes wide open, no hubris, no living in denial — a government that uplifts instead of crushes, empowers instead of impoverishes, welcomes instead of excludes, that is truly of the people, by the people, for the people, in place of the present one that we have nearly let the Enemy, quoting God-talk to deceive us, render into ashes.

2003-12-03 update:
Added transcript- (thanks to Rich) and video links (QT, WMP);
updated blockquote above from actual transcript.

Howard Dean in a Tuesday “Boston Tea Party” campaign speech (WaPo) —

“This democracy and the flag of the United States do not belong to Rush Limbaugh, and Jerry Falwell, and Tom DeLay, and John Ashcroft, and Dick Cheney,” Dean said as he listed prominent conservatives. “This flag and this country belong to us and we want our country back.”

Damn straight.

What’s called for, IMO, is a national exorcism. These guys front a principality of darkness, and it’s outstayed its welcome. Bring on the pea soup if you must, but it’s time to go.

According to the WaPo yesterday, Gen. Clark Reportedly Is Asked to Join Dean (as Democratic candidates for U.S. president/vice president).

My impression? Dream team.

And not just because both Dr. Dean and Gen. Clark appear to be decent, real, articulate, intelligent human beings. That alone would be a breath of fresh air. But much more important is the spirit behind them for which they’re a visible face, a whole movement for justice (of the true biblical kind, generally speaking, IMO) that gives me hope and determination to engage again in the real nitty-gritty life of the world.

Maybe I’m overstating the case, but to be able to be hopeful again about the possibilities for our future — as a country and as a world — is for me an answer to prayer.

Already-present upside: I’m not angry for the first time in nearly two years. As more of us wake up to the chronic injustice and global destruction wrought by the Bush Administration — finally a majority of us in the U.S. are awake now as polled by Zogby (my interpretation) — I’m able to let go and rest.

Anyone else experiencing this sense of relief, this lifting of weight? The sea change in perceptions that began in July is becoming visible everywhere now. I think we’re finally escaping the clutches of deceit.

Later in the day, 3:13 PM ET:

According to the AP, Clark set to enter 2004 presidential race as 10th Democratic candidate (also here).

Really, it’s this aspect of Gen. Clark that revs up my enthusiasm at his participation in any capacity, whether as presidential or VP nominee (or even as Secretary of Defense):

Clark has a resume that unnerves potential rivals — Rhodes scholar, first in his 1966 class at West Point, White House fellow, head of the U.S. Southern Command and NATO commander during the 1999 campaign in Kosovo.

I insist on smart leaders. If that’s being prejudiced against dumb leaders, then so be it.

Yeah, baby. I find the idea of a Dean Administration as exhilarating as I find the Bush Administration soul-deadening. There’s life in one, death in the other; hope in one, despair in the other. Very few choices in life are this clear cut. Yes.

Click each cover above to read that magazine’s feature story. Further resources:

• Dean for America main site
• Dean for America official blog
• Another link-rich blog, Howard Dean 2004 (notable links to numerous Dean position papers)
• An independent collection of Dean2004Links
• And, more local for me, Tennessee for Howard Dean

And don’t miss tonight’s monthly National Dean in 2004 Meetup, probably meeting in your town tonight.

“We must show courage in a time of blessing by confronting problems instead of passing them on to future generations.”
—George W. Bush, Inaugural address, January 20, 2001

“The Bush administration has shelved a report commissioned by the Treasury that shows the U.S. currently faces a future of chronic federal budget deficits totalling at least $44,200bn [$44 trillion] in current US dollars.”
—Financial Times UK, US ‘faces future of chronic deficits’, May 29, 2003

Saddling future generations with a multi-multi-trillion dollar debt easily satisfies my definition of problem.

Okay, that’s the Treasury prognosis. Now, a diagnosis and treatment step from Dr. Dean:

“The economic plans put forth by President Bush and the Republican party are a fundamental assault on the basic American ideals that we all share — an assault on our schools, our health care, our environment and our social security.  …

“Let me be clear. The President’s tax cuts are part of a radical agenda to dismantle Social Security, Medicare, and our public schools through financial starvation.  …

“My central commitment upon taking office will be to repeal these tax cuts to put our fiscal house in order, and save the very fabric that holds our American community together.

“We will not be able to meet our fundamental obligations to teach our children, care for our parents, and defend our nation if we bankrupt our country.  …”

—Howard Dean, We must put our fiscal house in order (see also Dean for America)