Politics, Fatigue & Looking Ahead
Teller has been an academic dean for several years now, and is three-and-a-half years into this position on his current campus. Among other descriptors, the job is large, unwieldy, and unpredictable. He is spending the weekend enjoying some down time before embarking on yet another challenging 17-week marathon, this one called “Spring Semester.” It starts all over again on Monday. Getting a new term off the ground is always an arduous task and he admits to feeling drained before the real work even commences.
One of the reasons for the fatigue factor being especially prominent right now is the stress associated with last week’s events. During the middle of the week, Teller had cancelled a low-enrolled class in one of the physical-science disciplines. He had made the cancellation decision in consultation with the instructor and department chair; after ensuring that the affected students were informed of an alternative, he assumed the matter was settled. Then, on Friday, entirely out-of-the-blue, he endured an attack from the head of the counseling department, who accused him, because of his action, of not only being insensitive to students’ needs but also in violation of the collective-bargaining agreement. A certain amount of pandemonium ensued while he attempted to explain the situation to his new supervisor (an interim Vice President on the job for a mere two weeks). Teller ultimately succumbed to the demands being made on him and reinstated the class, which will now run with even fewer students. He sees this as a squandering of scarce resources, but realizes that the politics of the situation, not common sense, drove the so-called “solution.”
So, here he is, during the weekend, when his batteries are supposed to be re-charging, attending to a multitude of personal issues and tasks. He’s not feeling even one little bit like he’s getting any positive energy back, for one of the items on his agenda is the also-stressful process of completing an employment application.
Now, Teller isn’t really engaged in what could be termed an active job search. Still, he believes he needs to be keeping his eyes open for potential new opportunities. The top-level leadership of his institution has just changed hands (the interim VP was hired by the entirely-new campus chief executive), and, really, there’s no telling what could happen. It isn’t at all unusual for a new president to come in, scope out the place, and decide there’s a need for some significant shuffling. So, what with a campus culture characterized by rampant conflict and lack-of-trust, multitudinous unhappy students and faculty, and the recent changing-of-the-guard at the top, Teller’s life continues to be an unstable one.
Perhaps the faculty position he just applied for up in Portlandia is exactly what he needs in order to restore some balance back into his life.
Political Passion, Facebook & Freedom of Speech
This morning, I posted a link on my Facebook page to an article about Keith Olbermann’s “Special Comment” regarding the Gabrielle Giffords shooting in Arizona yesterday (see “Olbermann Connects Giffords Shooting To Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck And Apologizes For His Own Remarks”). In the comment I made to accompany that link, I called for a halt to the widespread uncivil, inflammatory and insane political rhetoric in this country — such as the “second-amendment-remedies” remarks from the likes of Sharron Angle, Sarah Palin, and other assorted Tea Partiers.
Within minutes, I had a comment from one of my Facebook “friends” asking if that meant I would now end my expression of impassioned political opinions, noting my agitation about, and name-calling of, many Republicans over the years.
All I can say to this is: wtf, dude?
Are you saying that my opinions, however passionately expressed, have the kind of radical, evil intent (and, indeed, craziness) in them that imply support of assassination, murder and/or attempted murder?
With all due respect, when I make claims such as “George W. Bush is a liar and a war criminal,” there is considerable evidence to support that. And is in no way a call for harm to anyone. For you to infer malicious intent on my part is just plain folly.
And so, dear Facebook friend, in an unprecedented act, I have removed my post and your subsequent comment. You don’t get to insinuate, on my Facebook page (please use your own), that my passion has any relationship to the dangerous (and now murderous) rhetoric put out there by the political right-wing in recent times. You just don’t get to do that.
Update on January 10, 2011:
Today, via email, I heard from my Facebook friend regarding this incident. It seems that, to at least one individual in this world, I am not only an uncivil but a potentially-dangerous person.
The email I received came with the subject line: “F You.” A mildly-edited version (in my continuing attempt to preserve the person’s anonymity) appears in the comments section below. In the spirit of free speech, active listening, and valuing multiple perspectives, I present this commentary here.
Goodbye, Teddy
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the last of the brothers, died and was buried this week. Along with millions of others, I will miss him.
It’s been reported that Kennedy wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI earlier in the year, asking for the prayers of His Holiness, as he struggled with the brain cancer that ultimately took his life. In that communication he admitted to being “an imperfect human being.”
Of course, yes, he was imperfect. So were Jack and Bobby. So is everyone. We are, after all, human. Despite his imperfections, however, he was a giant of a man... doing so much for so many for so many years.
David Horsey published an editorial cartoon last Thursday, with this Kennedy quote:
If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; if that is what they mean by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal.
RIP, Teddy.
Times Are A-Changin’
It seems strange to admit at this point, but, with regard to my enthusiasm for the candidacy of Barak Obama in the 2008 presidential race, I was actually a “late comer.” It was in February 2007 that I first made some observations here about the Democratic candidate field, praising John Edwards for both his honesty and his astute policy messages (after an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher). And, right up until the time he dropped out of the race, during the California primary in February of this year, Edwards was my guy.
I happen to have mailed in my California primary ballot the same day Edwards abruptly withdrew. So, that’s how I spent that particular vote. After that happened, I had to go shopping for another Democrat to support...but the decision, for me, was a no-brainer. Who was really left at that time that had any viability? Well, Hillary and Barak. And Hillary wasn’t really an option. She just wasn’t. Plus, I had been watching Obama during the entire campaign; he had been impressing me more and more, with everything he said (in that endless stream of early debates) and in every primary victory.
What did I see in Barak Obama, the guy with the funny name? Well, a true leader. Someone, like Edwards, I believed I could trust. Someone with whom I shared the same basic realities about, and aspirations for, the nation. Someone who could bring about real, and desperately needed, change.
I just knew he was going to be our next president. And I felt great about that. What a difference he could make for us! What a healthy, delightful and delicious contrast he would be to “W”!
From the time of the California primary to the late-summer conventions, I became more and more of a political junkie and an Obama enthusiast. In addition to the “fake news” updates I got every night on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, I began watching a lot of MSNBC’s coverage of the campaign. Keith Olbermann became a favorite. And, then, they gave Rachel Maddow her own hour adjoining Olbermann. Wow, two hours a night on MSNBC and a half hour on Comedy Central. I couldn’t get enough!
I watched all four nights of both nominating conventions. Not exactly the high drama those events used to be, but I was thrilled with Obama’s pick of Joe Biden and the massively-attended acceptance speech outdoors in Denver. And I was appalled at things like Rudy Giuliani’s rambling, inflammatory speech and McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin. (A “laugh-out-loud choice,” commented Rachel Maddow immediately.)
Then, there was the remainder of the campaign: several weeks of surprise after surprise, including an economy that was increasingly going down the toilet and one sadly-idiotic remark after another from Palin. I watched the four debates, and “hacked” my way through all of them. I sent out many, many tweets, in real time, during those events and even had one appear on national television on the Current Network.
Finally, finally, came election day. And night. I had voted by mail two weeks earlier, so no line-standing for me. Alas, I had to be on campus that night to work, but was able to follow a lot of the early coverage on MSNBC, live, online, in my office. The early returns had me wondering. Kentucky went to McCain right off. Well, no surprise: except I had a difficult time imagining anyone voting for McCain/Palin!
In the end, of course, everything turned out just fine. Obama was declared the projected victor while I was in a classroom, away from the coverage. But I made it home in time to see McCain’s concession speech. And, finally, saw in him a candidate I could respect.
The scene in Grant Park was amazing, as was Obama’s victory speech. We’re going to be having a different kind of national identity from now on, I’m guessing. And it’s about time! Our eight-year nightmare with Bush is about over. America. Has. Awakened. (!)
Soundtrack Suggestion
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’.
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.(“The Times They Are A-Changin’” – Bob Dylan)