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September 27, 2008
Debating Our Future
I'm not very fond of political debates. The major part of my discontent is due to the nature of politics itself: The people involved have made a life habit of mincing their words to suite a wide audience. Hence, it's hard to believe any of them.
Last night's debate was a little better than normal, since there's some real, significant challenges before our country today. The men themselves are very different and bring both style and substance from unique perspectives. But I would echo my first point - It's hard to believe what either of them are saying.
I don't think anyone "wins" these kinds of debates because the accounting of importance occurs in the minds and hearts of the undecided people watching. (Those of us who are "decided" rarely are swayed by the debates). So to be completely honest, I really believe my opinion isn't all that important because my mind was made up quite a while ago, partly due to ideological reasons.
So, having impuned my opinion, let me offer my gut feel: For me the debate came down to the moment after the debate when Obama strode over to MaCain, reached out to shake his hand and spoke with him. What I saw in that moment was Obama seeing beyond the ideological and background differences between himself and McCain and reaching for the man McCain. Perhaps it's wishful thinking on my part, perhaps projection. But that's my gut feel. My other gut feel was that McCain couldn't participate in that moment. The picture says it all - Obama looking directly at McCain, McCain looking away.
Why is that moment so important? Assuming for the moment that Obama's actions are genuine (and I'll stipulate again my first point that you can't trust these guys), it would mean that he's able to give space to the differences he and McCain see in the world, and is able to see McCain as a person. This is a vital skill in being able to listen to people who disagree with you, and to my mind, a pivotal skill for a leader. Ideologist make bad presidents.
Posted by pgutwin at 9:13 AM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2008
Business and Politics
I think Sec. Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke may have overlooked a very crucial item: Politics is different than Business. In Business, one is expected to weigh all the available information and make a decision, moving on as needed. In Politics, things don't work that way because no one person is really in charge, and it takes a lot of time for everyone to get up to speed and reach some kind of decision.
And when one shows up asking for a pretty big chunk of the public's money, you're going to get a lot of questions. And then more questions, followed by even more questions.
I actually have no clue if the so-called bailout is a good idea or not. I'm beginning to suspect that no one really does. But I can't change much of any of that, so I'm just going to go back to what I do know how to do: Loving my family, and doing the best job I can with my work.
Posted by pgutwin at 4:22 PM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2008
It's Alive
The LHC works, and Geneva is still in one piece, as is the rest of the world.
And here' is some of the first data - pretty impressive, no?
Posted by pgutwin at 3:54 PM | Comments (0)
September 8, 2008
Fish in the Stream
Friday was, sadly, the first time I've been fishing this year. I visited Middlebury River Gorge, just upstream of the Rt. 125 bridge. This pictures is lovely - imagine I'm in the middle and I'm with my wife and the good daughter...you get the idea, except I was alone and I'm not quite that good looking and we're not quite sure which is the good daughter.
I caught several things including one fish which is always exciting. My friend Paul was out on Sunday and did about 10 times better (actually, exactly 10 times better) than I did. But Paul and I agree that the quality of the day cannot be measured in the count of fish caught. It's more about the number of moments when you're completely in tune with the water and surroundings, of watching and understanding. Some times the fish are hungry and you've floated the right fly by their hang out. Some times it's not like that - it doesn't matter that much.
Posted by pgutwin at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)