April, Come She Will

This just in:

China, which only allows state-sanctioned public protest, is "allowing" its people to angrily protest the depicting of WWII in Japanese textbooks and has "lectured Japan to face its WWII past" according to the SF Chronicle. Make you a deal; I'll fess up to WWII if you fess up to Mao and Tiananmen. Fair?

Who knew that John Bolton was loved by so many Americans? Credentials and previous job history aside, if the Senate panel names this man to the U.N., there will have been a successful American Neoconservative coup d'etat of international organizations. Paul Wolfowitz to the World Bank, Bolton to the U.N., and Rupert Murdoch to Fox News. I hope that level-headed moderate Republicans find the courage to stand up to this thug and send him packing. It would be a major victory for progressives that could lead to hopeful changes in the 2006 midterms.

NO HIGH-RANKING MILITARY OR CIVILIAN OFFICIALS ARE GUILTY OF MISCONDUCT CONNECTED TO THE ABU GHRAIB PRISON SCANDAL. ALL LOW-LEVEL NATIONAL GUARD-WEEKEND WARRIOR-PRIVATE FIRST CLASS MARINES HATCHED THE WHOLE ABUSE THING THEMSELVES AND WERE IN NO WAY PERSUADED BY CIVILIAN CONTRACTORS OR THEIR COMMANDING OFFICERS TO CARRY OUT ORDERS. RENDITION OF POLITICAL PRISONERS DOESN'T EXIST. ALBERTO GONZALES ACTUALLY WANTS TO PROTECT AMERICANS. PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN...

I'm wondering whether the naming of Benedit XVI to the papacy is a way for the Catholic Church to prepare itself for a major theological world shift with the preparing for his assumed successor in just a few short years. An African Pope?

And the U.S. wants to work with the United Nations: "Under U.S. pressure, the United Nations eliminated the job of its top investigator on human rights in Afghanistan last week after the official criticized violations by U.S. forces in the country. Washington moved to scrap [the official] partly because the human rights situation in Afghanistan is no longer troubling enough to require it...But the Afghan commission has cited U.S. forces as a frequent obstacle to its work. Afghan officials say they have trouble getting appointments with U.S. officers to discuss human rights cases." SF Chron, 4/25/05. And we wonder why there is so much opposition to the Bush Administration's policies and U.S. action overseas? Am I the only one who can see the danger of naming John Bolton to the U.N.?

On a much lighter note: tomorrow is the release date of Bruce Springsteen's album, Devils and Dust. Listening to four tracks on NPR this morning, I am thrilled about it! "Jesus Was An Only Son", a solo piano/vocal track about the killing of the Messiah, successfully does what Mel Gibson can not: portray the pain, anguish, and moral certitude of Jesus in light of his gory demise. Full details and review in the next day or two. Countdown to the concert: TEN DAYS!!! NPR is running a two-day interview with the Boss on the new album. I must say that often I find that Bruce's more serious, sad, and often pitiful work is his strongest. Portraying th elives of characters who, while torn, broken, or twisted seek redemption is the musician's strong suit. The morally complex predicaments of Bruce's characters' world make one contemplate and understand his own life as well as empathize with the univeralities of the human condition. Now, let's just listen to "Reno".

Today in my class, my students were debating whether gay marriages should be legal. In my last period, after a half-dozen or so students railed against how "unnatural", "uncommon", "not right", and "bad examples" gay people are in/to/for society, one student raised his hand. He then shared his life story: his parents divorced one another four years ago. He lives with his mom. His mom is gay and for the last three years has lived with her partner. His mom and her partner are his role models and his mother's partner serves more as a parent than his father does. "They're people", he said. Absolute stunned silence followed this brave young man's thirty second testimony of his family situation. Fear gave way to love and pride as my student talked about his mom in front of twenty-one of his peers, including his girlfriend. What my class witnessed today was a declaration of the absolute necessity for the acceptance and love of the human condition and I pray that God blesses that young man's heart to love others as he and his family need to be loved.