Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
For the Beauty of the Earth
We give you thanks, most gracious God, for the beauty of earth and sky and sea; for the richness of mountains, plains, and rivers; for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers. We praise you for these good gifts, and pray that we may safeguard them for our posterity. Grant that we may continue to grow in our grateful enjoyment of your abundant creation, to the honor and glory of your Name, now and for ever. Amen.
Edwards will be the only Democratic governor in the Deep South, where Republicans dominate politically.
You
could almost have predicted the outcome of the race based on the
candidates' election night parties. Sen. David Vitter was set up at a
hotel near the airport, while John Bel Edwards lodged in the historic
Monteleone Hotel in the French Quarter.
NPR's analogy of the choice of hotels for election parties as predictive of the outcome of the election is brilliant. Goodbye, David Vitter. Though Vitter will be in the US Senate till January 2016, he said he will not run for another term. The final count showed Edwards with a 12 percent lead, 56-44.
We are so pleased John Bel Edwards won the election for governor by a large margin, and David Vitter was soundly trounced. Fear-mongering, lying, spying, and running a generally nasty campaign don't always win elections. Edwards will take on an enormous challenge in cleaning up the mess he inherits from Bobby Jindal, beginning with the $1.4 billion budget gap the governor and the Louisiana Legislature will need to address. We wish him the best.
Father of all, we pray to you for those we see no longer:
Grant them your peace; let light perpetual shine upon them;
and, in your loving wisdom and almighty power, work
in them the good purpose of your perfect will; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
For the wounded
O God, the
strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers:
Mercifully accept
our prayers, and grant to your wounded
servants the help of your
power, that their wounds may be healed,
and that they may be restored to health and strength,
and their
sorrows and the sorrows of those who love them
turned into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For all who mourn
Almighty God, Father of mercies and giver of comfort:
Deal graciously, we pray, with all who mourn; give them comfort,
consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to keep
their minds and hearts in the knowledge of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayers quoted or adapted from The Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.
Then, a strange thing happened on Vitter’s stroll to the Louisiana
governor’s mansion. In the state’s Oct. 24 primary (candidates of all
parties run in a so-called “open primary”), Vitter nearly missed the
Nov. 21 runoff election. He earned only 23 percent of the vote, trailing
his lone Democratic opponent, state Rep. John Bel Edwards, by 17 points. ....
Last Friday, Edwards released an explosive new spot alleging that Vitter missed a Feb. 27, 2001, U.S. House vote honoring slain American soldiers while he waited on a phone call from a prostitute.
It was the first time anyone had credibly suggested that Vitter’s
prostitution habit in the late 1990s and early 2000s had influenced the
performance of his public duties.
Gratingly self-righteous and mean is how I think of Vitter. As
governor of Louisiana, Vitter would be disaster following upon disaster after
Jindal's plunder and destruction of state institutions and programs and
failure to produce a "balanced" budget that was not based on smoke and
mirrors.
Famously thin-skinned and possessed of a nasty temper,
Vitter often threatens and bludgeons recalcitrant politicians and
reluctant supporters into submission. In the U.S. Senate, he is widely disliked by members of both parties for his quick temper and grating self-righteousness.
Vitter
seems to operate by the following, unstated principle: “I’d rather have
your fear and respect than your affection.” Vitter would undoubtedly
dispute Albert Camus, who famously observed, “Nothing is more despicable
than respect based on fear.”
The photo above shows a screen shot from the video of the press conference with Vitter and his wife, Wendy, when he made his confession of a "serious sin" after his phone number was found on the call records of the DC madam, Deborah Jean Palfrey. The expression on Wendy Vitter's face says volumes more than Vitter himself in his "confession". Whether or not I decided to stay with my spouse after learning he had been unfaithful, I damned well would not be standing beside him when he makes his confession.
The problem for Vitter is that his approval rating
is not much better than Obama’s. Then there is Bobby Jindal, whose
tenure as governor has been a disaster. (He’s presided over a fiscal
train wreck in recent years and is even less popular
in his home state than the much-despised Obama.) Jindal’s travails have
undermined the reputation of Republicans as sound stewards of the
public till. Although Jindal and Vitter personally despise one another,
many voters see them as the state GOP’s most prominent leaders. And
because Vitter and Jindal have many of the same policy positions, Jindal
is dragging Vitter down.
While John Bel Edwards' policies are not necessarily the same as mine, he's as honorable man as an elected politician can be, and he's most surely the only kind of Democrat who can possibly be elected in Louisiana. Not only did I vote for him twice, I sent Edwards two campaign contributions. I put my money where my mouth is.
He’s never met Obama and has never served in Washington. A West Point graduate and former Army Ranger, he is not soft on crime. Instead, he is the son, grandson and brother of Louisiana sheriffs. The influential Louisiana Sheriffs Association not only endorsed Edwards, a bipartisan group of Republican and Democratic sheriffs cut a TV spot defending him against Vitter’s attacks.
Edwards is generally conservative. His record with the NRA is impeccable. A devout Catholic, he is pro-life. He opposes Common Core. Vitter calls him a tax-and-spend liberal, but Vitter has indicated that he, too, will raise taxes on Louisiana business to fix the fiscal mess Jindal is leaving behind.
Ouch! Still, I'll take what I can get, and I didn't even hold my nose when I voted, because the dreadful alternative is David Vitter as governor of Louisiana.
If you'd like to begin the long process to lift the state out of the abyss
in which the Jindal maladministration plunged us, John Bel
Edwards is your candidate.
Early voting continues tomorrow, Monday, November 8, 2015 through Saturday, November 14, 2015. If you are registered to vote in Louisiana, please go to your polling place and vote for John Bel Edwards.
If you approve of the last 8 years of governance by plunder and destruction of Louisiana institutions and programs by Bobby Jindal, then vote for David Vitter for more of the same.
On Sunday, November 1, 2015, All Saints Day, I shall attend the installation of
Presiding Bishop-elect Michael Curry as 27th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church at the
National Cathedral in Washington DC. My friend Lisa,
who was a deputy to General Convention 2015, will not be able to use
her ticket to the installation, so she offered it to several friends,
and I was the first to respond with a yes. I had put my name in the
lottery for a ticket but did not win, so I was thrilled by the offer of
the ticket.
After I booked my flight, I noticed that along with
the ticket, I would be asked to present ID. Well, I am not Lisa, so I
wrote to her and asked if this might present a problem. Dear Lisa,
who knew the right people to contact, along with having to deal with cat/veterinarian and other matters in her own life, arranged to have my name placed on the
master list of ticket holders, so I will not need to pretend to be Lisa. My
flight is non-refundable, so I am quite relieved that all is in order for me to attend the ceremony. Otherwise, I was going to DC anyway to present myself at the
door of the cathedral to see what would happen. If I didn't get in, I planned to enjoy a few tourist days in the nation's capital.
Thanks again to Lisa, for the gift of the ticket and for making the
necessary arrangements for me to attend in my own name.
Below is a
video of Bishop-elect Curry following his election at General Convention
2015 of the Episcopal Church.
FRIDAY UPDATE: I will not be attending the installation of Bishop Curry. I've been
ill with gastrointestinal problems, aches, and fever, since Wednesday
evening. Yesterday, I was not well enough to finish packing, and,
though I feel somewhat better today, there's no way I could be on a
plane. I'm so sorry to miss the ceremony and that the ticket will not
be used, unless someone wants it, and we work out a way for me to get it
to them.
I cancelled my flight reservation, and I will get a
refund, which surprises me. Southwest wanted to give me a free round
trip ticket to travel later, but I said this was to be my last flight,
so the ticket would do me no good. The airline then agreed to refund
the cost, and I'm grateful to them. I cancelled my hotel reservation at
no charge.
Though I'm very disappointed, I've been too ill to
think about what I'll be missing, and I know I made the right decision.
This, too, shall pass, and now I know I need to stick to my plan not to
arrange more travel, except for short car trips.
Louisiana Tech University hosted
a debate among the four major candidates for governor Thursday night —
one of the few televised debates Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter has
agreed to participate in ahead of the Oct. 24 election.
But
there were no students in the crowd to see it — no crowd at all,
actually. The debate had no live audience, a point that Vitter’s
opponents, Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards and Republicans Lt.
Gov. Jay Dardenne and Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle, each labeled “ridiculous” and “disturbing.” ....
Following the debate, Angelle, Edwards and Dardenne met with reporters, but Vitter did not.
All three speculated that Vitter’s campaign was behind the lack of live audience and media viewing room.
Actually, I would like to move on from the discussion of the
prostitution scandal, which the great majority of the voters in the
state already know about, and address the many other reasons why Vitter
would be a disaster as governor, but he himself continues to emphasize
“family values” in his public appearances. During the debate, Vitter
said he believes in “faith, family, education, and hard work”, thus
reminding people of his “serious sin” against his family.
The
present governor, Bobby Jindal, is possibly the least accessible and
transparent in the history of the state. Will Vitter's fear of
questions and comments about his past lead him to isolate himself from
the media and the citizens of Louisiana in the same way as Jindal?
Louisiana does not need another governor in hiding.
After reconsidering his first impression
following a storm of disagreement from his readers, John Cassidy at The New Yorker still thinks Hillary Clinton won the Democratic debate. Clinton had the most to lose
going into the debate, because her numbers were down due to the
persistent media focus on the private email server "scandal". Her
performance in the debate was stellar, and she came across as much more
likable than in previous media appearances.
Bernie Sanders was Bernie Sanders,
the same person we know (and love?) from his frequent speeches and
media appearances, and few, if any of us, expected him to be other than
the man we already know. He was himself, and he performed excellently
in the debate.
My less than expert opinion is that neither of the two principal candidates won or
lost, and both did very well. Sanders gave Clinton an enormous boost
when he said:
The American people are sick and tired of hearing about
your damn emails!
Martin O'Malley had several good moments in
the debate, and his final statement was superb. In a few words, he
summed up the difference between the candidates in the GOP and the
Democratic candidates. I like having him on the stage as a foil for
both Sanders and Clinton.
I'm not sure why Jim Webb and Lincoln Chaffee were on the stage, but neither gained from their inclusion in the debate.
The complete title of the movie is Birdman; The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance. Right there you have a smile - at least I did. I watched the movie twice and laughed out loud during a number of scenes both times, more so in the second viewing, but the humor is dark, indeed. My responses ran the gamut, from, "What's going on?" (my initial reaction), to laughter, to suspense, to sadness, and back more than once to all of the above, till the final, "What's going on?"
Michael Keaton is brilliant as Riggan Thomson, aka Birdman, an aging film superhero, who, of course, can fly, and who is trying to change the direction of his career by bringing to the stage a short story by Raymond Carver in which he also plays a starring role. Emma Stone is terrific in the role of Riggan's daughter, Sam, who is just out of rehab. Stone is a commanding presence each time she appears on the screen. The scenes with Sam and Michael Shiner (Edward Norton), an actor who is brought into the play in a leading role at the eleventh hour, are especially funny, tender, and poignant. Jake (Zach Galifianakis), Riggan's long-suffering good friend and lawyer, is very fine in his supporting role.
As for the play within a movie, from the scenes that appear the film, the drama is not the least believable, nor is it recognizable as based on a Carver story, but, nevertheless, it serves to advance the dark, chaotic hilarity of the story.
Since I watched the film twice, you've probably guessed that I think it worth viewing, and I very much do. Though I highly recommend the movie, because of the blackness of its satire, Birdman is probably not for everyone.
Senator David Vitter, candidate for governor of Louisiana, refuses to debate the other candidates in the race. He refuses to answer questions from the survey by United Way. Why is he afraid? We know who Vitter is against from the vicious TV ads his supporters run against his fellow Republicans in the campaign, but why does he refuse to accept the challenge to stand up with the other candidates and debate policies? Why no response to the United Way survey? If John Bel Edwards (D) and Vitter are in the runoff after the primary, Vitter supporters will run vicious ads against Edwards. We know who Vitter's against, but what does he stand for? Vitter is in the fray, not above it, and his refusal to engage and answer questions smacks of arrogance and a lack of transparency. Haven't we had enough here in Louisiana?
