A tale of two politicians, biblically considered

I've been thinking about lately about the contrast between two of West Virginia's prominent Democratic politicians: US senator and former governor Joe Manchin, who is running for re-election,  and state senator Richard Ojeda, who is running for congress.  

(Note: It is the official policy of Goat Rope not to engage in any form of electioneering or candidate endorsement. But that doesn't preclude commenting on political issues or politicians.)

According to a recent poll, Manchin's approval rating dropped by 17 points in the last quarter. That poll could well be an outlier, but the drop is pretty steep. I haven't seen recent Ojeda polling, but it seems pretty clear that he is surging in popularity.

Ojeda was widely--and rightly--seen as a champion of teachers and school workers during the recent strike. As far as I could tell, Manchin remained silent about the strike on social media until the day before it ended, aside from one news story in which he called for a post-legislative special session.

I may have missed other coverage, but I was looking for it at the time and didn't find it. It really seems to me that Manchin missed a great opportunity to be seen as a strong supporter of working people. And that his numbers would look quite a bit different if he'd have taken the chance when it came. It's too soon to tell whether the poll was a fluke or whether Manchin will get his groove back, but I think there's a lesson here.

Manchin is at his most comfortable talking about "common sense," common ground and bringing people together. And there are times when that can work. But there are other times when it's necessary to take a stand and draw a line. As the Book of Ecclesiastes said, to every thing there is a season, "a time to rend and a time to sew."

Keeping with the biblical theme, this probably isn't a good year to be a Laodicean, which in the Book of Revelations was a church criticized by the risen Jesus as being lukewarm:  'I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."

Whoever has ears, let them hear.

 

The whole widow/orphan thing

While WV's deeply religious Republican legislature contemplates legislation that would make it harder for workers maimed on the job or their widows and orphans to have access to legal remedies, I decided to let my fingers go walking through the Bible. Here's what I found...and it's very incomplete.

* Exodus 22:22: “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan.”

*Deuteronomy 10: 18 “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.”

* Deuteronomy  24:17 ”Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.”

*Deuteronomy 27:19 "’Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow’." Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’"

* Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”

* Isaiah 1:23 “Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them.”

* Jeremiah 5:27-29: “Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich. They are fat, they are sleek, they also excel in deeds of wickedness; they do not plead the cause, the cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; and they do not defend the rights of the poor. Shall I not punish these people?' declares the LORD, 'On a nation such as this shall I not avenge Myself?”

* Malachi 3:5: "’So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,’ says the LORD Almighty.”

* James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”


Maybe it’s just me, but there seems to be a pattern here, although some elected officials don’t seem to have gotten the memo.

In any case, the final vote on this bill will be one to watch. And to remember.

A patron saint with whom not to mess

Today, Sept. 29, in addition to being Rosh Hashanah, is the feast day of St. Michael and All Angels. I have always had a love for Michael, whatever he may or may not be. I think of the mighty archangel as the patron saint of all those who have ever opened a can of whoopass in a righteous cause.

Here's a passage from the Book of Revelation that is often read in churches on this day:

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

The way things are these days, I kind of wish I had Michael on speed dial.

GOOD QUESTION. Dean Baker asks here why deficit hawks oppose a small tax on financial speculation.

UNEMPLOYMENT. It's not just for blue collar workers anymore.

HEALTH CARE REFORM. This could get interesting.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Cockadoodle don't

Stop the presses! Our economic problems are solved!

Just when you thought it was safe to open a newspaper, what should appear on the cover of yesterday's Charleston Gazette than a story about a group that wants to legalize cockfighting in West Virginia and ultimately in all the states.

According to a spokesman for the group, "It's only illegal now because of the puritan sense of a few people who don't find it an appropriate sport."

Earlier this week, a member of the group who identified himself only as "Chicken" dressed in a similar costume and handed out fliers in Charleston.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that bill to pass, although stranger things have certainly happened. However, in the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that we have several free range roosters on Goat Rope Farm and that they occasionally have a dust-up. Usually it ends with one running off, which is the rooster equivalent of the ju jitsu tap out.

A friend of mine and fellow goat herder sent me a hilarious email yesterday with a number of great potential bumper sticker slogans about the topic, most of which involve a synonym for rooster (hint: think NRA). Since this is a G rated blog, I'll quote a different one from his selection:

My president is Andrew Jackson.

WHAT THEY SAID. I'm down with this NY Times editorial on the need for more stimulus.

PEOPLE POWER kept the public option in health insurance reform alive, says economist Dean Baker.

MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL is the subject of this editorial from USA Today. Thanks to Ken Ward's Coal Tattoo for pointing this out.

"GRAND THEFT JESUS." I wish I would have come up with that phrase to describe the conservative attempt to rewrite the Bible. Here's more on that developing story.

TRAMPS LIKE US, maybe we really were born to run.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

The prodigal returns

We interrupt our regular program to announce that our Great Pyr Arpad, aka Vanilla Iceberg, was located after spending two nights in an undisclosed location. The Spousal Unit found him while checking out some backroads, when he heard the car and ran out of a garage. He even jumped into the car, an action that usually requires an act of Congress.

The gentleman who had been hosting him said "I ain't never seen a dog that big. I been calling him Snowball."

We are glad to have him back and devoutly hope that the 170 wanderer didn't eat anybody important.

Meanwhile, El Cabrero seems to be developing flu-like symptoms, not necessarily of the swinish variety (although others may have their own opinions). It's always something. If posts are sporadic over the next few days that might be why.

NEXT STOP...public option?

CORRECTING THE BIBLE. Here's another item on the conservative effort to excise "liberal bias" from a certain book.

JOHN BROWN'S BODY. Here's the Washington Post on the man who lit the spark.

CHIMPS HELP, especially when they're asked.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Short rations again

A couple of very long days have left El Cabrero's well of sparkling prose a bit dry. However, I did have a conversation yesterday with a friend about all time favorite Dylan lyrics. My choice varies with time, but I'd have to say that these lines from "Silvio" seem to sum up the human condition pretty well:

I can tell you fancy, I can tell you plain
You give something up for everything you gain
Since every pleasure's got an edge of pain
Pay for your ticket and don't complain

Does the Gentle Reader have other suggestions?

THIS AIN'T EXACTLY THE WPA OR CCC, but it looks like support is growing in Washington for tax credits to promote job creation. I kind of like the Old School approach better.

COAL FIRED HISSY FIT. Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo tries to shed some light on the EPA's decision to review mountaintop removal permits.

SUPPORTING A CHAMPION. Some of us usual suspects types held an event yesterday to express appreciation for WV Senator Jay Rockefeller's leadership in the fight for health care reform. As mentioned here before, Rockefeller not only has been fighting for the public option but has successfully amended the Baucus bill to protect the Childrens Health Insurance Program.

IMPROVING THE BIBLE. Some conservatives are working to remove "liberal bias" from the Bible. I can't wait to see what they did with the camel/eye of a needle part.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED