Morning Feature: A Visit to Glennbeckisle

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Wednesday October 13, 2010 · 4:01 AM PDT

2010/10/13 · 04:01

Last week I drove to Nebraska for a cousin's funeral. I packed in a hurry, forgot my iPod, and couldn't get public radio. Crissie wrote about how we live on information islands, so when I found Glenn Beck’s weekend show I decided to listen. I lasted a little over an hour.

You should know that an hour of Beck was scary. What follows are my reflections:

addisnana

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Tuesday September 07, 2010 · 4:54 AM PDT

2010/09/07 · 04:54

At BPI and especially in Morning Feature we often talk of ways to talk with Fred, the apolitical median voter. It is a key strategy for building grassroots support for progressive ideas, policies, and candidates.

I am an introvert and my favorite interactions are one-on-one conversations where I can ask questions and explore what is really important to someone. Most people love to give you their ideas and opinions, so really listening is my gift to them in a world that is often too busy, too loud, and too disinterested. I may ask questions to clarify what the other person cares about, the values at the heart of the matter.

addisnana

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Wednesday August 04, 2010 · 3:54 AM PDT

2010/08/04 · 03:54

My backyard, for the summers, is a small town in the Arrowhead region of northeastern Minnesota. I am one portage away from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a spectacular setting that gives us access to nature without motors or cell phones or any of the distractions of 'civilization.' It is a space in which to connect with your spirit and let it sing with the loons, soar with the eagles and dance with the northern lights. It is an area whose early jobs were mining and logging. The people who are from here are pioneers in the sense that they came and survived the long winters and buggy summers. When mining as an industry disappeared, some small towns set out to reinvent themselves.

addisnana

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Wednesday March 17, 2010 · 4:04 AM PDT

2010/03/17 · 04:04

The government has drowned in the bathtub

It was on the news and all over cable a while ago. BREAKING NEWS, the government has drowned in the bathtub. CPR did not revive her and we are on our own. There were cheers from some people and stunned silence from others. The people who were cheering were quite giddy. The 13,794 (2009) lobbyists were in a state of shock. The 58 million people on social security were crying, as were the 20 million who work for various parts of the government. The 1.3 Million in armed forces and the 674K support people did not hear the news right away.

My life has been interesting since then. The good news is that I don’t pay any taxes. As someone once said, “It’s your money and you can spend it more wisely than the government.” I’d really like to have a word with that man. The other small piece of good news is that there are NO more irritating ads on TV for people running for elected office.

Let me tell you what life has been like…

addisnana

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Friday December 18, 2009 · 6:27 PM PST

2009/12/18 · 18:27

Ben Nelson, Senator from Nebraska, nominally a Democrat is pro-life and Methodist. I am visiting my 91 year old aunt in Nebraska and have been bombarded by TV ads from both pro-Ben and anti-Ben groups. Every ad urges us to call Senator Nelson and... which must be working because all his voicemail boxes are full.

I started to google Ben Nelson to get a handle on why he thought he was a Democrat and why he was so against health care reform. I fully expected to find that he was a Catholic. I was surprized to discover that Ben Nelson is a Methodist. I spent my first 20 odd years as a Methodist. (I am now at 62, to borrow a phrase from Karin Armstrong, "a free lance monotheist")

The Methodist church, in the person of the Rev. Cynthia Abrams, issued an email to Nebraska Methodists that clarifies the Methodist Church's position on both abortion and health care reform. Keep reading...

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Morning Feature: A Visit to Glennbeckisle

Furthermore! Fred Finds His Moral Heart

Morning Feature: Mining (not in my backyard) & talking with Fred

Morning Feature: The government has drowned

The United Methodist Church and Sen. Ben Nelson