Democracy Corps runs a survey and finds that they are shocked at the results.

So what was the survey, you ask? Democracy Corp ran a survey asking Americans how they felt about American leadership with regard to National Security and world respect for the identity of the United States of America. What they found is that the majority of Americans feel that the world sees us worse today as compared to two years ago and that Republicans are awarded higher credit for National Security than both Obama and Democrats in Congress.

The devil is in the details. 51% of Americans surveyed said that “American standing” has dropped during the first 13 months of President Obama's administration. That is compared to 41% of Americans who say the opposite.

So who is Democracy Corps and are they promoting a particular political agenda? Wait for it.

According to the Washington Times reporting on the survey results, 50% of likely voters feel that Republicans would likely do a better job of providing National Security. Only 33% favored Democrats in the pole.

Nearly one year ago (May of 2009) just after the Presidential transition, the same poll showed that the American people felt Democrats were equally as capable as Republicans with regard to national defense. When asking questions like “Keeping American Safe” or “Ensuring a strong military” or “Making America Safer from nuclear threats” Democrats now trail Republicans at 13%, 31% and 11% respectively.

So now, you are thinking that numbers can be made to look favorable to whomever is pimping them, right? I would agree with you. What is interesting is that Democracy Corps was founded in 1999 as the result of a few people feeling outraged at the political partisanship of Congress when they impeached President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In 2000, Democracy Corp rallied the proverbial troops of voters when their preferred candidate, Al Gore, didn't get elected the next President of the United States. Said another way, this group isn't about to win any political conservatism awards.

And now they are reporting that America is disappointed in the Presidency of Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats. Why would that be? Well, it appears that today, the Democracy Corps is dedicated to what they would call “making the government of the United States more responsive to the American people.” They clearly take issue with the fact that the government doesn't appear to be listening to the people.

All of the poll on health care demonstrate the same exact outcome. The trend as it were, exclaims loudly that the American public don't feel the current administration nor Congress is listening, and they are being vocal.

There is plenty of advice the group gives to Democrats in Congress and the White House. They label that advise “Analysis.” But regardless of their politically aligned advice, the bottom line is: American's feel that we are less safe and the world has a lower opinion of America now than it did the day this administration took over Washington, DC.

Feel free to read more straight from the horses mouth:

http://www.democracycorps.com/strategy/2010/03/the-politics-of-national-security-a-wake-up-call/?section=Analysis

Virginia And New Jersey Go Conservative

Sending a significant and critical message to Washington, both Virginia and New Jersey selected conservative leadership in their Gubernatorial elections. With a year-long Federal power grab led by the current Presidential Administration, selecting conservative governors (important for a state so strategically located next to DC and huge for a state as historically liberal as New Jersey) means defending states rights against an out of control and out of touch Congress and White House.

Just two days ago President Obama called incumbent liberal Governor Jon Corzine a "key component" in his ability to keep his campaign promises. according to the Associated Press. Tonight, according to CNN's political ticker White House aides claim that President Obama isn't even watching those same "key" election results roll in.

I guess that means President Obama can't keep those campaign promises?

Si Senior, Gracias

Tonight I am returning from having been downtown to relax a little before heading into the next business week here. On the way home to Crystal City I went to catch the yellow line from Chinatown and was fully distracted by my thoughts and the soundtrack playing through my iPhone.

I flipped open the metro app to see when the train would arrive and it said it would show up in about one minute. Just then people started to fill the platform from various directions.

I noticed this Hispanic family paying very close attention to their map and each other. Everyone was holding hands. Suddenly the matriarch of the family stepped up the couple standing beside me and said something in Spanish. The darker-skinned man next to me replied "Si!" and the lady smiled.

As the metro opened its doors the family, hand in hand all flowed onto the train.

I found myself sitting just behind the couple who offered advice in Spanish to the family. They all kept smiling over in the direction of the couple, appearing thankful for his having shared advice with them. Then I overheard the couples conversation.

"I did not know you knew Spanish," she said.

"Yeah, people see me and think I know Spanish. This wasn't the first time," he replied.

He went on, "Usually it is just a question and so I just say 'Si' which means yes."

I was in shock! What did the family ask him? Were they on the right train? Did they ask about something to do with what would be at their coming destination?

At the next stop the family got up, all hand in hand, and began to file off the train. Each of them smiled at the couple. The patriarch of the family took up the rear of their family line and as he exited the train said, "Gracias!" to the couple.

As our train took off again, their conversation briefly continued.

"What did he say," she asked.

"He said Gracias, which I think means... like... 'You are a very kind person'... or something like that," he replied.

I really hope that family is not lost in DC? How bizarre was that?

Saturdays and Sundays

Wearing my tennis shoes, shorts and pullover, sporting my freshly cleaned glasses I gripped my warm caramel cappuccino in one hand as I cradled my newly purchased books in the other while dialing in some good walking music which ended up being Tom Middleton’s “life tracks” album. This is a balancing act whether you throw in a moving escalator or not.

At the bottom of the down elevator I meandered out the front door of the Barnes & Noble at the corner of 12th and E Street. It is worth mentioning that E Street turns into Pennsylvania Avenue one block East. It is worth mentioning because even though the weather is a bit chilly, hence the pullover, people seem to swarm the vicinity of the Whitehouse on the weekends. If you slow down enough and do a little crowd observation you will see people standing around the parameter fences gazing at the place in hopes to see the president, or some recognizable government official walk past a window. Ironically, these are the same people that would ask themselves “Who is this idiot?” if they saw their own state senator giving some commentary on the nightly news, let alone recognize a government official stroll past a window in the Whitehouse. But I digress. The streets are filled with people and just out the doors at the base of the escalator I will become one of many as I work my way toward the metro.

The breeze on the street gives me goose pimples on my legs as I walk making the coffee that much more welcome. I really love a warm coffee on a cool day. Thankfully, the overcast sky is holding back the raindrops and I am really digging the walk, and the crowds, the clean streets and the eclectic mix of it all. The music really helps too.

As I round the corner to go East down G Street toward Chinatown I find myself thinking about the movie I just watched and how it reflects a few key moments in my life. The film was “Management” with actors Steve Zahn and Jennifer Aniston. Not all of the film is a great match to my life but what movie, or book for that matter, ever is. In fact if I were to write a book or a screenplay I don’t think I would make it too much like my life for fear of mostly boring the snot out of the sucker who dropped the cash to call the story entertainment. But this movie definitely struck a chord with me. I could go into the details and explain but it is maybe better to just recommend the film and tell you that it contained some decent writing and a few moments of great acting. Even though it is a somewhat melancholy film I still think it has a metric ton of heart and touches on some very intimate moments that most films so callously blast through with over acting and dramatic scoring. I am still thinking through the parallels between the two main characters. It is worth the $10 ticket.

At about G and 10th I can see the Verizon Center flickering in the distance. It is a nice little walk as it takes you past the north side steps of the National Portrait Gallery. That is where people sit and chat, eat ice cream on a warm summer day (which this is not), talk on their cellphones and such, as the world buzzes by headed for the Capitol buildings or the Shakespeare Theater or the Spy Museum.

Just as I am about to step across the street the person to my right seems to say something to me. I turn slightly and give a nod and as I turn back to cross I notice he is smiling right at me. For fear that I have done something unintentionally awkward and in an effort to fix the situation I slip one earbud out of my head dulling my walking soundtrack just slightly and ask him, “Did you just say something?”

He struggles to respond. I am thinking maybe I made a mistake. My assertive question seems to have made him a little uncomfortable and he is searching for words in his mind as if I have just asked him, a perfect stranger, for money and he is now dragging his hands through his pockets out of inconvenient kindness.

“Do you…where…ugh…know you…Chinatown?” He is foreign. Every word is crystal clear and even though he doesn’t quite have all of the nuances worked out, his broken English makes perfect sense. Fhew. I am not the crazy guy hearing voices and barking at people on corners today. He did say something.

I attempted to explain how the huge building in the near distance with the blinking signage for sports events and concerts was basically the edge of Chinatown. He didn’t get it. Finally, “Hey, just follow me. I am walking in that direction,” I offered.

Over the next few blocks I learned that he is going to be in the U.S. for a month and is hoping to explore his way up to Manhattan before heading home. He didn’t speak a word of English when he got here. He is basically picking up the language as he goes. I am starting to envy his journey. “Where are you from?” Tajikistan is his reply.

My brain is riffling through memories from the 10-years-or-older file when I once remembered learning something about Tajikistan. I asked him, “So what languages do you speak then?” He replied, “I can… Tajik, Russian…now English.” He smiled. There were a few other languages that he picked up along the way but I was confused a little by his pronunciation of their names. My brain also stopped at “Russian.”

At the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, I took a few years of Russian. I had taken a number of years of German in High School and wanted to continue learning that but in between my Freshman and Sophomore years of college I traveled to Russia where I caught the bug. So, midway through my Sophomore year of school I started taking Russian language classes. That turned into about two and a half years of Russian, about 12 years ago. In my mind, as time passes and you don’t use a certain skill, you lose street-cred in that area. Doing the rough math of street-cred depreciation I figured I have retained the equivalent of maybe one year of Russian language skills, if I am lucky. Nonetheless, it felt like an opportunity to jump back on the bike.

“Ya ezuchia-you po-Ruski adeen le-yet vv-Oonivers-i-tyet,” I said. He smiled again. “You know Russian?” I just told him I studied the Russian language for one year at the University (I think) and he now wanted to chat about it… in Russian. “Vwee ezuchach Ruski Yazik, vam?” It started coming back to me. “Adeen Lyet v-Oonivers-i-tyet, dyesiet lyet… ugh… ago!?” I told him I studied for one year at the university, ten years ago. Of course this wasn’t quite right, but my street cred was low and I couldn’t remember how to say the number 12… or the word “ago.” He corrected my grammar a little and I tried to say it a little better repeating the pronunciation he just gave me.

“You say… I understand… very good.” I got the thumbs up. Then somewhere between Russian and English and over the course of a few blocks I was informed that my pronunciation was very good and that if I wanted he was offering to sit and have more coffee so I could practice my Russian. For one, what a nice offer, and two, I was shocked that any of that Russian was coming back to me. In fact, in retrospect now I don’t honestly remember translating some of the phrases I said. It just seemed to come back to me, which is very cool if not completely inspiring. But at the moment I was also quite overwhelmed. I should have sat down and had more coffee and talked but at that point I had fully exhausted the remainder of my Russian vocabulary.

We exchanged names and email addresses and I turned to head for the metro. He opened a notebook and pointed to an address. Apparently there was a particular place in Chinatown where he was headed and it worked out that I had my iPhone on me so I could give him directions. I punched in his destination as we walked North to the corner of H and 7th. Amazingly his destination was less than a full block West on H Street and he smiled again. “I am lucky,” he said. We shook hands and went in two different directions.

I have decided that my life is often most fun in the “by chance” moments. Some call it providence, some call it luck, others destiny in the hands of God. I don’t believe any of that honestly. I think in all of those situations God would have people connecting to people and the result is a somewhat profound moment when we realize that making a living connection is better than a phone call, or a movie or a book, or the internet or even blogging or reading someone’s blog. The moment is made by God, but not like two wind-up toys marching toward each other in a fated collision course. We are not automaton robots who are slowing figuring out that we are either on or off God’s script. We are dancing with Him and dancing with each other and this is His party. Sometimes we are so busy self destructing or trashing His place that we lose sight of the party and take no joy in it. Others of us are so amazed at those in attendance that we forget who is throwing the party to begin with. And once in a while we realize He has pulled this thing together and no matter what our backgrounds happen to be, where we have been or where we are going, God is throwing one great party and I don’t want to miss it. I don’t want any of us to miss it. Lots of people are invited to this party, but so few ever really show up.

In conclusion here, I also want to give a shout-out to my friends the Hartantos. On Saturday they picked me up at my place and took me to Annandale, VA, (a veritable Korea-town part of sorts) where we feasted on some amazing Korean cuisine. All I can say is that you two are a blessing to me. Thank you for making my Saturday and showing me around a bit. I really appreciate it.

The Polls Are In: Big Media Lost

Of 100% percent of Americans influenced by big media, 115% of them claimed to be influenced from 0 to 250% of the time.

Statistics make my head hurt. Not really, but what is worse is when statistics hold no bearing on reality. In a last ditch effort to do the political thing before it drives me crazy I thought I would share some of these more recent stats with everyone.

In the last two elections, polls leading up to and in the election had George W. Bush losing the presidential race, or at least that is what Big Media would like you to think.

Over the last two elections, two major blunders seemed (to me) to play out: everyone thought that young adults were going to come out in droves and vote. At the same time, big media houses promoting statistics that didn't represent reality seemed to have an adverse affect on the looser (presumptively, I will admit. It seems that if people think their candidate is winning, then they don't bother going out to vote.)

Ignoring statistics completely, based on the buzz that surrounds Obama vs. McCain, which way do you think the country is leaning? If the amount of support and buzz equals poll results, what do you think those statistics should look like? Is Obama leading the charge for change in the minds of American voters? Is McCain the maverick this country needs according to poll results?

Surprisingly I haven't heard a lot about polls so far this election. If I do, then they are about a very specific demographic on a very specific topic. But what about polls with regard to the general election. Let's take a look at the same poll source that the LA Times refers to.

Before you run out to re-examine the political bias of the LA Times, understand that RealClearPolitics is there source (in some cases.) RealClearPolitics takes a look at a number of polling firms to get a larger picture of how the polls measure up across polling companies. So how do the numbers look at this time then?

According to the polls page of RealClearPolitics when taking into account polls from the major networks, Associated press, Gallup and others (ten sources in all on the frontpage) seven show McCain leading the polls, two show Obama with a one point gain, and one shows a tie, giving McCain more than a two point lead (notice that USA Today shows McCain in more of a lead than FOX News.)

Interesting stuff.

Side-note: RealClearPolitics, on the same page, offers insight into the approval rating for congress. Wow. Hanging at or around an all time low. Asking the same question as this article in the LA Times, wasn't this the congress that outed the GOP and took over the majority role, campaigning for change, promising to clean up Congress? So let me get this right. Campaigning for change, promising to clean up congress, in the voting majority, outcome equalling the lowest ratings of Congress in history. I know that I definitely hear the press talk about how frustrated and disappointed and unapproving the population is of Republican President George W. Bush. Seldom do we hear that the Democrat-led-Congress is also achieving an all time low in the minds of voters. Blameshifting asside, Washington seems romantically infatuated with promoting change. Sadly, current history tells us that we as a population are just getting hoodwinked by politicians again and again, bringing us the earcandy that we love and not delivering much else.

Again, if you want change, then look at the change-agenda of the presidential candidates this election and hope that your candidate will do what they say. All we have is hope. "But Steve, I don't trust the other guy. He is shady. I am voting for the lesser of two evils." Ah, they are all Shady, don't kid yourself. Just vote for the one who's talking points you most agree with and hope they keep their word.

I have said it before. I think all of the candidates have issues that make them look good or bad, visionary or revisionistic, substantial or shallow, etc. I am just affraid that this election might be the biggest goof-up in history when we simply don't take the time to listen and learn, but rather we are obessing about what Sarah Palin might have said about Dinosaurs. (if you don't want to take the time to follow the link, here is the hint: the quote was a fake quote made up as a joke.)

So whether you think Sarah Palin doesn't have the prerequisit experience to be Vice President, or if you think that Obama, who has less years of experience than Palin, doesn't have enough experience to be President, get into the real facts and stop pimping rediculum.

UPDATE: A friend of mine sent me a couple link that might be of value to you. Yahoo! has setup a political dashboard that simplifies a view into general election polls. You can view this here:

Yahoo! Election 08 Political Dashboard

As well, if you are interested in hearing about why the nation is going McCain, here is an article from Politico on Yahoo! News.

The Call - Washington, DC, Aug-16-2008 Recap Video

A day in the sun praying for Washington, DC, at The Call, on August 16, 2008. It was a beautiful day of being with friends, old and new, with the Lord and praying over the city and the country.

Cool, cool!