Whole Grain Politics

Two things I need to mention right away, because I don't have time this morning for witty prose and digressive introductions.

One, I had the most disappointing discussion with my students last night about food. I could not for the life of me interest them in a conversation about the ethical implications of how we source our food, or get them to follow me into thought about how what we eat both causes and is a symptom of other national and global instability. This is the first time I have ever taught this unit to a disinterested classroom and it was frustrating. I finally said to them, "So basically, the world could crumble because we're misusing resources, and we're all too lazy or selfish to do anything about it." And they replied--oh my breaking heart!--that they would care when something catastrophic occurred.

And two, I read this in the paper this morning, courtesy of a Republican party member:

"The most important question for Republicans in both the House and the Senate — and for the future Republican chairman — is how forcefully to take on Mr. Obama once he becomes president. Richard N. Bond, a former Republican chairman, said he thought the Congressional Republicans would — and should — take on Mr. Obama aggressively. Mr. Bond suggested that Republicans should not be deterred by the enthusiasm inspired by Mr. Obama’s election, which he argued would be transitory.“When people wake up from their Bush hangovers, six months from now,” Mr. Bond said, “it is my belief that they are not going to be buying into some of the things that Obama will potentially be doing. You have a real potential for these guys making a fundamental misjudgment of this election. They just didn’t want George Bush anymore" (Nagourney, NYT).

Maybe instead of plotting their next move to further destroy the sanctity of democratic government and our economic system (I'm not sure Henry Paulson really needs any help destroying the economy), they should figure out how to work with the new president to ensure an increasingly stable infrastructure and foreign policy. Our country is broken and it needs to be fixed, not fought over.

Maybe they're waiting for "catastrophe," too.