Kairos Starts Now

Welcome!

This is my new politically-themed blog which I'm calling "Kairos". As an undergraduate at the University of Iowa, I learned that the Ancient Greeks (and maybe modern Greeks, for all I know) had two words for time. There was chronos, which was the normal, mundane, day-to-day flow of minutes and hours and days during which nothing much happens that is especially memorable. Kairos, on the other hand, is a turning point, a moment pregnant with possibility, after which nothing is the same.

I believe we're living in such a time right now. I believe that as a nation we've strayed from what we used to be and maybe even from what we think we are. I believe we need a change in the Presidency, and I intend to make a case for that change over the coming 10 weeks leading up to the election.

"So," you might wonder, "if you're a Bush-hater, why is there an elephant at the top of your blog?"

Well, I'm glad you asked.

First of all, I am a Republican and will always be a Republican. I'm a Republican the same way I'm an Iowa Hawkeye fan, the same way I am tall. I'm a Republican because it's in my DNA. I voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and Bob Dole before that. No one wants to vote Republican more than I do. Truthfully, I'm a Republican because my grandma was a Republican.

Let me introduce you to her:

 Mary Louise Smith: Biography

"Mary Louise Smith, the first and only woman to chair the Republican National Committee, devoted more than 60 years to improving the political process at the local, state and national level. A native of Eddyville, Iowa, Smith began working in politics in the 1930s in Eagle Grove. Although she twice ran for and won a seat on the Eagle Grove School Board, she decided that the organizational work of politics most appealed to her.

In 1964, Smith was elected as Republican national committeewoman for Iowa and served until 1984. In 1976, Smith became the first woman to organize and call to order a national presidential nominating convention of a major U.S. political party. She served as national chairman of the Republican Party from 1974-1977.

While remaining active in politics, Smith also began working in a wide range of civic, government and community affairs. She was a founding member of the Iowa Women's Political Caucus, Iowa Peace Institute and Iowa Women's Archives. Smith served as a board member, director or trustee of the Alliance for Arts and Understanding, the Chrysalis Foundation, Des Moines Human Rights Commission, Drake University, Republican Mainstream Committee, University of Iowa Foundation, Robert A. Taft Institute of Government, Hoover Presidential Library Association, Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, National Women's Political Caucus, National Conference on Christians and Jews, and the U.S. Peace Institute.

Throughout her work, Smith was praised for her grace, intellect and integrity and for her commitment to fairness, human rights and equal opportunity. She was the epitome of a political leader and community activist, inspiring others to work to improve the political process, government and society."
http://www.iastate.edu/~cccatt/mls.html

Grandma died of lung cancer in 1997. I miss her all the time, but never more than during election years! She loved every part of the political process. She used to say she would stay up all night just to watch the returns on a school beard election! She was a great souce of clarity for me as I was trying to figure things out politically in college during the Reagan years, and I wish she were here now to tell me what she thought about everything that has happened in the past 4 years.

Let me be clear, I don't claim to know what she would say about the state of current events and I certainly don't bring her up in this forum as some sort of endorsement of my own viewpoint. She is so essential to my politics that I couldn't possibly do this without having her a part of it. The gold elephant at the top was hers, and it will grace the top page of this blog as long as it exists.

She had close professional and personal ties to the Bush family which still exist to this day. She was also intensely loyal, and I strongly believe she would be campaigning for George W. Bush today if she could.

I also believe that there are many issues on which she would be silently seething. She warned 25 years ago about the influx of the radical religious faction into the party she led and loved, and she worried that the voice of the moderate Republican would be squelched as the power shifted more and more to the right on social issues.

This article from Salon.com does a great job of summarizing my beliefs on this issue. Here's an excerpt:

"Moderate Republicans are often fiscal conservatives but social liberals -- in many ways, the exact opposite of this administration. They believe in balanced budgets, environmental conservation and a foreign policy that's strong without being needlessly belligerent. They see themselves as the heirs of former President Teddy Roosevelt, the avid conservationist and trustbuster, and former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, the philanthropist, statesman and governor of New York. The party they joined was staid and dignified. It was the other party that seemed shrill and radical."

I'm seething, too, and I believe it's time to change the President, for the nation's sake and for the sake of the Republican Party.

P.S.: Attendance at Kairos is voluntary. Check back again if you're interested, whether you agree or not. I don't imagine I'll change anyone's mind, but like Grandma Smith I love the process, which (in my opinion) relies on civilized, intelligent discussion to thrive. I encourage you to add your thoughts and comments to the debate, but it will be an aristocratic one. No name-calling or ad hominem attacks. This ain't Fox. If you want O'Reilly-type tirades there are other blogs for that.

Or start your own! It's easy!