October 13, 2010

Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)

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Considering I have no hair except for what's in my nose and ears and on my face, the preceding video may seem a little off at the start of KD's look/prognostications at/for mid-term elections.

Of course, I'm a little off.

Moretheless - hint - I think both major parties are going to be humbled on 11/2.

Whether the video is a Samson metaphor for dyed-in-the-wool-but-not-Spirit Democrats and Republicans who are doing everything but their heavenest to ruin America or a metaphor for my interspersed sense of contrition will be for you decide.

Or maybe you just won't deal with the metaphors at all and confirm/contradict/criticize what I think is/ain't gonna go down on 11/2 to the shock of all those pachyderms and jackasses - Can you identify the party? - who'd vote for Satan if it were their party's nominee?

Whoa.

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As mentioned in the last KD (scroll down to 10/6), I'm changing.

I'm more passionate than ever before about Jesus; yet while thanking/praising Him for His existential/eternal saving graces, I'm really praying/laboring to make Him Lord of every part of my life if you know what I mean.

What I mean is I've moved to the most confessional/repentant period of my life and ministry.

I could write a book about it; but, uh, my books don't sell very well.

Be that as it is and will remain until somebody takes a chance on my book about biker culture as metaphor and challenge to the church, I just sent a letter (10/9) to my outlaws in the spirit/Spirit of what I'm trying to convey:

Dear Lillian and Ralph,

I am writing to you from the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel Dean's
Office of the University of Chicago.

Arriving a little early to avoid traffic because I will be presiding at
a wedding in the next few hours, I have some time to write a
brief note that has been too long in coming.

While no one is pure and perfect in every way, I just want you to
know that Leslie has been a laudable wife, mom, and step-mom.

Certainly, it hasn't always been easy for her. ___ was especially
challenging; and we're still overcoming the vestiges of those
days.

I haven't been easy for her.

While I had a marital hiccup about 12 years ago related to ___'s
time with us, Leslie is more than everything that I had ever hoped
and prayed for in a wife and mother to our children.

Truth is I have not been nearly the husband to Leslie that she has
been the wife to me.

Indeed, if it weren't for her, we would not have a reasonably stable
and secure home life.

These past few months have been extraordinarily humbling for me
as I have had a lot of time to think about my life, our life, and the
future.

A long trip to Sturgis, my mother's health challenges, a cherished
friendship that I pray will be restored, some independent counsel
on my previous addiction to plastic (Gave up using credit cards
two years ago!), the sad state of our country's economy and
government, and the challenges of church life in an increasingly
secular culture have caused me to think deeply about my life,
wife, family, ministry, and lots of really important things.

I have concluded that I'm not as great as I thought I was as a
husband, father, pastor, and all of the rest.

My reason for writing is twofold.

First, while I must still deal with the consequences of my
shortcomings, I am expectant and psyched about what I
have learned; especially in the last two to twelve years.

Though people think I'm smart, it's taken that long for me
to put the pieces together.

I've been helped a lot by our Lord through some friends and
family.

Second, I have re-committed myself to being the kind of
husband that Leslie deserves; and as we move to the end
of our first quarter century of marriage, I look forward to
giving my best to her for the rest of my life.

I want to thank you for everything that you are and have
done to make her into the woman, daughter, sister, wife,
and mother that she is.

She is truly a gem amid the fiberglass; and I am thankful
that I have some time left in my life to prove my affirmation
and affection.

Blessings and Love!

P.S. Your sons are pretty great too!

Whoa.

Somebody said, "Confession is good for the soul; but bad for your reputation."

Well, I'd rather err on the side of my soul if you know what I mean.

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Speaking of humbling, I may be wrong but I think incumbents from both parties are gonna be surprised on 11/2.

BBPBHO ain't as popular as his sycophants fantasize; and he ain't as unpopular as his antagonists advertise.

Yeah, I've been following as many polls as I can find on the net; but just like I can't find anyone who voted for Johnson or Nixon, people who assume the mid-terms are a referendum on BBPBHO are as deluded as those who think Boise State deserves a shot at the national championship because of their incredibly cool blue field 'cause it can't be their pansy schedule that makes Rock Valley College's look worthy of BCS bowl consideration.

Oops.

Rock Valley College doesn't play football.

That's what I mean!

Besides, just who's gonna challenge him from the GOP?

I think the Secretary of State has a better chance of...

And that's my first prognostication.

If BBPBHO doesn't dump the VP who ain't from anywhere near The Office in Scranton for her, she's gonna pull a Kennedy-on-Carter with much more success.

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Some background from KDers:

California: "As James Carville said, 'It's the economy, stupid!' The recession is very deep...the true unemployment rate is much higher than the smoke and mirrors coming out of DC...The rate has stayed at 16% nationally and has actually gone up in the last month."

Illinois: "This is a time of testing - a shaking of what really matters. God desires to tear down the house of Saul...to establish the house of David...The house of Saul builds in it's own strength and attracts the masses. The house of David waits, seeks the Lord, raises up disciples, and worships with holy fire...The house of Saul represents insecure leadership reproducing insecure leaders who bend to the crowd...It's time for the house of David...God is shaking us!"

Georgia: "Our employment rate just went up from 10 to 10.4%. The local papers are now saying Atlanta is the new Detroit. Homes are boarded up...grass as tall as the windows and weeds growing in the driveways...But to the point. What amazes me is this. DC says the recession ended 15 months ago. Where have they been this whole time? Is their economic team so slow and dumb that it takes 15 months to get a grip on real time? They need to quit flying around in their airplanes and find out what's really happening!"

Pennsylvania: "I don't care who, where, or what! They've all got to go! We need to start over! Defeat them all!"

New York: "I'm afraid most incumbents will win because we're just too stupid to vote the ___s out! So annoying! People ___ and ___ about them; but then turn around and vote them back into office. I guess we keep getting the incompetence reflected in us."

Maryland: "Isn't it great to live in a society where the penalty for lying to a Congressman can be up to 30 years in jail but the penalty for a Congressman lying to you is another two years in office?"

California: "November will be ugly for incumbents; especially Dems. They've earned it!"

Simply, people are ticked off; but I don't think they're ticked off enough for the kind of real changes in office that could inspire renewed hope across the land.

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All 435 seats in the House are up for grabs.

37 Senate seats will be contested.

38 state and territorial governorships are up for grabs.

And that's not including the plethora of local stuff; which you can predict for yourself.

In other words, it could be more of the same or something much different from the last two to ten years.

While I may be wrong and we'll find out for sure on 11/2, I think the following prognostications are pivotal to keeping the same old same old for the same old same old or a bloodless revolution increasingly overdue.

Parenthetically, I see a handful of gains for the GOP in Governorships (up to 7), only five or six losses for Dems in the Senate, and maybe twenty newbies in the House.

The bellwethers beginning in my neck of the woods:

The Illinois race for Governor pits former Blago running mate Quinn against, uh, who really cares in a state with more Dems than white mice in a psychology lab. Quinn wins with the help of dead voters in Chicago.

The same goes for the Illinois Senate race.

I don't see the Freeport Mayor upsetting the incumbent this time around in District 16 (closer than previously assumed); but if things don't get better, watch out in two years!

Looking around the country at state capitals, watch for Linda Ronstadt's former boyfriend to win in California in my non-upset special. The rest should go as the majority of polls suggest.

Looking at the House where there are a lot of close ones that should end up with mutual surprises resulting in a modest GOP gain, the polls are laughably wrong about Pennsylvania's 11th District. Barletta's a firebrand on illegal immigration and the rednecks love him; but the ethnic vote remains strong for the incumbent along with my sense that a GOP win would signal the eschaton. Kanjorski wins big despite polls saying Barletta's ahead. NB! If the Hazleton mayor does beat Flood's clone in this race, it's gonna be a very, very, very big night for Tea Partiers as they serenade on Pennsylvania Avenue, "Turn out the lights! Your party's over!"

Several Senate races should go down to the wire; and watch for a close race in Florida with Rubio nipping the reborn populist Crist, Rand Paul defying the odds and pejorative press with a solid victory in Kentucky, Richard Burr getting a scare but hanging on in North Carolina, the most Mormon winning in Utah, and possible if improbable upsets for Tea Partiers in California (kinda) and Delaware (go back to the bold print in the preceding paragraph for a parallel).

Caution!

Watch for some last second shifts as the great campaigner who says nothing eloquently...

Again, do not under-estimate BBPBHO's popularity; which is why the GOP's mid-term gains won't be nearly as big as Boise State's unwarranted rise in the polls.

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In short, change is good as it conforms to something/Someone better.

I'm hoping my changes are falling into that category even as I lament the country's...

We'll see.

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Speaking of seeing, uh, I mean hearing, click on www.bnnsradio.com every Tuesday live at 5 for political guests and commentary through 11/2; and check the archives for shows that you've missed.

Or just click on www.bnnsradio.com and then click on Kopp Disclosure for the bumper music.

Maybe you can mix some metaphors!

Go back to the first video.

It's humbling.

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Blessings and Love!