An interesting event is taking place tonight in DC. Democratic Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama will be sitting together to discuss Faith, Values and Poverty.

The event is named “Faith Guiding Our Votes,” because it will be a unique forum to ask questions not just about issues, but about values. Not just what policies the candidates propose, but why. Not just whether they believe privately, but about how they live out their faith in public life.

Moderated by author and Sojourners Editor-in-Chief and CEO Jim Wallis, this event is the first of its kind, bringing together God and Politics in a new light.

The country has changed since Bill Clinton was elected. It has changed even since George Bush was elected. Ten years ago (and more), the economy was steady and healthy, it looked like there would be peace (as it could be) in the Middle East, and the country was not nearly as divided as it is now. Today, we have a raging war in Iraq, the economy stumbles, and nobody can agree on anything - there are lots of fingers to be pointed and blame to be pushed around. It’s also interesting that I don’t think I’ve ever seen an election where religion played such a role, and so early on. I also think that Iraq is such a FUBAR situation, that it is difficult to determine and articulate a fine answer and/or solution to both help the country recover from the mess that has been created and get the troops out.

It really is too early to tell how any of this is going to play out, even a year from now once conventions and candidates are finalized, there is no guarantee. What I do know is that with religion playing a hand, no strong candidate on either side (in my opinion), the war in Iraq looming over us all, and the use of Web 2.0 in campaigning and reporting…2008 will be an election for the books.

I can’t take it anymore…here comes some stream of conciousness thoughts on the President’s speech…

• It started out alright, talking about healthcare reform and education, immigration, etc… - 9:15 pm
  
• Seriously, is it even possible for Bush to make a speech and not mention 9/11? - 9:25 pm
  
• Can we count the number of times he says the words “kill”, “evil”, “terror”, and “enemy”…if it was a drinking game I would be shitfaced. - 9:30 pm
• He says the threat of terror will never be over…well, although 9/11 was a tragedy, I feel that those extremists hated America long before that event occured. It’s not something new. - 9:37 pm
  
• I thought this was the state of our union, our country…not an update on the war. I thought that was what he was supposed to do two weeks ago in a special address. Oh wait, he didn’t say anything new. - 9:40 pm
  
• Nancy Pelosi looks annoyed at him. In fact most of the audience looks irritated. - 9:44 pm
• I find it odd he’s wearing a blue suit. I feel like it should be black. - 9:47 pm
• Haven’t we already failed Iraq? And ourselves? - 9:48 pm
• More key words - “chaos”, “harm America”, “tragedy”, oh and again 9/11 - sparing the American people from the danger. - 9:49 pm
• Alright, I would have liked to hear more about balanced budgets, education, healthcare, immigration, poverty, etc… etc… but it seems we’re wrapping up with 10% devoted to that and the rest to the war on terror. - 9:50 pm
• War on terror is a generational struggle…ummm…what about the generations before us? Is this the legacy we want to leave our children? Increasing our military and willingness to kill others in the name of defeating terror? - 9:51 pm
• Do you think Bush knows that Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, and Israel are all different issues and situations? Or are they all just the axis of evil? - 9:53 pm
• OK, the HIV/AIDS in Africa part was good… - 9:55 pm
• Where is your kindness, courage and self-sacrifice, Mr. President? It seems to me all you want to do is kill people in the name of fighting terrorists. - 9:57 pm
• Haha, he called him “son of the Congo”…and DAMN he’s tall! - 9:58 pm
• 200 million for Baby Einstein. I can’t decide if that’s a nice story or a bit frightening. - 9:59 pm
• OK these are nice hero stories. - 10:01 pm
  

Same old shit, different day of the week. Bush is a lone cowboy who doesn’t care what the nation, or the world says. He doesn’t listen to the UN, our allies, or even our military. I’m not saying that a new administration is going to completely change things in Iraq and fix the country, I’m not saying that there aren’t real threats out there, and I’m certainly not saying that we should forget about 9/11 and all the people that have died in Iraq after that…but damn I’m counting down the days until 2008.

This is why I can’t find somewhere decent to live in DC…I mean what does a girl have to do to find some prime real estate?

AM: this place is gorgeous: http://cullen.kowalski.net/HOME.htm
AM: i mean wow
Big Sky Girl: honey that’s the child molester foley’s old house
AM: what shut up
BSG: yeah it was on wonkette
AM: it’s sooo nice though lol
BSG: yeah
AM: that’s why it said former congressman house on CL….hahaha
AM: whatver that is an awesome house who fuckin cares
AM: and it’s CHEAP for all that

Whatever, I would take it…it could be an interesting point of conversation to state who used to live there…

Just a few thoughts from last night:

1. Of course VA would have a recount. Crazy close.

2. Maureen Bunyan = worst anchor ever. Through the first 15 minutes of the 11:00 news on channel 7, she forgot the names of the Virginia Senate candidates, stumbled through the results news, said stupid commentary about one candidate “winning by a landslide” (I mean, can you just report the fact - that wasn’t even like smart speculation) and also said “uh” more times than I care to count. Seriously. Do some research and learn your candidates - even if it’s just the correct name. I know you’re just an anchor but GOD. It was painful to watch and made me want to gouge my eyes out.

3. Also not suprising is the marriage amendment passed as a YES in VA. I think it’s more than a religious/moral type issue though in the long run - had it been banned and companies had to recognize all domestic partnerships (gay, straight, whatever), then it would have also had an economic and business impact. Employers forking over more money to cover whatever your partner was etc… - so I think that had something to do with it too.

4. Does anyone know what hotel in Tysons Webb was at last night? Also found it funny the Fenty camp was closed by the live 11 pm newscast…the reporter was talking in front of an empty tent that was deadly quiet.

5. Looks like the Dems will take over both houses eventually - once all the votes are counted (and recounted) and in. That’s pretty interesting. How can people say voting doesn’t matter and such when you have proof in this election (and also in the Presidential elections in 2000 and 2004)?

Man, watching returns last night made me again wish to be involved in politics and media. I would have loved to have been in a newsroom last night - or at least at the parties! Haha.

On Saturday I took a random turn and drove down to Staunton to visit my good friend. He had told me about this movie documentary called Jesus Camp that looked intriguing. I was sad to see that it was not playing at any of the “artsy” theatres in the DC area, so I had to drive over 2 hours to see it! I could go on and on about this, but I’ll try to keep it brief. I really hope that people go out and see this movie; it’s certainly more frightening than Super Size Me or Fast Food Nation.

The movie was great, it was actually filmed from a pretty unbiased view, and was hardly narrated save for a radio talk show host and some clips from various other radio announcers. The film was shot around the hearings for Judge Samuel Alito and takes place in Missouri and at a camp in North Dakota. The most disturbing thing to me about the entire movie was the fact that the main focus through it all was children. There were some young kids shown - the main 3 highlighted ranged from age 7-12 I think, but through the piece you could see kids as young as 3 involved. These were children who were supposedly experiencing visions and Christ speaking to them, speaking in tongues and crying for forgiveness of their sins and the sins of those around them. In reality, they were all simply regurgitating the words and beliefs of the adults around them. These kids are experiencing thoughts and emotions that many adults don’t even understand. How can they even process it? They cry about their sins and about not being good enough for God. They approach others to try to move them towards Jesus. Free speech is one thing, and the great thing about our country is the premise that we can all believe and follow whatever religion we want. But this…is something else.

The basis of the movie was that these kids are being trained. The leaders used the argument that in places like Pakistan and other countries - kids are being taught to become suicide bombers and to hate America, so why not use our children to spread the word of Jesus. (Or, spread the word that there should be less separation of church and state).

Personally, I think that Evangelicals are scary. They supposedly preach the “gospel” and the truth, but in reality it’s a huge almost cult-like following. According to the movie, 25% of America (or, 80 million) identify themselves as Evangelicals. They firmly believe that the government is an institution out to get them - these kids in the movie took turns taking hammers to porcelain mugs with the word government written on them. Many of the children are home schooled and basically taught that anything scientific is fiction, not fact. They say that the country took a downturn when prayer was removed from schools and that there is a problem with that. How can you denounce a government and system that you yourself are not a part of, or have a desire to be?

The best part of the movie, by far, was the fact that Pastor Haggard was spotlighted in it towards the end. Of course, there was no way of knowing what was to become of him by the time the movie was released, but I found it fantastic that he was shown denouncing homosexuality, and quoted saying something along the lines of, “someone paying you $1,000 to keep your secret. I know what you did last night!” I almost fell out of my chair laughing at the irony. There was also a side note in the movie that stated that he spoke to President Bush every Monday with a board of advisors - contrary to reports now. (On that note, I do feel really bad for his family through all of his recent headline news.)

The second best part of the movie was when they brought out a life-size cut out of George W. Bush, and they all touched it and “blessed” it…basically worshipping him. I mean….wow. I can think of a whole lot of other uses for a cardboard cutout of our fearless leader, and that would NOT be one of them. The Evangelicals were rejoicing that they already had one of them in the White House, ecstatic that Alito got named to the Supreme Court, and gloating in the fact that eventually all of their carefully-groomed children will become prominent members of society and essentially rule the country (taking part in the very system they criticize).

The third thing that got me was the issue of abortion. They had these children crying and praying for unborn children, holding small statues of fetuses (supposedly the size of 7 weeks) and weeping for them, wearing red tape that said LIFE over their mouths (stating that the unborn don’t have a voice). I mean, say what you want – pro-life or pro-choice…but to put that in the hands of children? I was appalled.

I guess I can relax a little in the knowledge that at least half of those kids will probably turn away from the church by the time they are adults.

It’s the other half that I’m worried about…