I do not tend to see the world the same way as Florida Senator Marco Rubio does. But we had the pleasure of having his recently departed General Counsel Len Collins at our last Dinner at the Square program on immigration. Collins was bright, articulate, exceptionally well-informed and incredibly pleasant. I’d double dog dare anyone to even try to dislike him.

And – given the substantive impediments to any kind of immigration reform and our desperate need to do something, I’ve left our discussion about immigration with the general sense that Senator Rubio is brave to step out and lead on it. Sure, he’s a politician so he’s trying to get a win out of it in the hispanic community, but I like anyone occupying a middle ground these days (for whatever reason) and there is considerable downside risk to him in what he did, since he needs to keep winning primaries to stay senator or be president. If you doubt that, check out the National Review cover skewering him for his support of reform.

So given my recent more personal experience with the Senator’s views (and staff), when I saw the spate of headlines drawing attention to his apparent faux pas demanding a nonexistent IRS commissioner to resign (the former commissioner’s term expired in November – and he was appointed by the Bush administration), I dug a little deeper.

Turns out there is currently an acting director, who served as deputy director in the chain of command where the problem took place. Rubio’s staff says that’s who he was referring to. Now, I don’t know if this was an error on the part of the senator, his staff (more likely) or simply a poorly written statement. But making a headline of it – as so many articles did – just seems small. Are we really going to spend our civic energy being petty?

This is a perfect example of why our tribalism is growing deeper and more impenetrable by the day.

If you like Rubio, you’re likely to give him a break. If you don’t like him, you’re liable to revel in his error. And we had media that did both. (Then there’s this accumulation of ewwww. Some pieces yammered on snottily about a typo.)

Meanwhile over at Fox News, they’re spinning yarns about just how high the order to audit Tea Party organizations originated (and I’m betting you can guess how high they think). Again, they have no intention of giving a President Obama the break they’d have given a President Bush for the identical situation.

Someone’s going to have to grow up. Until that happens, please do read – and listen – with caution.

Speaker of the House John Boehner had a tough job today – he presented the official flags at President Obama’s inaugural luncheon. Let’s just say in these somewhat tribal times, he was outnumbered and behind “enemy” lines. Here are his gracious comments, for which he received a standing ovation.

The people’s representatives met in this chamber over five decades prior to the civil war. It’s a wonder they actually made it here that long. You see, the acoustics were terrible. You just couldn’t hear anything. Or in some spots you could hear everything that was being said in the room.

And of course it was also at a time when our leaders weren’t hearing each other all that well to begin with. A century and a half and many architectural improvements later, we gather in the old hall to better hear one another and to renew the appeal to better angels. We do so amid the rituals and symbols of unity, none more important than our flag. Read all »

In case you didn’t catch this earlier, here’s a bipartisan spoof featuring Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker. The video was shown at the New Jersey Press Association’s Legislative Correspondents Club dinner. We give it two thumbs up. Perhaps New Jersey is actually on to something?

I looked and looked for a video of these touching moments to share with you if you didn’t catch Tuesday night’s State of the Union, but I couldn’t find one. So I’m sharing this video as an introduction. You can see Congressman Flake at Giffords’ left in the first half of the video below.

Last year’s State of the Union found Arizona Republican Representative Jeff Flake sitting next to Representative Gabby Gifford’s empty seat as she struggled for her life in the aftermath of the shooting. So this year he reports being delighted to be able to – as NoLabels.org advocated for – sit in a bipartisan fashion next to his colleague. Throughout the speech, Rep. Giffords stood up with her Democratic party at the appropriate Democratic applause lines.

And each time she did, it was Representative Flake who both helped her to her feet and helped her sit back down again. He was, many times that night, the only Republican in the chamber standing.

“She knew when she wanted to stand up,” Flake told Yahoo News. “And I stood when she stood.”

“I want to raise your taxes, cut spending on programs you like, and force you to rethink how we run our schools, banks, armies, hospitals and elections. And I want you to cheer when I’m done.” Read the whole excellent article online at The Washington Post (This one is so good that we’ve added it to our Village Square Library…)

“I think we need political courage and will right now. We need big bold ideas. We’re not going to solve these problems incrementally by putting bandaids on things. If this was a business the business would be bankrupt… We need transformation and that transformation comes from leadership. We’re in a crisis, we need decisiveness… I don’t think this is that hard. What’s hard is when you get people in a room who have ideology and re-election and polling. The elephant in the room is not the problem, it’s self-interest.” –Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS on Sunday. (Photo credit: Cody Simms)

This morning Starbucks has announced some interesting community partnerships that will profit-share in neighborhoods like Harlem and the Bronx. We just mentioned Starbucks yesterday with news that its CEO Howard Schultz was recommending that companies consider sitting out this election cycle until the kids in Washington start behaving like grownups. What an interesting turn of events this would be: Our elected leaders stop leading and our companies stop funding their expensive campaigns to keep the jobs they aren’t doing; take the money and lead themselves… Check out the initiative at www.starbucks.com

“There’s a fusion of news and politics and entertainment now in a way where just experience, just knowledge, just policy grasp and presentation isn’t enough. There has to be an entertainment or schtick or novelty component to it to capture and sustain the public’s interest – and to lead it – and that’s part of leadership, to have that dynamic quality. As I like to say jokingly, it’s the Kardashian’s world… We’re just living in it.” — Former Minnesota Governor and presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty (R) on Morning Joe

(Photo credit: Gage Skidmore)

September 2011

Dear Starbucks Friend and Fellow Citizen:

I love our country. And I am a beneficiary of the promise of America. But today, I am very concerned that at times I do not recognize the America that I love.

Like so many of you, I am deeply disappointed by the pervasive failure of leadership in Washington. And also like you, I am frustrated by our political leaders’ steadfast refusal to recognize that, for every day they perpetuate partisan conflict and put ideology over country, America and Americans suffer from the combined effects of paralysis and uncertainty. Americans can’t find jobs. Small businesses can’t get credit. And the fracturing of consumer confidence continues.

We are better than this.

Three weeks ago, I asked fellow business leaders to join me in urging the President and the Congress to put an end to partisan gridlock and, in its place, to set in motion an upward spiral of confidence. More than 100 business leaders representing American companies – large and small – joined me in signing a two-part pledge:

First, to withhold political campaign contributions until a transparent, comprehensive, bipartisan debt-and-deficit package is reached that honestly, and fairly, sets America on a path to long-term financial health and security. Second, to do all we can to break the cycle of economic uncertainty that grips our country by committing to accelerate investment in jobs and hiring.

In the weeks since then, I have been overwhelmed by the heartfelt stories of Americans from across the country, sharing their anguish over losing hope in the strongest and most galvanizing force of all – the American Dream. Some feel they have no voice. Others feel they no longer matter. And many feel they have been left behind.

We cannot let this stand.

Please join other concerned Americans and me on a national call-in conversation on Tuesday September 6th hosted by “No Labels,” a nonpartisan organization dedicated to fostering cooperative and more effective government. To learn more about the forum and the pledges, visit www.upwardspiral2011.org

America is at a fragile and critical moment in its history. We must restore hope in the American Dream. We must celebrate all that America stands for around the world. And while our Founding Fathers recognized the constructive value of political debate, we must send the message to today’s elected officials in a civil, respectful voice they hear and understand, that the time to put citizenship ahead of partisanship is now.

Yours is the voice that can help ignite the contagious upward spiral of confidence that our country desperately needs.

With great respect,

Howard Shultz

chief executive officer, Starbucks Coffee Company

____________

(Thanks to – who else but – Lea Marshall)

Read the whole article in the Tallahassee Democrat HERE. I know this will sound crazy (at first), but Florida legislative leaders ought to enlist K.C. Smith of the Florida History Fair to help them with redistricting — and they ought to see if Cindy O’Connell of the Florida Lottery will assist, too. Confused? Let me see if I can explain. Early next year, the Florida Legislature must adopt redistricting plans for State House, State Senate, and U.S. Congressional elections. These plans must comply with six redistricting guidelines Read all »

Noting that “we live in an age of economic stagnation and social crisis, and the two are intimately connected,” Ross Douthat wrote this about the end of Mike Huckabee’s 2012 presidential prospects in The New York Times:

He’ll be missed because he embodied a political persuasion that’s common in American life but rare in America’s political class. This worldview mixes cultural conservatism with economic populism: it’s tax-sensitive without being stridently antigovernment, skeptical of Wall Street as well as Washington, and as concerned about immigration, family breakdown and public morals as it is about the debt ceiling.

This combination of views represents one of the plausible middle grounds in American politics.

Read the whole article HERE. Hat tip to Bill Mattox for sending it our way.

A British study released Thursday in Current Biology further supports theories that there far more to political difference than just who we vote for. It’s already been shown that there are differing levels of brain activity in the amygdala and upper brain cortex in liberals and conservatives, but apparently there is also a difference in the size of each part of the brain. Conservatives have more brain mass in their amygdala, the region of the brain associated with fear. Liberals have a larger anterior cingulate cortex which is associated with managing uncertainty and conflict. It’s anybody’s guess as to whether the political bent affected the size of the brain region or if the brain differences started the whole shebang. It continues to be our assertion that it’s understanding where people are coming from – differences in brain and all – that makes all the difference in having a constructive civic dialogue with them. Read all »