Sublety And style

It’s interesting to watch politics. At least I find it interesting. The science of ‘leading’ people is inexact and so very few do it well.

There’s the authoratarian path… Which works better in some venues than others. Politically George bush, Harvey Weinstein and steve jobs have nothing in common. But their leadership styles, from the outside looking in, are similar. It’s a very top-down, ‘it’s my way or else’ org chart. The generals at the top move the troops forward and the grunts on the bottom charge forward as ordered. It’s served Harvey and Steve well in business and their creative visions have both quite literally changed the world. And even for a while GWB’s authoratarian style seemed uniquely suited for the times. In the days after 9-11 the country was united behind it’s leadership and moved forward with confidence. The problem with the authoratian approach is that after a while it begins to wear on the system. If you don’t believe me, ask steve and harvey’s former employees. One former apple employee told me ‘he’s like plutonium: very powerful, but don’t stand too close.’

Indeed, by the second year of his second term, the country was so tired of Bush, they were wring phrases like ‘worst president ever’. Really? Ever? Really? Was he really the ‘worst’ or was it just his leadership style that made you not want to follow him?

That’s why it’s interesting to me the course President Obama is taking. He’s stated unequivocally that he believes in gay rights, but he hasn’t asked anyone to do anything they’re not comfortable doing. He believes we need real healthcare reform but hasn’t really forced a public option on the American taxpayers who are ultimately the ones who have to pay the bill. Some have faulted him for not shoving some ideaology down the throats of those people who disagree with him. And indeed he has really more of a mandate from the American people to govern than Bush or Clinton ever did. But the way he chooses to use his power is intriguing. He chooses to influence people to make good decisions. It’s fascinating in it’s subtlety and, in my opinion, will be studied for centuries to come. If, that is, it’s successful.

The other verses

Most of us know the first verse, but haunting and poignant are the second, third and fourth verses. It’s easy to see why Congress voted this our national anthem.

On the shore dimly seen thro’ the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
‘T is the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov’d homes and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

- From “The Star Spangled Banner” by Francis Scott Key

Happy Independence Day.

The Urban President

For years, the adjective “URBAN” has been synonymous with “Black”, primarily because in the 60′s we created housing projects in urban areas where we basically threw the poor and underclass minorities.

It is therefore very telling that when choosing where and how to spend his leisure time, the president doesn’t retreat to some compound in West Jesusville, He goes downtown for a dinner and a show.

That’s my kind of President.

The next Roe v. Wade

The creators of Proposition 8 may have done gay men and women in all 50 states a great service. They may have set up a challenge to all same-sex marriage constitutional amendments that will rule them all illegal.

as if in agreement…

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30810275/

what is a city?

I love sunday mornings. Sunday mornings are the times I do some of my best thinking. I dream about what I could do. I see the world as it could be, as I want it to be. I’m going to try to discipline myself to blog every sunday morning because that’s the time I can let me mind go and imagine a better world.

It is into this mood that I got a call from my friend Mary Mulhern who is currently elected to the Tampa City Council, District 2. She’s bringing some more team members in to help beef up her web presence because (i’m inferring) she’s going to run for some other elected office this fall. I’m so proud of the work that she does and I was proud to be a part of her campaign.

Her big passion is urban gardening. She’s involved with the urban gardening movement in Tampa and is a big proponent of neighborhood associations. I was discussing the idea of urban gardening to some of my die-hard conservative friends and their response was something to the effect of “Well, why don’t they just garden in their back yard?” I didn’t have an immediate answer for that response but after careful consideration I’ve come to my opinion.

If you’re someone who believes that people should “just garden on their own land” then you’re probably someone who sees a city as a collection of privately owned spaces in a single location.

During the 70′s, real estate developers all over Florida and across the US built out suburbia with collections of homes and shopping centers and sold the idea that everyone deserved their own plot of land. The more of that land you have, the logic goes, the better off you were. The bigger the house on that land, the better you were situated to provide for your children and, ergo, the better life you’d have.

This altered the prevailing view of what a city is and what it does. The view of a city became about location. These houses and this business in this location equals this city. A very simply formula and what is more, easy to sell. They had the blessing of local, state and federal governments because they contributed to politicians election campaigns and after all, what was more American than to own your own home?

I’d like to say, once and for all, that that marketing campaign is bullshit. Yea, I said it. Bullshit.

A city is not a collection of houses in one location. A city is two things: it’s people and it’s public spaces.  And who owns what piece of land is completely irrelevant to both. What I believe is ultimately more valuable than owning land is being part of a community, in my case, the city of St.Petersburg.

This view also speaks to the continued ongoing battle between Tampa and St. Pete and among the 27 different municipalities in Pinellas County. It’s a turf war of THOSE HOUSES OVER THERE verses THESE HOUSES OVER HERE. The reality of the situation is, we’re part of a larger metroplex and we need to incorporate as a city everything west of I-75 and join together to further the people and public spaces that make Tampa Bay a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Why have an urban garden when people can just “garden in their back yard”? Well, by that logic why have city parks? Why have dog parks? Dogs can run around in people’s back yard. If they don’t have space for it, maybe people just shouldn’t have that big dog in their apartment, or so the logic goes. Why have national parks? Why have courts? Home and business owners should just shoot people that commit crimes on their land. It’s more immediate and much more efficient.

Cities are their public spaces and the people that fill them. Public spaces to relax after work. Public spaces to seek justice in a disput. Public spaces to prosecute those who have wronged the people of the city. Public spaces to connect and bind you together. Urban gardens are about creating public spaces where people of like minds can convene to pursue a community purpose of creating food.

It’s not that you can’t buy a house in the city, but so many people who choose homes in the burgs argue that buying a house in St. Pete or greater Pinellas is so much more expensive than places like Brandon or Pasco County. Well, there’s a reason for that. And the reason is, that in St. Pete, you’re part of a city… you’re part of a community. A set of shared ideas that you may not always agree with, but which have a distinct personality. Ideas which you can ultimately call “home.” You get a better home in Brandon, but in St. Pete, you’ll have a better life.

the GSA prom

As I may or may not have shared, i’m on the board for St. Petersburg Gay Pride and a few weeks back, the board was asked to provide some chaperones for the Pinellas GSA Prom. I volunteered.

I can’t explain what made me want to do it. And I can’t explain the emotions I’m feeling leading up to it. Every time I think about those kids having so much more information about who they are… information I would have killed to have at that age… They have it easy. And harder. Does knowing who you are make the unkind things that schoolmates say any easier to take?

I’m proud of Pinellas County. Pinellas has the highest percentage of school-sponsored GSA’s in the state of Florida and is in the top 20 in the nation.

Wonder what the theme will be? I hope it’s something really cheesy. Mine was Billy Joel’s “This is the Time to Remember.”

I can’t wait to go. And yet i’m dreading it.