Well, here we are in the year of President elect 2008. For the last two weeks or so all I have heard is the normal “mudslinging and bashing” on their own party and their opponent.

The sad part is that when the parties elect the person to run for president, the real battle bloodbath begins, starting with the “I approve this message” political ads that flood our TV, radio airwaves and our voice mail boxes on our landline and cell phones (which should be a direct violation of the Do Not Call list).

Bottom line: I would like to see in my lifetime the candidates use that energy toward helping the economy and the American people instead of back stabbing one another.

Thanks to police

I’d like to thank the Hood River police and sheriff departments for their help in putting a stop to the vulgar text messages that were being sent to my cell phone, the e-mails of my public record that were being forwarded on to my friends, and the pornography that was being hand-delivered to my private residence.

‘Stuff’ is good

I enjoyed the article by Peggy Dills Kelter entitled “Savoring Time-tested Treasures” in the Jan. 9 issue of the Hood River News.

The article spoke about the author’s reuse, recycling and hanging on to of “stuff.” I, too, am an advocate of reusing, recycling and hanging on to stuff that by many people’s standards has seen its better day. My kids often chide me for my failure to replace this old stuff with newer, sleeker or technologically advanced models. Some people (even my friends) laugh at me and think I’m cheap because of my resistance to rampant consumerism. But, it’s a good thing.

If you’re interested in what our consumer society costs us (and I don’t mean just in dollars) go to www.storyofstuff.com and watch a great video that provides a history of our consumer, throw-away mentality and the cost to our planet and its inhabitants.

Practice civility

As the presidential campaign turns into high gear, I would like to recommend that we all commit ourselves to a healthy public discourse.

Hopefully in the coming months these pages of letters to the editor, as well as our conversations within our families, with friends, co-workers, etc. will be characterized by a healthy dose of respect and truth-telling and humility. Perhaps all of us would do well to refrain from overly charged labels (“right wing,“ “liberal,“ “unpatriotic,“ etc.) and judgmental statements as we seek to explain our positions and priorities for our country.

The day after Super Tuesday my religious tradition begins the holy season of Lent — it is a time when people of faith are asked to “give up” something that may be unhealthy and to use our energy for the benefit of the wider community.

Perhaps Lent this campaign season could call all of us to “give up” our divisive language, personal attacks, our easy spins of our opponent’s position, our overly defensive style of debating our sincere positions.

This does not mean that we should not continue to speak clearly our positions and convictions on deeply held positions regarding the use of torture, the morality of the Iraq War, the application of Habeus Corpus as a human right, access to health care, a consistent ethic of all life, the best way to protect our fabulous but fragile environment, and how to bestow compassion and a common humanity on those less fortunate than ourselves.

I suggest that in the months ahead we will all be free to articulate our priorities and convictions in a way that uses respect, openness and a willingness to change our minds, rather than a need to immediately discredit the other side as biased or full of malicious intent. I hope that we can avoid personal attacks and insist on focusing on the issues.

Perhaps if we as a community choose to be civil in our daily conversations — neighbor to neighbor — we can then hold our presidential candidates to the same level of political discourse.

Thoughts on snow

As my daughter starts the new year in school watching the propaganda film “An Inconvenient Truth,” I ponder the fact and the fiction she may view as the snow falls outside.

I guess I will focus on the facts. There are 145 inches of snow at Meadows. Highway 20 has a snowpack of 171 percent compared to the average.

Yet, it is only the first part of January. What about the fiction? I am going to win the lottery, produce a personal interest film and then lobby for a Nobel Prize. I will then convince the Department of Education it is fact.

Nothing like watching the snow fall to make you think.