I think it fits a meditative mood for Lent.

And the Prelude from his Prelude and Fugue in Ab Major for the postlude.

I figure this is melodic enough to at least be present while the cong chats its way to the exits.

Of course I have been playing and thinking about this music recently, so it’s nice to have a place to at least play them in public.

Finished this last night. On to volume 2 which since it wasn’t sitting on the shelves at the library I bought as an ebook and began reading.

Romney won the Republican primary yesterday. Surprising how many votes Santorum received. What I hear of his rhetoric seems mad and full of hate (JFK’s separation of church and state made him throw-up…. Andy Borowitz, the comedian, suggested Santorum was interested in forming a new way to run his country called Stirch. Get it?)

Our janitor at church is obviously Republican and was wearing an “I Voted” sticker. I have to admire this genial guy as he sits in a room with mostly rabid anti-Republicans. We had a luncheon yesterday honoring Henry Idema who is retiring. Henry hates Republicans for sure and is a vocal kind of guy.

How Pop Culture Influences Political Expectations | Truthout

I keep thinking about this interview (which I did eventually read). Gabler has insights about how our political culture is dissolving into a movie where it’s who beats the bad guy (the opponent) that counts and not issues. As Gabler says: governing is a bad movie.

A couple of quotes I marked:

On American cynicism Americans are deeply cynical about politics generally. And one of the reasons we’re cynical is because we get it. We get how it works.

What Gabler wants from better candidates I want to know who a candidate really is. I want him to speak honestly and forcefully to me. And I also want to understand policy-wise what choices is he going to make? What interests are we going to– is he going to serve? You know, these are questions that are almost never addressed in a political campaign and yet they’re the fundamental questions of a political campaign.

A better definition of  “politics” When I say politics I don’t mean the horse race aspect of it. I mean the bargaining, the negotiations, the policy, all of those things which are the essence of real politics and political decision making, Americans hate that and they are cynical about that. They feel it doesn’t work.

Democracy or a movie Movies are clean. Democracy is a mess. That’s what makes it democracy.

Implications of  politics as movie. When we get into the cold light of the sidewalk after the movie is over, what is the impact of all this? What is it going to mean for my life? What is it going to mean for America? And if we don’t start asking those questions we can’t move this forward at all.

Apathy is a sickness and term limits are not more than a symptom of that inaction. “The price of Freedom is in fact Eternal Vigilance” Thomas Jefferson…

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