October 2009 Archives

This entry is the long overdue "part II" of my notes from reading The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. As mentioned previously, I write these comments more or less from the perspective of a layperson trying to make sense of the book despite an acknowledged deficiency in political knowledge.  

Chapter 3: The Constitution

Obama talks about the Constitution in Chapter 3, and he is a good person to speak on it, having taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago. He presents the contrasting views of strict constructionists--who believe in a word-for-word interpretation--with those of relativists, who believe that the tenets of the document must be interpreted in the context of current realities. After first acknowledging the validity of both sides of the issue (something Obama seems to be very good at), he sides with relativism, preferring a relativist view in particular as it relates to the institution of slavery.

I finished reading The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama last week--out of order, as I have not yet read Dreams from my Father--but I debated for a while about whether or not to put comments to page, lacking as I do an adequate framework of knowledge about both the structure and workings of our political system and the historical context of politics in this country to come up with what I consider to be a decent commentary.

However, I did take some notes in the course of the reading, primarily in the beginning, and those I will transcribe here, if only because I am sorely lacking a blog entry for this week.

I found Chapter 1, Republicans and Democrats, most difficult for the reason cited above. Obama describes a widening gap between the two parties--that much I did grasp--and with that an increasing polarization of the issues. As a result, he explains, a supporter of one party these days is expected to toe the party line on every issue--so much so that very little can get done in politics, and that the two parties have lost track of the civil conversations that politicians who were nonetheless in disagreement once had, and in which everyday Americans continue to engage. He traces the origin of this increased divide to the civil rights movement, where one side fought for recognition of civil rights and the other sought return to a clear cut, organized, and seamlessly operating country. Obama argues that although the civil rights movement was a necessary step in our country's evolution--one that won important rights for the disenfranchised--it is now similarly important that we overcome that widened political gulf and return to a place where we can have civil conversations about our common needs once more.

The season for wild edible greens is winding down now, at least here at the house above 11,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies. This fact posed a challenge when Cattail Bob Seebeck invited Gregg and I to attend a potluck at his house, since I was determined to bring a dish featuring wild edible plants in his honor. Thankfully, we had nearly a mason jar full of pennycress seeds on hand. Hoping to include a wild green as well, I took a walk around the house--and that's when the peppergrass occurred to me.

I speak here of Lepidium spp., as presented in Cattail Bob's book, Best-Tasting Wild Plants of Colorado and the Rockies (1998). Peppergrass appears to be a hardy plant, as the plants in the back yard have survived several frosts and snowfalls to date. The seeds and leaves have a spicy, peppery flavor that work well raw in salads or cooked in soups and stir fries, although the peppery flavor diminishes with cooking. As Cattail Bob explains, peppergrass will often produce a second crop of small plants in August and September, which explains why we still have some growing in the yard.