I was impressed by him then, and very happy to see that he has now become a US Senator, succeeding Frank Lautenberg who died in office. He will have to stand again in 2014 to establish his place in the senate, I understand.
In the years since 2008
He has gained a national reputation for his personal involvement in public service, including going on a ten-day hunger strike outdoors to draw attention to the dangers of open-air drug dealing, living on a "food stamp" budget to raise awareness of food insecurity, shoveling the driveway of a constituent upon request, allowing Hurricane Sandy victims into his home, helping a constituent propose to his girlfriend, rescuing a dog from freezing temperatures, saving a woman from a house fire at his own risk and rescuing a dog that had been locked in a crate. He is an avid Twitter user and played collegiate football at Stanford. (More at Wikipedia)I hope that life in the Senate will not change Booker, that he will not be infected by what appears to be a spreading disease of uselessness among congressional Democrats, or be co-opted by monied interests. I can hope, but do not feel optimistic. We shall see.
Well, I certainly like the guy from everything that I've read and seen on TV. Oddly, he has similarities to our current president's pre-presidential social, educational, and career background...maybe we shouldn't be surprised if he becomes the chosen one for the 2016 cycle or 2020.
ReplyDeleteThanks for his natal chart in the prior post...he's weathered some difficult transiting aspects over the past several years (most notable being Saturn's transit of Virgo and Libra) and a couple more to go over the next several years. He seems to be the better for it.
From his mayoral duties, he appears to be a man of action and walking-the-talk. We'll see what the senate does to him...or what he does to the senate!
mike ~ Yes, we'll see. Let's give him a chance. He has detractors - examples in LB's links below.
ReplyDeleteLB ~ Yes - thanks for the links. I had read most of them already - been keeping an eye on his progress. I decided not to judge him yet, but to go with the gut feeling about him that I had back in 2008.
ReplyDeleteFor sure I'd prefer Dr Cornel West to be in the Senate - but that's not going to happen. Let's wait and see how Sen. Booker performs from now on.
He has progressed at a rapid rate from Mayor to Senator-elect, much faster than most. Perhaps he has indeed been button-holed for a 2020 Prez run by the Dem Establishment - in which case we shall see what we shall see! ;-/
ReplyDeleteI like him and also will give him a chance. I'll hope for the best and prepare, just in case:)
Twilight ~ For me, it's about being willing to view a political candidate's background and choices holistically, as part of a larger story, using the pieces as clues to discern the truth about what motivates them and informs their values.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to believe in the illusions and much harder to look deeply beneath the layers, though we ignore the truth at our own peril.
This isn't meant as a personal criticism of you, Twilight, nor do I claim to know who Cory Booker really is or what he truly represents. I do know politically savvy leaders know how to appeal to our need to *believe* and take full advantage of it. When I first watched some of the compelling coverage of Cory Booker, I was very impressed. Now that I know more, I can find no reasonable explanation for the contradictions and inconsistencies.
Even if he isn't intentionally trying to mislead us, his choices still tell us something important.
Sonny ~ Yes, hope springs eternal that someone, at last, might not let us down. A flimsy hope, but without that there's not much left?
ReplyDeleteLB ~ I appreciate you methods - truly. I have had doubts that I might have been fooled (again), mainly raised by the kind of articles you linked. But I can't help admiring the guy....gut-feeling, intuition perhaps, as I've said.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he is intentionally trying to mislead us, but then in 2008 I wasn't sure Barack Obama was - and maybe he wasn't at that point. We'll never know.
What it will tell us, if Senator-elect Booker disappoints consistently, is that there's something very very wrong going on in the back-rooms of power. It'll be another brick in (or out of) the wall, another peek through the fogs of deceit.