The Long Road: Comments

Comment on "For Hannah on her Fourth"

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:31:57 -0500

Hannah is one of the loveliest, smartest, and funniest little girl on the planet! I wish you the happiest birthday Hannah.

Axelle
p.s. you guys made me cry of laugher, that was the cutest thing I've ever heard. lol... I'm still giggling!!

- Axelle Karera

Comment on "For Chloe on Her First Day of Kindergarten"

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:10:02 -0500

I knew, somehow, there was this beautiful tribute to Chloe as she ventures to Kindergarten. I finally found this and I was touched beyond words by your fatherly tribute to her.

As her grandmother, I especially feel and agree that her supportive and loving family are there for her in all her endeavors and have wished, prayed, and hoped for her life and have been blessed mightily by her presence to us for these five years. I cannot wait to hear her speak of her start to her "real" school life in her own words. It will be a total joy to behold, as is she. Nana

- Janet Filing

Comment on "Re-designing the Long Road"

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:06:14 -0500

You are very welcome, Chris. Thank you for working with us to stretch the boundaries for what blog@psu can do. The stream of wonderful content in your website is a testament to the power of open publishing.

Now, if only I can figure how to integrate my fractured web presence into a cohesive whole like you have managed here....

- Brad Kozlek

Comment on "For Chloe on Her First Day of Kindergarten"

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:29:27 -0500

This means a lot to me Dad, so thanks for writing and publishing it.

I have very fond memories of sitting in the front of various sanctuaries, listening to your sermons. I heard them with a sense of pride and wonder at how you captured and held the attention of the congregation. You had such wonderful stories that always spoke to the adventure and substance of life.

I hope something of that wonder and sense of play and adventure has found its way into the spirit of all your grand-daughters. I know it has because I encounter it everyday with Chloe and Hannah.

By the way, if I danced anything like Hannah and Chloe danced here, I am sure there was much joyful laughter.

- Christopher P. Long

Comment on "For Chloe on Her First Day of Kindergarten"

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:44:06 -0500

Chris, what a wonderful ode to Chloe on her first day of school. I remember a sermon I preached several times when you were younger than Chloe. It was called, "Christopher Loves to Dance to Hymns" and contains the same sentiment from me about you. Life is a wonderful adventure if only we'd let it be that. So often so many other things get in the way. Perhaps you will keep those things to a minimum as you experience Chloe, Hannah and the rest of your life with joy, excitement and, as Kramer said once, "unbounded enthusiasm!" I am so proud of what you have become and I love you every moment of everyday of my life.
Dad

- Dad

Comment on "For Chloe on Her First Day of Kindergarten"

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 10:44:13 -0500

Chris,

I can't wait to compare experiences of that first day for Chloe and my oldest, Ben. I went to the bus stop for drop off and pickup and only when the bus came did I start to really feel the senses of that excitement we had as kids when it was going through this experiences (I think it might have been the diesel fumes that triggered it). I'm sure she enjoyed her first day and had plenty to share about it. As a parent, it sure is an oddly euphoric feeling that our children 'accomplished' such a feat. Great post.

- MATTHEW N MEYER

Comment on "For Chloe on Her First Day of Kindergarten"

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:21:11 -0500

Good luck, Chloe! And have fun!

- Chris Millet

Comment on "On God and Government"

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:05:26 -0500

I am unsure about the best way to reply to this video. On the one hand, I meet people who belive that "prayer can change things" or that God(ess) will "take care of everything in His/Her time." I think that most people resort to this way of thinking because they have no other resources that could help them economically, socially, and politically. However, I find it problematic when people like the man in this video belive that God(ess) will do the same thing for everyone else that was done for him.In addition, I think that it is selfish to not want the government to fund programs that can help people gain EQUAL access to healthcare.

Most importantly, this man ignores the fact that everyone else in the world does not have his same testimony. Thus, it is selfish for him to belive that God will always do the same for others as He/She has done for him. Furthermore, his testimony has not addressed the question on the table. What should the government do about universal healthcare?

To wrap up, I am pointing to the fact that if God(ess) exists and actually operates in our lives then there can still be no guarantee that God(ess) will help everyone in the same way. Moreover,even if God(ess) is active in all our lives in the same way, this does not rule out the governments' responsibility in ensuring all equal access to healthcare.

Keep praying that our goverment will pass theese universal healthcare bills!

- JAMELIAH INGA SHORTER

Comment on "On God and Government"

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:13:34 -0500

Stunning. The man was not even smart enough to just keep his mouth shut. Perhaps Arlen could have posed a series of questions: "What if we found out that God wants the United States to reform healthcare? Would you HAVE to support it then? Or would you make up some other reason to hide your partisan anger and hate?" But that would be too fun, revealing and possibly seen as 'mean'. Good for Arlen for not doing that. He can leave that type of fun to people like...well, like me.

- MATTHEW N MEYER

Comment on "On God and Government"

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:28:37 -0500

@Stephanie: Yes, when I saw you I was still in shock a bit, so I was not able to articulate my frustration and amazement to you in the hall. I am glad you had the chance to see this.

@Jesse: Despite the frustration voiced in the above comment, if you get off the world, there will be one less person who is capable of being persuaded by rational argumentation. We can't afford to lose any more such people.

- Christopher P. Long

Comment on "On God and Government"

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:52:51 -0500

How F*&ing stupid some people are. Stop the world. I need to get off!

- Jesse

Comment on "On God and Government"

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:34:22 -0500

Thanks for posting this Chris. This clip is more scary than I imagined after running into you the other day.

- Stephanie

Comment on "Live Blogging Specter at Penn Stater"

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:01:00 -0500

Hi Chris, Thanks for including me in your blog! I'm so glad I have met you. It made it a lot more interesting to have someone to talk to who understood what was going on with all the anger, etc.

I was so impressed with Senator Specter that he was able to keep his cool with all the shouting and name calling going on. He is a very strong, intelligent, thoughtful man who really cares for people.

- Joyce Luzier

Comment on "Live Blogging Specter at Penn Stater"

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:52:52 -0500

Healthcare Reform is vital for us all. Sadly,I feel this to be a concerted effort to attempt to undo our President. I hope it does not work. Now is the time and place for this to happen.

Chris, I am very grateful to you for this update. Were Val, Chloe,and Hannah with you? Hope so because they have been All The Way With Obama and he needs us all now. Jan

- Janet Filing

Comment on "Live Blogging Specter at Penn Stater"

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:16:45 -0500

Josh, the tactics you mention were used to a degree. There was not so much disrupting by standing, although there was frequent shouting in disagreement.

One of the tactics of which I read, I did witness. This involved stacking the front rows (I was in the fourth row and was not one of the first 30 who were permitted to ask questions), asking a prepared question and then following up the answer with "I don't believe you." That line received much applause from the faithful.

I came away with the sense that the underlying political ideology fueling these people is that of libertarianism. There was much talk of liberty and getting government out of our lives altogether. Even Bush came under attack for deficit spending by some of them.

I will post more as I reflect on the experience. Plus, I will post some video later in the afternoon.

- Christopher P. Long

Comment on "Live Blogging Specter at Penn Stater"

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:55:18 -0500

Ugh. Thanks for this, Chris. Did you see much evidence of the kind of organized tactics that folks like Freedom Works recommended? (Spread throughout the room but weighted towards the front few rows, shout then sit down, etc.) One of my interests is democratic deliberation, and I'm pretty fascinated by the question of organized anti-deliberative activism....

- Joshua A. Miller

Comment on "Live Blogging Specter at Penn Stater"

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:37:06 -0500

Thanks Chris for taking the time for the live updates. It's interesting to see the dynamic through your eyes. Healthcare reform is a very complex subject and your assessment that there is fear of change is an important commentary.

- Jim Erickson

Comment on "Live Blogging Specter at Penn Stater"

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:04:07 -0500

Chris- keep going with this. I'm following you all morning.

- MATTHEW N MEYER

Comment on "Live Blogging Specter at Penn Stater"

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:02:54 -0500

Chris- keep going with this. I'm following you all morning. I can't tell you how much I think we are witnessing a historic 'battle' in this country right now.

- MATTHEW N MEYER

Comment on "Live Blogging Specter at Penn Stater"

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:45:59 -0500

Thanks for doing this, Chris. Hugely valuable to those of us who couldn't make it out this morning.

- Gary M. Chinn