How fucking stupid are we??? Who gives a damn about Ann Romney being a housewife or some Democratic consultant being a working mom? Clearly Romney lives in a misogynistic culture that only recently gave up polygamy....i.e. only men were allowed multiple partners. And clearly the Democratic consultant, Rosen, isn't doing all that badly if she can attend White House functions. The true feminist issues are ignored while the power mongers snipe at each other. Women still earn 75-80 cents for every dollar a man does in the workforce. Women are discriminated against in a variety of ways by male employers and quite often by female employers. Sexism, like racism, is one component of the polarization the rich and powerful like to keep going to divert our attention from their plundering of the economy and planet. White males in America have held the power since the landing of pilgrims. And how has that worked out for humanity?
Hey, I'm white and know I've lived in the white male world of privilege. I haven't had cops roust me for the color of my skin. I've not been overlooked because I might get pregnant sometime from my teens until menopause. I've never been identified as a pariah because of my sexual orientation. Or scorned as an "illegal" because I entered a nation looking for a better life and don't speak the dominant language and it's assumed I can't learn to do so. I have gotten old and discovered my knowledge and experience doesn't mean a damn thing to my employer. They'd love to get rid of me because over the years I've "earned" higher wages and have healthcare benefits I'm more likely to use as I age. But I'm more likely to get a new job as a 62 year old white male than a 62 old male coming from a community of color.
Hell I could run for a seat in Congress and represent the special interests needing government handouts in the guise of contracts or grants. Probably not. I don't have an unnamed political action committee (aka a person)willing to give millions to smear any opponent with lies and miscontrued and distorted half truths.
I'm looking at Congress and wonder where the hell are the brothers and sisters representing their communities? Where's the blue collar representative? Where's the radical from Oakland demanding change? Where's the native American from Pine Ridge pointing out the crushing poverty of his or her community?
We all know that's a joke. Pure delusional thinking. I started this rant with the issue Ann Romney is out of touch with the rest of the population. Name one member of Congress that is in touch. Name one President. That is why it seems fucking stupid to get involved in the sniping of the privileged about one another. Fuck them! One out of five kids in this nation go hungry. And it gets worse outside the privileged borders of the U.S.. We flounder around in stupid controversy at a time we can least afford to do so.
Tuesday, April 17
Friday, April 13
The Racist America
As George Zimmerman is finally charged for his vigilante killing of the young black male, Tayvron Martin, the subject of race once again rears its ugly head for discussion. Right wingers have rallied around Zimmerman as an example of a man using his constitutional right to bear arms and protect himself against the threat of a hooded black teenager walking in a gated community almost exclusively populated by whites. The irony is Zimmerman has a Hispanic mother and in most racist quarters would be considered one of "them".
The special prosecutor in the Martin case claims the Sanford, Florida police were still in the initial investigation of this shooting 45 days after the killing. She claims her charges against Zimmerman are based only on fact and not influenced by community activists or pressure from outside. She has yet to admit the killing had some racial profiling involved. To do that would be to admit we have a race problem in America.
Meanwhile in White Plains, New York a combat veteran of the Marines was killed by the police after his medical alert device accidentally triggered an alarm. Kenneth Chamberlain, in his 60s, was black. He struggled with health problems resulting in him having the medical alert device that sent a signal to a private security firm calling for medical assistance.
On the night Chamberlain was killed, the private security firm apparently asked police to do a welfare check. But before the police arrived it was determined the alert was a false alarm. The security informed the police of the false alarm. The police persisted, however. The were determined to do the welfare check despite the information.
The White Plains police arrived at Chamberlain's door and repeatedly banged on it to ask he open up so they could be assured everything was alright. Chamberlain insisted he was not in danger and asked the cops to leave him alone. His insistence on exercising his rights incensed the police. They demanded he open the door. Apparently three cops were needed to handle the situation of the 68 year old ex-Marine's refusal to open his door because the cops demanded he do so.
Once the police did force themselves inside Chamberlain's residence, one cop decided he would activate his taser just in case. When Chamberlain argued with the cops about the need for them to be inside his home apparently he was seen as being belligerent and a possible danger to three healthy cops. So they tasered him even though he pleaded with them not to harm him and to leave him alone.
When the taser proved ineffective and Mr. Chamberlain was still able to exercise his rights against the ruthless police actions, the cops claim he threatened them with a hatchet. Despite having been tasered and having severe health problems. One of the cops was heard to call Mr. Chamberlain a nigger. This came out when the family attorney for Kenneth Chamberlain discovered the taser had a camera activated to record the police actions.
The recording also showed Chamberlain begged to be left alone and finally lamented he was going to be killed that night by the police. And he was right. Months after the killing of Kenneth Chamberlain there has been no punishment of the police officers who bullied him and eventually killed him. Internal investigation for White Plains police resided inside the squad room of the cops being sent out on the streets. There was no separation of the investigatory branch of the police from the beat cops. They shared the same space, the same camaraderie and the same blue line of silence whenever another cop brutalized a citizen.
Only now has there been further investigation of the death of a black combat veteran with severe enough health problems he required a medical alert device for possible rescue. And it was the community prompting the police to reopen an investigation not internal affairs or a district attorney.
These racist attacks occur on a routine basis with far greater frequency than the greatest majority of Americans could imagine. A young man using a hoodie to protect himself against the elements is viewed as a threat to a vigilante community watch member. He also used the word nigger during his conversation with the 911 operator. But he was given a pass by cops under the "stand your ground" laws allowing citizens the right to bear arms and use deadly force if they felt threatened or in imminent danger toward their life. As the NRA continually tells us, "guns don't kill people, people kill people". And the racial profiling of young and old black men is stark testimony to that NRA pet phrase.
A few years back I spent some time in the Denver City Jail after a conviction of trespassing at a Halliburton office as an act of non-violent civil disobedience. Halliburton was and still is one of DOD's biggest private contractors. My cell mate in the jail was a young black male in his 20s. He had dreadlocks and appeared to possibly be someone police would profile as being in a gang.
The first few hours in the cell were a period of silence between us. I was a fifty something white male in a jail cell with a hip hop 20 something black male. All the stereotypical thinking took place by both of us it turns out. Eventually I asked him or he asked me what caused our incarceration. He was in jail because he didn't have the money to pay a traffic fine which had accumulated when he'd put off meeting the due date for payment. He was facing 30 days in the county jail. His stay in city jail was only temporary until a "bed" opened at the over crowded county jail.
When I told him I was in jail after a conviction for a non violent civil disobedience against the war in Iraq, he opened up to me. He told me he respected what we in the peace movement were doing. As the hours dragged on we held a non-stop conversation. I discovered he was a college grad who was working on establishing a recording studio for hip hop artists in the Denver area. He was married and had a child on the way. His degree was in business which he wanted in order to go into his own business.
He also told me about the constant police harassment he faced as a young black male in Denver. Exacerbated by his dreadlock appearance. He lived in an area where gang activity occurred and anytime something gang related happened he was either pulled over while driving or stopped when walking.
I asked how often this rousting took place. He said it was sometimes daily but at least a few times each week. He said he had grown used to the harassment and avoided becoming angry or adversarial. He knew the reputation of DPD was one of brutality and racial profiling.
I told him about my experience in Vietnam as a combat infantryman. We eventually got around to discussing the "poverty draft" and high number of black troops both in Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan. He was an extremely intelligent and pleasant young man. My jail time seemed to be easy because of him.
What also impressed me was his ability to not only talk with me but he also interacted with other inmates in whatever jargon or level of communication they were at. This wasn't a guy without street wisdom. He was a victim of profiling.
In recent years I also became friends with another younger black male who was part of the International Action Committee. He also had dreadlocks. Larry is an organizer for IAC and has since moved back to the NYC area. During his stay in Denver he was also constantly harassed by DPD. On one occasion he was rousted simply because he looked "suspicious" entering his apartment building in a gentrified area of the Capitol Hill neighborhood. He was held up from entering his apartment for over a thirty minute time period while the police ran his name through their computer system for possible outstanding warrants and criminal record. And, of course, he had to produce some kind of proof he lived where he said he lived.
The most egregious episode of the harassment of Larry by the DPD came when he and his girlfriend, a young white activist woman, allowed a parolee to stay with them until he could afford his own housing. The parolee worked a night shift in an attempt to save money for the housing.
One evening after the parolee had left for work his parole officer and police woke Larry and Melissa up banging on their apartment door. When Larry, dressed in only underwear and without shoes on, answered the door he was pushed aside and told his apartment was subject to search since he was housing a parolee. They demanded to know where the parolee was. Then they began "tossing" the apartment looking for drugs and weapons. Larry objected and demanded the police identify themselves and respect his rights.
Larry exercising his legal rights and objecting to an unwarranted search was enough for the attending cops to throw him to the floor face first and sit on his back as they cuffed him. The only resistance was him verbalizing objections to the police and parole officer violating his rights. Meanwhile, Melissa was told to sit down and shut up while the search proceeded. Melissa asked if she could put her kitten in a closed room so it wouldn't run out the open exterior door to the apartment. When she rose to do so, she too was thrown to the ground.
Larry was dragged down the stairs of his apartment building out into the winter night. He was bare-footed and dressed only in his underwear. When he kept objecting and asked to be able to dress for the weather a cop butt ended him with a night stick and made a racial slur toward him. Larry was transported to the city jail in a paddy wagon full of other arrestees. One was kind enough to offer him a sweatshirt to help with his near hypothermia state. He was processed through jail and put in a cell charged with attempted assault on a police officer. This is usually the charge when a case of police brutality occurs in Denver. They beat the victim and charge them for an attempted act of violence.
Larry was bailed out of jail after many hours in a cell. He was bruised and battered from the beating by police. Melissa wasn't arrested but she was also injured during the unnecessary take-down by police. And her cat ran away.
A call went out to organize a protest at city jail for this arrest. A small group of us turned out. Most were members of the black community. A friend of Larry who happened to be Muslim spoke out against the brutality. He, too, had experienced police brutality when attempting to speak at a university regents meeting that was said to be an open meeting.
Eventually all charges were dropped against Larry. But there was never an apology. The cops responsible for the brutality weren't disciplined. And to be truthful, Larry's experience with Denver's police was mild compared to many high profile cases of brutality against people of color.
In the late 60s and early 70s I was an organizer for VVAW. I had a veteran friend who worked the Black Panther breakfast program in the Five Points neighborhood. He was also a member of VVAW. He had lost a foot and lower leg by amputation following a wound incurred in combat in Vietnam. Butch was harassed, beaten and terrorized by Denver police almost weekly because of his activism in the Black Panther Party and VVAW.
Butch was as gentle a soul as I've ever met. He and his wife Penny had beautiful kids and attempted to live in peace and bring necessary changes to their community. They were seldom allowed peace. Not only was Butch terrorized but so was his family by late night "raids" of cops trying to find drugs and weapons.
When I had just returned from Vietnam I was walking in the Capitol Hill neighborhood with another veteran. We were talking with one another when we heard a man's cries coming from a nearby alley. We ran to the alley and saw a black male being beaten by two white cops. They were using their long and heavy flashlights to repeatedly strike the man in the gut and across his cheek. My friend and I ran up to the scene demanding the cops stop beating the already cuffed and subdued man. One of the cops pulled his pistol from the holster aiming it at us. He threatened to shoot us if we didn't leave. Both of us were combat veterans. We stood our ground for a minute to ask for the cops' names and badge numbers. The cop with the gun made his threat again telling us the bullet he shot us with would have his badge number on it. We moved on.
The next day we went to the HQ of DPD to file a complaint. We were made to wait over an hour and treated like we were suspects of a crime. Finally we were handed complaint forms without instructions by the cop on what information was necessary. We wrote our complaints but refused to put our names and addresses. We knew we could become victims ourselves giving out personal information.
Police intimidation, fear tactics, racial profiling, brutality. This is nothing new. And yet we continue to ignore it or endorse it as a way to have a peaceful society. We look the other way. We allow kids like Tayvron Martin to be killed before we speak up in large numbers. We deny racism but right at this time there is a bumper sticker being circulated that says it is a reality and getting worse. The message on the bumper sticker- "Don't re-nig in 2012" and the Obama hope symbol from 2008 is present with a slash through the round symbol.
And still we refuse to hold the discussion. We tolerate code words of overt racism. We tolerate actions by radical groups against blacks and other people of color. We tolerate the hate. The violence. We tolerate the criminalization of young men of color for possession of small amounts of drugs. We use the war on drugs to control the so-called "savages" or "mud people". We flooded neighborhoods in urban areas populated with black activists with CIA bought drugs to control the dissent. We discharge black veterans and veterans of color with less than honorable discharges in far greater proportion than white soldiers. We use 'em and lose 'em.
You'd have to be either stupid or stupidly naive to think this nation doesn't have a race problem. The election of a black President who has been as white as any other President in his interactions with big business has demonstrated the hatred simmering just below the surface of most of our nation. The white racists carrying monkeys with Obama's name on them is a vivid reminder of the hate. The total blockade of any proposal by the conservative right wing forces of Congress is a vivid reminder of the hate. No President in our history has ever faced a 100% filibuster in the Senate for every bill brought to a vote. Every bill required at least 60 votes of the 100 in the Senate.
The McConnells and Boehners of Congress can hardly withhold their hatred and racism whenever they speak in public. Watching them is like watching a secretive Klan meeting with the white robes missing. The Tea Party denies their racist intent but continually demonstrate it by their actions. Karl Rove thrives on racism and hate mongering to secure power for the right wing but even he has lamented things might have gone too far.
I could fill my blog with anecdotes about American racism, white police brutality and the hate. Arizona and other border states are forming citizen posse groups to go after perceived "illegals" entering the sacred borders of America. Most of the posse members are descendants of refugees and citizens of other nations seeking citizenship because of the better conditions in which a family might thrive. The irony doesn't faze them.
We continue to have reservations for the true indigenous people of North America. They live in squalor, without hope and resemble communities more like present day Haiti than America. The mentally defected, the impoverished and the openly gay join the communities of color in being disenfranchised. We are haters. Our churches don't promote the powerful message of tolerance and love Christ espoused. They promote hate toward those who don't meet their standards. Christ didn't have standards of who could follow his message. The churches claiming his name certainly do.
The most vivid example of hatred and racism by the Christian church has been the wars against the Asian commies of Vietnam ....godless, of course....and the crusades against the Islamofascists in Iraq and Afghanistan. The churches of Christ hate the Muslims of the world and hide behind the phony veneer of Christian do gooding. The NGOs of the churches aren't only attempting to bring relief to the most impoverished and in need around this globe. They are attempting to "rescue" the souls of those who believe in the "false gods" of the non-Christian churches. Racism is hate and we have plenty of hate in this nation. The faux world of America presented by white controlled media is constantly being exposed by the hate that is so poorly covered up.
Until the American people have a mature conversation about racism the problem won't go away. Right now calling a racist out for what they are will elicit a response of accusations about class warfare. Class warfare is when the rich white folks along with a few token non-whites gain over 274 % in their yearly income over a period of ten years while the other 90+ % of the population has only gained 8% in their yearly income over the same time period. Class warfare is when the same working class people increase their work production by 80% during that same time frame and they don't even receive an income increase that keeps up with increasing prices of the most essential items such as food.
Racism is a component of the larger problem of the haves and have-nots. The 99% versus the 1%. The race baiters like to keep the 99% polarized against each other to divert attention away from their corrupt theft of the global wealth. Vilify immigrants and people of color. Create homophobia at every turn. Make women killers of babies and sluts. Use misogynistic pornography and advertising to objectify females. Treat sexual issues with the maturity of preadolescence. Keeping people of color derided as inferior maintains the polarization and keeps us all fighting amongst ourselves. And not watching as our resources are stolen, our environment raped and our lives indentured. We are surely a racist nation but we are far beyond just that.
The special prosecutor in the Martin case claims the Sanford, Florida police were still in the initial investigation of this shooting 45 days after the killing. She claims her charges against Zimmerman are based only on fact and not influenced by community activists or pressure from outside. She has yet to admit the killing had some racial profiling involved. To do that would be to admit we have a race problem in America.
Meanwhile in White Plains, New York a combat veteran of the Marines was killed by the police after his medical alert device accidentally triggered an alarm. Kenneth Chamberlain, in his 60s, was black. He struggled with health problems resulting in him having the medical alert device that sent a signal to a private security firm calling for medical assistance.
On the night Chamberlain was killed, the private security firm apparently asked police to do a welfare check. But before the police arrived it was determined the alert was a false alarm. The security informed the police of the false alarm. The police persisted, however. The were determined to do the welfare check despite the information.
The White Plains police arrived at Chamberlain's door and repeatedly banged on it to ask he open up so they could be assured everything was alright. Chamberlain insisted he was not in danger and asked the cops to leave him alone. His insistence on exercising his rights incensed the police. They demanded he open the door. Apparently three cops were needed to handle the situation of the 68 year old ex-Marine's refusal to open his door because the cops demanded he do so.
Once the police did force themselves inside Chamberlain's residence, one cop decided he would activate his taser just in case. When Chamberlain argued with the cops about the need for them to be inside his home apparently he was seen as being belligerent and a possible danger to three healthy cops. So they tasered him even though he pleaded with them not to harm him and to leave him alone.
When the taser proved ineffective and Mr. Chamberlain was still able to exercise his rights against the ruthless police actions, the cops claim he threatened them with a hatchet. Despite having been tasered and having severe health problems. One of the cops was heard to call Mr. Chamberlain a nigger. This came out when the family attorney for Kenneth Chamberlain discovered the taser had a camera activated to record the police actions.
The recording also showed Chamberlain begged to be left alone and finally lamented he was going to be killed that night by the police. And he was right. Months after the killing of Kenneth Chamberlain there has been no punishment of the police officers who bullied him and eventually killed him. Internal investigation for White Plains police resided inside the squad room of the cops being sent out on the streets. There was no separation of the investigatory branch of the police from the beat cops. They shared the same space, the same camaraderie and the same blue line of silence whenever another cop brutalized a citizen.
Only now has there been further investigation of the death of a black combat veteran with severe enough health problems he required a medical alert device for possible rescue. And it was the community prompting the police to reopen an investigation not internal affairs or a district attorney.
These racist attacks occur on a routine basis with far greater frequency than the greatest majority of Americans could imagine. A young man using a hoodie to protect himself against the elements is viewed as a threat to a vigilante community watch member. He also used the word nigger during his conversation with the 911 operator. But he was given a pass by cops under the "stand your ground" laws allowing citizens the right to bear arms and use deadly force if they felt threatened or in imminent danger toward their life. As the NRA continually tells us, "guns don't kill people, people kill people". And the racial profiling of young and old black men is stark testimony to that NRA pet phrase.
A few years back I spent some time in the Denver City Jail after a conviction of trespassing at a Halliburton office as an act of non-violent civil disobedience. Halliburton was and still is one of DOD's biggest private contractors. My cell mate in the jail was a young black male in his 20s. He had dreadlocks and appeared to possibly be someone police would profile as being in a gang.
The first few hours in the cell were a period of silence between us. I was a fifty something white male in a jail cell with a hip hop 20 something black male. All the stereotypical thinking took place by both of us it turns out. Eventually I asked him or he asked me what caused our incarceration. He was in jail because he didn't have the money to pay a traffic fine which had accumulated when he'd put off meeting the due date for payment. He was facing 30 days in the county jail. His stay in city jail was only temporary until a "bed" opened at the over crowded county jail.
When I told him I was in jail after a conviction for a non violent civil disobedience against the war in Iraq, he opened up to me. He told me he respected what we in the peace movement were doing. As the hours dragged on we held a non-stop conversation. I discovered he was a college grad who was working on establishing a recording studio for hip hop artists in the Denver area. He was married and had a child on the way. His degree was in business which he wanted in order to go into his own business.
He also told me about the constant police harassment he faced as a young black male in Denver. Exacerbated by his dreadlock appearance. He lived in an area where gang activity occurred and anytime something gang related happened he was either pulled over while driving or stopped when walking.
I asked how often this rousting took place. He said it was sometimes daily but at least a few times each week. He said he had grown used to the harassment and avoided becoming angry or adversarial. He knew the reputation of DPD was one of brutality and racial profiling.
I told him about my experience in Vietnam as a combat infantryman. We eventually got around to discussing the "poverty draft" and high number of black troops both in Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan. He was an extremely intelligent and pleasant young man. My jail time seemed to be easy because of him.
What also impressed me was his ability to not only talk with me but he also interacted with other inmates in whatever jargon or level of communication they were at. This wasn't a guy without street wisdom. He was a victim of profiling.
In recent years I also became friends with another younger black male who was part of the International Action Committee. He also had dreadlocks. Larry is an organizer for IAC and has since moved back to the NYC area. During his stay in Denver he was also constantly harassed by DPD. On one occasion he was rousted simply because he looked "suspicious" entering his apartment building in a gentrified area of the Capitol Hill neighborhood. He was held up from entering his apartment for over a thirty minute time period while the police ran his name through their computer system for possible outstanding warrants and criminal record. And, of course, he had to produce some kind of proof he lived where he said he lived.
The most egregious episode of the harassment of Larry by the DPD came when he and his girlfriend, a young white activist woman, allowed a parolee to stay with them until he could afford his own housing. The parolee worked a night shift in an attempt to save money for the housing.
One evening after the parolee had left for work his parole officer and police woke Larry and Melissa up banging on their apartment door. When Larry, dressed in only underwear and without shoes on, answered the door he was pushed aside and told his apartment was subject to search since he was housing a parolee. They demanded to know where the parolee was. Then they began "tossing" the apartment looking for drugs and weapons. Larry objected and demanded the police identify themselves and respect his rights.
Larry exercising his legal rights and objecting to an unwarranted search was enough for the attending cops to throw him to the floor face first and sit on his back as they cuffed him. The only resistance was him verbalizing objections to the police and parole officer violating his rights. Meanwhile, Melissa was told to sit down and shut up while the search proceeded. Melissa asked if she could put her kitten in a closed room so it wouldn't run out the open exterior door to the apartment. When she rose to do so, she too was thrown to the ground.
Larry was dragged down the stairs of his apartment building out into the winter night. He was bare-footed and dressed only in his underwear. When he kept objecting and asked to be able to dress for the weather a cop butt ended him with a night stick and made a racial slur toward him. Larry was transported to the city jail in a paddy wagon full of other arrestees. One was kind enough to offer him a sweatshirt to help with his near hypothermia state. He was processed through jail and put in a cell charged with attempted assault on a police officer. This is usually the charge when a case of police brutality occurs in Denver. They beat the victim and charge them for an attempted act of violence.
Larry was bailed out of jail after many hours in a cell. He was bruised and battered from the beating by police. Melissa wasn't arrested but she was also injured during the unnecessary take-down by police. And her cat ran away.
A call went out to organize a protest at city jail for this arrest. A small group of us turned out. Most were members of the black community. A friend of Larry who happened to be Muslim spoke out against the brutality. He, too, had experienced police brutality when attempting to speak at a university regents meeting that was said to be an open meeting.
Eventually all charges were dropped against Larry. But there was never an apology. The cops responsible for the brutality weren't disciplined. And to be truthful, Larry's experience with Denver's police was mild compared to many high profile cases of brutality against people of color.
In the late 60s and early 70s I was an organizer for VVAW. I had a veteran friend who worked the Black Panther breakfast program in the Five Points neighborhood. He was also a member of VVAW. He had lost a foot and lower leg by amputation following a wound incurred in combat in Vietnam. Butch was harassed, beaten and terrorized by Denver police almost weekly because of his activism in the Black Panther Party and VVAW.
Butch was as gentle a soul as I've ever met. He and his wife Penny had beautiful kids and attempted to live in peace and bring necessary changes to their community. They were seldom allowed peace. Not only was Butch terrorized but so was his family by late night "raids" of cops trying to find drugs and weapons.
When I had just returned from Vietnam I was walking in the Capitol Hill neighborhood with another veteran. We were talking with one another when we heard a man's cries coming from a nearby alley. We ran to the alley and saw a black male being beaten by two white cops. They were using their long and heavy flashlights to repeatedly strike the man in the gut and across his cheek. My friend and I ran up to the scene demanding the cops stop beating the already cuffed and subdued man. One of the cops pulled his pistol from the holster aiming it at us. He threatened to shoot us if we didn't leave. Both of us were combat veterans. We stood our ground for a minute to ask for the cops' names and badge numbers. The cop with the gun made his threat again telling us the bullet he shot us with would have his badge number on it. We moved on.
The next day we went to the HQ of DPD to file a complaint. We were made to wait over an hour and treated like we were suspects of a crime. Finally we were handed complaint forms without instructions by the cop on what information was necessary. We wrote our complaints but refused to put our names and addresses. We knew we could become victims ourselves giving out personal information.
Police intimidation, fear tactics, racial profiling, brutality. This is nothing new. And yet we continue to ignore it or endorse it as a way to have a peaceful society. We look the other way. We allow kids like Tayvron Martin to be killed before we speak up in large numbers. We deny racism but right at this time there is a bumper sticker being circulated that says it is a reality and getting worse. The message on the bumper sticker- "Don't re-nig in 2012" and the Obama hope symbol from 2008 is present with a slash through the round symbol.
And still we refuse to hold the discussion. We tolerate code words of overt racism. We tolerate actions by radical groups against blacks and other people of color. We tolerate the hate. The violence. We tolerate the criminalization of young men of color for possession of small amounts of drugs. We use the war on drugs to control the so-called "savages" or "mud people". We flooded neighborhoods in urban areas populated with black activists with CIA bought drugs to control the dissent. We discharge black veterans and veterans of color with less than honorable discharges in far greater proportion than white soldiers. We use 'em and lose 'em.
You'd have to be either stupid or stupidly naive to think this nation doesn't have a race problem. The election of a black President who has been as white as any other President in his interactions with big business has demonstrated the hatred simmering just below the surface of most of our nation. The white racists carrying monkeys with Obama's name on them is a vivid reminder of the hate. The total blockade of any proposal by the conservative right wing forces of Congress is a vivid reminder of the hate. No President in our history has ever faced a 100% filibuster in the Senate for every bill brought to a vote. Every bill required at least 60 votes of the 100 in the Senate.
The McConnells and Boehners of Congress can hardly withhold their hatred and racism whenever they speak in public. Watching them is like watching a secretive Klan meeting with the white robes missing. The Tea Party denies their racist intent but continually demonstrate it by their actions. Karl Rove thrives on racism and hate mongering to secure power for the right wing but even he has lamented things might have gone too far.
I could fill my blog with anecdotes about American racism, white police brutality and the hate. Arizona and other border states are forming citizen posse groups to go after perceived "illegals" entering the sacred borders of America. Most of the posse members are descendants of refugees and citizens of other nations seeking citizenship because of the better conditions in which a family might thrive. The irony doesn't faze them.
We continue to have reservations for the true indigenous people of North America. They live in squalor, without hope and resemble communities more like present day Haiti than America. The mentally defected, the impoverished and the openly gay join the communities of color in being disenfranchised. We are haters. Our churches don't promote the powerful message of tolerance and love Christ espoused. They promote hate toward those who don't meet their standards. Christ didn't have standards of who could follow his message. The churches claiming his name certainly do.
The most vivid example of hatred and racism by the Christian church has been the wars against the Asian commies of Vietnam ....godless, of course....and the crusades against the Islamofascists in Iraq and Afghanistan. The churches of Christ hate the Muslims of the world and hide behind the phony veneer of Christian do gooding. The NGOs of the churches aren't only attempting to bring relief to the most impoverished and in need around this globe. They are attempting to "rescue" the souls of those who believe in the "false gods" of the non-Christian churches. Racism is hate and we have plenty of hate in this nation. The faux world of America presented by white controlled media is constantly being exposed by the hate that is so poorly covered up.
Until the American people have a mature conversation about racism the problem won't go away. Right now calling a racist out for what they are will elicit a response of accusations about class warfare. Class warfare is when the rich white folks along with a few token non-whites gain over 274 % in their yearly income over a period of ten years while the other 90+ % of the population has only gained 8% in their yearly income over the same time period. Class warfare is when the same working class people increase their work production by 80% during that same time frame and they don't even receive an income increase that keeps up with increasing prices of the most essential items such as food.
Racism is a component of the larger problem of the haves and have-nots. The 99% versus the 1%. The race baiters like to keep the 99% polarized against each other to divert attention away from their corrupt theft of the global wealth. Vilify immigrants and people of color. Create homophobia at every turn. Make women killers of babies and sluts. Use misogynistic pornography and advertising to objectify females. Treat sexual issues with the maturity of preadolescence. Keeping people of color derided as inferior maintains the polarization and keeps us all fighting amongst ourselves. And not watching as our resources are stolen, our environment raped and our lives indentured. We are surely a racist nation but we are far beyond just that.
Tuesday, March 13
Why Would You Be Surprised??
As the drama of the mass murder in Afghanistan continues on, we hear the guy had a TBI at one point, marital problem prior to his deployment in December and the military will seek the death penalty. They also say he was treated and screened at military mental health for reintegration problems. The military will deny responsibility.
What they don't say is whether the commanding general at Ft. Lewis used his discretionary right to deploy someone considered by medical staff as unfit? They don't say whether he was on some psychotropic medication when he was sent back into a combat zone? If so, how long had he been observed for efficacy and side effects? And, a hidden question arises. Was he treated with the anti-malarial, Lariam? The same medication implicated in psychotic rages of suicide and homicide as side effects. And federal laws prohibit such information about an individual patient being revealed.
What hypocrites! To hear Obama and Clinton tell it we, as a nation, have no culpability for this slaughter as we continue on with the larger slaughter of our wars. In the aftermath of My Lai it was the same. The American people want to believe My Lai was an anomaly. It wasn't.
And isn't it strange the ruthless murders and rapes in Haditha, Iraq were given a pass just last month as the last of the defendants had charges dismissed? We continue to ignore what leads to atrocities and war crimes. We continue to ignore the human response to repetitive redeployment into combat. We want our troops to be heroes and fight honorably. The American public will be outraged by a senseless attack by a single individual but ignore the savagery we expect our young to have fighting insane, immoral and illegal wars against a phantom enemy. War is not heroic. War has no honor. War is savage, ruthless, violent and no one is innocent when they take up arms. Brutality is the norm not the exception.
If a poll was taken and every combat infantryman answered truthfully, I would guarantee a majority would not be surprised or outraged about the massacre. Remember the training is all about demonizing those perceived as enemies. Killing potential enemies in the form of children just doesn't register as something wrong for many.
It is interesting comparisons between this massacre and the one that took place at Ft. Hood perpetrated by the Arabic psychiatrist haven't come up. They both have the same American father. American hate and militarism. And I stress the reference to "father" for it is an integral part of male culture to promote war. It is part of American male culture.
The story will soon disappear in the minds and conscience of most. New stories of gay marriage or contraception will replace it. I am always amazed how Americans have this false belief they give a damn about human life. And I don't know why I'm amazed. I guess the propaganda got to me in early childhood and is difficult to shake.
What they don't say is whether the commanding general at Ft. Lewis used his discretionary right to deploy someone considered by medical staff as unfit? They don't say whether he was on some psychotropic medication when he was sent back into a combat zone? If so, how long had he been observed for efficacy and side effects? And, a hidden question arises. Was he treated with the anti-malarial, Lariam? The same medication implicated in psychotic rages of suicide and homicide as side effects. And federal laws prohibit such information about an individual patient being revealed.
What hypocrites! To hear Obama and Clinton tell it we, as a nation, have no culpability for this slaughter as we continue on with the larger slaughter of our wars. In the aftermath of My Lai it was the same. The American people want to believe My Lai was an anomaly. It wasn't.
And isn't it strange the ruthless murders and rapes in Haditha, Iraq were given a pass just last month as the last of the defendants had charges dismissed? We continue to ignore what leads to atrocities and war crimes. We continue to ignore the human response to repetitive redeployment into combat. We want our troops to be heroes and fight honorably. The American public will be outraged by a senseless attack by a single individual but ignore the savagery we expect our young to have fighting insane, immoral and illegal wars against a phantom enemy. War is not heroic. War has no honor. War is savage, ruthless, violent and no one is innocent when they take up arms. Brutality is the norm not the exception.
If a poll was taken and every combat infantryman answered truthfully, I would guarantee a majority would not be surprised or outraged about the massacre. Remember the training is all about demonizing those perceived as enemies. Killing potential enemies in the form of children just doesn't register as something wrong for many.
It is interesting comparisons between this massacre and the one that took place at Ft. Hood perpetrated by the Arabic psychiatrist haven't come up. They both have the same American father. American hate and militarism. And I stress the reference to "father" for it is an integral part of male culture to promote war. It is part of American male culture.
The story will soon disappear in the minds and conscience of most. New stories of gay marriage or contraception will replace it. I am always amazed how Americans have this false belief they give a damn about human life. And I don't know why I'm amazed. I guess the propaganda got to me in early childhood and is difficult to shake.
Tuesday, February 28
The Insantorum of Theocracy
So, Insantorum ( pronounced: insane torum) wants to vomit because JFK spoke about separation of church and state. He did forget St. Ronnie Raygun also said similar things. I just wonder how Insantorum and all his followers reconcile their great hatred of the Islamic radicals and Sharia law versus Catholic dogma concerning a woman's body and status in the Church. All that seems to be missing is covering the face and obscuring the bodies of women. I still see older Catholic women who think they must cover their heads during masses. And believe me, the Church isn't going forward. It has decided instead to travel back centuries.
Insantorum and followers would have women denied birth control (other than the ridiculous rhythm method or abstinence). Then whenever a pregnancy occurs, no matter what circumstances, the woman by mandate of the men of the Church is to carry the pregnancy to term. In the insanity of Insantorum, even amniocentesis is forbidden. Why? His reasoning is the testing of amniotic fluid leads to abortions should there be any indication of problem such as Downs.
The insanity goes on and on. Basically, in the view of Insantorum and the good ol' boys of the Vatican, women shouldn't be allowed the priesthood, shouldn't be allowed to stop having babies under any circumstances...including rape....shouldn't be allowed to avoid pregnancies by use of contraception...including condoms, IUDs or any other method in addition to the pill. Even the use of condoms to prevent HIV in Africa is forbidden by the Catholic Church. Their workers are forbidden in the distribution of condoms in these areas of pandemic HIV infection.
The sanctity of life argument by these men, and the women who have fallen for their dogma, is life begins from the moment of ejaculation of sperm. Actually, a man having a vasectomy violates the catechism. But, this argument fails to reconcile with the actions of the "faithful" when it comes to war, famine and other sanctity of life issues. While the gospel clearly states humans shouldn't kill one another, the actions of the religious communities defy that basic tenet.
Time and again it has been the religious communities leading the charge to violence and war. Time and again women have been badgered to have children despite profound poverty by the leaders of religions. Time and again children have died from the effects of poverty. A poverty perpetuated by the actions of a male dominated clergy.
If you listen to Insantorum piously want to vomit because of separation of church and state, you'll also hear rhetoric indicating he'd be quite willing to start a war with Iran or any other non-Christian country he hates. And hate isn't too strong a word to use. The pious characters like Insantorum and the Christian right have no qualms about inflicting death on "non-believers". They consider themselves in a holy war already against women who would take control of their own bodies, against homosexual marriage, against the Islamofascist fanatics that bear a strong resemblance to the fanaticism of the Christian right and against big government intruding on the people.
But the very theocracy the Christian right claims to hate in the nations of Islam is the very thing they want to impose on the Christian USA. They maintain this is a Christian nation despite the Constitution or Bill of Rights. And they don't mind intruding on the sex lives or personal lives of others through the very government they decry as intrusive.
The vision of Insantorum and followers is not much different from the vision of white supremacists or the racists of Jim Crow laws. Their overt hatred of the first black President is palpable. Their condemnations of Obama's policies make absolutely no sense. The man has carried out the right wing agenda since first taking office. He is beholding to the power brokers of Wall Street and the lobbyists of the ultra-rich. What is not to like other than his color? And still we hear inane comments of the sell out President being a socialist or Marxist.
While some believe Insantorum could never be President, we have to keep in mind many thought an actor well past his prime of life could never be President. The scary truth is with voter suppression rampant and Citizens United allowing huge amounts of money to flow to candidates, insanity could very well rule more than it already does. Theocracy could become a reality in this nation.
Insantorum and followers would have women denied birth control (other than the ridiculous rhythm method or abstinence). Then whenever a pregnancy occurs, no matter what circumstances, the woman by mandate of the men of the Church is to carry the pregnancy to term. In the insanity of Insantorum, even amniocentesis is forbidden. Why? His reasoning is the testing of amniotic fluid leads to abortions should there be any indication of problem such as Downs.
The insanity goes on and on. Basically, in the view of Insantorum and the good ol' boys of the Vatican, women shouldn't be allowed the priesthood, shouldn't be allowed to stop having babies under any circumstances...including rape....shouldn't be allowed to avoid pregnancies by use of contraception...including condoms, IUDs or any other method in addition to the pill. Even the use of condoms to prevent HIV in Africa is forbidden by the Catholic Church. Their workers are forbidden in the distribution of condoms in these areas of pandemic HIV infection.
The sanctity of life argument by these men, and the women who have fallen for their dogma, is life begins from the moment of ejaculation of sperm. Actually, a man having a vasectomy violates the catechism. But, this argument fails to reconcile with the actions of the "faithful" when it comes to war, famine and other sanctity of life issues. While the gospel clearly states humans shouldn't kill one another, the actions of the religious communities defy that basic tenet.
Time and again it has been the religious communities leading the charge to violence and war. Time and again women have been badgered to have children despite profound poverty by the leaders of religions. Time and again children have died from the effects of poverty. A poverty perpetuated by the actions of a male dominated clergy.
If you listen to Insantorum piously want to vomit because of separation of church and state, you'll also hear rhetoric indicating he'd be quite willing to start a war with Iran or any other non-Christian country he hates. And hate isn't too strong a word to use. The pious characters like Insantorum and the Christian right have no qualms about inflicting death on "non-believers". They consider themselves in a holy war already against women who would take control of their own bodies, against homosexual marriage, against the Islamofascist fanatics that bear a strong resemblance to the fanaticism of the Christian right and against big government intruding on the people.
But the very theocracy the Christian right claims to hate in the nations of Islam is the very thing they want to impose on the Christian USA. They maintain this is a Christian nation despite the Constitution or Bill of Rights. And they don't mind intruding on the sex lives or personal lives of others through the very government they decry as intrusive.
The vision of Insantorum and followers is not much different from the vision of white supremacists or the racists of Jim Crow laws. Their overt hatred of the first black President is palpable. Their condemnations of Obama's policies make absolutely no sense. The man has carried out the right wing agenda since first taking office. He is beholding to the power brokers of Wall Street and the lobbyists of the ultra-rich. What is not to like other than his color? And still we hear inane comments of the sell out President being a socialist or Marxist.
While some believe Insantorum could never be President, we have to keep in mind many thought an actor well past his prime of life could never be President. The scary truth is with voter suppression rampant and Citizens United allowing huge amounts of money to flow to candidates, insanity could very well rule more than it already does. Theocracy could become a reality in this nation.
Friday, February 24
A Friday Rant
For all the good words, speeches, rallies, marches and intentions the world continues to hurtle into a human abyss of hate, racism, Zionism, imperialism, sexism and on and on. The kind and gentle are ignored. The rational voices are ignored. Greed, materialism and nihilism are the norm. Our kids grow up playing games of war. Not the type of running in the neighborhood and choosing up sides. But realistically graphic, requiring only the movement of fingers and the mindless thinking of a well trained grunt.
But what do we expect? Hundreds of thousands will turn out for a football game. Mere hundreds will turn out to protect the planet, protect the humans on the planet and protect our future generations. Good intentions and good will are failing. No matter how angry some get, not enough seem to understand what to be angry about.
In the rural areas they turn to bloated blowhards on the radio. The words are angry and focused on the status quo. Code is spoken and clearly understood. The code is hateful and dismissive of anything or anybody challenging the rich masters of war and industry.
But these words mean little or nothing. It is like screaming in the hurricane winds we experienced around Denver the other night. Only we know the screams existed. Only we know our screams are nothing compared to the screams of dying mothers and their children. Their screams and the screams of the impoverished and forgotten are born of anguish.
Palestinian, Sudanese, Afghan, Iraqi, Lakota.....their anguish is unrelenting. Shame on us. Shame on our inability and unwillingness to stand up as a people to stop the madness. The neglect, apathy and disregard are everywhere. Even when it happens to our neighbor or friends we look helplessly on afraid to speak out or act out.
We are frozen by the fear so aptly disseminated by the evil tools of the Machiavellian princes of power. At work, at home, in public we fear the cameras, the overheard words, the perceptions of others who might "report" us. And people of color know their paranoia is based on reality. They know the blue gangsters care little about human intervention and a lot about violent intervention.
The gangsters in blue cry they are misunderstood but never attempt to understand. They patrol the slums and ghettos and go home to their sheltered, gated communities. What do they care about those who they "police"?
It's Friday. I need to ramble and rant. I could fearfully hide it, I suppose. Fuck no!
But what do we expect? Hundreds of thousands will turn out for a football game. Mere hundreds will turn out to protect the planet, protect the humans on the planet and protect our future generations. Good intentions and good will are failing. No matter how angry some get, not enough seem to understand what to be angry about.
In the rural areas they turn to bloated blowhards on the radio. The words are angry and focused on the status quo. Code is spoken and clearly understood. The code is hateful and dismissive of anything or anybody challenging the rich masters of war and industry.
But these words mean little or nothing. It is like screaming in the hurricane winds we experienced around Denver the other night. Only we know the screams existed. Only we know our screams are nothing compared to the screams of dying mothers and their children. Their screams and the screams of the impoverished and forgotten are born of anguish.
Palestinian, Sudanese, Afghan, Iraqi, Lakota.....their anguish is unrelenting. Shame on us. Shame on our inability and unwillingness to stand up as a people to stop the madness. The neglect, apathy and disregard are everywhere. Even when it happens to our neighbor or friends we look helplessly on afraid to speak out or act out.
We are frozen by the fear so aptly disseminated by the evil tools of the Machiavellian princes of power. At work, at home, in public we fear the cameras, the overheard words, the perceptions of others who might "report" us. And people of color know their paranoia is based on reality. They know the blue gangsters care little about human intervention and a lot about violent intervention.
The gangsters in blue cry they are misunderstood but never attempt to understand. They patrol the slums and ghettos and go home to their sheltered, gated communities. What do they care about those who they "police"?
It's Friday. I need to ramble and rant. I could fearfully hide it, I suppose. Fuck no!
Wednesday, February 15
Random Rants Redux
I'm still struggling with the new age of tweets and short updates about my personal life...like "I went to work"...."Went to lunch". REALLY?? I think in bigger chunks of gray matter. I'm a run on sentence walking. I can't sum up my thoughts in 30 words or less. Maybe I ought to seek help or get on meds? So, anyway from FACEBOOK....now a partner with Goldman-Sachs .....here's an update on recent thoughts. I've really not mellowed. Only my loving wife gets to read my mellow thoughts.
Wow...just got a 3% raise at work. With the 20-40% rise in gas prices resulting in the 10-20% rise in food prices and all the increases in healthcare co-pays and premiums, the wage cut I got means I slip further into the abyss of debt. Yeah it is a wage cut when you add it all up. Too bad I'm not an incompetent CEO crashing a company getting that 300% increase of salary.
Wednesday Feb 15 near Denver
Just heard a report about a Lt. General coming out with the obvious reality concerning the occupation of Afghanistan. The reports of the commanders and the DOD are fabricated to reflect a positive light on the war. For us old geezers, it's sort of like the "the light at the end of the tunnel" Westmoreland and Colin Powell kept repeating in Vietnam.
Wednesday Feb 15 near Denver
If only Catholics had such passion and fanatical opposition to aborting kids in their teens and twenties going to war. Or kids in foreign lands being killed by stray missiles or bombs. Instead they continue to assert their misogyny on the lay people. Here's a news flash....the Pope and his minions of priests don't want women to really be free.
Wednesday Feb 15 near Denver
As the military rattles sabers against Iran, the big oil companies rattle consumers with dramatic increases in gas prices. As the budget of the Pentagon is about to be reduced from the original increase to only a marginal increase suddenly the issue of nukes in Iran once again surfaces and we can't possibly go ahead with those cuts to the Pentagon. Let's make the single parent kids and the old take that cut....or better yet, the mentally ill....they don't have lobbyists with any influence.
Wednesday Feb 15 near Denver
The inevitable has happened. More contractors (aka mercenaries for the most part) died than American military in Afghanistan last year. Doesn't mean one life isn't as important as the other. Just means this nation has started down the slippery slope of a private military. As if the current military isn't used as a tool of the oligarchy already.
Monday Feb 13 at 6:42am near Denver
Can't help but wonder where the Catholic Church stands on viagra, cialis or levitra. I suppose it's a hard one for them. But they are sure where they stand on "the PILL". I often wonder, as a converted Catholic and now most likely considered an atheist, is it abortion to abort the life of an infant, toddler, child or adolescent using American made bombs, rocket, missiles, drones, rifle rounds, mor...tars, cluster bombs......my God...no wonder they want to keep wars going. Think of all the jobs involved in making all these armanents.
GOP ISSUES taking precedence over jobs, housing, education, nourishment, healthcare etc. listed below: (created by the twisted mind of an unabashed, sarcastic lefty)
Where do you stand on the missionary position?
What do you say about oral sex?
Should gays even be allowed to hold office or be in government jobs if they demand equal benefits compared to the straights?
Do you think gay marriage broke up Newt's first two marriages?
Do you think government is too intrusive in the personal affairs of the people? Shouldn't intolerant religions have that duty?
Are all welfare recipients a drag on the system and usually drug addicts? And either illegal immigrants or non-white?
Don't those without healthcare have the duty to die if they have expensive illnesses?
Shouldn't men make more than women since women just go out and get preggers and demand maternity leave?
I am sure there's thousands of other inane questions irrelevant to what is important to the welfare of all. Wedge issues the GOP,churches and haters come up with to intrude on others while all the time crying in hysterical voices about the government imposing itself on them.
And please, Catholics....you are the largest church in the world. You've been allowed to get away with one atrocity after another throughout the history of the church. You are not discriminated against any more than any other religious cult. Some do question if you'll ever get to the 19th century but it is doubful. So the title of misogynist and sexist shall remain with your priests and good old boy leaders. As a man, I fail to understand why women would tolerate your crap.
Just me, the incredible heretic, saying this.
February 11 at 12:05pm near Denver
The feds are going to fine five major banks 26 billion for foreclosure abuse. That's chump change and doesn't put people back into their homes. Of course the major take away from this is no one goes to jail for the deliberate fraud and corruption.
February 9 at 6:51am near Denver
If you're an American worker and you think your employer has your best interests at heart, think again. From mental health centers to high tech jobs employers are trying to sell a bill of goods about the need of the employee to sacrifice while management fails to do so. 2-3% raises with increases of healthcare benefits paid by the employee is a wage decrease. The cost of food, transportation and b...asic necessities aren't going down. Only our wages are. When was the last time any of us got a 375 % wage increase? Never? How about 10%? Can't remember or never? The average increase of wealth for the 1% is around that 375%. Newest way to screw employees comes from a Democrat suggesting high tech workers be exempt from OT pay. Being pushed by the likes of IBM. And you don't need unions???
February 8 at 7:01am near Denver
Wow...just got a 3% raise at work. With the 20-40% rise in gas prices resulting in the 10-20% rise in food prices and all the increases in healthcare co-pays and premiums, the wage cut I got means I slip further into the abyss of debt. Yeah it is a wage cut when you add it all up. Too bad I'm not an incompetent CEO crashing a company getting that 300% increase of salary.
Wednesday Feb 15 near Denver
Just heard a report about a Lt. General coming out with the obvious reality concerning the occupation of Afghanistan. The reports of the commanders and the DOD are fabricated to reflect a positive light on the war. For us old geezers, it's sort of like the "the light at the end of the tunnel" Westmoreland and Colin Powell kept repeating in Vietnam.
Wednesday Feb 15 near Denver
If only Catholics had such passion and fanatical opposition to aborting kids in their teens and twenties going to war. Or kids in foreign lands being killed by stray missiles or bombs. Instead they continue to assert their misogyny on the lay people. Here's a news flash....the Pope and his minions of priests don't want women to really be free.
Wednesday Feb 15 near Denver
As the military rattles sabers against Iran, the big oil companies rattle consumers with dramatic increases in gas prices. As the budget of the Pentagon is about to be reduced from the original increase to only a marginal increase suddenly the issue of nukes in Iran once again surfaces and we can't possibly go ahead with those cuts to the Pentagon. Let's make the single parent kids and the old take that cut....or better yet, the mentally ill....they don't have lobbyists with any influence.
Wednesday Feb 15 near Denver
The inevitable has happened. More contractors (aka mercenaries for the most part) died than American military in Afghanistan last year. Doesn't mean one life isn't as important as the other. Just means this nation has started down the slippery slope of a private military. As if the current military isn't used as a tool of the oligarchy already.
Monday Feb 13 at 6:42am near Denver
Can't help but wonder where the Catholic Church stands on viagra, cialis or levitra. I suppose it's a hard one for them. But they are sure where they stand on "the PILL". I often wonder, as a converted Catholic and now most likely considered an atheist, is it abortion to abort the life of an infant, toddler, child or adolescent using American made bombs, rocket, missiles, drones, rifle rounds, mor...tars, cluster bombs......my God...no wonder they want to keep wars going. Think of all the jobs involved in making all these armanents.
GOP ISSUES taking precedence over jobs, housing, education, nourishment, healthcare etc. listed below: (created by the twisted mind of an unabashed, sarcastic lefty)
Where do you stand on the missionary position?
What do you say about oral sex?
Should gays even be allowed to hold office or be in government jobs if they demand equal benefits compared to the straights?
Do you think gay marriage broke up Newt's first two marriages?
Do you think government is too intrusive in the personal affairs of the people? Shouldn't intolerant religions have that duty?
Are all welfare recipients a drag on the system and usually drug addicts? And either illegal immigrants or non-white?
Don't those without healthcare have the duty to die if they have expensive illnesses?
Shouldn't men make more than women since women just go out and get preggers and demand maternity leave?
I am sure there's thousands of other inane questions irrelevant to what is important to the welfare of all. Wedge issues the GOP,churches and haters come up with to intrude on others while all the time crying in hysterical voices about the government imposing itself on them.
And please, Catholics....you are the largest church in the world. You've been allowed to get away with one atrocity after another throughout the history of the church. You are not discriminated against any more than any other religious cult. Some do question if you'll ever get to the 19th century but it is doubful. So the title of misogynist and sexist shall remain with your priests and good old boy leaders. As a man, I fail to understand why women would tolerate your crap.
Just me, the incredible heretic, saying this.
February 11 at 12:05pm near Denver
The feds are going to fine five major banks 26 billion for foreclosure abuse. That's chump change and doesn't put people back into their homes. Of course the major take away from this is no one goes to jail for the deliberate fraud and corruption.
February 9 at 6:51am near Denver
If you're an American worker and you think your employer has your best interests at heart, think again. From mental health centers to high tech jobs employers are trying to sell a bill of goods about the need of the employee to sacrifice while management fails to do so. 2-3% raises with increases of healthcare benefits paid by the employee is a wage decrease. The cost of food, transportation and b...asic necessities aren't going down. Only our wages are. When was the last time any of us got a 375 % wage increase? Never? How about 10%? Can't remember or never? The average increase of wealth for the 1% is around that 375%. Newest way to screw employees comes from a Democrat suggesting high tech workers be exempt from OT pay. Being pushed by the likes of IBM. And you don't need unions???
February 8 at 7:01am near Denver
Monday, February 6
You Get Over It!
You know every time I watch a sporting event I resent the obligatory color guard or field size flag trotted out so everybody can pay reverence to the flag of imperialism. Sorry, but that's just the way I feel. And every damn sporting event becomes a recruiting opportunity for the military. The closest thing to a rebuttal I've seen was the end of Madonna's stage show at half yesterday. The words "WORLD PEACE" were projected onto the playing field. But I'm guessing most of the crowd felt world peace came by occupation and imperialistic aggression by the force of the American military.
Last year I was at a Nuggets game and the halftime event was a Marine Corps drill team with twirling rifles and lock step precision marching. The crowd seemed to love the action. I had a sinking feeling in my gut as I looked out on the young faces of the Marines and wondered how many would die in the next year, how many had already been through the rages and self medication, how many were estranged from family. It sickened me as the crowd cheered and clapped without any regard to the kids who watched possibly being influenced to join the Marines so they can wear the dress blues and do drills. And how many would only wear the dress blues in a casket returning from yet another senseless war?
Sure, we love our military and our troops but is militarism, wars and violence what we aspire to be as a nation? Are our heroes always going to be warriors? I know plenty of veterans who hate this shit. Shouldn't we become mentors to our young brothers and sisters to rebut the myth of war being gallant and heroic? Shouldn't we advise those old bastards who have never had a shot fired at them with deadly intention they are masters of deceit and pimps for death?
Shouldn't we tell the real truth about wars? The long boring, miserable times in jungles and deserts interrupted by the deadly cacophony of rifles, rpgs, rockets and thunderous blasts coming from hidden landscapes. The horrible screams of wounded and dying bleeding out from the traumatic amputation of arms, legs and entire trunks of young bodies. The terror of the dying right before the light in their eyes go out. The attempts of the living to stay alive long enough to find the body parts of friends to send home to family. The soiling of ourselves when all bladder and bowel control disappears in the panic of dark ambushes. Join in. Warriors all have similar horror stories never told to the naive and foolish thinking it's all glory and parades when you join up.
Dalton Trumbo had it right in JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN. His character, a destroyed body with only upper trunk and brain intact, finally manages to communicate his desire for his remaining body to be put on display. The brass immediately stops any further communication between the "body" and a nurse who discovers the ability of the body to communicate. Make no mistake, embedded reporters were the deliberate calculation of the military never wanting the "body" in Iraq or Afghanistan to be put on display as it had been during Vietnam.
Bradley Manning understands the need for the display to happen. A public that has to face what it has done to the young they sent to war may wake up and object. It seems the babies and innocent women and children in our wars never cause an uprising or objection from the general public. Collateral damage. Unintended consequences. No, fucker! Humans!! People! Babies! Don't use your fucking parsing of words to soften the horror you are responsible for. Take responsibility.
Mark Twain knew the body had to be displayed in THE WAR PRAYER. He took it to the great religious leaders who rallied the young to war. Have the religous leaders of today changed all that much from Twain's time? Hardly.
Yeah, we need to display the bodies. Like the ones that run around in my head all the time. The ones that run around in the dreams and thoughts of so many warriors for the the masters of war. They need to see their death and destruction every single day like so many warriors do. They need to tear down their heroic statutes and display the body all over the beltway of DC to demonstrate what is perpetrated inside the lush government offices of the masters of war. Too drastic, too ghoulish you say? Think about how the occupied of our wars must feel when they see the result of our cluster bombs, our tanks with DU rounds or our white phosphorous. You want reality t.v.? Take a steady dose of death created by your government issued war machine.
Get over it, you say. No, I say you like it so damn much get off your asses and away from your CALL OF DUTY joysticks and PARTICIPATE!!! Try the real thing and then you get over it.
Anyway, I'll be damned if I'm standing for that stupid anthem or putting my hand over my heart or taking my cap off. I don't need to ask permission.
Sunday, February 5
Revisiting The Rabbit Hole
Once again we find ourselves observing the illogical thinking of a government fighting to protect the rights of the violent more than the rights of the peaceful. Bradley Manning, a small fish in a pool of sharks, is forced to stand trial for revealing the ugly truths of war crimes and lies perpetrated against the Iraqi and Afghan people and the world.
And logically, if we fall prey to the illogical reasoning of so many, the rapes and murders in Haditha and throughout Iraq and Afghanistan by American troops and the mercenaries labeled "contractors" go without punishment. In most cases they even go without trial. A recent buzz phrase by a military court was "in the best interest of justice" they were dropping charges against an accused killer of civilians.
The reality is a troop has to be totally stupid to ever face trial for a purposeful act of murder or rape. Assaults aren't even considered since it's all in the course of the duty of a soldier to "rough up" the hajis of military age being rounded up. Interrogation includes assault, water boarding and torture not considered torture unless it happens to an American. Then, by God, it's an atrocity!
I constantly shake my head in amazement and disbelief when I see who is considered the villain and who is the hero. It's like falling down the rabbit hole of Alice's journey into "Wonderland" on LSD.
For a President who promises transparency in government, Obama has done just the opposite. He has continued the policies of Bush and doubled down on secrecy and violations of human rights and the bill of rights under the guise of the Patriot Act and the terror of terrorism.
I heard a newscaster recently question how much freedom should Americans give up to protect American freedom. And she said it with all seriousness. I also recently saw an African American "activist" claim the Occupy Oakland group has been taken over by an unsavory group of people bent on violence. I wondered if he was talking about the Oakland police who have done such a great job in keeping the peace. But, no, he meant those criminals who refused to leave the park and streets. Those who broke the city laws of peaceful assembly in public areas such as parks.
America, this beacon of freedom to the world, has become the spotlight of hypocrisy. We proclaim justice but never avail justice to the innocent victims of war crimes. We proclaim freedom but violently beat and brutalize our own people who seek redress of the government that has gone rogue. We give person-hood to the Goldman-Sachs and Wal-Mart corporations that have gutted the financial well being of this nation but deny it to individual citizens who object to injustices.
We allow one fanatical religious group more power over the personal lives of all Americans than the rule of true law and freedom. The same group that clamors to get government out of their personal lives. They cherry pick their biblical verses to suit themselves and deny their evil hypocrisy every step of the way. They beat their chests in phony and pious rants to protect the sanctity of the unborn but after the child is born don't give a damn if it starves, lives in poverty, is killed in war or becomes addicted. This is the same group that demands the gutting of the social programs helping feed, house and clothe the impoverished. They live in country club estates, retire in comfort and eat enough each day to feed four or five humans. And blame the hungry for "milking the system" and taking food from their mouths.
Another religious group that has more followers world wide has become the satanic symbol of evil. Most of their followers are chaste and devout but like Christians have fanatics that sully the name of the religion. It is no mistake most of this religion that has been demonized have brown and black pigmentation. It is the American way. How many American wars have been against the "other" races? Other than white, that is. This nation began by killing the savage red man and altering history to reflect the heroic Columbus and pilgrims that followed.
Maybe I've always lived in an illogical world of lies, hypocrisy and evil ruling those who want peace and justice. Looking at history, even the revised history of the Europeans, seems to indicate this unquestionable truth. So, why go on? Why not become as narcissistic as those in power? I mean we are all self-centered and self serving to some extent, why not all the time?
I just can't stand myself living that way all the time!!!
And logically, if we fall prey to the illogical reasoning of so many, the rapes and murders in Haditha and throughout Iraq and Afghanistan by American troops and the mercenaries labeled "contractors" go without punishment. In most cases they even go without trial. A recent buzz phrase by a military court was "in the best interest of justice" they were dropping charges against an accused killer of civilians.
The reality is a troop has to be totally stupid to ever face trial for a purposeful act of murder or rape. Assaults aren't even considered since it's all in the course of the duty of a soldier to "rough up" the hajis of military age being rounded up. Interrogation includes assault, water boarding and torture not considered torture unless it happens to an American. Then, by God, it's an atrocity!
I constantly shake my head in amazement and disbelief when I see who is considered the villain and who is the hero. It's like falling down the rabbit hole of Alice's journey into "Wonderland" on LSD.
For a President who promises transparency in government, Obama has done just the opposite. He has continued the policies of Bush and doubled down on secrecy and violations of human rights and the bill of rights under the guise of the Patriot Act and the terror of terrorism.
I heard a newscaster recently question how much freedom should Americans give up to protect American freedom. And she said it with all seriousness. I also recently saw an African American "activist" claim the Occupy Oakland group has been taken over by an unsavory group of people bent on violence. I wondered if he was talking about the Oakland police who have done such a great job in keeping the peace. But, no, he meant those criminals who refused to leave the park and streets. Those who broke the city laws of peaceful assembly in public areas such as parks.
America, this beacon of freedom to the world, has become the spotlight of hypocrisy. We proclaim justice but never avail justice to the innocent victims of war crimes. We proclaim freedom but violently beat and brutalize our own people who seek redress of the government that has gone rogue. We give person-hood to the Goldman-Sachs and Wal-Mart corporations that have gutted the financial well being of this nation but deny it to individual citizens who object to injustices.
We allow one fanatical religious group more power over the personal lives of all Americans than the rule of true law and freedom. The same group that clamors to get government out of their personal lives. They cherry pick their biblical verses to suit themselves and deny their evil hypocrisy every step of the way. They beat their chests in phony and pious rants to protect the sanctity of the unborn but after the child is born don't give a damn if it starves, lives in poverty, is killed in war or becomes addicted. This is the same group that demands the gutting of the social programs helping feed, house and clothe the impoverished. They live in country club estates, retire in comfort and eat enough each day to feed four or five humans. And blame the hungry for "milking the system" and taking food from their mouths.
Another religious group that has more followers world wide has become the satanic symbol of evil. Most of their followers are chaste and devout but like Christians have fanatics that sully the name of the religion. It is no mistake most of this religion that has been demonized have brown and black pigmentation. It is the American way. How many American wars have been against the "other" races? Other than white, that is. This nation began by killing the savage red man and altering history to reflect the heroic Columbus and pilgrims that followed.
Maybe I've always lived in an illogical world of lies, hypocrisy and evil ruling those who want peace and justice. Looking at history, even the revised history of the Europeans, seems to indicate this unquestionable truth. So, why go on? Why not become as narcissistic as those in power? I mean we are all self-centered and self serving to some extent, why not all the time?
I just can't stand myself living that way all the time!!!
Saturday, January 21
Resisting Defeat
Six more dead Marines. Six more dead from accidental drone attacks. A few here. A few there. Kids dying of starvation in Somalia. Distended stomachs in Haiti across from NGO compounds serving steak. Racist hate spews from the hypocrital mouths of those that would be President. Oblivious masses frozen in front of wide screens watching the "big game". Lavish spending on ads for the Super Bowl. Obscene spending by obscurely named Super-PACs funded by the bastards causing the dead Marines and the families killed "accidently" by unmanned weapons. If they're unmanned, who pulled the trigger?
Who is going to remember the Marines from Hawaii? Who will remember the dead families in Pakistan or Afghanistan? How many care about the sunken eyes of the dying children? How can we walk by the filth and despair of the refugee camps in Haiti.
Just trying to keep up with all the despair makes me weary and think it would be easier to not know. But if I didn't know, would I be human? If I stopped caring would it really make a difference? Too late. I do know. As one individual, the whirlwinds of despair, hatred, volence and bad news intimidates and frustrates me. My mind is always in turmoil. Should I go to the job or make my job one of attempting to change things?
The cold reality is trying to change things isn't primary despite my best intentions. I still need to work in order to eat and have shelter. I want to simplify in my mind but the will to do so is often too weak. And so, I fret and curse and worry. What will become of us?
I look at my granddaughter and wonder if she will still face a world or sexism, misogyny and hate for women. She's seven. Already the brainwashing of institutionalized education has started. Who will look after her that she might be free to be herself?
My oldest grandson faces an unsure future. In two years he will leave high school. What choices will he have. Will recruiters come for him? Will he fall prey to the seduction of war. The narcosis of war. Or will he become indebted to be able to get a college degree worthless in a job market seeking only to pay less than living wages?
My youngest grandson starts first grade. Will there be any freedom left for him when he reaches adulthood? Will his parents see the need to enter the struggle against the hatred and oppression to ensure there are still freedom and rights? Or be too worn out, too exhausted to care?
And, still, my mind returns to the continued wars ripping apart families. Breaking the hearts of parents. Scarring children. Making wives or husbands cry in despair. The images of mothers holding obtunded babies in the hellish camps of the impoverished are hard to forget. The memories of the 9th Ward of New Orleans or the relocation camps of Vietnam aren't going to go away.
It would be easy right here to say it's hopeless. It may be in the long run. I have environmentalist friends who tell me it's too late. We've passed the tipping point. But I notice they keep fighting for their cause. They don't give up in depressive despair.
Helplessness and hopelessness are a deadly duo that leads to suicide. It can be a physical suicide or an emotional one. One where all we do is exist until we die. But in the face of all the reasons not to care or resist, can we quit? Can I ? There are certainly days when it seems like I could. But those days pass. I can't quit because I don't want to just exist.
I like to be around the energy of the young and old who have passion. I like watching my grandkids smile and enjoy life. I want that for all children. I enjoy hearing the idealism of young students and rebellious anarchists. I respect the elders of my generation who continue to battle against the tidal wave of evil that seems overwhelming.
The empathy toward those who face only poverty and hopelessness is a hard thing to maintain. But, if not us, who will it be? Do we alllow the racists, the imperialist without regard for other humans, the narcissistic politicians who sell out to be elected or the masters of war to succeed in their destructive ways?
I can't stomach the idea of allowing the rapists of women, the polluters of Earth or the bigots of this world to think they've won. That they can go unchallenged. Maybe it's rage and hatred that fuels me to stupidly think we can really "overcome". I hope there's also love in my heart. I think there is but the outrage can obscure things. The past has numbed my emotional thought processes. Many of my veteran friends can understand what I mean. But I like to think that same past has made us care.
So, despite the doubts, the outrage and despair I still feel compelled to continue the sometimes hazardous course of resistance. I don't want to be a cog in the destructive machine producing the hatefulness that kills babies, slaughters the innocent and creates the hatred of divisiveness among humans. Rather than just exist I want the adventure of living to fight for peace and justice. How totally naive and unrealistic. I can't seem to grow up!
.
Who is going to remember the Marines from Hawaii? Who will remember the dead families in Pakistan or Afghanistan? How many care about the sunken eyes of the dying children? How can we walk by the filth and despair of the refugee camps in Haiti.
Just trying to keep up with all the despair makes me weary and think it would be easier to not know. But if I didn't know, would I be human? If I stopped caring would it really make a difference? Too late. I do know. As one individual, the whirlwinds of despair, hatred, volence and bad news intimidates and frustrates me. My mind is always in turmoil. Should I go to the job or make my job one of attempting to change things?
The cold reality is trying to change things isn't primary despite my best intentions. I still need to work in order to eat and have shelter. I want to simplify in my mind but the will to do so is often too weak. And so, I fret and curse and worry. What will become of us?
I look at my granddaughter and wonder if she will still face a world or sexism, misogyny and hate for women. She's seven. Already the brainwashing of institutionalized education has started. Who will look after her that she might be free to be herself?
My oldest grandson faces an unsure future. In two years he will leave high school. What choices will he have. Will recruiters come for him? Will he fall prey to the seduction of war. The narcosis of war. Or will he become indebted to be able to get a college degree worthless in a job market seeking only to pay less than living wages?
My youngest grandson starts first grade. Will there be any freedom left for him when he reaches adulthood? Will his parents see the need to enter the struggle against the hatred and oppression to ensure there are still freedom and rights? Or be too worn out, too exhausted to care?
And, still, my mind returns to the continued wars ripping apart families. Breaking the hearts of parents. Scarring children. Making wives or husbands cry in despair. The images of mothers holding obtunded babies in the hellish camps of the impoverished are hard to forget. The memories of the 9th Ward of New Orleans or the relocation camps of Vietnam aren't going to go away.
It would be easy right here to say it's hopeless. It may be in the long run. I have environmentalist friends who tell me it's too late. We've passed the tipping point. But I notice they keep fighting for their cause. They don't give up in depressive despair.
Helplessness and hopelessness are a deadly duo that leads to suicide. It can be a physical suicide or an emotional one. One where all we do is exist until we die. But in the face of all the reasons not to care or resist, can we quit? Can I ? There are certainly days when it seems like I could. But those days pass. I can't quit because I don't want to just exist.
I like to be around the energy of the young and old who have passion. I like watching my grandkids smile and enjoy life. I want that for all children. I enjoy hearing the idealism of young students and rebellious anarchists. I respect the elders of my generation who continue to battle against the tidal wave of evil that seems overwhelming.
The empathy toward those who face only poverty and hopelessness is a hard thing to maintain. But, if not us, who will it be? Do we alllow the racists, the imperialist without regard for other humans, the narcissistic politicians who sell out to be elected or the masters of war to succeed in their destructive ways?
I can't stomach the idea of allowing the rapists of women, the polluters of Earth or the bigots of this world to think they've won. That they can go unchallenged. Maybe it's rage and hatred that fuels me to stupidly think we can really "overcome". I hope there's also love in my heart. I think there is but the outrage can obscure things. The past has numbed my emotional thought processes. Many of my veteran friends can understand what I mean. But I like to think that same past has made us care.
So, despite the doubts, the outrage and despair I still feel compelled to continue the sometimes hazardous course of resistance. I don't want to be a cog in the destructive machine producing the hatefulness that kills babies, slaughters the innocent and creates the hatred of divisiveness among humans. Rather than just exist I want the adventure of living to fight for peace and justice. How totally naive and unrealistic. I can't seem to grow up!
.
Insidious Play For Lives
As you watch the NFL playoffs this weekend, notice how many military recruitment ads there will be. As you watch the NBA on any weekend notice how many ads for the military. The military and their bosses pulling the puppet strings like to equate the military and professional sports. They like to use team work as being something you can find in the military. And of course, there are troops being in...ducted during half times, troops holding those field sized flags, color guards in dress uniforms. "God bless America" during the games. Yep, if you can't grow up to be Dirk or Lebron, you can grow up to be Pat Tillman.
What does it say about organizations dominated by people of color on the playing fields allowing recruitment to be done throughout the games? What target audience is there watching these ads? Does Steve Nash and Champ Bailey plan on letting their kids join the Marines real soon? But even more egregious are the Donald Sterns and Mark Cubans of the management and ownership groups. They know the effect of the ads on young people. But somebody has to fight the wars on the cheap while boys and girls playing kid's games make millions each year, right?
We shouldn't put a damper on sports, though. The insidious ads of recruitment are everywhere. They want you to "be all you can be", "Army tough" and "Semper Fi" but unlike those ads selling you all the wonder drugs that list all the side effects in small print and fast talk overs, the recruitment ads don't tell you, "WARNING: enlistment in the military can cause death, dismemberment, traumatic amputation, PTSD, TBI, MST and other serious side effects. Talk to a veteran before you enlist"
What does it say about organizations dominated by people of color on the playing fields allowing recruitment to be done throughout the games? What target audience is there watching these ads? Does Steve Nash and Champ Bailey plan on letting their kids join the Marines real soon? But even more egregious are the Donald Sterns and Mark Cubans of the management and ownership groups. They know the effect of the ads on young people. But somebody has to fight the wars on the cheap while boys and girls playing kid's games make millions each year, right?
We shouldn't put a damper on sports, though. The insidious ads of recruitment are everywhere. They want you to "be all you can be", "Army tough" and "Semper Fi" but unlike those ads selling you all the wonder drugs that list all the side effects in small print and fast talk overs, the recruitment ads don't tell you, "WARNING: enlistment in the military can cause death, dismemberment, traumatic amputation, PTSD, TBI, MST and other serious side effects. Talk to a veteran before you enlist"
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