An Update Both Unfortunate and Hopeful

It's been a long time since there's been anything worth writing, but that doesn't mean anything has changed. The world goes 'round. There are still Americans and others occupying Iraq and Afghanistan. The Republican party has continued to work to ensure the continued decline of the United States. Defiant ignorance is not on the wane, its ascendance seems to be the driving force behind the inevitable decline of an occasionally great nation.

A decade has passed since September 11, 2001, and a wide swath of our fellow citizens remain convinced that the Saddam Hussein had something to do with the hijackings and attendant catastrophes. Some of the most profitable companies in the United States continue to be connected to oil and warfare. There is so much wrong with this that the analysis alone would fill volumes.

Discourse becomes ever more shrill and facts less and less valued.

It's depressing, but there remain pockets of beauty and joy. Seek them out. Revel in them. Praise their creators. Smile more than you think necessary, because it can make a difference in your own happiness. Plus, your neutral expression is how people who don't know you perceive you. Are you one of those angry folk or are you up to something wonderful?

"Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty." Really. It will make a difference.

Heroes and Freedom

Driving up the road today I passed a man on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle whose jacket had a large emblem that indicated that he was an Iraq "war" veteran, that he had "defended America's freedom", and that he was a "new American super hero." The fact that he served in American armed forces in Iraq might be indisputable, but the rest of the jacket is just wrong.

These three statements are each fallacious in their own special ways. Let's begin at the top with the "Iraq War Vet" identifier. When George W. Bush and Dick Cheney concocted their plan to invade Iraq, the Congress was coerced into granting permission, but did not declare war. QED. The invasion has been followed by an occupation (and assorted war crimes, but that's another story). It still isn't a war. There is an "Insurgency" that could also be referred to as a Resistance. In either case, there are people fighting to rid their country of an occupying army that invaded without provocation or any direct hostile action.

The second has to do with defending American freedom. American freedom sustained more damage from the Bush/Cheney administration than from any hostile action ever perpetrated against the United States by any foreign power. The ironically-named PATRIOT Act and the attendant implementation of the Department of Homeland Security have resulted in more abuse of Americans' freedom, privacy, and civil liberties than any action Saddam Hussein ever took. If these soldiers want to fight for American Freedom, let them come home and get involved politically and work to undo the damage that has been done. The American Civil Liberties Union has done more to defend American freedom than any 21st Century soldier.

Finally, this business about heroes. There is nothing particularly heroic about invading and occupying a country which posed no threat to the United States. (Even the invasion of Afghanistan is dubious, but that's another post.) The way many American forces have mistreated the people of Iraq and Afghanistan should be punished, not celebrated. Heroism is an interesting, and rare, commodity--especially in an era of remote-control death dealing.

Now that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be claimed without the need for specific incidental citation, the floodgates should open. The HAL 9000 computer in Kubrick and Clarke's 2001 A Space Odyssey was given an unresolvable set of conflicting orders, and subsequently committed murder--which it deduced as the best solution. The damaged psyches of the people who are coming back from Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney's great defense industry enrichment scheme will be costing the country billions more in the decades to come. They're not heroes. They're people who needed a job, or who wanted to vent their rage, or both. Too bad for everybody.

The world needs some more heroes. There is room for people who add to the conversation, grow the game, instead of complaining and obstructing. Freedom does need defending, but more from those who see its limitation as a way to perpetuate and expand power than from any suicide bomber.

Oh, the wheels on the bus...

go 'round and 'round.

(Alienation Happens.)

Playing to the Groundlings

The parallels between the Teabaggers and the brownshirts are too numerous, but the commonality remains. (OK, Godwin's Law applies here.) When in doubt, get the simple folk riled and stand back while they do your dirty work.

Recent events remind me of Kristallnacht: shrill rhetoric resulting in mobs of thugs out to vandalize homes and offices of people who support a bill that begins to offer more comprehensive health care to Americans. One might take hope, though, in the great tradition of bullies being more hot air than action. Still, the "ex-soldiers and beer hall brawlers" that made up the Sturmabteilung did make quite a mess.

It's sad that one of the best pieces of political oratory in recent memory came from a fictional character (President Andrew Shepherd in Rob Reiner's film The American President).

America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free". I've known Bob Rumson for years, and I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's problem is that he can't sell it! We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it.

After a protest at the University of Ottawa resulted in the cancellation of Ann Coulter's speech, one of my acquaintances wrote:

Ann Coulter is right on just about everything, she just says it in a way that is offensive to liberals. The Canadians showed just how important whatever they call their free speech law is by being incapable of listening to an opposing viewpoint. Doesn't surprise me. Some day I suspect we will just send Rhode Island up their to kick the crap out of their Army. I guess I really should give some credit to the Canadian armed forces that have served in Iraq. Supposedly both of them were above marginal soldiers.

(Ironical note here: that author's father was Canadian.)

The way Ms. Coulter, Rush, and Glen talk about "liberals" reminds me too much of the way Jews and other "non-Aryans" were demonized. "Them" is a useful term when playing to the groundlings. In a complex world, simple answers are attractive. Deceptive, but attractive. It worked in 1919 and it works in 2010. Chances are that the plebs were played just like the Teabaggers are these days.

Politically Grumpy

I woke up politically grumpy today, thinking about money and hornets. W took a stick to the nest, Obama lets the agitation continue, and Arizona (and Vermont, and...) have to close rest areas because there's no money. Why is there plenty for anything Defense wants while the bridges are failing? "It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber." Indeed. This foolishness in Iraq and Afghanistan (and Guantanamo and who knows where the other prisons are) is very expensive business. Osama bin Laden won. The US is bankrupting itself and keeping the Islamic world enraged. It's what he wanted. If it's about revenge, when is it done? On 9/11 about 3,500 people died, and the American armed forces have lost about 4,500 so far. They've killed many times those numbers combined.

Villager: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth!
Tevye: Very good. That way the whole world will be blind and toothless.

Really, all I want is an explanation. OK, an explanation and for it to stop. Well, actually, an explanation, for it to stop, and for the instigators and facilitators to be prosecuted.

The world went through The Looking Glass on
December 12, 2000 when the Supreme Court set us on this track by giving the keys to the country to Dark Lord Cheney and the poster child for American Defiant Ignorance.

I don't want to take it.

Here We Go 'Round in Circles

My mother teaches writing at a small sectarian college near Boston (it happens to be my parents' alma mater). It is one of a number of institutions of higher learning that her denomination has scattered throughout the US. From time to time my mother notes that her school is "one of the most liberal of the (denomination's) colleges." Today we happened to be discussing one of my cousins' children who just began attending community college after being schooled at their church's elementary and high schools. He is barely literate. The conversation came around to how she believes the state should have educational standards that apply to all schools, and that people who home school beyond elementary school should have college degrees. I pointed out that someone we know received a degree from one of her denominations' colleges homeschooled her children, despite an inability to spell, punctuate, or use correct grammar. "Well, (our college) is the best, academically, of all the (denomination's) schools." "And yet, you frequently complain of many of your colleagues' 'liberal' political opionions. Might there be a connection between that and the superior academics?" "Some of these professors teach Evolution!" "Is teaching science a bad thing?" "But the don't teach Intelligent Design alongside it. And then they don't believe in Jonah and the whale or Noah... You can't just pick and choose what you want to believe from the Bible."

The point of all this is that compromising academics in the service of ideology and faith is not without risk. The logical conclusion of which is being played out not only in the middle of America, but also Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Egypt (among too many other countries).

So it goes.

Vanity Plate Musings

We were having lunch in Williamsburg, VA not long ago and I saw two interesting license plates. Even took time to photograph one and post it to Facebook, figuring that people might enjoy seeing a plate that warned "IM PMSN."

The other plate was gone by the time we had finished our lunch, so I didn't get to capture it as I had hoped. Its defiant "NO TAX" got me to thinking, as I ate, about what that implied. Perhaps the driver was one of the modern teabaggers who have been rallying to the Fox News cry for grassroots action. Maybe there were other motivations. Nevertheless, as I pondered the sort of people I have seen railing against taxes, I detect a strain of disinginuity in their cries.

It appears that the NO TAX teabaggers also tend to be those who want a kick-ass military, equipped with all the tools necessary to go out and obliterate anyone we see fit. The only alternative funding strategy that comes immediately to mind is pillage, which, it seems, is what Cheney had in mind all along.

The tax averse also seem to be the ones who drive the largest vehicles. Maybe this is so that when the roads and bridges finish disintegrating from deferred maintenance they'll be able to keep on going. This works for the Hummers and maybe the F150s, but I doubt the Crown Victorias will be following them into the breach.

Another casualty in a taxless world is the police force. Perhaps this is why so many God-fearing, Fox-News-watching, Rush-Limbaugh-following dittoheads are armed to the teeth, so that when they get the opportunity to do their own law enforcement.

The scenario is positively Mad Maxian.

Paying taxes is the price of admission to civilization. Deal with it.

What's the Opposite of QED?

Q.E.D. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase quod erat demonstrandum, which literally means "which was to be demonstrated".

"I do not think that word means what you think it means." (Inigo Montoya)

Our former classmate, who has been the subject of another post in this blog, is at it again. This time in response to a posting in the New York Times called The Banality of Bush White House Evil. She took offence, repeatedly and not unexpectedly.

"This is such nonsense! Bush protected our country during his 8 years as our president!!! Not one terrorist attack since. Al Qaeda are terrorists run by Osama Bin Ladin. That is who murdered over 3000 Americans in NY, DC and PA."

[my response: The American people had more to fear from Dark Lord Cheney and Bush than any foreign terrorist. Their actions have led to the deaths of far more Americans (and Iraqis and Afghans) than died on 9/11/2001. The damage they have done to our national reputation and civil liberties (not least in the context of judicial appointments) will take decades to repair. It's an unfair trade for eight years of pillage.]

"Because of a couple of waterboarding to murders??? Or a catepillar in a cell? Oh please. Our reputation from what Obama has done in the last 100 days is far more damaging than anything Bush or Cheney did. Apologizing to our ENEMIES! Putting America down."

"The majority of Americans who voted for Obama are the illiterate, lazy, I need the government to help me idiots that dont have a clue. Obama is a puppet and we are in deep crap with him in office.Even the people that voted for him are wondering what they did. The poles that show his popularity are a joke. They favor him because of the questions asked in the pole that can do nothing but favor him. He is a joke."

[Here are the raw numbers from the elections since 1972.
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/national-exit-polls.html?scp=3&sq=2008%20election%20voter%20education%20results&st=cse
Obama won 58% of those with post-graduate degrees, etc.]

"Yep Kool-Aid drinkers.. Book smarts and NO street smarts. No one to share a fox hole with. Bill Ayers types You can have them. The Obama string holders have a beef with Bush because they hate the fact that what he did actually worked. Iraq for instance...even Hillary says things are going in the right direction. Pay attention!!!! Obama is keeping the Bush era war plans in play because even he see's that they are working.Your own party is mad at him for this as they are upset that he is letting this torture crap get out. WHY...its only going to hurt us. Our marines waterboard each other in training so this is a bunch of crap also. Obama will not last long...he is a wake up call as was 9/11"

"Obama was a community organizer in a black community...wow. Now he thinks he can run GM and all the banks and health care and everything. He can only run one thing HIS MOUTH! Our enemies laugh behind his back. They know he is weak and has no clue and they are testing him big time...I pray for him that he finally starts to stand behind his country and stop with the apologies, start being a president and stop enjoying the parties etc and get his butt to work for all Americans. Uphold the constitution and stop trying to re write it to fit the far left extremists ideas foe SOCIALISM"

[Is socialism that way of setting the playing field so that everybody gets equal treatment, kind of like that "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" business?
http://www.topical-bible-studies.org/24-0003.htm
And that is where it stands as I write this blog post.]

So, those of us who voted for the current president illiterate and lazy. I don't know where she studied political science, but I attended the same high school and came out able to spell and use correct grammar. There is a risk when we do drink the Kool-Aid and get opinions prepackaged, often with unintended consequenses. It's easy to blame "them" and latch onto a small bit of information, as with the father I overheard in Florida the other day telling his daughter that the large boat they saw "probably belongs to George Soros."

Ignorance is not bliss. It's dangerous. As the bumper sticker says, it should be painful. Unfortunately, it's the rest of us who feel the pain.

RIP Al Myers

In stunned silence I sit down to write someting in response to the news that our friend, Al Myers died last night. He was a prince among men; truly a great soul.

I only knew him in the context of community theatre. He was an actor, a producer, a director, and a "techie." He pitched in. He did what needed to be done. He did what he did with a good attitude and was always willing to help, coach, mentor, or follow without complaint.

Al was cast as Peter in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar that I directed in 2003. Surprised as I was that he chose to audition for a show that he had directed (in 1989), I was so grateful for what he brought to that production. Al stepped into that role and got it; he understood Peter's complexity and sadness, even to the point of helping create one of the most amazing moments in the production: a Pieta at the very end.

The first time I worked with Al he played Lazar Wolfe in Lyric Theatre Company's production of Fiddler on the Roof in 1993; the last time was when he directed that show in 2006. My wife produced that show, we were continually grateful for the opportunity to work with him. Sue says she learned much about the role of Producer from Al; he always took the time to work with each of the teams involved in the production so he could develop relationships with the team members and keep lines of communication open to know where there might be challenges that needed to be addressed.

Al was a brave director. He's the one who directed Finian's Rainbow in 1994; it's a show with a very diverse cast (and includes a subplot about a bigoted Senator from "Missitucky" who is turned black) with oustanding results. During the 2006 production of Fiddler, Al made a point of helping the cast come to an understanding of what people from villages like Anatevka went through, including having a seminar with a rabbi from Ohavi Zedek Synagogue and a seder dinner for the cast and congregation.

He was also a Civil War re-enactor (he's in the back row on the right in the linked photo). Al looked great as a colonel in the 2nd VT Volunteers. I can imagine him as a great leader in that awful war, his gentle strength would be an inspiration to the troops.

I don't know what else to say about the man from whom we can learn so much. WWAD? "What would Al do?" could be a good place to start when undertaking almost anything, and most certainly when thinking about how we treat each other.

I hope he knew how much we appreciated him.

An Articulated Mystery

A way of articulating a great mystery occurred to me in church last Sunday morning. During the time for children, the minister asked them to raise their hands if they knew Jesus loves them. Then she built a few more questions, ending with:

"Do you know that Jesus wants us to be kind and good to one another?"

When I heard that I was struck with the paradox of Fox News. We have removed it from our house for exactly that reason.

While she is an extreme example, the titles of the works of Ann Coulter come to mind, when she belittles a whole category of people (broad-brushedly called "liberals") with a mean-spiritedness that astonishes me. The same sort of thing comes from Limbaugh and others on talk radio, as well as on Fox News and, particularly disturbingly, in emails that get forwarded endlessly by people whose participation in propogating such hate speech is truly disappointing.

Do we know that Jesus wants us to be kind and good to one another?

I want our children to know and act accordingly.

When I'm helping my parents with their email and I see forwarded "Liberal"-bashing emails in their inbox I wonder, "If the sender had Jesus' email address, would He be on the distribution list?" What about repudiation? When is it incumbent upon us to stand up, hit "reply all", and say "That's not OK!" Should we actually be kind and good to one another, or does it not count when we're talking about "them?" There are many different kinds of them. Which ones are OK to speak unkindly about? Which are subhuman? Which deserve ridicule?

That's part of why you can't see Fox News on our TV. It's not OK in our house to be cruel and unkind and unfriendly, and that's how people like us get treated by that network. We happen to believe in some of the ideas that would have us branded (I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some people would support the use of branding irons for this) as Liberals. And we think that it is a good idea to be kind and good to one another.

Mental Contortionism

A former classmate of mine made a comment on something I had posted on Facebook regarding Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman's Op-Ed in the Times, Forgive and Forget in which he said

"...if we don’t have an inquest into what happened during the Bush years — and nearly everyone has taken Mr. Obama’s remarks to mean that we won’t — this means that those who hold power are indeed above the law because they don’t face any consequences if they abuse their power."

I had wondered as much in an earlier post, suspecting that John McCain would preëmptively pardon the whole gang, should he get elected (see Hey John McCain). This combination pushed my friend S*****'s Bush Button apparently.

S***** K**** at 9:09am January 17

Forgive and forget what???? I am sorry, but President Bush did nothing against the law! He did not abuse his power! He had to face unprecidented struggles and tragedies! He is a wonderful leader and man. People forget so fast how much they loved him right after 9/11. His approval rating was through the roof. Higher than any others! We are an "ADD" nation. The media determines how most people feel about something. He isn't perfect, not by a long shot. But he has done, what in my opinion, was a very good job. But hey, that's just my opinion...

I'm so happy to have Facebook and the capability to find and reconnect with so many people whose paths have crossed mine. I'm even pleased that S***** "friended" me. We've had a great many lively conversations, the last one was when she took umbrage at my Bokononist approach to Christmas and tried so earnestly to save my immortal soul. Another time was when she feared what might happen to the USA if Barak Obama were to be elected President.

It frightens me that there are so many true believers on this amazing planet. Put down the Kool-Aid, turn off Fox News, and open your eyes to as many perspectives as you can find.

The Logical Conclusion

For many years, at least since the Reagan years, Republicans have raged about The Government and have made Small Government a mantra. When it was impossible to eliminate The Government, Republicans have seemed to make it their business to break it. Now it's broken and many major Republican constituencies need help, so what happens?

Hey John McCain!

...do you plan to pardon Cheney and Bush (and those in their administration) for their crimes domestically or shield them from international prosecution?

Let's think about this, even though there have been distinctions drawn between civil and criminal prosecutions, breaking the law is a crime and there are laws about hiring, contracting, revealing the identity of CIA agents, torture, wiretapping, archiving, secrecy, and so many other activities that were carried out by this gang of thugs and thieves. Will they be brought to justice? Will the new administration (whichever one wins) say, "Let's put the past behind us" and let the lawbreakers walk away from the mess they made?

The damage that's been done is nearly irreparable. Nevertheless, we are ostensibly a nation of laws. There still is an international criminal court (despite this administration's flaunting and denial) which does have jurisdiction over international crimes. Justice should be served and carried out with all due process.

I ask again, would John McCain preemptively pardon his predecessors or shield them from international prosecution?

Oh, Huh!

When my sister was younger and found herself backed up against a logical wall, she would frequently respond to facts with a vehement, "Oh, huh!"

Recently, I've discovered the root of this: our own dear mother. I don't particularly remember her 35 years ago resorting to any presentation of uncomfortable fact about a Republican with something like, "Well, did you hear what Hillary did?" She may have, and it really is the rhetorical equivalent of, "Oh, huh!"

There comes a time when we must converse like adults, and the fact that "Oh, huh!" is not the answer to a parry or point.

Irony alert: my mother is currently a professor of rhetoric at a small sectarian college in the Northeast, where she is proud of how she is able to stand her ground against the Liberals.

Oz on the Potomac

It has occurred to me that the way the Cheney/Bush years have been operated much like Oz. To enter Oz, one needed to wear unremovable emerald glasses. The alternative universe that Cheney and Bush have contrived necessitates accepting a world in which the rule of law is suspended (via signing statements) and everything else is SECRET. (Why are you asking? Why do you hate America?) And when they get caught it's OK, or made OK retroactively.

Most recently the Wizard has decreed that everyone will get a check from the Treasury to take and spend on the consumer good of their choices. Where does this money come from? The budget surplus that President Clinton left behind was given away long ago in the form of tax cuts. Similarly, far more than could ever be afforded has been borrowed so that they could buy munitions from grateful defense contractors to attack a country that might or might not have oil that can be exploited by other friends and relations, nevertheless Halliburton makes money coming and going.

Today is the 40th anniversary of Eddie Adams' photo of the South Vietnamese officer shooting a Viet Cong guy in the head. That was back when we had freedom of speech. Now we have embedded journalists whose work must be approved. So we'll never see any atrocities or disturbing images from the occupation.

So it goes.

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. Do you want the terrorists to win?

Election 2008: The Tickets

On this eve of the New Hampshire Primary 2008, I will make my ticket predictions.

D: Obama/Richardson
R: McCain/Huckabee

Unhealthy and Uneducated and for the GOP

As the Republican thieves continue driving wheelbarrows of cash out of the American treasury (and wherever the borrowed money comes from), fewer people have opportunities for good education or health care. That's just the way of the market, right?

Well, let's follow that to a logical conclusion. If the only way one can get health care for oneself and one's family (because one can't get a good job of one's lack of a good education) is to join the military, then get in line!

Cannon fodder typically comes from the ranks of the uneducated, and "Leave No Child a Dime" is delivering more and more undereducated Americans to the recruiting offices.

I, for one, would prefer a healthy, educated America. I think they would make better workers, and more thoughtful voters.

Vets, We Appreciate Your Pointless Sacrifice

When Republicans get power, it seems that one of their priorities is Meaningless Emotional Gestures. To wit: the "Defense of Marriage Act" and Ronald Reagan National Airport. Protecting Us from Them is a given, so keeping gay couples down is a softball pitch. Naming Rights also come with power, and the yahoos have had at it with a vengeance. I will never refer to National Airport as anything but its original name.

The kicker came yesterday as I drove on "Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Memorial Highway" in New Hampshire. Now that's Supporting Our Troops! Even though both (now all three) adventures were dubious, it's important to make some sort of Statement to assuage the ambivalence felt about them. "And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for?"

Other than transferring borrowed money to "Loyal Bushies" and continuing to frighten the soft headed electorate, I don't know what the unfortunate sons and daughters are doing over there. Well, now that we've been there for longer than World War II, the main objective seems to be "Not Losing." It might be easier if someone could define Victory.

Rallying behind the Pointless Sacrifice is difficult when the people start asking "Why." That's where Naming Rights come in!

Fujimori's Fate for Cheney & Bush?

They brought Alberto Fujimori back from Chile to face charges of human rights abuses and corruption. Hmmm. Let's think, warrentless wiretapping? Check. Chargeless detentions? Check.

We also have no-bid inflated contracts given to Republican loyalists (regardless of qualifications, many just "two guys and a laptop" shops) and the largest going to a company that continued payments to the Vice President after he took office and the administration began an invasion and occupation. (Halliburton's stock price has gone from $6.50 to over $40 in the last five years. No connection, I'm sure.)

It gives me hope. There's no real chance for their prosecution before they leave office, but maybe after!

End the Republican Occupation of Washington

Maybe not a "Permanent Democratic Majority," a la the "Permanent Republican Majority" that Karl Rove had in mind (we need some loonies around to remind us what silly ideas they can come up with--and keep us from getting silly, ourselves). I am talking about a fairly clean sweep, though. I know there are "safe seats" gerrymandered around the country, most egregiously in Texas, so there's no real risk of getting all 435 and 33 next year, but still...

Then, maybe, there can be action in addition to hearings. Let's prosecute!