no pot...

When my father was down, and no longer could hold in his angst, his anger and felt at his lowest, he would sit on his favorite chair in our living room, thinking his kids were in bed or at least in the upstairs bedrooms of our house, and he would with great heavy sighs and I am sure deep tears falling from his proud eyes say to my mother, "I don't have a pot to pee in." He would repeat this sentence, and from our vantage point on the top of the stairs of the second floor scared and worried, listening to my parents discussion, we would assume would turn his head left to right, breath out a deep moan and then become silent. We knew he was finished speaking because my mother would say in a whisper loud enough for people next door to hear," no there is hope honey, there is hope." My father would then say "its just too much."

As a Gay man I have had to fight for my rights, my right to love whomever I want, my right to join the armed services, my right to adopt, my right to stop being seen as a devil child, my right for not being the reason for the end of the world, my right to not be blamed for the destruction of the Institution of Marriage. As a Gay man I have had to fight stereotypes placed in the world by fearful Rabbi's, Preachers, Priests, Popes, Imam's closeted Hollywood producers, and hypocritical Politicians. As a Gay man I have had to decide how safe it would be to ever come out of the closet and who along the way would have no concern with my life and who would rather see me dead. As a Gay man living in the supposedly most educated, sophisticated, ethical and morally superior country in the world I have felt and still feel like a second class citizen. As a Gay man it has taken me many years, in spite of the perceived animosity from those who don't know me and never will to overcome my fears, my lack of rights, my inequality and to be proud.

I work, I pay taxes, I pray, I eat, I have sex, I am a father, a son a brother, an uncle a friend a co-worker and an American. And sometimes I wonder if I "have a pot to pee in".

Now I wonder if I as a Gay man am not the only one who has to worry if he/she has "no pot to pee in." It seems that women in this red white and blue nation are now being taken to task for being female and are accused of being sexy teases trying the patience of male sexual libidos. It seems in Republican/Bagger State legislatures the men in charge wonder if women want to get raped for the fun of it and when they are raped and become pregnant they cry fowl and demand an abortion. 26 states run by a majority of Republican/Bagger Governors and Legislators are writing bills to stop abortion rights and stop women from any control on their reproductive rights. It seems that Rape is now a matter of legislative interpretation. In the state of South Dakota, a bill now says that anyone raped must wait 72 hours before being permitted to even consider an abortion, must attend a session in a clinic with a pro life clinician. They are also considering hiring the IRS to find any woman who is considering an abortion and having her show some kind of receipt that she had completed a police report and has not spent any government money for her abortion. These women are our Mothers, Sisters, Aunts, Friends, Neighbors. These women are Americans.

Then I wonder if women are not the only ones who "do not have a pot to pee in". The elderly, the disabled, the poor, the union worker, the middle class suddenly are reasons why we have a deficit in this nation. This vast demographic has come to the fore as the culprit for the red ink in government as stated by the Republican/Baggers in local and Federal government. It is the selfish behavior of these groups who have started to bleed this nation of black ink. It is the necessary needs of rent, health care, minimum wage, clean air, food that is in the way of the wealthy, the corporations to increase their bottom lines so that America can forge ahead. It is the teachers fault that schools cost so much money, it is the disabled who demand equal access that hinders businesses from spending their profits on bigger fish, it is the elderly worker who worked all his/her life who thinks they should reap any of the rewards form their years of labor, it is a union worker who wants a safe work environment, enough money to pay health insurance, rent and food it is all of those and many more who don't seem to understand that Capitalism can not survive unless the ultra wealthy, the billionaires like the Koch Brothers, the Wall Street mavens, the Bankers, the CEO's make more and more money and pay less and less in taxes. It is the declared greed of the poor, the elderly the disabled, the middle class the worker who are obstructing the necessary gluttony of the Royalty of this country. These scoundrels are your co-workers, your parents, your family, your congregants, your mass transit riders, your friends. They are Americans.

My father finally found his place in this universe. As he grew older, knowing that his family loved him and supported him, his never having "a pot to pee in" became less and less. He was a fighter and even though there were times in his life when he felt there was no more fight left, he did persevere. In his later years he would lament the fact that he even permitted the bad times to feel so overpowering, so in control. He wanted his kids to never have to sink so low by what he considered forces beyond your own control.

In America of 2011, it seems many of us are being told that if we even thought we had a pot to pee in, that pot was just something we never deserved. We are told by Republican/Baggers controlled by the wealthy that America can be great if the Gays, the Women, the Poor, the Elderly, the Union Worker make more sacrifices. Your pot to pee in will have to wait we are reminded by crazy legislations until we become richer and have much more than you deserve.

We who did not vote, or voted to kick the bums out or called ourselves Independent, or were spiteful, or who permitted Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter to lead us as lemmings have provided the power to the Republican/Baggers. We gave them a majority vote in which they now use that power to support a very limited minority.

I used to feel helpless listening to my Dad worry. I swore I would never let myself be in that position. It is not about having that pot it is about insuring that the pot is available for all of us, always!

Lets take back America.

Lets take back this America starting now!