OMG

OMG! LOL, I can’t believe I am writing this blog, but after watching the finals on American Idol, I had a revelation about life in America 2011. Joe and I (as I shamefully admit this that we watch American Idol), have been hooked on some of the talented musicians appearing this season. We try to use the bathroom or answer emails when Ryan Seacrest is his most patronizing and try to hold back our gag reflexes when suddenly the cast of idol perform really bad karaoke/ silly high school musical productions. But this year, as viewed from of our living room couch, has two or three multi-talented potential idols. And last night one of them, Casey Abrams, was voted off the show.

I was pissed and said I hate America for this vote. Joe wisely and with a bit of insight looked at me and said, “…Honey, this is what America does. They don’t care about quality, or talent, they are too juiced up about the packaging, the gift wrap, and the lack of depth. When did talent or ability come into play?”

OMG! And now with that simple whack on the side of my head I have a clearer picture of why we have Sarah Palin as a best selling author, Glenn Beck as an accepted prophet, Donald Trump gaining ground in the Republican/Bagger primaries, and FOX news comedians explaining their version of reality. Now I know why Bristol Palin earns hundreds of thousands of dollars to explain why she is not longer a virgin for an abstinence program, why people pay to see Charlie Sheen act as a fool, why Snooki gets paid a six figure salary while beating up anyone in her sight and MTV has no problem showcasing single moms as an elegant lifestyle choice.

In America 2011, we have decided being dumb, being mean, being anti this or that, using no fact just fiction, ignoring truth and finding fable easier to understand and something we can all attain. In America 2011, it doesn’t matter how good you are rather how good you are at disguising how awful you are. In America 2011 calling names is the tact to use when you have little to no evidence to support your bigoted or racist view. In America 2011 it is way too tiresome to scratch at the surface, when someone else can plant the seeds of hate for you.

Somehow along the way from 2008 when we were able to overlook race, finally dismiss those who lied while in office, search for change, pray for equality we stumbled upon 2011 and found ourselves in some black hole of anything but the truth, anything but reality, anything as long as it lacks substance and is sugar coated with gloss an glitter.

For those who do not watch American Idol, Casey Abrams was a contestant who played at least four instruments, sang a variety of genres of music and could entertain an audience as he sung. He is a talented man. It seemed he was a bit too heady for the Idol audience; he didn’t fit into a safe and secure mold. He challenged people to try and listen to his music. He seemed not be one of us, and he was voted off.

OMG! Didn’t we vote for George W. Bush because we were told he is someone we could sit down and have a beer with? We were told he wasn’t too smart, a little dumb, a common man with even more common ideas, a real American. We hear that those Tea Baggers are US, and if they hate Women, or Blacks, or Latin’s or Muslims or Unions or Gays or freedoms we should accept all of that because THEY are US.

American Idol, Joe’s simple comment, now I get it. If we have to look at something for more than a minute it is too complex, too scary and way too Un-American. OMG!

what is Un-American

There were times when my father had nothing to say about the current events of his life, my life and times when he would emphatically make a statement and become very adamant about how he felt and what he felt.

I was involved in the second national lottery of the draft for the armed services during the hey day of the Viet Nam War. My birthday October 21, when pulled in the lottery had me at number 243 out of a possible 365. I was assured by some not to worry, I would never be drafted and prompted by others to get my fatigues ready as a tour of duty in Saigon was imminent.

My father had enlisted in the Army and Navy and believed in service to his country and understood the value of the military. In 1967 the war in Viet Nam was prevalent on every news channel and suddenly not only 'hippies' and so called communists but the average Joe of America were beginning to question the purpose and practicality of the war. We witnessed death and destruction and many Americans did not understand why we were in Viet Nam or if there was an exit plan if we were to leave.

And then I received my number for the draft and in a family that never discussed the politics of the war, my Dad and I had a conversation. Basically a one sided chat, where my Father did most of the talking. He said people talk about this war (Viet Nam) and those who speak, many times only speak from emotion, prejudice, and project a future they would like to see not necessarily based on fact but mainly on a romanticized fiction. In speaking they are speaking their fears and in doing so likely stop speaking from their mind. Those who say not serving in the army is anti American have often never served in the army themselves. They like to toss around some kind of restrictive parameter of what makes us American. They, themselves, often times cannot live up to the expectation they set as the standard but expect others to do so.

I understand, he continued, about the value of democracy, but I don't understand how we force democracy on people who may not want the same things as us. I believe, he said, you would not be a coward, nor a communist, or a hippie if you decided not to fight in a war that seems impossible to win and more impossible to understand. Your lottery number scares me, and your life is dear to me so if you wish or want we can try and fight this.

My father then said, people speak out loud way too fast, and they do so because they know how harmful lies can become and like sores left unattended to can fester and envelop the entire body. And like cowards and bully's when confronted with their lies these people run away blaming others for misquoting or mis-understanding them and try to become the victim. If you, Gerry are true to your beliefs than move forward doing what is right for you. And no matter what you do, you are a true American because you are seeking the truth.

Recently we have people, politicians or 'wanna be politicians' who feel since the illiterate electorate, believed the cons and the sleight of hand of Republican/Baggers, and all their phony fabrications they now think they can now speak from their imaginary world of reality and make up facts. This group of liars can say something toss it out have it relished by the ignorant, the haters, the self victimized victims and when faced with the truth walk away from the accident they caused. And most of all those who disagree with the purported truth are of course Un-American.

My Father's words of advice about those who like to plant lies to cover their own inadequacies never owning up to their dis-ingenuousness resonate loud for me in 2011. We hear innuendo, supposition, fear mongering laid like traps for the foolish and angry to step upon and becoming entangled and enmeshed. We hear that the black man is only in power because of affirmative action, that the institution of marriage is less stable because of Gays, that Planned Parenthood's goal is not to sustain a healthy woman but to create more and more abortions, that America was to be a Christian nation as in that is what Jesus wanted, and that teachers, firefighters union members are the culprit and reason the for the great recession. We hear all of this and when confronted, those who say them out loud, kind of sort of never want to be held accountable for establishing the truth about the lies they spewed. But they can find the time to shout if you disagree with us you are Un-American.

I had to decide about the draft in 1967 and decide if I believed the facts told to me by those in power was true or just wishes wanted to come true. I had to listen to my Fathers words of choice and decide what was right and why it was right. That was 1967.

This is 2011 and I wonder how I will survive this next batch of bogus bragging and distortion of truth and how those around me will decide what is right, what is true, what is good? And watch as people ask the question what makes me Un-American?

what my grandmother said

My grandmother had spoke very little about her life growing up in Romania or her early years upon coming to the shores of America, but after a good sweet glass of Manischewitz Concord Grape Wine, and some chopped liver on a piece of matzoh, she found the wherewith all to reminisce and recount her theories on life and life around her.

Never one to hold a grudge, she believed that perseverance was better then holding back and would give (a few "pooh-pooh's, "oy gavults", and a single flick of salt over her shoulder) a stern call to the relative, butcher, or neighbor who crossed her path, tell them they will suffer in the near future if they do not admit their lie, error and or bundle of mis-information. And when they brush their teeth, looking at their reflection they will never see what they truly look like but until the evil deed lied about is righted, they will only see a mask that unless taken off their faces, will rot and lead to ruin in their life.

My grandmother said people lie because their life has been created from fraud and foolishness, and they continue to lie because the only foundations they can lean upon are based on emptiness and empty supports nothing. My grandmother then would tell us that the only good thing about emptiness is when you are making chicken soup (and have nothing more then a day old chicken and lots of water), then you can say that my soup is so good who needs things like vegetables or rice. Empty, however she said, can only last so long and the next batch of chicken soup made should have at least a carrot or two.

My grandmother would never listen to gossip and said that when someone told her anything about a person and used a voice she described as ('ssshhhhh the anti-semite villagers are coming" so we can't talk loud") she would say lets invite that person for tea and talk about them to them. She swore that words had more potency of poison then any dose of cyanide and no one should ever deal a dose of danger.

My grandmother said stupid becomes stronger in a stupid person when anyone, everyone talking to that person does not say why do you hate, what do you fear and why is what you speak of never based on anything but hating yourself.

I am not sure what my grandmother might think about Donald Trump and the group of Tea Bagger/Birthers, who are full of emptiness and fear. Perhaps we all should get a salt shaker and a bunch of pooh-pooh's and wish them away.

snake oil salesman

Con Man may refer to: A con artist, or a person who uses a fraud method known as a confidence trick.

Racism: Is the belief that there are inherent differences in people's traits and capacities which are entirely due to their race, however defined, and which consequently justify those people being treated differently, both socially and legally.

Bigot: Is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs.

Lemming: The act of blindly or heedlessly repeating the actions or words of another.

Enabler: one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior (as substance abuse) by providing excuses or by making it possible to avoid the consequences of such behavior.

Donald Trump suddenly has taken his reality show life and has decided that too many people were not watching his Celebrity Apprentice and he needs more attention and is an unannounced announced candidate for the office of President for the Republican/Bagger Party. He has no real platform upon which to help America regain its pride and passion so he like the Con Man he is has come up with a fake concoction of snake oil and is selling his potion of promise without any plausibility.

"The Donald", a shyster and Con Man understands that fear is a common trait many ignorant and uneducated people call upon to justify their lives. Blame others for your misfortune, be afraid if that if others get their way they may make you even a lesser person then you seem to think you are and terrify the dumb that anyone different is the bogey man. And the Con Man has told the Racists, that a Kenyan, Muslim, Black man with the most powerful job in the world is not one of us and should not be trusted. He has filled the world of the hater and self imposed victims with innuendo and suppositions and without any or all credibility has them buying his snake oil.

The 'Birthers' will never settle for any documentation that has been posted as real because they don't want any evidence that does not permit them to justify their Racism and hate for the black man with a very Un-Christian sounding name.

But wait, "birtherism" is so yesterday and any snake oil salesman worth his weight in fraud and fiction needs something new, something more magnetic to attract those who only know hate. So now this Con Man Trump has decided to wonder, wonder out loud that is, about how a 'nobody', a 'black no body' living in a lower class neighborhood with one parent could have possibly gone on to Columbia University and then done graduate work at Harvard, without lets say some kind of hank panky? Maybe that hanky-panky took the form of affirmative action, and for all those who love to hate for no other reason because they are Bigots know all that affirmative action is good for is to take away from the whites and give to the blacks. And this snake oil salesman knows that Bigots love to blame someone else's success for their failures.

Now we can add one more full of wholes fact to the teetering tower of 'birtherism' by assuming the evils of affirmative action have stuck a stake in the heart of America. And one more reason why whatever is wrong with our nation stems from this Non-American stupid jive talking man receiving something he never earned.

And filled with inspiration that his lies, fabrications, fornication with the truth have caught favor with the religious zealots, the Baggers, the homophobes, Racists and Bigots the Con Man has lined up enough Lemmings and is leading them to never talk about their economy, their jobs, their standard of living, their fair share, but instead has preached the evils of just one man and has them dancing by dozens to ignore the real and instead live his reality show of deceit and devious. And as most Lemmings, no one is bothering to ask any questions and gladly will stand upon the abyss and jump. Not the Con Man, however, nope, he has more snake oil to sale somewhere else, a sucker is born every minute and in some other town.

And as the snake oil salesman is slithering and sliding never once being held accountable for disclosing the ingredients of his potion, he is joined by the Enablers to never question his motives but to lend more credence to his inexplicable elixir. The Enablers in the form of CBS, ABC, NBC CNN, FOX insist on asking him how do you know, what do you know, why do you know and settle for his well polished run on answered reply. And these Enablers finding no backbone nor conscience let the snake oil salesman rant and rave and never say you lie and in your lies you are treasonous and more Anti-American then any traitor or terrorist.

This is a story about one snake oil salesman, a Con Man, who lives upon the strength of Racism, Bigotry fueled by the love of Lemmings to never look inward, and Enabled by people who think the Con Man is entertaining and marketable. This is a story about American politics in 2011. Sad story, I think!

picture this

Picture this: A man married three times, who has declared bankruptcy a few times, doesn't quite know how many people are in the Congress, isn't sure what Roe V. Wade is all about, and wants to tell the Chinese Government "you're fired" wants to run for President and is taken seriously because above all else his bigotry and bias against the black President resonates above everything and anything else that defines who he is.

Picture this: A transgendered woman is attacked coming out of restroom at McDonald's and while she is beaten to nearly the end of her life, the clerk at McDonald's is laughing and filming away instead of calling the police or intervening against the attack. The two women who viciously attack her are pissed because she is transgendered so they feel rightfully right in kicking and beating her.

Picture this: A group of people who feel that same-sex marriage is icky and awful based on nothing else but their own prejudices and priorities who loved the public eye and the public ear, want to suddenly hush up any and all comments stated under oath a they try to keep the Gays from marrying. They suddenly become the victim when asked for truth and fact, but when asked to demonstrate how they explain truth and fat in court under oath they want to silence anything they say.

Picture this: A group of politicians complain that jobs, jobs, jobs and the deficit have gone badly and under the two year governance of Democrats has taken America on the road to ruin by making government too BIG. They harangued and harassed the electorate providing fictional facts and tuns of scare tactics and warmed of dire consequences if we did not concentrate on jobs, jobs, jobs and the deficit. And remarkably once elected, the same politicians first need to deny women reproductive rights, working people decent wages and benefits, Muslims the right to the freedom of religion, and of course equal instead of equal but separate.

Picture this: In America of 2011 we are discussing larger government when it comes to our bodies, our religious beliefs, our ability to earn a decent wage, our ability to marry and raise a family. In America of 2011 we are permitting bigoted people to run for President, the ultra wealthy to dictate policy, false prophets broadcast hate and fear. In America 2011 suddenly child labor laws, choice, division between church and state, and differences are taboo and terrible and threatening.

Picture this: If we permit all of this madness to continue, 2012 will certainly live up to its Mayan reputation of being the end of life as we know it.

spring break

I had taken a few days off, trying to get some better footing on a ground which felt so shaky as it relates to my perception of America 2011. I stopped watching my three hour dose of MSNBC, tried to only watch the weather report on local TV and forced myself to not read the Nation, Daily Kos, or Slate on-line. I thought if I ignored the news of the nation or the world, then any news I wanted to receive would be good or better.

I thought perhaps that I was taking things too seriously, and perhaps as much as I wanted to try and change the world, the world really was a better place then I proposed and it did not require change since MAYBE it was not so bad after all. How could I really make a difference when the difference I wanted to make seemed so BIG.

I found in my journey away from the madness of current events how much love my partner Joe has for me, how talented and carrying my kids are, how best friends are near no matter the distance in miles and how sometimes the smallest of motions have the power of a hurricane.

It was a bit refreshing to not worry about the minorities, or wonder what happened to freedoms, or angst over equality for all or let the hypocrites just hover in the world of double standards. I could work out, write, or hike the streets of LA and not consider the repercussions of Republicans gone wild.

Co-incidentally while I was taking a break from the wrought and worry, I realized that Spring Break was taking place in LA. It was Spring, a time for renewal of the Earth, Passover a time for Jews to consider the power of freedom and independence and Good Friday/ Easter a time to believe in the power of miracles and love. It was a time that many stopped their usual routines and found themselves thinking, trying, attempting new things and new ideas.

Monday is coming and the break time and the holidays are finished. Monday will bring memories of the past few weeks and all the joys and jubilee experienced and enjoyed. It provided many and most with time to think and re-think, both of which I did and have.

Even as my break is over and in the thinking in which I indulged, I have found new resolve and resolution to find the resolution in all I think is unfair, unfounded and fraudulent.

My blog, for me, is an outlet that permits me to fight battles I believe need fought and to defend ideas and ideals ignored by selfish, greedy, gluttonous goons who get good and bad confused.

It is good to be back. I am ready to try my best at looking at this world and trying to figure out how to find the good for all and identify those whose bias and bigotry just make things worse.

grandma marilyn

A California Republican official who sent out an e-mail picturing President Barack Obama's face on the body of a baby chimpanzee issued an apology late Monday after a weekend of criticism that ended with a strongly worded public rebuke from the local Republican Party chairman, who also called for an ethics investigation into the incident.

Marilyn Davenport, a 74-year-old elected member of the Orange County Republican Central Committee, sent an email Monday afternoon asking for forgiveness for her "unwise behavior," just before the local Republican committee met for its monthly summit at a hotel in Irvine.

Tim Whitacre, a longtime conservative activist in Orange County and representative of the county's 69th Assembly District, spoke in support of Davenport and said he had visited her on Monday afternoon.

He said the "petite grandmother originally from Kansas" who taught Bible study classes and had a heart condition was terrified by the outcry and had taken her phone off the hook after receiving angry calls. He asked committee members to forgive her and accept her apology — but said she didn't intend to resign (msnbc)

So now we are to believe because this is a "petite grandmother originally from Kansas" who taught Bible study classes and had a heart condition we are to forgive actions that could not have possibly originated from someone so pure and innocent and she is NOT a racist! We are now told that as a Christian, teaching morals and ethics from the Bible, from the heartland of America, a grandmother raising her slew of God fearing kids who is petite and ill she should not face any consequences for her unwise actions for being a racist. We are told that someone as good an American as Grandma Marilyn really, really, really had no racist, bigoted intentions in defaming the President, nope she was just making a light hearted joke for her close cadre of American racist bigoted friends, who because they are Christian Republicans actually love America more than anyone else. We are told Grandma Marilyn will not resign because, well because she really, really, really did nothing THAT harmful and besides soooooooooooo many people without a sense of reality enjoyed the joke and could all of them be racists?

Grandma Marilyn is neither unique nor extraordinary and does not even stand out among the crowd of self appointed bigots and racists in this country who have little regard for truth, value or honesty. Except she got caught! She feels empowered by the Tea Bag Brigade, the raving and rants of Bachman, Palin and Trump, the prophesying of false prophet Beck, and a general malaise and misalignment from a group of Americans who pretend that their religion permits hate to ferment as a means of embracing their God.

Grandma Marilyn was bold and proud when she sent the pictures of a monkey family with the President as their child, but now, like most cowards when caught she is suddenly described as ill, old, sickly and petite and a victim herself. Grandma Marilyn had a whole week to consider her “unwise” email, but not until enough people found his/her own conscience and complained did she then come to the fore and apologize. How come when a coward commits an act of violence against another, after the act, they then think how “unwise” the action was? Wonder if they didn’t get caught if they would give their actions a second thought?

Grandma Marilyn is a racist and a phony. She is the manifestation of fiction overcoming fact, of fear triumphing over truth, religion gone amuck, and American values being replaced with greed, gluttony and general disregard. She sadly is not alone. And she, so it seems, wields more power and prestige and seemingly is embraced by lemming like dupes who love to point out differences, deny equality and blasphemies God’s word to define their actions as just and valid.

Go away Grandma Marilyn; your politics are not what makes America great, and we need one less racist in politics.

my mother and passover

Passover, growing up…

We could seat, comfortably, about 6 around our dinner table. If we added the two leaves to the table the number could edge up to 10 as long as those left handed relatives sat at the ends of the table. Since the minimum number of people invited to dinner totaled closer to 24 we also had to hunt down the aluminum folding tables at least two and one wobbly card table and the extra 14 or so chairs that accompanied them. The tables would be set up in the living room with perhaps a border of two feet from the furniture already in that space and enough of a parameter so my grandmother who had trouble walking steps could make it to the stairs and perform her famous side-side-front back-front wobble and begin the climb to the second floor restroom.

My mother started her Passover preparations about a week in advance, with a sigh, a plea to my Dad to make sure the used freezer in the basement was really working, and a reminder to all four of her kids, that one day before the Seder dinner, we had better be prepared to dust, mop, clean, put away, and squeeze anything that lived on the floors in our room snuggly and secretly into the closets and the drawers. Neighbors were alerted for use of their ovens for all the baking my mother was about to embark on and of course she promised all of them at least on cake, kugel or sweet Passover goodie for their assistance.

The day of our Seder, found my mother with at least three bandages on her fingers from cutting this, chopping that… the smell of fresh fish cooking in the special Gefilte Fish pot… screaming that we handle the very old wine glasses carefully because one day they would be handed down to us, and place the ones with slight chips on them in front of the seats where my sisters and I were sitting… trying to match the three sets of silverware so each spoon, fork, knife looked like it was a set… five trips by the only son, me, of taking ice cubes from the upstairs freezer to the basement freezer… going house to house to try and find matching Haggadah ( the book of the story of Passover) from the neighbors…and being good, as in if you fight or pout, or refuse to help in any which way, hell will come your way. (never knew what that was).

We were not a very religious family growing up, but we were a very family and friend’s first culturally rich group of people. Jewish holidays had more of a meaning of unity for us, a place to come together over home cooked meals, sharing of family stories, and a time to reflect on the possibilities of love and caring. We invited cousins whose families were out of town, friends who were new to the area, neighbors who had no family in town and some people who to this day I have no idea of who they were or how they knew anyone in our immediate family.

The holiday of Passover for me has many meanings and even more memories. It is a time of reflection to remind me of the value of freedom, the urgency of independence, a sense of self all of which are so important in helping us find our own unique identities. It is, for all its fables and foibles, a moment in time when being Jewish, being a person, being alive should not be taken for granted and the power of life itself studied and respected. It has demonstrated for me the hero in all of us and the fact that one does matter.

And most of all it is a time when I miss my Mother even more than usual. This was her favorite holiday. She bitched and moaned, but anytime someone said we could do the holiday at their house, my mother had 810 reasons why we would not and could not. This was a holiday in which my mother led by example and taught us how to be inclusive, supportive and caring. This was her statement on what Judaism meant to her, not in a Biblical manner but a purpose one based on relevance and reverence. On this Passover 2011 I celebrate the amazement and awe that is and was my Mother and say Mummy, I miss you so much.

Chag Kasher V'Same'ach, wishing you a Happy and Kosher Passover!

a salute

WASHINGTON — Handsome and friendly, Clay Hunt so epitomized a vibrant Iraq veteran that he was chosen for a public service announcement that told veterans that they aren't alone.

The 28-year-old former Marine corporal earned a Purple Heart after taking a sniper's bullet in his left wrist. He returned to combat in Afghanistan. Upon his return home, he lobbied for veterans on Capitol Hill, road-biked with wounded veterans and performed humanitarian work in Haiti and Chile.

Then, on March 31, Hunt bolted himself in his Houston apartment and shot himself (msnbc)

Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush are living a carefree life, both best selling authors, both collecting speaking fees as they rewrite history and in particular their reasons and rational for starting the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Neither man suffers from post traumatic syndrome nor has either man ever served in a battle. Both men were able to send our troops to war and both men had a bunch of public explanations as to why the war was necessary but neither one has revealed the private priorities or real purposes.

Marine Corporal Clay Hunt did what he felt was his American duty and fought battles to help keep this nation safe, and in doing so he experienced some horrors so intense that the nightmares immersed into his psyche and haunted him constantly. He did not write books or collect speakers’ fees, he wasn’t intending to leave a Library celebrating his accomplishments and his bully pulpit was not the political arena but instead it was a one on one with his fellow troops who experienced the scars of war.

We, as Americans, were told by people we thought we could trust, people we assumed were honest, people we knew were true Americans that the why’s, wherefore’s and what for’s of sending Troops to Iraq and eventually Afghanistan were based on principle, on justice, all of this on the reputations of people like Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney who had the interest of America at heart, so they preached. We were chastised as Un-American if we even questioned the intentions of our leaders, and we were made to feel Un-Patriotic if we asked for a timeline, a cost estimate, an evaluation of our purpose. And a man like Clay Hunt took to heart all the prose as promise and went to battle. A man like Marine Corporal Clay Hunt came home to find that all the promise was pure propaganda and he just a pawn put in place by a bunch of players.

I do not know Marine Corporal Clay Hunt, or his parents. But as a parent who, from the second my kids were born, worried wondered, cared, caressed, nurtured and loved them, my heart broke when I heard of this suicide and the loss of this valuable life. I found it difficult to understand what terrors ran through Marine Corporal Hunt’s head and how frustrating it must have been for his Mom and Dad to watch as their son was in pain and feel helpless.

I read this story and watched his parents speak about their son’s life. They seemed brave, braver than I imagine I would be, and spoke about moving forward with the cause their son felt to be so important. They said how much they loved and admired their son and his dedication to help those Vets who returned from the war with baggage yet to be identified.

I am waiting for the Bush’s the Cheney’s the Rumsfeld’s the politicians who knew the truths and ignored the consequences to tell us about the pain they feel when yet another young life has ended so tragically. I am waiting for the truth which I hear sets you free to finally be released from this group of liars. Maybe, it will be mentioned in their next best seller or their next $100,000 speaking engagement.

I am sorry to say goodbye to Marine Corporal Clay Hunt. And thank you for your brave commitment to this nation.

sticks and words

In the heat of the game, when even one of the better players on the court, being paid millions and millions of dollars for nothing more then entertainment and filling seats in stadiums for even wealthier persons, a foul is called by an official and suddenly filled with anger, hate, frustration and pure pissy attitude he slings a shot calling said official a F@*%!* (you know the F word used to describe with great negativity anyone Gay and anyone Bad).

Politically correct people are aghast. Talking heads from the world of sport are amazed. Many people are confused, and some folk feel this is nothing at all to be riled up or ruminating over. Some say you can hear the word F@*%* shouted on almost every basketball court in almost any city, town or village in America. Some say it was all said in the adrenaline of the game seeping through the testosterone of an athlete who at the time only could see victory slipping away and had to use a weak form of vitriolic to stop the bleeding.

Now, the accuser feels he is the victim, and now the discussion is more about the fine of $100,000 and the fact that he didn’t mean what he said and it was of course said in the heat of the battle and since the battle has ended let bygones be bygones. And oh by the way he apologized.

I wonder why words to deride, destroy, devastate people are used in the first place. And I wonder why when someone who uses those words apologizes and many times we are pleased with the apology and never bother to ask the next question… why you felt compelled to use that slang, slur, and sinister verbiage in the first place…what were you trying to convey when you decided to destroy someone with derogatory?

In a time in our history of this great nation when accusations, name calling, division of we vs. they, is so prevalent and enemies are preferred over friends and the easy way out is to defame, and deny, I believe we have to ask any high profile figure why do you call people hateful names? Why, when, whether you like it or not, you are the center of attention, have millions of fans watching your every move, mimicking your mere behavior do must muster up the lack of courage and stereotype, slander and single out people by calling them names?

I can not accept the apology when in fact I have no idea why what YOU said was said in the first place. I can not hear you say sorry, if in fact you can not decide that the word sorry is said because we caught you red handed or because you actually realized why you said what you said in the first place and how hurtful that comment was.

Isn’t it time we stopped calling names and started naming the reasons why we need to stoop so low as to define others as different from us? Isn’t it time to go beyond the apology and admit that we don’t know enough about people perceived to be different than us and that scares us. And when scared we use that fear and feel the need to be offensive. Isn’t it time we begin to understand the power of words and know even if said and apologized for they are still resonating in the minds hearts and souls of others who need no more than mimicking from someone they idolize and will be used as ammunition to actualize their bigotry and bias?

Sticks and stones break many bones which can be healed, name calling is a relentless wound that festers and festers. I believe we need to find out why we need to be so hurtful in what we say.

It is about what we say, and more so why we have to say it.

just like you and just like me

When I was a Day Camp Director and responsible for creating orientations for my potential staff, aside from all the program skills, group work agendas, song leading and administrative tasks necessary to share for the counselors and specialists, I would spend hours on helping my staff to understand the value of self and the uniqueness of self each and every camper was bringing to his day at the James and Rachel Levinson Day Camp of the Pittsburgh Jewish Community Center.

I believed then as I do now that if anything, no matter what age we are, we own our name and our name is a beginning statement of who were are and if anything else we are here and not invisible or anonymous. I believed that teaching kids to say their name loud and proud was the first step in admitting I am real and I am important. I asked my counselors to start, every morning by saying "...hello Johnny, hello Sarah how are you today and at the end of the day saying "...glad you were here today and then adding anything from I enjoyed your smile, to you swam well and goodbye for now, Johnny or Sarah, see you tomorrow"!

When I was a Youth worker at the Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh I was lucky enough to be given the freedom of directing and choreographing a program called the Senior High Musical. When I became the producer/director of this program I added a new feature that permitted everyone to find a role in the musical and all they had to do was audition. All they had to do was say their name in front of their peers and sing something elaborate as an aria to something as simple as happy birthday. All hey had to do was say this is me, I am here. Everyone got in the play, everyone was important.

I walk down the streets of Los Angeles and see people begging, laying on the streets, carrying signs, heads turned down and just walking in some kind of trance. I don't say hello, which I know deep in my heart I should, but to clear my conscience I silently say as I look at them I see you, you exist. I want to look at these anonymous people, but people like me and say I see you, and you are unique and you must have your own special reason for landing on the streets, finding the streets, forced to the streets. And usually I silently recite..."there for the Grace of God go I".

I hear about the cuts of entitlements for the poor, the elderly the disabled, the middle class. I read about cutting unemployment benefits for Americans, the denial of bargaining powers for those in unions, the proposals for denying access to clinics promoting health and education for women's reproductive rights and their own bodies, and I listen to religious related rhetoric about how love is only okay if it is between opposite sex couples. All of this is shouted, stated said as if all of the groups of people needing these services are just anonymous people, people living in shadows, none of our family or friends and almost un-human like zombies. I hear the anger and the lies spoken as if one person does not count and one person is the one person we should not care about. I hear people say too many one person is jut too many of anyone.

Perhaps I am way too sensitive, way to touchy feel-ly, way to concerned about those in which I share this world with...or maybe I am one of many more who swear that one should not be the loneliest number in the world. That I am one person, my kids, my family, my family are one person.

We need to come together, those of us who look into a crowd and see faces belonging to people, belonging to individuals, belonging to unique people who want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness just like you and just like me. We can't let the selfish the blind to anything but their own needs speak out and only be heard.

wanna buy a bridge

As a gay man I tried to tolerate the fear, loathing and mis-information spewed and spattered from straight men about how un-masculine, how inferior, how un-natural my behavior/being seemed for them. My freedom in being me acting as I wanted to, doing things that defined me seemed for many a straight man scary and intimidating. Prompted by a self serving clergy, energized by select passages from some one's Bible, espoused upon by lay leadership so hypocritical in their do as I say not as I do rhetoric, those straight men managed to have the final say many times on how I lived my life, whether or not I liked the outcome. But then people just like me, almost like me, people who knew people like me and finally me, I had to put my foot down and say stop this madness due solely to your inability to understand or find compassion based on facts and not biased by your passion based on fiction.

And thank goodness the Mattachine Society, the Queens at Stonewall, the Gay and Lesbian Centers, the HRC stepped up and helped take the offensive to protect and defend, something as American, something as God like as human as rights for those of us who happen to be among other adjectives LGBT Americans.

I have a daughter, sisters, aunts and best friends who happen, among other things to be females. As a kid raised in the 50's I was taught by teachers, told by television, and tricked by politicians and the clergy into believing that as females, these women did not deserve the same treatment as men. It was only a few decades prior to the 50's that many of these women were nothing more than chattel and any strides they made were made at the behest of the master, the man.

Then the 60's fell into the history of this nation and incorporating the strides made from The National Woman Suffrage Association and American Women Suffrage Association the 19th Amendment with the impetus of the National Organization for Women the push for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, our daughters, mothers, sisters, aunts and best friends found a voice and as scary as it was for some women who were told by society that a powerful woman was something bad, or men who assumed they knew more about the needs of women, women could finally speak about themselves and for themselves.

And whether it was the Gay Liberation or the Women's Liberation movement, movement was made for two populations considered less than, a mere minority of noisy people, and folks who were bucking all that what written as law in the annuls of religious dogma.

And then sensible men and women, straight and gay decided that in a country based on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, those of true religious beliefs who believed in a God without bias or bigotry, began dialogues and made decisions that would enhance and encourage diversity, slow indeed, but moving.

And then in 2010 the rock was lifted, the dumb found their masters, the wealthy wanted more, the divide between church and state was lessened and those who bothered to vote wanted to vote the bums out without even considering the bums waiting to be voted in. And the Republican/Baggers flourished and pounced upon this country like wild piranha in the Amazon River. And suddenly the deficit was no longer the real reason for change, it was the rights and freedoms of Gays and Women.

Suddenly jobs, jobs, jobs deficit, deficit, deficit were not the harbingers of doom and destruction but men marrying men/women loving women and women wanting control of their reproductive rights were the real renegades of The Great Recession.

We first heard how states are prodding their fearful and frightened lemmings to pass a Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage and now the newest boogie man on the block is Planned Parenthood. It seems conjecture trumps truth, and fiction parlays fact, and from the mouths of people who hate women we hear that they and only they know what is good for women and their own bodies. Glenn Beck laughingly states that only prostitutes seeking abortions use the services of Planned Parenthood. And the gang of goons, the dumbest of the dumb on Fox and Friends state with the conviction of crooks and thieves that anyone can go to their local Walgreens and order up a pap smear and breast exam. Senator Kyl of Arizona standing at the podium at the US Senate lied about statistics regarding Planned Parenthood and decided that saying that 90% of the government money going to Planned Parenthood goes to pay for abortions, when in fact 3% help women who seeking abortions counseling and medical care. Senator Kyl, only when he was called on the matter of truth, said that anyone knew he was just supposing the truth, and certainly no one got hurt with him doing so.

What has happened to sane people who know LGBT Americans, who have women in their lives, who only want fair and equal, who desire truth? Where are all of us who find this Republican/Bagger revolution a pure revulsion? When will those who swear they are doing God's work stop holding the real God hostage?

Hey ladies check your Sunday paper for pap smear coupons and breast exam discounts at Walgreens and then how about buying a bridge in Brooklyn.

a story of giving

I was taught a very insightful lesson by Rabbi Eve Ben-Ora regarding the giving of charity and how the giver should always remain anonymous but the receiver of the gifts should stand tall and not be just another person in need but a person indeed. Rabbi Eve told her students a story about a man who would walk by the room of a person with very little possessions and even less to eat. This man would peak in the window and as the poor man slept, the wealthier of the two would place a shekel (an Israeli coin) under the pillow. In the eyes of the wealthier person it seemed important that he remain anonymous, but the recipient of the gift be recognized and instead of being chastised be acknowledged. This gift giving happened for many weeks, until one day the poorer man feigned sleep and when the wealthier man placed the shekel under the pillow the poorer man awoke and said it is you, it is you who has helped me, finally I find who is the donor for such a wonderful gift.

And then Rabbi Eve explained to the class that once the wealthier man was found to be the giver of the gift, the entire intention of taking attention away from the act and now making it about the actor diminished the intent and made the wealthier person seem to be more important than the act of giving.

That story has stayed in my soul since the first time I heard it. When I walk down the streets of West Hollywood or Santa Monica or Venice Beach and see countless people asking for money, carrying a sign, sleeping on the sidewalk, I say to myself in a quiet whisper I see you, I know you exist. I struggle with how much money should I give, do they want money, and end my litany of you are not invisible with the adage "there for the grace of God go I..." I want the people who walk the streets, who sleep on the streets, who use the streets to survive to know that in fact they are not anonymous, but real.

It seems it is too easy to make the people you don't know, seem unimportant and un-necessary. They become a burden as if their lack of food, health care, education, employment is their own fault. It seems if those we pass on the street are just shadows without form or figure. We need not consider them anything more than an annoyance and no one special.

The current Republican/Tea Bagger set of politicians wanting to dismantle programs like Planned Parenthood, ACORN, Same-Sex-Marriages look at those around them, those they feel are not like them as just pests on the skin of humanity. Women's reproductive rights only mean the right to an abortion, families on welfare are just lazy people not wanting to work at all, seniors who worked their whole lives are users who think that what they put into the economy equals any kind of entitlement in return now that can't work, Gays and Lesbians can't love like heterosexuals, and if you don't believe in the correct God you have no legit religious beliefs at all. The people they dismiss as not like them are anonymous and anonymous people are useless, users who have little necessity in our nation.

It seems that anyone deemed less than me, unlike me is not worth identity or indulgence. I am important because I seem to think I have more than you, so I must be better than you. I will lump all your needs into needless because I cannot take the time to know who you are and how you live.

Rabbi Eve expressed to her students that giving is good. She went on to say that we give because we see. We give because those we give to, in God's eyes are an extension of ourselves.

I am so confused at the mindset and manner of the many out there who see nothing beyond their own selfish and insincere lives. I don't understand how the good of one is not as important as the good of all.

I am not sure that to fix the deficit the only thing we have the power to do is take away, deny and destroy. Why is helping considered so bad?

good ideas

A good idea...gone bad!

We thought that wellness and health were part of the plan of God to live a full and fair life. So, someone once said lets spend our time on researching and developing drugs and medications to extend life with less pain and less discomfort. And so earnest people with altruistic ideas dug deep using knowledge of science and the art of chemistry and began to invent formula's that kept the pain less and the promise of a better life blossoming. And even though there were some various religious beliefs who felt only God could heal, many more believed man was placed on Earth to compliment God and do our duty in helping many to live life to its fullest. In using terms such as "...its for the children...it's for humanity...it's the extension of God's graces... pharmaceutical cartels were created and at first what counted was the healthy future of humans.

Soon, someone said but making money is important also. Sooner someone said not all humans are the same and some could and should pay more to stay healthy. Soonest someone said supply and demand and if you have the money you pay for the privilege of staying well and if you can't afford the invoice than maybe you just need to find the dollars and come back and see us... that is if you are still alive when you find the funds.

Suddenly, the idea of drugs to keep humans from suffering or sick became more about what is the bottom line... what is in it for us...supply and demand...and this is a business first and a charity second. And suddenly a good idea, a God like idea, a human sharing concept was replaced with profit and loss and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. And suddenly the matter of pharmaceuticals to keep your life vibrant could happen if you had enough money to pay to live a healthy life and maybe just to live.

And then the conglomerates, the corporations, the CEO's said it was all about Capitalism and coerced the politicians in thinking more about the American way for the wealthy and dismissing the concerns of anyone else who could not add to the black ink. Suddenly it being for the children, it being s part of the life liberty and pursuit of happiness in the Constitution, it being God's plan were nil and void unless profit was first.

This is for me the greatest place on the Earth to live, but the longer I live I worry that good ideas seem to suddenly turn bad. When we are told that kids, family, life are so important so God like, so American...the same good ideas and ideals cannot be good for everyone if you can't pay the bill.

Why do good ideas seem to be good when you can afford them, and just a good idea for anyone else but you when you have to decide which part of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness you have money for in the budget?

I understand profit and loss, bottom lines and share holders, but am amazed at how health, happiness and welfare has suddenly been a gift to the wealthy and a wish and a want for the poor.

Why do so many good ideas turn bad?

what is next

And while we squabble and squirm, argue and harangue, sit upon our soap box and proudly protest and posture, the rich remain rich and the middle class and poor remain poverty stricken or poverty bound. And while we point fingers at others, pronounce ourselves as the people America most wanted to represent them, demand no need for debate the wealthy have ten times the amount of the not so wealthy and bigger remains better and having one of something becomes better than being stuck with none of anything.

We hear that entitlements have ruined this nation and to stop the bleeding we must stop the give-aways. We hear if people worked harder, no matter how little pay they get then America could heal its cancerous deficit wound. We hear that unions, are socialism in disguise, that government workers are leeches, and that things like postal service highway maintenance, care for the elderly, police and firefighting should be a part of the capitalism that makes America great and become privatized. We hear that our tax system is not the problem rather the funding of some human needs is the culprit. And while we hear all of this Corporations, Big Businesses, millionaires and billionaires continue to live high of the hog while the middle class and poor hope they can find a hog to have for dinner for the next few days.

We are told that jobs is job one but while the rhetoric is resonating to the ears and minds of people too stupid to figure they are without jobs and benefits, we are reminded that before we fix the employment picture we must picture America as filled with adulterers, infidels and disciples of the devil and stop women from freedom of their own reproductive rights, the LGBT the equality of marriage and anyone other than an Evangelical Christian the right to pray to a God of his or her choice. And while the sticks and stones are being tossed from the glass towers of lobbyists and hypocrites supported by their dollars poor people are still poor, those without health care still sick and families wondering how do we face tomorrow.

We are told by the Republican/Baggers that they don't want to shut down this country, but if their self serving/self righteous lines in the sand do not get met, then shut it down. We are told by Democrats that just how much compromise is expected before a consensus can be met. We are told that it is the other sides problem and politics above all else is what is important. We are told anything but the facts from either side and given only the emotion and the propaganda necessary to brainwash all and everyone never discovering the truth but identifying the bias and bogus. And while this is happening the wealthy just cancel their first class airfare to fly business and the poor and middle class cancel any fare at all and walk.

We are told, spoken at, rallied toward, screamed by and lectured and threatened. And while the noise hits the airwaves, and the words bounce across the Internet, and the pulpits spew man's interpretation of God those without money, health care, four walls, three meals a day continue to be talked about and never spoken to. And while we dance the holier than thou dance the rich make remain rich and everyone else remains just wondering what is next.

people who need people

People who need people...

People get sick. Some illnesses are mild, some are dire and some seem to mystify the medical professionals. America has promised and promoted that its citizens remain as healthy as possible and live a life with quality and care. By God, this is America say our politicians and we provide life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

People get sick and in this land of apple pie and motherhood we have corporations who are in the BUSINESS of developing drugs and medicines to help those people get better. People have illnesses and in the United States of America we have corporations dedicated to helping those ill to become less ill or even better and best to become better and not ill any more.

People who buy prescription drugs are grateful for drugs and medicines that keep them healthy. People who are share holders of companies who produce drugs are happy that Americans realize the value of drugs to keep them healthy and CEO's and other Executives of Pharmaceuticals understand the value of their product and services and understand that the quality of life costs money and it is more about the value of the bottom line than the value of life.

People want to do their best and live a healthy life. People seek out doctors care or the intervention of a nurse and try to maintain a plan to keep on keeping on when it comes to medical care.

People realized that Americans don't want to die from ailments, illness, or annoyances that might be stopped in their track if their tracks were detoured by correct, preventative and overt medical attention. People realized that they could create a BUSINESS and ideally develop a process and plan to provide insurance for those who just want to stay well, who wish to avoid hospital stays and who consider wellness not just for the wealthy. And people thought it was all part of the life liberty and pursuit of happiness promised in the Constitution and decided to try this health insurance.

People who buy health insurance are glad they have that coverage, hoping they never have to use it, but willing to use it when necessary. People who are shareholders are grateful that a majority of Americans want to try and stay healthy and are glad other people buy coverage. CEO's and Executives of Health Insurance Corporations understand human nature and the nature of humans to want to remain vital and vibrant and know that to do so too much money spent is an investment too many people will have to take. People realize that some people just don't want to die, and living is, well... living is expensive.

People tell us, that what they protest about, rant about and rave about is about the welfare of the children. People sound so selfless as they speak in unison about everything being about the children. People insist that what they do now is not for them but in fact for YOUR children and or YOUR grandchildren. People worry so much about the next generation, and humbly insist it may be painful now, but YOUR kids, and YOUR grand kids will thank you and thank you.

People who run the BUSINESS of Pharmaceuticals and Health Insurance love to say what they are doing is just a business thing and this thing done right will benefit the kind of America YOUR children and grandchildren will inherit. It is the American way, people say.

What enough people are not saying is that if Mom or Dad, don't have enough money to pay for medications, prescriptions, or health insurance for themselves and their children there will be less and less healthy children and grandchildren to be saved for a future America. What enough people are not saying is that less money for the unemployed, less social services for the poor, the disabled, the middle class means less money to pay for anything healthy. What enough people are not saying is that if we eliminate the means by which there is equality in health care, wellness prevention for all, that the ONLY children and grandchildren who will benefit from the selflessness of the Republican/Baggers/Evangelicals/700 Club/FOX News loving people are those whose Mom's and Dad's are millionaires.

People want to survive. People, it seems in this great nation of ours are being told that to survive you got pay the piper and if you can't afford the piper than perhaps you are not justified in surviving. All people are not equal anymore so it seems and even more than race, or religion or gender the inequality begins with how much money you have or how much money you have not.

People who need people...not unless you can pay for it.

hijack God

Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who supervised the burning of the Koran last month, said he's not backing down after receiving death threats

Jones said he feels no responsibility for the violence sparked by his church's action, including the violent protest at a United Nations complex in Afghanistan that left at least 11 people dead - and 20 killed in weekend violence.

Jones said his beliefs are more important - even at expense of American soldiers. Of Saturday's violence, Jones said it proved his point.

"We wanted to raise awareness of this dangerous religion and dangerous element," Jones said. "I think [today's attack] proves that there is a radical element of Islam."

Jones said he decided to put the Koran on trial.

"I was the judge but I did not determine the verdict. I was just a type of referee so that people got their time to defend or condemn the Koran," Jones said. (abc news/us)

So, once again someone who took God into his own hands has hijacked a God and seems to think that HE is the spokesperson and gatekeeper for God’s wishes, will and way. And once again using HIS interpretation of God’s words HE is the presence on Earth to decide who is good, who is bad who is right and who is wrong. And again, in order to prove someone else is violent, HE encourages agitating behavior, incurs malicious intent, and demonstrates under HIS version of a Holy Book how evil human’s can be when THEY decide to play God. Anyone wants to question HIS values and views well they must also be agents of the devil and certainly not as Christian or self righteous, or God fearing as HE is as He picks and chooses excerpts from HIS Holy Book written by and for HIM.

Amazing to me, how God, can become so prejudiced, preoccupied and perplexed by differences. Amazing to me how God selects his mouthpieces from the billions of humans, to be those who have honed hate into a fine tuned instrument. Amazing to me how the greatness of God seems to be so frail to some that only THEY can rectify the injustices supposedly inflicted by others by creating more infection and insidious behavior. Amazing how so many who really know the power, will, goodness and love God does have, remain silent while so many others try and hijack God.

Somehow the red white and blue of this country can not be red enough unless bloodshed is spilled by others. Onward Christian soldiers to lead the charge but of course let others die in the pursuit of purification of a God only You seem to know and understand.

I believe in God and in my own humble way can’t understand the blasphemy and BS vehemently, virulently portrayed by people like Pastor Jones and his lemming like parishioners. In my world God can help find answers and not create the problems. In my world the evil done is done by people who pronounce themselves as prophets, false prophets and profit from the fear, loathing and ignorance of folk who need blame to make their lives better.

Once again God, in the name of religion, has been hijacked.

stop the madness

In second grade at Linen School it was Mrs. Parks. She had the whole class learn about the PA Turnpike and gave us stories and lessons about all the towns along that toll road. In fourth grade it was Mrs. Eisenberg. She encouraged all of us to tell stories and rewrite the endings to match the various emotions people experienced. In fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade it was Miss Cyphers who introduced the world of the Pittsburgh Symphony. She took her classes to Carnegie Music Hall and introduced us to the creativity, beauty and mesmerizing world of classical music. In tenth grade it was Mrs Thurman who brought the world of literature alive. She helped her students find the relevance of classics to the everyday existence of their own lives. In eleventh and twelfth grade it was Mrs. Musoff. Creative writing, speech, drama all their energy all their expressiveness all of their potential all of that and how I was talented enough to use them and find my own talent through them. Miss Bernstein, my teacher who helped me in my student teaching curriculum dedicated to her students , their welfare, their lives.

All these teachers had an amazing impact on my growing up, my youth, my life, and now I find from the mouths and minds of the Republican/Baggers that these people were just sheep in wolf's clothing and all they were doing was draining the budgets of state coffers. I now come to find out that these people fooled me into thinking they were true Americans when in actuality they were socialists, communists against anything capitalism stands for. All of these hero's were greedy selfish individuals who had ulterior motives and by joining unions, by asking for fair pay and fair retirement were stealing the dollars from the children and grandchildren of millionaires.

My Dad and his Fraternal Order of Police union cops in Pittsburgh they were not red blooded Americans. My Dad and his fellow cops had set the stages for the downfall of America by making $9000 a year and asking for some retirement benefits. My dad and his buddies all dressed in police blue uniforms might as well have been wearing brown shirts and marching to the national anthem of the NAZI's. My Dad and his commie friends walking the beat, delivering babies, keeping the angry calm, arresting burglars had selfish motives in working for the city, they wanted the kids and grand kids of everyone else to go into debt. My dad and his co-working Cops and the Firefighters who shared the same building were secretly setting in motion a dismantling of American society, and taking away potential income from the rich and the dumb.

Teachers, policemen, firefighters, nurses, public employees suddenly the amount of money they earn is so great it has created a burden for state budgets, especially those states whose majority of elected officials are Republican/Baggers. Tax breaks for the wealthy, tax cuts for corporations, tax exceptions for those who could afford a cadre of lawyers suddenly it is the wealthy who need protection and must not be denied from keeping any of their money. Cutting programs, incomes, benefits of the middle class and poor, suddenly that will salvage the state budgets. Cutting minimum wage, extending the years an older worker must work, over looking health and safety regulations, suddenly that will save the deficit.

Take from the poor, give to the rich. Deny services for the poor, let the rich keep all their frills and fancy, blame the worker, not the employer, let them eat cake!

In my life I have had so many people who worked in unions, did not work in unions but whose working conditions became safer due to union standards, needed public clinics because they could not afford health care, became unemployed and needed the $250 a week just to buy food, taught in public schools, worked in emergency rooms old age homes, walked the beat, put out fires, saved the day. And now we are to believe it is their selfishness that is making and has made America poor.

How many suckers are born every minute to believe for one minute any of this is true? I sometimes wonder how stupid people become stupid, how selfish self serving people can become even more selfish, how sore it must get to constantly point your fingers at someone else for the stupid choices you and only you made for your own life?

It is so the time to STOP THIS MADNESS! We have to cause if we don't it will be too late to turn back.

so suddenly

Suddenly rich people, who own millions and millions of dollars are best buds with people who either work for them at minimum wage or once worked for them before their jobs were shipped over seas. Suddenly it's the rich people whose bank accounts take priority over the health care needs, social services and daily bread of middle class, elderly, poor. Suddenly rich people like CEO's of Financial Institutions, Corporations, Oil Companies, Real Estate Conglomerates are the victims of an economic downturn inspired by their own need for greed and little concern about rules and regulations. Suddenly the Republican/Bagger has more to do with the well to do then anyone else.

Suddenly the deficit can be solved if only we remove any reproductive rights for women and replace them with state sanctioned regulations on their own bodies. Suddenly jobs, jobs, jobs can only increase when we stop protecting those from making a sane salary, allowing arbitration and bargaining, and destroying child labor laws. Suddenly jobs first is second to denying gay rights, women's rights, and labor rights. Suddenly all that talk about jobs and the economy and the deficit is usurped by the morals and ethics as described and proscribed by such esteem Republican/Baggers as Gingrich, Bachmann, Huckabee, Paul and Trump. Suddenly hypocrisy has taken precedent over truth.

Suddenly fact is an irritant and irrelevant when it does not jive with the bias and bigotry espoused by false prophets and politicians who would rather do as I say and not as I do. Suddenly if truth did not prove the point then a lie which fits much better into finessing the finagling is suddenly pronounced as honest to God, no matter if it is said by some very Un-God like people. Suddenly it is not what you meant but how you say it, and if you say it with as much disenfranchisement as possible about others who can never be like you, what you meant means a whole lot more. Suddenly O'Reilly, Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity need nothing but innuendo, hate and tons of promotion of fear to keep us versus them paid in full by the Koch Brothers, Walton Family and Target Corporation to eliminate any proven fact or sensible argument.

Suddenly, slowly but hopefully surely, the part of America that can identify truth from fiction, that got lost in false promises and even falser hope is realizing that the bums voted out were not as much of a bum as the ones they voted in. Suddenly the writing that was on the wall is being viewed by those so blinded by Republican rhetoric and Bagger bull shit. Suddenly, has not come too suddenly and sure hope it does not take forever to make sudden changes.