don't fu@#$%ing get it

I guess I think that right does not equal wrong and good should be the victor over bad. And then I get my fix of current events and wonder just how stupid and naive I must be and then all that comes to mind is I don’t fu@#$%ing get it!

I was not in Sanford Florida when the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin ensued, and only can assume what might have happened. But I can assume assuredly the following: If some man is driving in a car following me, then comes out of the car approaching me, starts yelling at me, I would do my best to defend myself. And when in the scuffle of defending myself I see he has a gun, pure self preservation would seduce me into trying to grab that gun away from him. If I thought this confluence of a stranger and myself would lead to one of us dying, I would muster up all my adrenaline and courage try and grab that gun, and say “asshole its gonna be me or you!” I have never killed a man nor tried to kill a man,luckily so. But if this stranger is about to kill me offense sure would seem like the best defense.

Mr. Zimmerman placed himself in harms way. Whatever his motives Mr. Zimmerman created a situation in which he was advised to ignore. The consequences of Mr. Zimmerman’s actions left a man dead and now Mr. Zimmerman who is alive wants us all to believe he was purely innocent. I don’t f@#$%ing get it!

Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney have raved and ranted about a hundred different agenda items they would change, correct or delete if either man was elected president.Playing to the so called ‘Christian Conservative” base (I still wonder what is so Christian when all you do is hate) both men have tried to out- bigot, discriminate and debase almost every demographic within this nation with the exception of older white males and the women who love them. One of their continual harangues tries to make both men seem like military hawks and ever ready on the trigger to defend America from at least one of the 15 axels, Iran, in the axis of evil. (And by the way, Mr. Romney was in France during the Viet Nam War doing missionary work from a very expensive chateau, and Mr. Santorum never enlisted in the military to defend America). They both have said we need to take our military might and invade Iran.

Both Mr. Romney and Mr. Santorum have a gaggle of sons and daughters. Not one of Romney’s nor Santorum’s offspring has volunteered for the armed services. Not one of the privileged kids is fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan. When both Romney and Santorum bravely from the confines of a bully pulpit speak of aggression and military action against Iran, neither man then says and to prove just how passionate I am about this intervention my kids will enlist and help bring justice back to America. I don’t fu@#$%ing get it!

The Congress refused to end the $4 billion in tax subsidies oil and natural gas companies receive from the government every year. The bill would have killed several tax breaks taken by the five largest oil companies and use some of the proceeds to extend expiring energy tax provisions, such as tax breaks for renewable energy, electric cars and energy efficient homes. The bill to end corporate subsidies was primarily passed by Republican/Tea Party politicians and a few cowardly Democrats who rely on staying in office from the Oil Lobbyists.The Republican/Tea Party leadership who insist they are balanced budget minded and really a friend of the average American found little problem in defending their wealthy contributors, only offering that somehow this infringement on the ‘free market”, was okay.

So, an industry that has continued to make larger and larger profits, provide the best incomes and benefits for their upper echelon of officers, pays little to any taxes is deemed a charity case by the Republican/tea Party leadership. But the average American who desires a fair shake at home ownership, health care, education, jobs and social security are the enemy and told they are lazy and Un-American. One more time the have’s have paid their way to heaven while the have nots are finding hell. I don’t fu@#$%ing get it!

Why does common sense never make sense?

extra! extra!

“Extra! extra! Extra! Hey look at the headline historical news is being made. Extra! extra they’re drawing a red line around the biggest scoop of the decade. A barrel of charm a fabulous thrill the biggest little headline in Vaudeville.” (“Dainty June and Her Farmboys”, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim)

I read the news, listen to the news google the news and it seems every time I think that the bad guys could not be any badder, a new news story erupts and badder just got worse. Perhaps I perseverate in my need to understand the current events of my life, but the worry about my life and the life of those I love deems it necessary to do so. I also find it too difficult to permit the bully to proceed at the expense of his/her self appointed victims.

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has sworn that same-sex marriage is Un-God like, Un-American, and Un-Family positive. They are a powerful group of bigots who just dislike, hate and despise the LGBT community. Like so many bigots they rely on their mis-interpretation of the Bible, their annotated version of the Constitution, and fears and phobias based on tall tales regurgitated from generation to generation by an ill educated and ignorant family.

The strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks -- two key Democratic constituencies. Find, equip, energize and connect African American spokespeople for marriage; develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots.

NOM's strategists said they needed "to accomplish a sophisticated cultural objective: interrupt the attempt to equate gay with black, and sexual orientation with race. We need to make traditional sexual morality intellectually respectable again in elite culture. And we need to give liberals an alternative way of thinking about gay rights issues, one that does not lead to the misuse of the power of government to crush dissent in the name of fighting discrimination." (The BLOG)

So every day as I read the news I hear from people like this insidious group of ignoramuses denying me equality as a Gay man. Because these liars and self serving bigots think my love for my same sex partner can and will trump their marriages, their families, their God and their country they undermine my freedoms and pursuit of happiness.

In the news recently we have been told that either religion is being attacked or the rights of women are being dismissed and denied. The news seems to forget in the telling of the tale that civil rights, respect and freedoms of choice and safety are being ignored. Suddenly women are the enemy, they are the new Black or the new Gay and all the animosity delivered to the Blacks or the Gays is now being bombarded toward anyone female. The Violence Against Women Act, a simple approach to fight crime and provide a safety net for women, like our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, nieces, aunts daughters and best friends is struggling to be re-in acted. How does protection for members of this nation have a down side?

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) creates and supports comprehensive, effective, and cost saving responses to the crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. VAWA programs, administered by the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, have dramatically changed federal, tribal, state, and local responses to these crimes.

Initially passed in 1994, VAWA created the first U.S. federal legislation acknowledging domestic violence and sexual assault as crimes, and provided federal resources to encourage community-coordinated responses to combating violence. Its reauthorization in 2000 improved the foundation established by VAWA 1994 by creating a much-needed legal assistance program for victims and by expanding the definition of crime to include dating violence and stalking. Its subsequent reauthorization in 2005 created new programs to meet the emerging needs of communities working to prevent violence. VAWA expired in 2011 and must be swiftly reauthorized to ensure the continuation of these vital, lifesaving programs and laws. (National Network to end domestic violence)

So every day as I read the news I hear more and more that women must behave accordingly. I hear that women are the culprit for anything from their own rape to unplanned pregnancies, destroying marriage to being to assertive. I hear that God has a more secondary rule for women, that as subservient to her man or any man. I hear once again separate but not equal.

Extra! extra I do read all about it and all I read is divide, conquer, we, they, deny, divide. All I seem to read is how something so simple so fair is never a sure thing to win but always a long shot or no shot at all.

what's the point

My Grandma Braff, would tsk,tsk,tsk as she heard one of her sisters lament that (her sister) would do something negative just out of spite. My Grandma would provide her dour face, pout her lips, sway from side to side holding her arms close to her body as her sister or sisters would insist that spite was a good thing, adding even if it hurt themselves while doing it. My Grandma would ask why would hurting yourself to try and prove a point not be pointless thus making no sense to remedy the situation. (If it was a heated discourse between the siblings some this dialogue would be in Romanian.) The reply 9 out of 10 times would be “...that way I can demonstrate I am more in charge, I am in control, and just as unreasonable as those who started the conflict to begin with...” My Grandma now using her practical makes sense voice would end this communication by saying, “...if all you want to do is put out the fire then why are you continuing to add more and fuel?” Usually one of the parties would make a grand exit in a very huge huff!

I watch the debate about the Affordable Health Care Act, noticing some of the citizens carrying Tea Party banners, or Jesus’s name, calling Obama a Socialist all protesting that this law is un-American. I then look closer and all I see are signs calling Obama Care the devils work, and as evil as it gets. I stare at the people protesting the fact that the government is trying to reduce the cost of health insurance, increase participation to stay healthy, and advocating for the opportunity of equal access to health care, and wonder do they not realize this means all of them also? Is their hate for the president so overwhelming, so great that no matter if they are hurting themselves out of spite they will reject the bill because it came from Obama? What is the point?

My great Uncle Isidore, (Itzy) was one of the first family members to arrive in the US from Romania. He was a “schmuta” salesman moving from town to town, eventually settling in Detroit to own and operate a cotton goods store. He would undersell any competitors in the general neighborhood eventually helping them to go out of business and then increasing his market share. When the larger cotton good stores wanted to set up business in Detroit, Uncle Itzy sold his stores and made a great profit. He packed his family and moved to Pittsburgh. He fine tuned his practice of underselling the competition, reveled when others went out of business, and would call them “schmucks”. “Poor people should be poor if they are stupid enough to not know how to connive the competitor, he would philosophize, adding, “what makes America great is there will always be the poor making the rich that much more powerful.” If anyone from the family was struggling he would chastise them and say if you can’t do it on your own you don’t deserve it.”

While on the Jay Leno show, jay Leno asked Mr. Romney If you’re president and you repeal Obamacare, Romney was asked, what will happen to the people with preexisting conditions who are now guaranteed insurance coverage thanks to the law?

ROMNEY: People with preexisting conditions — as long as they’ve been insured before, they’re going to continue to have insurance.

LENO: Suppose they were never insured?

ROMNEY: Well, if they’re 45 years old, and they show up, and they say, “I want insurance, because I’ve got a heart disease,” it’s like, “Hey guys, we can’t play the game like that.” You’ve got to get insurance when you’re well, and if you get ill, then you’re going to be covered. (Salon.com)

If you never had the money or wherewithal to purchase health insurance and you, later in life you get sick, too bad. It is your fault for having a pre-existing condition and not being wealthy enough to have purchased health insurance, then you deserve to die. There is no compassion for the poor who have to budget health care costs along with food and rent. It is no one’s fault but yourself that you are poor. So suffer the consequences my friend, suffer. You either afford health care or you don’t, no pity for the poor. What is the point of pursing happiness in the nation?

I am so frustrated that common sense, common ground are never sought, but divide and conquer are relished. I am so frustrated that the welfare of others never comes into play because some of us hate more then love. I am so frustrated that Mitt Romney is running for president and actually has the support of people who are last item of importance should he be elected.

When did we become so belligerent, so bogus, so spiteful so selfish? What is the point when we continue to be so exclusive and not one inch inclusive? I don’t get it at all.

so confusing

I still amaze as I find the polling stating there are still a majority of Americans who dislike the Affordable Health Care Act and especially the mandate for all Americans to have coverage. We are told it is Government invasion into our personal liberties, and it is very much a Socialist plot to over ride the free market which makes American the land of Capitalism.

It started a few years ago with the lie about death panels, by the Republican/Tea Party,Christian Conservatives was never truly defended by the Democrats, and flourished into a plot to undermine freedom of choice by talking heads more concerned about the Health Insurance Cartel then the average American citizen who just wanted access to health insurance coverage.

Now we await the opinions of a Supreme Court more politically orientated and less justice bound to either permit the Act to move forward, or die while in the clutches of men and women whose bottom line seems more important then helping to keep all Americans healthy.

I am confused how a mandate for all Americans to have access to health insurance is considered government intrusion of personal choice, but the same politicians and their mouthpieces insist that government intrusion in an exam room, bedrooms is a true blue philosophy straight from our Constitution. I am confused how the who-hah regarding keeping affordable health care for all is louder then the insistence that women no longer have controls over their own sexual and reproductive rights. I am confused at the convenience of the invasion of the government regarding women, is a religious thing and the denial of affordable health care for all God’s children is not a religious thing.

We are preached to by the Republican/Tea Party/Christian Conservatives that life is the divine gift of God and no one should ever dispute that gift or disrupt God’s intentions. And as we are told by the Republican/Tea Party/Christian Conservatives about the sanctity of life, they also refuse to want to spend any money on providing that life a chance to thrive.

The Republican/Tea Party/Christian Conservatives want to cut nutrition programs for women with babies, they want to disband early childhood education, they want larger classrooms with more students, they want to cut unemployment benefits for families, they want to restrict pre-existing medical conditions for families, they want to cut food stamps. And all the same time the Republican/Tea Party, Christian Conservative insist life at conception is holy, life after conception however is no longer their interest.

The Republican/Tea Party, Christian Conservatives say what makes America great is the free market. But the same free market approach to affordable health care has not benefited those who are poor, unemployed, struggling to prioritize, food, rent or health care.The free market has discriminated against the have nots, and have required more tax money to permit those with inadequate health insurance to remain healthy.

I am amazed that something as basic as affordable health care for all citizens of this great nation of ours is being debated in terms rights and freedoms. When those without affordable health care receive few rights and fewer freedoms and must resign to being left to get sick, stay sick or die.

This all so confusing!

carefully taught

“You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught.” from South Pacific, music and lyrics by Rodgers And Hammerstein.

You've got to be taught

To hate and fear,

You've got to be taught

From year to year,

I remember growing up in the 50’s being told very clearly that even though this is the United States of America, not all men, forget women, during that decade were created equal. The lessons came from the newscasts and newscasters of the 50’s, by televangelists, history books read in elementary school, and the mere fact that Jews lived in Squirrel Hill, the blacks lived in Homewood or the Hill District, and the blue collars who worked the steel mills, all of whom were not Jewish lived on the South Side of Pittsburgh.

I remember being warned that once outside of the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, being Jewish for those not Jewish was a bad thing. We were told that the blacks wanted the easy life never trust them at all, that most Polish, Hungarian, and Italians were uneducated, greasy, and only wanted to take your hard earned money or purchases. And any lady over the age of 30 who was not married hated men and wanted to be like men.

Every year around good Friday and Easter we were warned not to listen to those devote Christians when they insist we drank babies blood of the non Jews, had horns of the Devil and that we are Christ killers.

I thought it was only natural to hate and fear anyone not like me.

It's got to be drummed

In your dear little ear

You've got to be carefully taught.

I remember the fear that ran rampant in the hearts and souls of many a white Pittsburgher during the riots after Martin Luther King’s assassination, wondering when the blacks for no real reason as we were told would burn our homes down, murder our men and rape our women.

I remember being told that there was a Gay bar on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh Campus and that freshmen male students many times were kidnapped, taken there and had to perform oral sex.

I remember watching the sitcoms in the early 50’s and mid 60’s depicting a man as having no emotion, working hard, permitted to have an affair on the side while his “little lady” wore pearls and high heals as she diligently cleaned the house and had dinner ready on the table. It was simply put then men wee the breadwinners and their wives part of their possession.

Like a drum beat it was pounded into our heads.

You've got to be taught to be afraid

Of people whose eyes are oddly made,

And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,

You've got to be carefully taught.

I remember when it was time to date, the hope was that she would be white, she would be Jewish. The Asians were smart but you never knew what they were thinking behind their ill formed eyes. And anyway a good Asian family hated whites which permitted them in turn to be hated by everyone.

I remember tutoring at a East Hills School before it was an integrated school and thinking what I was doing was a good thing. We were welcomed by most of those we tutored and invited to the end of semester party. I remember being warned by an older student, a member of the neighborhood not to dance with any black girls, as it was not right. I remember ignoring that message and danced with a few of my students. I remember leaving the dance with four of my friends and being chased to our cars as threats of “hunky thinks they are better then us, lets show them who is the real boss”.

I remember my freshman year in college walking with a guy who I thought would be a good friend. We walked into the Book Store and he said to me “when you buy the book just Jew them down for a better price, you Jews are good at that.”

I had never realized how shades and shapes mattered.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,

Before you are six or seven or eight,

To hate all the people your relatives hate,

You've got to be carefully taught!

I remember raising my own kids and deciding no mater what preconceived notions or fears or bigotry I was raised with or leaned to except, none of that would happen in this new family of mine.

I remember having to better understand that as Gods creations we were all not the same or alike. I remember trying hard to understand that because a black man committed a crime, he was not the poster child for the entire black population. I remember discovering some other Jews in my community who were greedy, selfish, miserly and trying hard to tell anyone who would listen, they do not represent the entire Jewish population.

I remember meeting Gay men and women who were brave enough to have come out and instead of fearing them I was in awe and jealous of their freedom. I remember working with or for very strong females, unmarried and did not see anyone trying to cut off my balls but instead walking taller with a very strong conscience and backbone.

I wonder when is it too late for some?

“You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught.”

I suppose I was a bit naive in thinking that after the Civil Rights Act of 1964,the passing of 19th Amendment, Roe V. Wade law by the Supreme Court, Loving V. Virginia decision, the State of Massachusetts legalizing same sex marriage, Lawrence V. Texas that all bigotries taught by parents, religious zealots, and hateful citizens of this nation were on the wane. I supposed that great strides of equal, not separate but equal, pursuit of happiness, and do unto others as you want others to do unto you were so strong nothing could deter a better, brighter future.

And then 2010 happened and mainly because we were so enlightened to elect our first African-American president, there appeared a rip in the seam of common sense, common ground, and the common good. Once again, all the hate so carefully taught was able to flood the conscience of this great nation of ours. Like a tsunami, it began to destroy any real values and morals replacing them with with muddy deceit, lies and fabrication.

We now hear from men and women who either are running for president or the Senate who would rather alienate and abort any people or discussion regarding rights and freedoms. Once again the color of the landscape of America is scared with my way or no way, right or completely wrong, God or the Devil.

What have we learned...I suppose just how to carefully hate.

look like

Trayvon Martin

About 5 years ago my best friend and his partner purchased a ticket for me to travel to Paris as a birthday gift. I had never been to Paris and seeing this city for the first time with the two of them would make this first time visit even more exciting.

I am a white male and my best friends partner is a white male, my best friends family comes from Mexico and he has a tannish, brown skin. He definitely does not look like a white male.

The three of us were ready to board, all walking together and as we walked up the ramp to board the plane, two uniformed men stood in our way telling me and my other white friend you may proceed and looked at my best friend asking him to follow them in another direction. I was about to get that hissy spittle in my throat and question this when my other friend said its unfair but let him go he will be okay.

About 10 minutes later my best friend boarded the plane a bit hassled but okay. What the fuck happened, I said, and my best friend said I don’t look as white as the two of you.

I lived in Houston and was going to the Montrose section of the city where a group of Gay bars were located. Being it was my first time to this area I had been given some advice from a few people who had lived in Houston for decades on what to expect. Since parking was at a premium near the bars I was told that most likely I would park my car on some streets nearby.

The nearby streets were in a neighborhood that was not so Gay bar friendly and the inhabitants of the homes on these nearby streets were not gay friendly either. So, my friends said if you end up parking on those other streets, make sure de-gay yourself. Huh, I said, and the response was look straight, look mean, and don’t look at anyone. De-gay I said, I am Gay didn’t know that was wrong. My friends explained that if anyone on the nearby streets think you look Gay most likely at the least you will get hassled and at the worst beat up.

My Dad was a policeman in the city of Pittsburgh and was perhaps at the time only one of twelve Jewish policemen. We would go to the annual Fraternal Order of Police convention and usually be the only Jewish family no matter where the convention was held. I had grown up in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood a predominately Jewish neighborhood at the time and on my daily dealings as a kid had little opportunity to meet and socialize with anyone not Jewish.

We were in Virginia Beach, Virginia for the convention and part of that day’s calendar was a picnic and a bunch of relay races. I was skinny and little but one hell of a powerful runner. Give me a dash and I was a speed demon. My Dad had signed up my little sister and I to run a few races, as she was also a speed demon. We ran three races and won all three. One boy and his brother who came in a distant second and third to me and his sister who came in a distant third to my sister walked over to me and my little sister after the race. I assumed he was going to congratulate us on our win, but I was mistaken. Instead, the conversation went like this. I didn’t know you were Jewish. You don’t look Jewish. I know what Jews look like and I stay away from them. They then walked away.

I am now 62 and still amaze that in this great nation of ours it still does matter to some what you look like. If you look like a Jew, a Gay, a Latino and dozens of other demographics you suddenly look like a bad guy. If you look like a Jew, a Gay, a Latino you somehow look like you are the antichrist. If you look like a Jew, a Gay, a Latino there must be something sinister. And now if you are a Black man and find yourself walking in a neighborhood watch neighborhood in Florida or any other state that has passed the “Stand Your Ground Law” you are guilty of something because you look BLACK.

And if you are Trayvon Martin, because you look BLACK you are murdered. If you are Trayvon Martin you are guilty because you are BLACK. If you are Trayvon Martin you deserve to die because you are BLACK. What has happened to all of us in this nation and is it ever going to end?

too much not good

My father got paid every 10 days while he worked as a Sergeant of Police in the city of Pittsburgh. I knew how often he got paid because that was also the day my father, mother, little sister and I would go grocery shopping at the Giant Eagle on Murray Avenue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood. My mother’s belief was food is the priority and with a the money still warm spend it accordingly.

When my mother would shop she would purchase more then she needed at the moment. My mother was a child growing up during the Depression. She knew that having more then you need for now was okay because somewhere in the future you would need the food. Times were never steady enough for her to believe that if you are okay now, you would certainly be okay later.

When my kids were old enough to explore the kitchen of my mother’s home, they would amaze at all the cans piled up in her cupboards. They counted the cans and giggled as they would expound upon just how much was piled up. They would look at the top of her refrigerator and count the seemingly endless bags of cookies. They would open the “fridge”, and with awe on their faces laugh at just how much food one refrigerator could hold.

The few times they asked my mother why, she would get very irritated and state, all this food was for the future. All this food was there because one day, even Adam and Dani, my two kids might need to use them. My kids were wise enough to know that Grandma was doing something she thought was right but something they certainly never understood, so the questions stopped being asked.

Sadly, the expiration date on the cans or the perishable date on the produce or the cookies got stale and much of the extra purchase had to be thrown away.

There is still great discussion about fossil fuels and how we need to continue to expend them, drill for them, and use them as if the consequence in using them was never as great as finding other sources of energy. We must “drill baby drill”, dig deeper and deeper, and ignore any environmental detriments in continuing our reliance.

When the oil embargo was in place during the Jimmy Carter administration, as a nation with bipartisan involvement and big business participation, we were told that whatever it took or takes, this nation will become oil independent. The American auto industry actually made an attempt to build smaller cars and many lights of government buildings were turned off early and some cities even stopped their Christmas light decorations.

Even though (for the months when the oil embargo was at its peak) America had been used to piling up its need for oil, we were told that too much just didn’t make sense. It was time to empty our cupboards of unnecessary items.

As is the norm for this country history seems to be ignored and any lesson learned is soon forgotten when it comes to Consumerism and Capitalism. The bottom line usurps reason and the worry about I might not have enough trumps any rhyme.

Now, as if we had no idea it could happen (because it has happened over and over again), we are in a fit about the rising prices of gasoline. We seem to wonder why now once again when every time before it was usually for the same reasons. We are fit to be tied and angry as hell.

But somehow lost in our angst and anger no one seems to recall how anytime alternative fuels have been supported as a way out, we refuse to embrace that option. We forget that since the days of the first oil embargo we did nothing much about stopping our romance with fossil fuels. We have amnesia when it comes to remembering that storing up our use of gasoline does nothing for the day when we really need it but can’t afford it.

My mother reluctantly discovered that too much no matter how good the reason, ended up costing her more then she bargained for. It took time for her Depression Era philosophy to wane and wander into the raw reality that it made no sense. After spending her hard earned cash for food she never could eat, my mother finally acquiesced to the fact she had better pay attention to tomorrow because it would not be food she was without, but the money to buy it.

I am not sure how we permit the Oil Cartels, the politicians, the marketing mavens, and our own lack of self restraint to continue ignoring tomorrow and just worry about today? When was the last time the price of oil really went down in price? When was the last time alternative energy was embraced by both parties as a real American alternative? When was the last time we all thought too much gasoline is never too much?

crazy is scary

Growing up in the 50’s, yes the mid 20th century, there were many family secrets about family members. We knew something was going on with a relative because the conversation between my Grandmother and Aunts was either done in whispers or spoken in Romanian or Yiddish. Someone was perhaps having an affair a “schmuck” (usually using his penis with another woman other than his wife), or a “schicker” (an alcoholic), a “shyster” (eager to rip off anyone even his mother), or a bit “mishuganah” (crazy).

If the conclusion was that said family member was a bit “mishuganah”, a collective pooh-pooh with a bit of spit on he back of the hand would be said and my grandmother would nod her head right to left and say such a “shundah”, (sin)! If anyone of the younger generation was witness to this ritual my Grandmother would turn to them and say “there is no cure for crazy so always beware of those who are a bit “mishuganah”. She would then use a voice that sounded like Linda Blair of the movie “The Exorcist”(this was of course way before the movie was produced) and then add, “crazy people never think about anyone but their own selfish needs and because they are crazy there is little concern for the evil deeds done”.

Watching the political news during this pivotal election year I have tossed about hundreds of words trying to capsulize for me what the hell is happening in this great nation of ours. And then yesterday I read a few news accounts and like a whack on the side of my head I could hear my Grandmother in a possessed guttural voice say beware, they are “mishuganah” (crazy)!

The sponsor of an Idaho mandatory ultrasound bill state Sen. Chuck Winder, made some highly controversial comments Monday during his closing arguments, suggesting women might falsely use rape as an excuse to obtain an abortion.

“Rape and incest was used as a reason to oppose this," Winder said on the Senate floor. "I would hope that when a woman goes in to a physician with a rape issue, that physician will indeed ask her about perhaps her marriage, was this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage or was it truly caused by a rape. I assume that's part of the counseling that goes on.” (HuffPost)

Once again, in the eyes of a “mishuganah” Republican/Tea Party legislator who proclaims God has spoken to him regarding anything female, it is he and the Government who know better and is wiser then women for whom they govern. It is he and the Government who can decipher the Devil’s work and replace the evil with the Grace of God, not just any God but his chosen God. It is he and the Government who know a lie from the truth. And it is he and the Government who maintain the authority to override any decision no matter how painful or emotional made by women regarding their own bodies.

I hear my Grandmother lecturing us saying “crazy people never think about anyone but their own selfish needs and because they are crazy there is little concern for the evil deeds done”. I worry that a case of the crazies has overtaken this nation primarily erupting from the mouths of Republican/Tea Party politicians and the voters who enable them to prosper.

Crazy is damn scary.

again

A bill being considered in the Tennessee State House of Representatives would require publishing names of doctors who perform abortions, and, critics say, potentially reveal individual women who have one.

The bill would require the state’s health department to list a report on every abortion, including identification of the physician, and the office, clinic or hospital where it was performed, as well as the woman’s county of residence, age, race, marital status, number of prior pregnancies, prior abortions, gestational age of fetus and her pre-existing medical conditions. (WSJ.com).

Yet one more group of Republican/Tea Party legislators has decided that they have the moral highroad, directive from a God they prefer to believe in (so you should also) and lack of concern for the Constitution of the United States. Never a war on women nor the rights they might have over their own bodies and decisions, no this is not about the women but about the government in a theocratic approach to become the decider. Government may be way too big to be responsible for social services, infrastructure, creating jobs and paying for those without jobs, but government is NEVER to big to be YOUR moral guide and value seeker.

We are told that freedom of religion is at stake in any objection to a women having the right to decide on her own biological condition, reproductive right, ability to decide about her sexuality. We are warned that it is God who is being denied his place in this country when at a whim some woman wants to be a “slut”, get raped, participate in making love. We are scolded that sometimes women are just too stupid to really understand God’s plan for them.

No this is not a war on women, this a war on God by women and the legislatures in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Texas and Tennessee to name a few are the soldiers of Christ saving Jesus from the selfish transgressions of American women.

This war against God is not just championed by women according to the Republican/Tea Party, it is enjoined by the Gays, the 99%, the Environmentalists, the Immigrants, Socialists, and anyone who remotely supports them. It is a war started when a suedo-Christian half white mainly black Kenyan somehow stole the election. It is a war filtered by the Progressives who hate America and since this is a country which states “In God We Trust”, must hate God. It is a war caused by those who think the Constitution states there is a divide of church and state; and in thinking such they must not be of a pure Evangelical Christian faith.

I watch and think, okay, this has to be the last straw. How much more abuse, bigotry, hate, loathing can be delivered by the Republican/Tea Party politicians? I am always sure the bag of bias, racism, religious hypocrisy must be empty and then like black magic one more Anti-American pomposity spews forth.

And then I turn to the news and watch as Sarah Palin is ready to run if the Republican/Tea Party primary becomes a brokered convention, Newt Gingrich is still running for President, Rick Santorum wins a primary, Mitt Romney lumbers forward. And then I realize there are a whole lot of my fellow Americans who must have little compassion for truth or justice to continue to support these people.

No war on women we are reminded a war on God. I agree, about a war on God but his advisories are not the women just those who use God as a scapegoat for their own human frailties and failures.

St. Patrick's Day

My mother was the queen of Hallmark Cards. No matter the holiday, the occasion, the celebration, my mother would make a trip to “up the street”, colloquial for the shopping area of my neighborhood, Squirrel Hill, go to the Squirrel Hill News Stand and purchase that weeks Hallmark Card or cards.

“People like when other people acknowledge a holiday or a birthday or an anniversary or any occasion to celebrate”, she would insist, “and sending a card lets them know you care.” “If it is a birthday never be insulting, if it is an anniversary don’t hint at marital problems, and if it is Hanukah or Christmas be respectful but never too religious”, she would add. But when it came to St. Patricks Day, my mother had a whole other standard for card selection.

Squirrel Hill was a predominately Jewish neighborhood, and I suppose the maker of Hallmark Cards back in the day, thought it would be good business to create St Patrick’s Day cards with Rabbi’s of all shapes and forms delivering St. Patrick’s Day greetings on the card. There must have been a market of consumers very much like my mother who loved to let their Irish friends know that Jewish people could also celebrate the holiday. So, at the Squirrel Hill News Stand there was an entire selection of cards wish a Mazol Tov for St. Patricks Day instead of Erin Go Bragh. The usually green cards were decorated with blue and white and a touch of green. The actual calligraphy on the card looked more like the ancient Hebrew script seen in some Temple.

Being my father was a policeman in Pittsburgh we were lucky enough to have met people from a variety of nationalities and ethnicities and my mother felt it was necessary to let all of them know that our backgrounds may be different, but our respect for one another could and should be the same. And for my mother one simple way to demonstrate this philosophy was to send a Hallmark Card. “It may be a small gesture, my mother would lecture, but it goes a large way. You got to let people know you made an effort.” Then she would get her serious voice, a little deeper and much more breathy, and say, “Hallmark Cards help people understand that we basically are all the same”.

Amazingly we would receive about two dozen St. Patrick’s Day cards every year, many very Irish and none with a Rabbi’s picture on them.

I miss my mother for millions of reasons. When St Patrick’s Day arrives every year I smile as I try and look for at least one card with a Rabbi on it and some message written from a Jewish perspective. Alas, alack, there are none, but I still laugh and remember how important it was for my mother to let her Irish friends know she cared.

Mazol Tov and Erin Go Bragh as my mother would say, Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

what war

Once again we are reprimanded by the leadership of the Republican/Tea Party, the “talking heads”, those who seem to be just heads without brains on FOX, and the ever misogynist of conservative radio entertainers, Rush Limbaugh, that THERE IS NOT A WAR ON WOMEN. It is the Democrats under the evil spell of the cabal of President Obama that have declared war on religious freedom the various and sundry pundits proclaim. If there is a war it is against those who worship a God of morals and values. In fact as Rush Limbaugh insisted on his radio hate fest today, “...Republicans love women because Republican men open doors for them, ask them on dates and have babies with them...”

I know, I know its just a bunch of political who-haw, and somehow in this year of a presidential campaign it is just a trumped up avoidance of the real issues like jobs and the deficit trumped up by the Democrats. Republican/Tea Party love women and God and a God who loves women. It is believed that men and some Republican/Tea Party female politicians know ALL women’s needs and desires then the average stupid lady and all they are doing is their best to keep this nation Christian.

In this past week alone within the Republican/Tea Party there have been dozens of examples of how the government must be intrusive in the exam room of women, and must act as their physicians. Government is TOO BIG according to the Republican/Tea Party, but never big enough when it comes to those silly, frilly females who think they know their own bodies and decisions better then politicians. Dumb women’s actions provide the need then for government to BE BIGGER!

Arizona House Bill 2625, authored by Majority Whip Debbie Lesko, R-Glendale, would permit employers to ask their employees for proof of medical prescription if they seek contraceptives for non-reproductive purposes, such as hormone control or acne treatment.

Arizona, like nearly half the rest of the country is an at-will state. “At will” simply means that an employee can be fired without cause. Not only would the bill grant employers the right to pry into a woman’s (and only a woman’s) medical history, it would give them opportunity to fire women for simply having a sex life. Imagine this conversation: (addicting info.com)

Your boss, among the many responsibilities is now your conscience. She/he must now act as your parent, and scold you for their perceived lewd and immoral acts you as an adult in the “land of the free” in which you have partaken. As a woman you are irresponsible and ignorant of your actions. No war on women here, just your stupidity.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is taking heat from abortion-rights supporters and Democrats over a comment he made about a bill that would require ultrasounds for women seeking to have abortions, saying those who didn't want to see the fetal images could "just ... close your eyes."

The Republican governor was asked at a Tuesday news conference whether women should be made to watch the images if the legislations law. He replied, "I don't know how you make anybody watch, OK? Because you just have to close your eyes."(abc.com)

Come on ladies, its just an ultrasound. Who actually owns your body anyway? You were silly enough to get pregnant now it takes politicians acting as physicians to set you straight on some irresponsible act you, not the male of course, stupidly let happen to you. Don’t look as a doctor invades your privacy, buckle up lady, buckle up and act like a man!

HOUSTON — The federal government will stop funding a Texas health program that serves 130,000 low-income women because of a state law that bars abortion-affiliated clinics from getting public money, a top U.S. health official said Friday.

The federal money, which covers 90 percent of the state’s $40 million program, will be phased out between May and September because the law violates federal regulations requiring that women have a choice in medical care, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said during a trip to Houston. (Washington Post)

You 130,000 low income ladies deserve to stay unhealthy because if you were not so poor in the first place you could afford better health care. Its your fault because you are poor and that among the 130,000 maybe a thousand women have been raped, or have a pregnancy that may cause your death, or your were lose enough to get pregnant and unable to afford something you caused. Ladies don’t be poor in Texas, and stop being so seductive.

If it is NOT A WAR ON WOMEN then what exactly is it? If you are silent about this and think this ISN’T A WAR ON WOMEN, what the hell do you think is happening to the rights of women? Imagine your mother, your sister, your daughter, your niece, your aunt, your best friend, YOU having to face the wrath of those who find you dumb, ignorant and chattel. We all need to fight this before it is too late.

common

“It doesn’t end, until those who know nothing but selfishness and self serving stop talking”, was a common response from my Grandma Braff usually in regards to someone in the family. They will speak as if they are ‘Mavens’ (experts) thinking no one is really as smart as they, and only stop when anyone is brave enough to call their bluff, my Grandma Braff would continue. “It never matters, to them, ( a bit of brittle spit emitted from her lips), the hurt they give out because the only person they care about is themselves. I have no need for anyone who pretends to care but ends up without a worry for those who they have made miserable”, Grandma Braff would whisper and end her pontification.

During this scary year of politics I seem to hear my Grandma Braff’s words resonate in a very haunting and haughty manner. Her rhetoric was usually geared toward other family members, but when a neighbor or owner of a small business crossed my Grandmother or her family she would grit her teeth and like a viper let the venom spew. My Grandma Braff would insist, that there must a common good.

Whether there is or is not a war on women by the Republican/Tea Party is still worrisome, but what is worse is that while the war may or may not be declared there are women who need contraceptives, education on family planning and basic health care. As the debate rages regarding Planned Parenthood funding or no Planned Parenthood funding there are women and those who love them who wonder what happens next. What happens to them while the Who-Haws, the Grand Puba’s play to a core of voters whose anger and bigotry is greater then common sense. What happens to the women, those never on the news, the nondescript women who don’t have the money to seek medical care or advise anywhere else but Planned Parenthood.What happens when legislatures play God and then seem Godless in considering the consequences of their self serving actions?

Whether its television, radio or the Internet there are dozens of ‘experts’ either demeaning the right or the left, promoting their own propaganda or moralizing on views as if their speech was more about a concept rather then a person or persons. The arguments abound with the Bible, the Constitution, Intuition, or Ignorance as evidence for truth. But all the while there are real women who want to plan their family, want to stay healthy, want control of their own bodies who are left in the lurch as innocents caught in the cross hairs of self appointed ‘Mavens’.

“It doesn’t end, until those who know nothing but selfishness and self serving stop talking” my Grandma Braff would begin her rant. Life for the women who seek the services of Planned Parenthood for no matter what their personal reason may be goes on beyond the primaries, the general election in November. Most are not those who may be delegates, or numbers in a poll, but many are everyday people who just want to survive, thrive and remain alive. The rhetoric of the self serving is sad. And as they talk, talk, talk, all the women in this nation want is to live, live, live, freely. As Grandma Braff would add where is the common sense and common ground?

an itch a scratch

I remember as a young child being lectured to by my parents to stop scratching that itchy mosquito bite. I was warned that scratching it might satisfy my immediate displeasure at the itch, but if I continued to irritate the bite, it would get infected.

I remember when one of my kids contracted the measles and my parent mode kicked in and I tried my best to make sure that no excess scratch or itch would take place for fear that the measles would become infected. I gave my son the lecture that itching may solve the immediate, but long term pain would ensue for a few moments of pleasure.

I remember having run into some poison ivy as a young man, and the bumps spread along my forearm. I knew better then to scratch that rash, but thought maybe just one hardy three minute itch might stop the entire rash from bothering me. Just three minutes of satisfying my self by stopping that nagging need to scratch. How could three minutes cause the rash to spread.

And now in American politics of 2012 it seems we have the far right Christian Conservatives of the Republican/Tea Party scratching new and old bites, wounds and rashes, infecting all those who itch with hate, bias and bigotry. It seems that the festering hate speech, false innuendo, and trumped up religious dogma have spread into the souls and conscience of people who find pleasure in the mistrust of others and purposeful maligning of innocents. It seems that the disease of denial is running rampant all because one person scratched the itch of another and spread the infection throughout their church, family and community.

It all starts with people calling women sluts, pronouncing Gays as the anti Christ, insisting that the president is not a Christian, complaining that unemployed people are lazy, chastising those on social security as selfish, teachers culpable for the deficit, women too stupid to control their own bodies, and poor people as just jealous losers.

One mosquito bite, one measles, one prick of poison ivy all disguised as racism, homophobia, anti religion, anti-immigration, Socialism and suddenly the teeniest wound is scratched, itched and the infection of deep dark dreary hate spreads. And then the rash turns into a disease and both the body and mind become consumed. The good cells are defeated by the sickly, self destructing tumors.

How much more does the itch have to travel before we realize that if we just stop scratching we might stop the spread? How many more people have to become infected in fact-less truth, fictionalized history, and false prophecies before we reach the tipping point unable to turn back? How much more rot must accumulate before all we have is sick and sorry instead of healthy and hopeful?

We have so many provocateurs ready to pounce upon the fearful, ignorant, and uneducated. We have so many devious able to convince the chicken that the sky IS falling. We have so many sinisters who stand in the lobby as they shout fire in the theater. We have so many who love to tell us to scratch that itch and don’t worry about any or all consequences.

november 2012

Okay, okay the first thing the candidates running for president in the primaries representing the Republican/Tea Party want to do is repeal the Affordable Health Care Act. The act of having all Americans covered by affordable health care seems to be both UnAmerican and UnChristian. For some reason mandating affordable health care is wrong for Americans. We are told that the free markets can and will handle all out health care needs. We are never told what will happen for those who can’t afford the free market fees for health care or how all these past years permitting the free markets to handle health care costs why so many are uninsured.

We are scolded by the Republican/Tea Party talking heads and politicians that having the first lady, Michelle Obama discuss nutritious foods, healthy eating, exercise is just one more attempt for the dreaded disease of Socialism to creep into our American lives. We are lectured to that if parents want their kids fat and malnourished then so be it as both the Constitution and the Bible tell us so. We are told that the government has no right spying in our kitchens, and certainly less right to act as an intelligent parent. But the government in our bedrooms is a whole different story.

We were told in 2010 that the reason a majority of Republican/Tea Party candidates were swept into office was the Economy Stupid. We were reminded that the old crop of bums needed to be voted out because they misplaced the real agenda of jobs, deficit reduction, and the economy. This new crew of real Americans with real American values would turn this nation topsy-turvy. And in the past two years that the new group of Republican/Tea Party Patriots were elected to run our government, we have seen denial of women’s rights, immigration rights, Gay rights and now voting rights. We have witnessed an attempt to pollute the environment, ignore financial regulations, deny workers a safe workplace and less benefits, and an increase on the 1% getting wealthier and the 99% losing hope for help.

In the past two years this country has seen an increase in the rise of “hate groups” based on anti Black, Gay, Immigrant, Muslim hate and now religious intolerance. We have seen men and women empowered by bigoted demigods who insist there is no separation of church and state (their self selected church of course). We have watched as bullying in schools is ignored (can’t use the word Gay so then no one is bullied being Gay), personhood starts with a zygote, and workers should work at the whim of the employer. We have watched the cowardly Republican/Tea Party candidates never fully agree the President was born in the United States and in fact he is a Christian.

With all of the seemingly senseless pandering and posturing by the Republican/Tea Party I am amazed there are still a group of Americans undecided on who they should place into power in November 2012.