nothing like a dame

There is nothin' like a dame, nothin in the world, There is nothin you can name that is anything like a dame! (‘Nothing Like a Dame’, Rogers and Hammerstein) And in response to the Presidents State of the Union address the GOP presented Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wash.) Always good at facades and illusions the GOP provided us with a female to give the oppositions point of view on life in Amerika! No older white male or some young turk at the ready to grab power, but a woman, the softer side of the GOP. If you see a female talking GOP shit it is the kind of shit that most likely won’t smell, and Amerikans are so easily lulled into loony land. Rep Cathy McMorris-Rodgers spoke to us about how government should not be the decider in our health care except for the times she voted that government in fact decide about how, when where and if ever women have access to their own reproductive rights. Government should be left out of the doctors office she proclaimed with the smile of a mother of three, but they must always be in the bedroom, in the exam room. Nothin like dame, the GOP at the ready to wrap hate in lively, lovely packages, packaged their response to the State of the Union address in the form a female who has sided with more misogynist laws them many men.

There is nothin like a dame, nothin like respecting her, including her, providing her with fair and equal salaries. Nothing like a dame, acknowledging her sense of her body, her ability to maintain a healthy mind. Nothing like a dame to permit her to be on equal footing as a man to achieve any and all dreams. Rep Cathy McMorris-Rodgers is a shill for the GOP a ploy to look like they care about the rights of women. Words have only so much power, the real strength are the actions and deeds of those words. If you listened to Rep Cathy McMorris-Rodgers words you might be sold on her respect for females, but take some time and review her actions toward women’s rights and you will find a person who still believes women are the rib from Adam. There is nothing like a lying, hypocritical dame indeed.

Dear Bristol

Dear Bristol Palin,

Please take some time and reflect upon your own mother before thou criticize Wendy Davis the state senator from Texas running for Governor as to the kind of mother she was or is. I know you like to spew venom as if you were as dangerous an asp as you consider your own mother to be; but Bristol please take a look at your own life before you cast aspersions on others. Then take a look at your life, again, Bristol and reflect upon the decisions you made with the support of your own mother or in some cases the disregard your own mother presented you.

Your mom Sarah, insisted that you not have sex before marriage. She talked at you pretending that she actually knew the first thing about sexual relationships; never really talking to you. If she even had the ability to communicate in a loving understanding manner perhaps you would have heeded her advice and not schtooped Levi the father of your out of wedlock child. Perhaps had Sarah taken a real moments interest in your life instead of trying to appeal to the minions of religious hypocrites pretending she actually gave a shit about  your choices, you might have stopped your lustful immature behavior and used a condom. Your mom loves the limelight, is always lose with lies and seems to never own up her own mistakes. In your irresponsible and reprehensible response to Wendy Davis I would say you certainly have become your mother. Sarah loves to insight without considering the consequences and you now love to place blame without ever looking at yourself in the mirror first.

And then Bristol there you were chosen to be the spokesperson for an abstinence only national group, never setting the example for abstinence but you felt guilt free in accepting that role. Did you learn to ignore facts or purpose from your mom? Add to that Bristol that your demand for a salary which superseded the actual budget of this abstinence only group placing greed and self service above honor and honest showcases either a mother who cares less about morals and values or a daughter just selfish.

Wendy Davis’s life story has a few quirks and adjustments but for you to criticize her skills and direction as a mother is insulting and ignorant. You are the the daughter of a woman who caress little for truth, will fabricate any fact to fit her fancy, would rather exclude than include. You have demonstrated your own selfish and greedy behavior pretending that any other cause but your own satisfaction matters. You may have the bastions of bigots bubbling with joy, the raucous racists at your beckon call and the self proclaimed crusaders for Christ fooled, but Bristol anyone with a brain a heart a soul sees you for the shameful sham you have become…thanks to your mother.

my oh my

Last night on the Grammy’s a bunch of people stood across from one another and with a simple sentence of “I do”, took the love of their life and married. A big deal for some, anUnAmerican/UnChristian deal for others, a slap in the face of morals and values for some and a sigh and Pa-leeze for others. Heterosexual, homosexual couples placed rings on the fingers of their partners and embraced the Institution of Marriage. Once they said “I do” kissed their beloved wiped the tears of joy from their eyes and paraded off into the Grammy Lobby the Earth continued to rotate, the Moon stayed in the sky, the haters continued to spew insecure epitaphs, some heterosexual men and women resumed their adulterous affairs, some heterosexual couples continued their emotional and physical arguments and displeasures, some heterosexual couples made love and most everyone else went to sleep.

Last night on the Grammy’s a step forward in recognizing equality and justice was filtered in between pop/rap/rock/dance music. The music continued to play, the celebrities continued to gawk and pose and position themselves, the paparazzi photographed the glitter and glam. Last night while this was happening at the Grammy’s  somewhere in a small town perhaps sitting in his or her closet watching the TV a young Gay boy or young Lesbian girl could actually breathe in deeply and feel they were not alone. Last night during the briefest of moments love was highlighted dressed as heterosexuals and homosexuals. For some it immediately called for Tweets of disgust, derogatory name calling, a need to take back America from the gang of Gays and Liberals. For some it was just watching in amazement as the tears of joy dripped from their eyes, lumps of happiness choked their throats, causing comments of finally and thank goodness.

Last night at the Grammy’s couples were married. For some this was petty, pretty, peculiar, unpopular. For some it was an affront to God, an attempt to hoodwink the children, the recipe for  the start of the End Days. For some it was about time, past due, an expression of fair and balanced. Last night at the Grammy’s couples wed and in reality the only lives changed were the people who decided  that saying “I do” even if you insist “I don’t” is not important. It was Sunday when the some same-sex-couples wed and guess what inspire of that Monday still happened. My oh my!

First they came...

First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out. Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the Trade Unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out. Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me. And there was no one left To speak out for me.‘First They Came’ Pastor Martin Niemoller

At first it was the Colored, the Negro the African American, the Black person. They were never really born in this nation, just bred. They certainly never earned their right of passage to actually function as full citizens; how absurd. Perfect example is this Kenyan who pretends he was elected by a majority of Americans to lead this red WHITE and blue nation of ours. So the Tea-Publicans did all they could to isolate the Blacks from participating in democracy, denied voting rights, and replaced the N word with the word Thug more politically correct but just as divisive and mean spirited. They came for the Colored.

It then was about the Queer, the Pansy, the Homosexual the Gay person. They were the rot that God feared would pollute the land. They were certainly disciples of the Devil out to destroy marriage, ruin family values, deny good Christians access to their own religion. No Founding Father ever intended to include these Gays in the Constitution, and the audacity for men who love men or women who love women to even consider a place at this nations table of democracy. So the Tea-Publicans placed amendments to their state constitutions picking and choosing all the hateful words of their own Bible as reason and rhyme to stop the Gay from being an equal partner in the ways of the United States. They came for the Homosexual.

Soon it became about the laziness of the Poor, the lack of grit from the Unemployed, the absurdity that Elderly Folk thought that age would bring them anything but death. Leeches, cockroaches they were called undesirables, wanting scraps from hard working real Americans. Maybe they were closeted Socialists luxuriating on the dole of land imagining that the masters of plantation actually owed these mongrels a scrap of bread. Deemed to be the enemy for wanting quality health care, a decent wage, a fair opportunity at work, the Tea-Publicans passed laws to exempt these losers from ever moving forward. They came for the Undesirable.

“Republicans don’t have a war on women,”  Mike Huckabee said. “We’re having a war for women. To empower them to be something other than victims of their gender.”

“If the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control, because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it,” he continued. “Let us take that discussion all across America, because women are far more than the Democrats have played them to be.” (Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, preacher, presidential candidate, and Fox News host.) Now one more Tea-Publican has added his voice in his disdain for women. Along with the cadre of men who believe in legitimate rape/women motivate rape/women’s, place is at home at the beckon call of her man/feminism is the downfall of America, the Tea-Publicans again want to deny any woman the right to her reproductive and health decisions. And now they are coming for the Women. Wonder who they will come for next?

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

"Is it a result… "Is this in direct relation to feminism on the rise?" just sort of a society seeing men that are not as masculine and men that are as masculine being kind of demonized?” "Do you see this affecting national security, how a nation operates in terms of being a strong presence globally?” Elisabeth Hasselbeck (reality entertainer of Survivor/The View/FOX and Friends) This was a part of Ms Hasselbeck’s reporting on the bullying and belligerent behavior of the Christie administration. It seems according to Elisabeth that threats, intimidation, inappropriate acting out by Governor Christie and his gang of New Jersey goons are not the issue affecting the democratic principles of this nation, rather, not permitting the Governor act like a real man is the problem. Feminization of our society it seems is akin to Communism/lack of family values leading assuredly to more same-sex marriages and of course abortions. Listen closely to Elisabeth’s message: women with too much power are cause for concern, denying endless power to men is so much better.

"The wife is to voluntarily submit, just as the husband is to lovingly lead and sacrifice,” the wife should have a say in important family decisions and that her submission does mean the husband should have "authoritarian control" or be considered superior.” Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) Stevie Pearce uses the Bible to promote his misogynistic agenda, ignoring any and all parts of the Constitution seeking liberty for all and prefers to walk backward in history then forward. In the land of Stevie Pearce, women are chattel, a piece of Adam’s rib, probably pregnant with her feet bound a sacrifice for God and his BBF’s men! In Stevie Pearce’s Amerika, the wife is just another item of property owned and operated by the man. It seems in Pearceland women should be seen but never, ever heard or at least heard saying Sir, yes Sir!

“How on earth you could validly get a conviction of a husband-wife rape when they’re living together, sleeping in the same bed, she’s in a nightie, and so forth, there’s no injury, theres no separation, no anything.” Virginia State Senator Richard “Dick” Black. It seems Dick Black believes when she says I do she never ever has a right to say I don’t. Dickie Black seems to believe if her hubby says do it now and she doesn’t, that hubby can take from his wife anything he wishes. It seems that the Dick knows that women in nighties are nothing more then whores who must learn to not tease cause a man wants what he wants. You marry the babe and she knows that only one person can wear the pants in the household and when those pants come off you had better enjoy the moment.

Three people all staunch Tea-publicans. All sure that the root cause of any national/marital/political/ problems stems with the female. She must be domesticated/demure/never demanding/dumb/submissive. Three people espousing Tea-publican beliefs that if you are of color/a homosexual/poor/and of course a female you are never now nor never will be equal to a white man. Wonder where all of this will lead next?

win-win

It seems to me Chris Christie, the beleaguered governor of New Jersey is really in a win-win situation. If he is vindicated of all the charges against he and his staff, Mr. Christie may well have earned the respect of the Tea-publican crowd, (those hell bent on conspiracy charges, liberal Communist plots, and the persecution of the white race) and win the 2016 nomination to run for president.

And, if Governor Christie is found to be guilty as a bully,a liar, an immoral man of character, a politician willing to trade off the welfare of his electorate for personal gain and glory most likely he will become the newest member of the FOX News team.

So, it IS a win-win situation for Chris Christie!

reality bytes

Reality bytes. Suddenly men and women who have no talent, no intelligence, no more then either a sexy body, the ability to be rude and act immoral or can just perfectly fit a stereotypical role for some production company are celebrities and acknowledged as more important then the dust on a window sill. In a nation that believes FOX news is fair and balanced, Rush Limbaugh is the ‘everyman’, Sarah Palin’s view of Russia from her back porch gives her credits to become president, we have also become fixated with a new breed of moron called a reality star. And just as suddenly as this pop cultural phenomena entered our beings, we have embraced a slew of mean spirited, offense by choice, lack of insight or merit individuals as spokespeople for bias, bigotry and bull shit.

Some dude the newest bachelor on an ABC reality scripted show who is divorced late with his child support is the spokesperson for what makes family and marriage acceptable. "there's this thing about gay people... it seems to me, and I don't know if I'm mistaken or not... but they're more 'pervert' in a sense…” says Juan Pablo Galavis. This symbol of what is wrong with permitting just any heterosexual to marry and have children in the first place feels that Gays are icky. This man who still has not paid his child support, who will hook up with women he has never met promising one of them to be the love of his life went on to say, “…"No... I respect [gay people] but, honestly, I don't think it's a good example for kids to watch them on a gay version of the ‘Bachelor’.” This guy is a hypocrite, an insecure man who thinks he is hot shit and permitted to be a jerk because above all else the ratings for ABC are more important then homophobia.

Then, insisting that her homophobia is a better kind of hate because her parents raised her to be that way in the eyes of a Lord who also seems to suffer from homophobia, another reality star  Sherry Shepard said “You grow up being a Christian and you grow up believing homosexuality is a sin; you're going to hell if you're a homosexual. This is something that they teach in churches. So it's something that I grew up believing.” She also respects Gay people, but their making it to heaven is a long shot. Now this woman has had more abortions then she can remember having had sex with too numerous anonymous men, and Sherry Shepard says she might have trouble going to heaven, but her issues are different  then the Gay thing. She now stopped fucking around and cleansed her soul of the bad habit; but the Gays she says insist that their were born that way and do not want to change. Barbara Walters has enabled Ms Shepard to maintain a voice on the airwaves and defends this lady with very homophobic point of view to continue her rants and raves. It seems that free speech should never be questioned even if it is riddled with hate.

Reality bytes. Reality stars bite harder. But then how do we stop bigotry? Sure after these peons of people sprout homophobia some talking head of a corporation sponsoring  these idiots in the first place writes an apology sort of kind of saying you mistook my words for the wrong meaning. Or a PR maven will say just how appalling these remarks are but stop there never reprimanding the reality star with any kind of justice. Its free speech we hear never ever matter just how loathsome, inaccurate, or hateful it seems. Reality bytes they never seem end but chomp away at conscience and values. Is it the reality star or the monsters who feed them their 15 minutes of fame who are to blame?

evolution

In the dark ages, the period from 1955 until 1963, I learned that men are the bread winners, men are the creators of invention and innovation, men don’t cry, and men are the dominate species on this Earth. I watched television shows and movies where the heroes were men, heroic efforts and energies were created by men and men were deemed to be the ultimate leaders on this Earth. I witnessed via TV and film how weak men were nothing but ladies in disguise. Men who lacked real masculinity were like little females, I believe pansy’s and fairies were the terms written into scripts or dialogue to describe them. Men fought wars, men were elected to offices (with the occasional wife of a man filling in if he died), men were the center of the universe, after all Jesus was a man and so were his Disciples.  I was brainwashed to believe if a man did not find a woman attractive enough to marry he was weird,  I was wired that not wanting a woman to wed would be a disgrace to  society. The man never had to love a woman in the dark ages, he just had to indulge in intercourse and produce off spring, preferably more men for the future.

I learned how to repress refuse and relegate feelings of sexuality/masculinity into the dreams and desires of society which in the dark ages was a dominate force of coercion. Dwight Eisenhower was the President, things were black and white, male or female, right or wrong. Diversity was a bad word, conformity a fine existence, and difference made you a Communist. Men could drink swear and fool around; if women did so they were alcoholics, slutty or whores. Men had their faults but after all they were men rough around the edges,but they were rugged and did endure all the trials and tribulations sent their way. After all they were sons of Adam and remember it was his woman Eve who established evil in this world.

Then light came to America and it was the 70’s. All kinds freedoms emerged.The colored folk could be proud to call themselves Black and of African American decent. Women could burn their bra’s and finally become more then an appendage on the arm of a white man. Gays could actually climb out of a closet dress, act, work and become more then shadowy figures of an uptight white Christian society. Hate still existed but it seemed that a form of enlightenment shown above the ugly gray matter of bias, bigotry and baloney. I learned that being different was difficult and perhaps a bit dangerous, but in fact it was okay and in fact it WAS what originally made America great. Ups and downs three steps forward, one backwards of course in the preceding generations, but movement was good, kind of freeing.

And then in a year that seemed on paper so futuristic, so modern, 2010, the light of enlightenment began to dim and was replaced with rhetoric, vitriol, venom and vile so smothering that nothing seemed to shine through. Difference was a sign of weakness, diversity a drag on democracy, religion became a litmus test of patriotism. It was a year when facts no longer mattered, lies were bandied about like the air we breathe. Suddenly racism was heralded, misogyny a sign of being a better man, xenophobia an unwritten article in the Constitution and homophobia a lesson from the Lord, the guy who claimed America for the white heterosexual. It was as if the dark ages once again claimed the souls of many Americans. And in the proceeding years since, the ugly has become contagious, the ridiculousness rabid, and a loathing for fair and just  became an infection at the ready to kill. I will not permit the world in which I live to go backwards anymore. I will not relive a period of life where shame,denial, or rejection have any priority. The madness must end, and the sooner the sane realize that, regaining the upper hand of politics, religion and democracy the better this nation becomes. Evolution was well on its way, we cannot go back, EVER.

truth found to be lies

When I was a student teacher, I took a Child Development course which addressed the issue of identifying kids who have difficulty in telling the truth.I was working with children in Kindergarten to Grade 3 and this development course addressed issues of responsibility, remorse and recognition of actions and reactions. I read case studies about complete denial of involvement to the ever popular response of he/she made me do it. The goal of this developmental course was to prevent a dishonest behavior early on in a child’s educational experience, and help students to understand the positive and negative consequences of their actions. We were told that preventing kids from lying in their younger lives would certainly create healthier adults. We were told that learning to be responsible for all you say and do makes being an adult easier. We were told that truth usually sets you free.

Bridge-gate, as it is being bandied about, is on every news show and on most headlines of any medium covering the news. If you listen to the propagandists at FOX noise you will be told that Governor Christie is an innocent victim, being bullied by a too feminized society. Britt Hume the head cheerleader for denial lectured the viewing public that no likes a muscular masculine politician any longer and that Christie was just acting like a man. Britt Hume of course never addressed the actions of the governor just his reactions. Christie couldn’t lie because was just being a man doing muscular manly things. The Governor himself is overwrought with embarrassment for the actions of his closest thugs(I mean staff members), and angry enough about THEIR actions yo fire a few of them. I  didn’t know or do or act upon anyone with vengeance or reciprocity, says the Governor, I  am as pissed as the public. No ownership, no responsibility, no acceptance, just cover ups and inaction. 

Listen to the dance arounds by the Tea-publican henchmen who are hired to avert the truth and just present the problem with fingers always pointed in another direction. Rudy Giuliani said that its not about lane closures but about the amount of time Chis Christi spent denying his involvement (unlike Obama addressing Benghazi). Karl Rove ever at the ready to disguise truth  from the public insisted that had Obama stood in front of reporters regarding the IRS, he would be considers a hero, just as Governor Christie is to the people of New Jersey. Reince Priebus, with his ever phony grin told newscasters that the Governor of New Jersey spent 120 minutes calling out his crew of misfits, if only the President would have spent 120 second talking about Benghazi or the IRS. Not Giuliani, Rove, Preibus or Christie himself spoke about Governors responsibility in this fiasco but each man accused others, deflected about others and continued the lies.

In the past decade in the politics of America we have been told that lying is okay, the truth is irrelevant, ownership of actions a pain in the ass. In the past decade of American politics we have discovered that blame is good to place on others, honesty a matter of interpretation and arrogance a better way to communicate. In the past decade in American politics we have discovered a mantra from a Jefferson Airplane song ‘Somebody To Love’ “…when the truth is found to be lies…” has nothing to with love but whole lot to with loathing.

war, what is it good for

“War, what is it good for…absolutely nothing” Edwin Starr. The Tea-publicans love starting wars. Ask Bill O’Reilly every Christmas time when he has a book to hawk. Or Sarah Palin never one to stop her ghost writers from forging forward in battle joining not so ‘fair and balanced’ Bill O in this year’s skirmish saving Christmas from the anti-Christ’s. Nancy Reagan under the spell of her Tarot card reader told hubby Ronnie to declare war on drugs insisting on her mantra of ‘just say no’. President Cheney, oops I mean Vice President Cheney had Bush by the balls and told him to declare war in Iraq. Money had to be made for Halliburton and Georgie was too confused about his job description anyway. After 911 Bush/Cheney pronounced a war on terror and made certain that ALL Americans were terrified. Declaring war by Tea-publicans is a big business.  

Little sassy Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the guy who was supposed to be the last great white hope, for the Tea-publicans (you know the freshman Senator who was going to be the voice of Tea-publican Hispanics but flip flopped so hard on immigration he made Mitt Romney look like he never lied) is pissed at President Obama. Ex defense Secretary Robert Gates (who felt that money came before country) wrote a tell all book about how badly Obama hated the Tea-publican created war in Afghanistan. When Tea-publicans start a war they expect full participation by EVERYONE. So little Marco so far out of the spotlight dying for attention derided the President as an enabler for the Taliban. Yep, even though one of the most important promises made was to end the war in Afghanistan and as Commander in Chief this president followed through with it, Mr. Gates and Senator Rubio were pissed that more American and Afghani lives were not murdered or maimed. It’s our war, you could almost hear Marco Rubio saying as he stared into the camera with his usual deer in the headlight look, and you have no right to end it.

However, if the Democrats declare war, well, forget it, the Tea-publicans will have nothing to do with it. It has been 50 years since President Johnson announced a war on poverty. Too many poor people in this nation with inadequate food, health care and housing. The Federal Government, according to President Johnson had the responsibility to maintain at least a common standard of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for ALL of its citizens. But nooooo, say this selfish, self-serving crop of Tea-publican politician marionettes whose strings are pulled by even more selfish, self-serving billionaires. Helping the poor just keeps them in poverty. If they are true Christian Americans (in the US, according to the Tea-publicans you are first a Christian then an American) the poor will understand that being unemployed, being hungry, being sick is their own fault and something Jesus and his cohorts who wrote the Constitution would frown upon with a very heavy forehead. This war on poverty, so declare the Tea-publicans is just one more way the Democrats have used to manipulate votes. This war on poverty has nothing at all to do with living a good life. 

“War, what is it good for…” For the current crop of Tea-publicans it is good for distractions to fight for real change. It is good for instilling fear and falsehoods. It is good for dividing a nation so that the dumb remain dumber and anyone with even a moment of clarity becomes fogged out. I just wonder how many more victims have to suffer until more Americans become ready to fight back against the Tea-publicans and wage a final war for our freedoms?

Governator 2

At first I gave very little thought to yet one more bully tactic by a man who thrives on being the bad ass Gov of New Jersey and honestly has succeeded as being the Governor who takes no shit. California had the Governator, an Austrian movie hero turned American.(His accent was so cute).  He was not going to listen to the harangues of just anyone he deemed a fool and he flew to popular heights in a matter of warp speed. PR, acting and performance were a key to his upward mobility. Schwarzenegger  was a tough talking Governator who danced with wolves, chided citizens and bullied his way to the top. He was supposedly unstoppable until  his ego located between his pants was found to be a player. So when ‘I take no prisoners’ Christie was accused of political retribution by closing lanes to the most populated bridge in America, I just sat back and thought go prove it wasn’t him. His ego, just like the Governator of California was big, but I thought Christie was smarter and more of a cover up artist. Christie although never in a movie acts just like another former Governator of California and he knows just how to look you in the eye and have you believe he is for real.

Then here was Christie in a 2 hour made of TV movie, scripted by some crafty Republican talking heads agency throwing a few vague sounding mea culpa’s, feigning ignorance of any of his top aides behaviors, and facing the camera telling us just how sorry he was for someone else's mistakes and how embarrassed he was for their actions. He told us in oh so many  iterations that he was not a criminal, not guilty and of course as saddened by the disastrous events as you and I. If you had never seen this man mug for the camera before, heard his I am the Governor for all New Jersyians (except if you are LGBT then you should not get married), looked as his empty (fuck I hate this moment in my life eyes) you might actually believe his innocence. After all this is America and until all the facts are presented (even though 50% of the facts have been redacted), the correct thing is to agree he is innocent. Remember when Nixon told us he is not a crook.

But almost to the minute after the New Jersey Governator proclaimed he was innocent, that this was just a bunch of his political foes inciting trouble, FOX News got on the air for follow up. It seemed FOX could not wait to call upon their newly hired reality stars, their past hires of reality stars, their brain washed entertainers and their millionaire (but I am a common man like you) jokesters to set the record straight. One by one, these insects of bigotry, hate, loathing and lies commented on Christie’s performance at his news conference. They spoke of him as if the Governator was to be considered for an Oscar in best acting. (In fact it did seem like an act listening to the Governator.) And then it dawned on me, once you have the entire propaganda team at FOX tell its viewers that Christie is innocent, a victim himself I knew that he WAS guilty. If you have ever found the time and patience to watch FOX News you will know immediately that anything they insist and insist and bemoan and bemoan is fact is fiction. (It’s like deciding which side of argument to take until Sarah Palin takes a side and then you know which side not to take). If you have all the FOX fools and friends subscribing not to what the Governator said but how he said it then you know if it smells like bad fish it is more then fishy it is rotten.

At first I thought this is a New Jersey affair, the citizens elected this man found his folly fine his bullying full of bravado, his hypocrisy helpful. But then I realized that this New Jersey Governator has aspirations to become the President, not just of New Jersey but of California where I live. No thank you I said. Guilty or not of Bridge-gate (love how we simplify graft and illegalities), this man has demonstrated a lack of character and I certainly don’t want that disease spreading across this nation once again. As another performer ex-president once said fool me once and okay, fool me twice… but then it was George Bush and he was sure able too fool this nation a whole lot more.

seduction, sinful

During the 1950’s Pittsburgh television stations would play movies during the 11:30pm time slot. These movies were considered after dark films, the kind of production not for the faint of heart or anyone young enough to head off to school the next morning. Many of the movies were based on the seductive prowess of females whose charms leached the virility and independence of lovers, leaving them shells of themselves. Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946), Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity (1944) and Ava Gardner in the Killers (1946) all played wives who manipulated their husbands playing them for fools. Seduction for me during my youth meant beautiful women who even though they were females (this was the 50’s and men were men and women supposed to be their property) had some kind of devil power to turn men into putty.

In 1964, seduction found its way from the movie's on TV to the home of a cousin of mine. Its seemed that cousin Hannah’s husband Al (who had always been known as such a wonderful mensch, a good father, husband and provider) was seduced by his secretary known as that no good woman (a woman who had been invited to bris’s, bar mitzvah’s and wedding showers) and was divorcing his wife. In whispers around the poker table, while the aunts cleared the tables, on long exaggerated phone calls anyone in the vicinity could hear the word seduced bandied about in describing this terrible ordeal happening to my cousin Hannah caused by that no good woman. My mother and her sisters would all make the same ugly face, the slow movement of their heads back and forth, the sound of pooh, pooh to keep the spirits away as they did when speaking of cancer or a heart attack while mentioning the word seducer. 

But then 2012/2013 erupted and with it a new brand of seducers and seduction and a whole new definition for me. Seduction was still about power, but more so the power of lies wrapped up in a misfit of religion, unreliable sources and ridiculous rhetoric. Seduction was not about selfish women wanting to cut off a man’s testicles or ruin a a pretend marriage anymore. It was about replacing deference with indifference, division instead of inclusion, fabrication pretending to fair and balanced. It was about power the kind that is perceived by selfish maneuvers derived to confine science, intelligence, common sense, fair play as something evil. It was about keeping the dumb dumber, the insecure scared and the fool even more fool hearty. Seduction became a useful drug to ignore the truth and create an environment of lies and falsehoods.

There was a code of conduct from the censors during the production of the movies from the 40’s. No matter how sexy the siren was on the screen, in the end she was found to be a fraud and paid a moral price. My cousin Hannah in the 60’s found a happy ending also by taking Al to court and having him buy her a house in Florida and pay all of her bills until the day she died. Somehow however, I don’t see any happy ending from the seducers of 2012/2013. Instead I see a political party aroused by the torment of others, inspired by the lies of its leaders, revved by religious fervor so anti democracy. I see more and more active victims at the ready to hate, hurt and hurl venom and vitriol. Seduction in modern times seems much scarier and sinister as I remember it ever being when I was young. 

then and now again

They are only homosexuals after all, assumes Utah’s Republican Governor Gary Herbert, now what kind of liberty for all do THEY deserve? They are only Colored people after all assumed Republican George Wallace of Alabama now why the hell do they think they deserve equal access to higher learning? The Book of Mormon has no tolerance for the homosexual, so swears Governor Herbert, and albeit this is not a Mormon nation Utah sure as darn tooting is a Mormon state and screw the divide between religion and government, homosexuals are evil beings. The New Testament clearly denotes that the Colored folk are a savage beast, so swore Governor Wallace, better left to the wilds of Africa or the cotton fields of Alabama. This IS a Christian nation and as long as I am Governor of this Christian state I will not permit equality in education between Coloreds and Whites. Its the American way, the Christian way, the Mormon way to separate, divide, deny and refuse equality, justice, fairness for all, so said a Governor from the dirges of a racial past and a Governor from the current dredges of homophobia today. No difference, hate is hate, discrimination discrimination. What Constitution… we got our Bibles to tell us so!

Back in the day a large majority of Alabamians believed that no matter what the Yankee Federal government wanted, it was the racist, small minded Bible thumping mob of true Americans who knew better. Coloreds were always supposed to be the inferior race and no President is gonna tell them differently. Separate water fountains, back of the bus seats, white only neighborhoods the only way to keep the white race pure, the American flag red WHITE and blue and Christian women and children safe. Here in the day, a band of religious bigots once founded on polygamist principals, never eager to let anyone into their church unless they were pure bred white, dedicated to heterosexual predominance and preservation living in Utah owned by the Church of Ladder Day Saints are aghast that the Federal Government might even consider establishing laws for ALL the citizens of their state. Not in our state, not in a state where we count on difference to consul our paranoid brethren, where equality is earned, no one messes with the laws of Brigham Young.

As if 1300 plus Gay and Lesbian couples were just a laughable number of misfits, pretending to love, honor and respect one another as married people was insignificant. As if thousands of Black college aged students sons and daughter of slaves, actually thought they should consider a college education. The Governor of Utah today as had the Governor of Alabama in the past demonstrated via their actions that government is not for all the people and should only work for some of the people. Based on a concoction of religious dogma, racist or homophobic intent spiced with bias and bigotry the real special type taught at dining room tables and church pews, America is once again eye witnessing bias, bigotry and whole bunch of baloney. Injustice under the guise of a God who hates is such a sick combination. Pretending that the the Constitution was never meant for those we deem different is just pathetic. History repeating itself in such a repulsive manner disgusting. They were just Colored folk then and they are only homosexuals now…

terrible tabernacle

Showcasing, once again the lack of freedom from religion…Demonstrating, once again that the words of a religious text outweigh the importance of the text of our Constitution…Promoting, once again hypocrisy above reason; a hold, a stay, a denial of equal rights is being played out in the state of Utah against men and women who among many other attributes happen to be Gay and Lesbian. And why aside from homophobia, religious dogma, hate and bias does the state of Utah insist that permitting same-sex couples to say I do will encourage opposite sex couples to say I don’t. No fact necessary they proclaim just the teachings of their religion. A religion that once agreed a man should have as many wives as he wishes, refused to include blacks into their Temples, and has greased the hands of politicians forking out dollars for bigotry but of course never paying any taxes along the way. And assisting in denial of equal rights is the Supreme Court suggesting that all Americans are not entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The Mormon Church fought long and hard to stop equality from happening in California. Using the same lame concept that same-sex marriages place a frown on the lips of opposite sex couples stopping them to form the words I do the state of Utah a subsidiary of the Church of LDS has asked for a halt to freedom for of course the LGBT community. In a country or a state where the freedom of religion trumps the freedom from religion laws will be either passed or discontinued to encourage vile and venom. Acting as if the message from a loving God is to deny love, the homophobes have shouted loud enough to drown out even the words of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court blocks same sex marriage in Utah pending an appeal. The Supreme Court decided that marriage is not an institution for all of the citizens of Utah. Somehow Bob and Ted, Alice and Ann saying I do needs more time and reflection while Will divorcing Jane, Jane cheating on Alex plays no part in the true meaning of wedlock in Utah. Somehow falling in love and wanting to legalize it in Utah is too risky, but adultery or infidelity is cool in saving the Institution of Marriage.For fair minded folk who do not blame their God for hating like humans this makes no sense. And so the citizens of Utah who happen to be among the many attributes in their life Gay or Lesbian must once again find second class a moniker they must wear. equality has been murdered once more and for no cause but sheer hate and homophobia. Nothing American about the justice denied in Utah.

americana or can't

Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffith show would often tell a nosy neighbor or a bossy busybody that their judgmental behavior and sheer indulgence in someone else's business took some gumption. Aunt Bea would become quite perturbed when a nasty local of Mayberry siting snugly in her home surrounded by all the creature comforts possible would conclude that someone less fortunate had fallen down on their luck just because they were lazy. Often times Aunt Bea added the words ‘that takes a whole lot more gumption to feel that way. Aunt Bea in the day was a perfect picture of small town innocence, perhaps limited in her scope of the ways of the world, but savvy enough to know right from wrong, justice from injustice. 

My Grandma Braff, often times, when the family just finished a meal with more entrees and desserts then a restaurant ever offered, would hold court and lecture any family member who had the audacity to say the words, “I think I am going on a diet from this minute forward.” Grandma Braff would snarl her upper lip stick her neck forward in the direction of the diet pronouncer, her index finger pointing, no other parts of her body moving and say in a very guttural and monotone voice, “if you hadn’t made such a gluttonous fool of yourself and indulged as much as you had there would be no need for a diet. You can afford to wish yourself hungry because you have the luxury of eating as much as you want. I suppose Grandma Braff was inferring the word gumption but since there was no Yiddish version of it she would say its a ‘SHUNDA’ (shame).

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is all aghast and angry that anyone worth their red, white and blue would even consider long term unemployment insurance as a saving grace. Sitting in his Washington DC office surrounded by a salary, perks of the job, throngs of lobbyists at the ready to buy his vote, great health care, Senator Paul wants to shame the unemployed into thinking that not finding a job is a form of laziness and very UnAmerican. Forgetting that his Senate Tea Republican colleagues both in the House and Senate have made job creation as difficult as mapping the road to Hell, Senator Paul loves playing the blame game and pointing fingers away from the real culprits. It seems that if you are unemployed after many months (mainly not of your own accord) all you want to do is live off the dole of the US Government according to the rantings and raves of this man. Get a job any job (as if any job is available to get). Get a job selling burgers (but if it is at McDonalds or Wendy’s don’t expect anything close to a living wage or for that matter minimum wage). Get a job at Walmart (but then make sure you either apply for food stamps, the ones  Senator Paul and his gang of haters have cut) or just prioritize if it is the rent, food or health care you wish to pay for. Rand Paul is arrogant, selfish and annoying. He is a demigod who believes his shit don’t stink because he has a toilet in which to flush it.

Aunt Bea is a fictional character one in which the writers tried to impose a sense of conscience, of fairness a sense of Americana in which caring counted. Grandma Braff for all of her fabulousness was real and never once permitted bull shit to linger more then a second. She would call you out on honesty and conscience. Rand Paul is a cartoon character, a creature who wants to populate the souls of the angry, disenfranchised and ignorant. He pretends to speak Americana but when he speaks his words are truly foreign to the desires and wishes of the men who founded this nation. Free speech is a keystone of this nation but educated, smart, intelligent people who must let the fools speak freely, but must always bring to light the darkness and gloom falling from their tongues and of course the truth. As Aunt Bea would say have you ever been without a home? As Grandma Braff would say have you really never eaten more then one meal? Where are the real Americans and the real Americana?

Christian soldiers

It apparently is the Chrisitan way to spew hateful rhetoric upon others but never be apologetic for saying hateful things in the first place. It is the Christian way to carry guns, use assault weapons stand your ground never once looking the other person in eye and asking why all these guns are so necessary. It supposedly is the Christian way to stop women from deciding on their own pregnancies, but very un God like to find assistance for the children born into poverty, abuse or rape. So say the adoring fans of a duck grandpa, a reality show semi term governor, a radio entertainer using fake prescriptions for pain killers.

It was very Christian to insist that women not be given the right to vote, interracial couples never permitted to marry, Negros being equal to whites. It was mandated that a Christian God should be against same sex marriages, children born in the US of undocumented individuals becoming citizens, seniors having enough retirement income to live out their life in a decent and human manner. It was fire and brimstone so un Christ like for workers to receive a minimum wage or fair affordable or universal health care. It was a sin against God by the likes of a billionaire business man running for president, a three time married dejected Speaker of the House, a Canadian born Senator whose father recites only hateful passages from a selected Bible.

God’s soldiers now insist that gun rights trump human rights. Gods crusaders want freedom of religion but cannot understand that freedom from religious is anything but blasphemy. God’s army believe he was white and only those of the same skin color matter. God’s monsters want nothing of an entire Bible but selected passages and pieces transformed into bias and bigotry. The word of God for self proclaimed Christian Conservative/Evangelicals has nothing to do with piety or purpose, but instead are purposely said to divide and conquer. We are told to fear the Muslim Jihadists but in fact are witnessing a Christian war fought by men and women pretending to drape themselves in red, white and blue and of course false prophets and prophecies. 

How much longer do we laugh at the reality stars who think their popularity permits them to hate aloud? How much longer do we snicker at the tea party fanatics whose intelligence is only based in falsehoods and bias? How much longer do we think we are safe from the politicians who say Jesus has spoken to them in a dream urging them to run for office while demeaning, destroying lives of anyone not like them? How much longer will it take until the witch trials of Salem become common place once again? The days of are you now or have you have been a member of the Communist party are shouted out? Signs for whites only are hanging on doorways? The days when in God we trust is replaced with in OUR GOD is the only one we trust? When does it become time to stop laughing at the fools and actually reclaim an America where all of us have access to the pursuit of happiness? I do worry, this is my country and more and more I recognize it less.

damn and damned

It was seventh grade, I was in Miss McAtier’s social studies class. We had been discussing the Middle Eastern countries, their political systems, and their religious practices. It was 1962 in Pittsburgh and for the most part the world was seen as a very white male, Christian oriented place in which to live. Miss McAtier made two comments that day, both which still linger in some of the cobwebs of my mind. The first comment was that the Middle Eastern countries are run by people who have little regard for Judeo/Christian values (in seventh grade I was not sure what those values were). The second comment was that in spite of their non Christian belief system most Middle Eastern rulers did honor their God with high esteem. Miss McAtier stated without a moments hesitation that if you speak poorly of God in most Middle Eastern nations you could face a death penalty. The class provided that comment with a collective sigh. Then with just a few minutes before the bell rang to change classes Miss McAtier placed her hands on the tiny podium from which she often stood and said, this nation should learn a few lessons about God and respect for him. There are too many Americans out in the world in which we live who use God’s name in vein by saying the word damn after saying God. (Another collective sigh because we heard our teacher swear—damn was a bad word in those days). Maybe, Miss McAtier continued, our democracy should follow the examples of the Middle Eastern countries  and make it a crime to disparage the name of God. I was scared and even though I never said the phrase God damn, I knew that I would never ever start saying it. 

It is 2014 and it seems that the most noteworthy of events from the previous year were focused on issues of God and how those who believe they speak for God or that God has spoken to them found it necessary to become his crusader and make things better. For the men and women who love to use God as a scapegoat for their human hatred of others we were informed that Gays if given any kind of equality like marriage, adoption serving openly in the military would end democracy as we know it and immediately stop heterosexuals from marrying and of course reproducing. For those men and women who love to scan the Bible rather then read it for more then propaganda we were told that God loved his guns, hated poor people and had no intention of the sick being healed via any kind of affordable health care. For those men and women who truly feel guilty for their own bias and bigotry and love to play victim as they bully those around them we were informed that people of color are drug addicts and love living off the dole, that immigrants can never be true Americans, that if you are unemployed you are lazy. For the lost souls never wanting to be found 2013 we were lectured that God did not give a damn for a whole lot of folks deemed different.

From Sarah Palin’s war on Christmas, to Duck Grandpa’s scripturized baloney, to the billionaire CEO of Home Depots disappointment that the Pope’s belief that trickle down economics never trickles down to GOP candidates saying rape is a gift from God, we are lectured that not enough people do give a damn about God. We are told that freedom of religion is being denied but forget that freedom from religion is really the thing we need to be afraid of. People who feel free to hate, restrict, segregate always seem to talk loud and insist that no one give a good God damn about God. No longer is the Constitution the law of the land but instead passages from a Bible edited and abridged by people with selective reasoning the only laws we need. I believe we all need to give a damn about God, but worry that the damed are the ones playing God.