rows of prose

Seems in our 24/7 news cycle, our instant messaging, out Tweets, our hurry up and rush it is easier to get things said and maybe heard if they come in smaller doses, fragmented sentences, and only resonate a slight bit in our conscience. Everyone, including me is offering his/her opinion, hoping to be heard, hoping to make a point, hoping that some words make as much sense to others as they do to those who originate them.

My harangues sometimes use up to seven or eight paragraphs to make a point, a point I truly care about. My rantings sometimes are precise and exact and I use 250 words or less to say how I feel. My indignity sometimes is magnified and only outnumbered by my infuriation and frustration and I can go on and on and on with all of that.

There are lots of areas of current events that bother me, bug the shit out of me, and make me worried. Today I felt the need to share many of them. So I thought I would phrase my concerns in a four sentence prose. Venting is at times a cowards way to find a solution, when the vent has no bite. Finding a solution should be much easier to do, but usually the last thing that happens. I vent therefore I am, but would rather hope I vent therefore I can prevent.

Profits high and our bonuses reeking.

Unemployment, but we really don’t care.

We made mistakes, but the Government bailed us.

It’s good to be bankers; it’s so good to be rich.

You get sick, hope you have coverage.

Rates are high so our shareholders win.

It’s the biz it’s not about people.

Health care for some, but not if you’re really sick.

Talk of guns, but this is our duty.

More we have, the safer we are.

It’s a right we deny all that tyranny.

Reload and take aim, is now the American way.

Jesus said you should love one another.

But we know that he meant something else.

Not like us, then for sure he ain’t my brother.

Its difference I hate, and sameness makes me sane.

If I lied, if I hurt with you with falsehoods,

If I tried, to make you a fool.

It’s because I am fearful of my faults

Afraid I’m a failure and apologizing totally un-cool.

If you’re rich you need to be richer,

Why pay tax when the poor do it best

If we pay our politicians to help us

Now that’s money I believe we all should invest.

There is so much on our agenda. So many ways we see the world differently. Is it not how we live our lives that count? We so often find ourselves talking but never listening. Why must it be good for some, but others are never good enough to get the same?

MLK

In LA, we held a parade in honor of Martin Luther King. We were told by the news anchors today's parade was one of the largest and better attended in recent history. I watched as I sat in my living room and was happy to see this honor taking place. The parade took place in a predominately African American neighborhood in LA. Lined along the streets were a majority of African Americans.

In West Hollywood in June we celebrate Gay Pride in honor of the milestones and freedoms the LGBT community has gained, and garnered. Aside from a handful of Born Again Evangelicals hired by the devil, the majority of participants are from the LGBT community. The parade and the festival happens in a VERY Gay neighborhood in LA.

When I lived in Pittsburgh and worked at the Jewish Community Center, located in a predominately Jewish neighborhood, Squirrel Hill, we used to celebrate with an Israel Day Parade. We marched across two very important intersections in Squirrel Hill, which for the Jewish community was the heart and soul of their environment. One could see hundreds of Jews in attendance.

In the days of maps, (no Map-quest, or GPS), whenever I was driving in a new city and got lost, never knowing where I was, I did know I was in a predominately black neighborhood if I happened to be on or near a street called Martin Luther King Blvd, Road, Avenue.

We used to pride ourselves, as Americans, as being a melting pot, a place that once welcomed strangers, a land where anyone could and should use their initiative, innovative energy, inventive spirit and become a part of something greater and something good. Emma Lazarus told us to "...give me your tired your poor...", JFK asked us "...what can you do for your country...", and Katharine Lee Bates wrote "...God shed his grace on thee... and crown they good with brotherhood..."

In 2010 and 2011, what was once hidden under a rock, sermonized by some churches as if God himself had cursed America, spilled and sorted out on the extreme right talk radio stations, silently acknowledged in alleyways or sanctuaries of bias and bigotry, has erupted and enveloped the atmosphere seeing the bright lights of daylight and delusion. It seems different is bad. It seems consensus is a Communist manifesto, it seems separate is good but separate but equal is bad and equal is worse.

For so many years we have reluctantly permitted the Blacks to celebrate MLK Day, the Gays to parade and pose in June, the Jews to act giddy for Israel as long as they kept those shenanigans in their own neighborhoods. It became tolerated by most but still admonished as bad by many. We had state laws, federal laws allowing minorities to find some kind of pride, with some kind of hero, with some kind of reason. We accepted it but embrace the diversity ourselves just seemed a little less all American then we were ready for. It was all done under the practicum of "Political Correctness"..., a pain in the ass concept for those who found hate a better way to practice their life.

America has had a history of violence, vitriol, victory and vigor. It has seen dark hours and somehow found the courage to pull though, lift up and move ahead. Sane heads, good hearts, and clear conscience out paced bias, bigotry, bullying and baseless BS. We have yet to find the finish line but have tried to race toward it. (Martin Luther King's words, deeds and legacy is a perfect example of moving forward.) But recently scary has taken grip of this nation. And scared people seem to be taking a death grip on this nation.

I worry that the small pace of fairness that we have gained, is being quickly eroded by a flood of fear. I wonder if any momentum made is being replaced with meaningless babble about boogie men seasoned with bogus reasoning. I am weary that falsehoods and fabrications based on lies are becoming the reality in this country.

It is MLK Day, and HE had a dream filled with words, sentences and meaning that embraces all of us. It would be an honor if ALL of us took HIS message applied it to ourselves and to those with whom we share our world. We can evolve when we involve ourselves in the lives of others.

my dad

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day, a holiday to celebrate a leader in civil and human rights.

I remember, while living in Pittsburgh, when Dr. King was assassinated, and how his unjust death spurred some unbelievable trauma, tumult, and terror in the city of Pittsburgh. Living in a very white neighborhood, not really having much interaction with the black community, it was a shock for many of us to consider that Dr. Kings death could and would create such outrage.

My father was a cop, one of six Jewish cops in the city of Pittsburgh at the time, and he had received his fair share of anti Semitic bullying from his fellow police workers. My father had started his career working in the neighborhood of Homewood which in the sixties in Pittsburgh was totally all black in its demographic makeup. He had been on beat patrol, and walked the streets of Homewood with his billy club and gun. My father had done a whole lot of person to person interaction and intervention, and had his picture in the Pittsburgh Press delivering his share of babies in Homewood. He felt close to the people living in Homewood, and although raised on his own dose of bigotry tried hard to remove the scars of poor parenting to find an open mind and be as fair as he could in working with the citizens of Homewood. And my father knew that it was not only color that made people create enemies, it was religion, it was ignorance and it was the simple fact that others always needed someone a rung lower then they on their ladder of life.

But try as he may in understanding and tolerance, my father was taken aback with the riots after Dr. Kings death, came home from a 15 hour shift, and told my sisters and I from now on we would would lock our front door, we could not drive into any of the black neighborhoods, and we should all look twice before approaching anyone.

The news coverage in Pittsburgh concentrated on the fighting, the burning, the looting taking place in our city, and not until the anger subsided and calm was restored, did the press, the preachers, the people even ask the question how could this have happened.

It took quite a few years for some semblance of order to find its place in Pittsburgh. The talking heads argued as to the causes, some refusing to admit their own responsibility, some ringing their hands wondering why, and some continuing to hate, to blame, and not acknowledge the possibility of consensus.

On the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King Day, America is still in the throws of mayhem, murder and myth. We are still arguing who is to blame, who is at fault, who caused this. We offer dissent, and very little consensus. Since Dr. King’s assassination we have seen disaster and doom find its footing in this country. We have had people like my father who thought they understood how to communicate, how to be real, how to reach out only to be thwarted by something they felt was bigger than their own fortitude.

Who becomes the victim in America when something as horrendous and horrible as the Tucson shooting takes place? How do we stop the victimization of America? When do more of us become brave enough to enough is enough?

quality

In Washington, bills were being drafted to step up background checks, create no-gun zones around members of Congress and ban the big-volume magazines that allowed the Tucson gunman to shoot so many bullets so fast.

Gun control advocates say they believe the shock of the attack has altered the political atmosphere, in no small part because one of the victims is a member of Congress.

“I really do believe that this time it could be different,” said Paul Helmke, executive director of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Yet gun rights advocates and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said Thursday that there was little chance the attack would produce significant new legislation or a change in a national culture that has long been accepting of guns.

If anything, they said, lawmakers are less receptive than ever to new gun restrictions.

If the politically sophisticated N.R.A. has struck a quiet pose, the Crossroads of the West gun show will go on as planned this weekend at the Pima County Fairgrounds, 13 miles from the shooting site; another gun show is scheduled for the next weekend.

“We had no hesitation about going ahead with the show so soon after the incident,” said Lois Chedsey, secretary to the Arizona Arms Association, a show sponsor. “Gun sales have been up since last Saturday. (NYTimes)

Once again, we cried, we sighed, we held our breath in disbelief. We looked for some kind of answer, some kind of common ground, some kind of solution…and found none.

What seems to me to actually be an evil experience in this country, chilling most of us, should call upon bipartisan, bilateral, bi-human cooperation in addressing, solving and stopping it from happening again. But most likely it will be a blimp on the history charts of this nation, most likely debated, discussed and dropped, until we all experience the nightmare once more, and respond by saying how did this happen this time? Gun control, nope how about addressing the question correctly, life control!

In rolling out their "Pledge to America" last year, House Republicans repeatedly cited Congressional Budget Office research as proof President Obama's health care overhaul was too expensive. But when a new CBO analysis found that the GOP's health law repeal bill would itself add billions to the deficit, Republican leaders dismissed the conclusions as irrelevant. (Washington Times)

House To Resume Health Care Repeal Effort Next Week
After a weeklong pause in legislative business to honor the victims of the Arizona massacre, House Republicans intend to resume regular congressional business next week with a vote to repeal the health care law, a top GOP aide said Thursday (CNN)

In the state of California, the major health insurance carrier, Blue Cross, is about to lambast the state and its insurance policy holders with anywhere from a 30 to 66% increase in rate charges. People in this state as in other states either have insurance they can afford, prioritize paying for insurance they can’t afford, but know they need, go without insurance because more immediate items such as food, rent demand their dollars, or just allow themselves to get sick hoping eventually they will heal without any lasting scars.

We hear that Obama care is a job cutting program. We don’t hear about those who are too sick to work either being fired from their jobs, or working less hours due to illness. We hear that it is unconstitutional to have people take health insurance. We don’t hear about those who are so ill that counties must pay for their visits to the emergency room, family and neighbors must find them ways to alleviate the pain and suffering, individuals just rot on the shelf like rotten vegetables.I suppose it is more constitutional to let that happen.

Let’s control the socialist tendency to take over health care, let’s control job growth, but let’s not discuss the cost of life control.

In this nation where we pride ourselves in such sayings as “In God We Trust”, “one nation under God”, what have we done with God when it comes to controlling the quality of life? For all those religious zealots who own an arsenal of guns, who protest (with their guns in their holsters) against health care, who proclaim this to be a Christian nation, who ask “what would Jesus do”? Where is your inspiration when it comes to keeping people healthy, people safe, and what about people’s quality of life?

It seems that a whole bunch of self righteous, self pious, self serving people who say they have Gods ear have no idea what God is saying when they refuse to discuss Gun Control, Universal Health Insurance and the lack of the quality of life. I am so amazed that anyone can not sit down as they discuss this and that, not even mention that at the bottom of this and that are lives, not only lives, but some kind of quality to each and everyone of those lives. Just amazing!

remember?

Remember when there was an assignation attempt of President Ronald Reagan, and James Brady remained permanently disabled paralyzed by a shots from John Hinckley Jr. And remember when America was confronted by gun control, mental illness, and after a few weeks of headline news with news specials, themed news programs, we must do something now news. And suddenly the issue of gun control and mental illness could not even be found on the last page of a newspaper.

Remember when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and in particular the city of New Orleans and for a week we were riveted to our television sets worried, angst ridden, and scared. FEMA sucked, ‘Good Job Brownie’ did a bad job, the Federal Government abandoned a part of our population, and we rung our hands, rubbed our brows, and for the next few weeks talked and talked and talked about it. And then suddenly we didn’t.

Remember when finding Osama Bin Laden, the number one face on the top 10 List of most wanted was the enemy we needed to find to bring justice and dignity back to America. We had to ratchet up our security color code at airports because there was a terrorist waiting to blow up another plane. How during the Bush years, the more fearful we were the safer we felt. And suddenly Mr. Bush had better things to do then hunt down Osama.

Remember the horrific shooting at Columbine, and tragic and undefinable deaths of all those young citizens of this nation. Schools, safety, guns, crazy people were subject of conjecture, concern by caring people, wondering how and why could this happen, and swearing never again. And suddenly we did nothing at all and more shootings on high school and college campuses happened, and happened.

Remember the shooting in Tucson ending in 6 deaths and 14 injured. Remember the issues of mental illness, gun control, civility or lack of it in Government all throbbing and twisting all over the news, the Internet, and newspapers. Remember the fuss and fuming, the frazzled and the fear. In a few weeks from now I wonder how much we will remember.

Remember when cause had affect, when evil needed to replaced with good, when something wrong was plain and simply wrong. Remember?

fact to the matter

Now we hear that the Democrats/Liberals/Progressives should not blame the Republicans/Tea Baggers/Conservatives for any mention of lock and reload, target practice, and 2^nd Amendment Rights, but should instead try to work harder in finding consensus. Now we hear what could be more American than debate and the heartier and robust debate gets, the more Patriotic those who use their fists, raise their guns, and carry derogatory signs become. It is similar said Sarah Palin to the kind of rebel rousing used in the 18th and 19^th century politics of America, and least we don’t challenge anyone to a duel, doncha’ know!

Our newly named Speaker of the House, John Boehner, so concerned with reading the Constitution on his first day as Speaker, cried bitter tears over the horrendous and insane action in Tucson. Just as he left the reading of the Constitution in the House Chamber to attend a Republican fund raiser, he also declined the invitation to fly on Air Force One to attend the memorial service in Tucson... to once again attend a Republican fund raiser. He is the speaker for all Americans but some how can only hear those who speak via their check books.

We are not to blame the rhetoric from the Red, White and Blue Tea Baggers for dissent in this country, but to praise their ambitious and dedicated energy for creating real change EVERYONE can believe in. The fact that many of the gun totting Second Amendment Rights, Tea Baggers carried guns to town hall meetings, identified themselves as Tea Baggers when they made death threats to those Politicians in favor of health reform, recite the mantra if ballots don’t work don’t forget your bullets we are reminded has little to nothing to with any kind of violence against any politician. As Sarah Palin said one person’s action does not reflect on a community.

The President praised the heroes for coming forth in saving of lives in Tucson and FOX New PAC called it a good speech, finally the President spoke as President of all the United States.Glenn Beck, with somber voice and insincere sincerity, praised the President for acting Presidential, and they all were relieved that the President did not mention anything about the hate speech FOX News and its cohorts had laid on the doorsteps of all Americans. Pundits we are told are Liberal, they only know how to deter and reject the grassroots movement from real Americans, the Tea Baggers. Debate is useless when you have ‘lame street press’ ready to pounce upon every word and sentence trying to find the facts behind it. Our words were only meant as analogies, we used examples of bull’s-eyes, guns, lynching to illustrate our words, which never meant to hurt anyone. Your words accusing us that our words are evil make you more evil than anything we could have imagined.

Gun control, bah humbug, permitting Congress people to carry weapons as they speak to their constituents is the way to control crazy gun behavior. We pack heat and if someone wants to fire into the crowd we will knock them dead first. It’s not the gun that kills, it is the one crazy person shooting the gun that kills. This is America and the Second Amendment came from our Founding Fathers and Jesus. It is the Christian thing to adefend your self.

Facts we have found in America 2010 and 2011 are founded on folly, fable and fabrication. If we don’t like how it fits we can alter the findings. If we said it once and changed our minds, then when it was first misquoted by our enemies we made sure it is quoted correctly this time around by our friends. Facts have no place in America 2011, it was facts that elected the Democrats into the majority in 2008, and dismantling those facts in 2010 that will bring salvation in the form of Tea Baggers reshaping, reclaiming America now.

And the sad thing is that there are a whole bunch of people, who need very fact to function. There is no longer fact to the matter, cause facts just don’t matter.

libel of lying

What is 'blood libel'?

Abe Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said that it was "inappropriate at the outset to blame Sarah Palin and others for causing this tragedy," but added that "we wish that Palin had not invoked the phrase 'blood libel' in reference to the actions of journalists and pundits in placing blame for the shooting in Tucson on others."

"While the term 'blood libel' has become part of the English parlance to refer to someone being falsely accused, we wish that Palin had used another phrase, instead of one so fraught with pain in Jewish history," he said.

And Simon Greer, the president of Jewish Funds for Justice, called Palin's use of the term "totally out-of-line."

"The term “blood libel” is not a synonym for 'false accusation,' he said. "It refers to a specific falsehood perpetuated by Christians about Jews for centuries, a falsehood that motivated a good deal of anti-Jewish violence and discrimination." (NBC News)

Instead of saying: perhaps my metaphors, perhaps my innuendo, perhaps my rhetoric, perhaps my actions may have been misconstrued but I meant no harm. Instead of saying, let me reflect on my own words and deeds and better understand how others viewed them. Instead of saying, I believe my freedom of speech has made others anxious, dubious, and skeptical, let me take a look closer at that. Instead of all of that Sarah Plain has now added another dimension to an already out of control situation inflamed the fury of discontent and dismissed those who argue with her tactics as being blood libel. Instead of what may I have done, it is look what you did to me.

Instead of addressing a problem that started with scare tactics like death panels, bullets over ballots, time to reload, “you lie”, socialism, communism, Nazi’s, second amendment options, crosshairs, violence, murder, civil discontent, fiction instead of fact, Ms. Palin’s handlers grabbed a sad state of Christian history to compare her plight as a Christian(a victim) pelted and hunted by Jews. Once again when the bully gets caught they try to become the victim.

And if those who feel guilty because of their actions… or guilt by association because of their deeds… or guilty because they refuse to see the escalation of fear mongering rising due to loose words without respect, ethics values or morals to others, NOW want to change the subject… shame on all of them. And if the media, people with clear conscience permit those guilty parties to reshape the agenda, change the agenda redefine the agenda from the real to the perceived to shield them from any responsibility… shame on all of them!

Until those who incite violence, live by vitriol and venom admit they are a part of the problem (as is the usual case in this county) history will repeat, repeat and repeat itself. Until the dance of denial is stopped in its tracks history will repeat and repeat itself. Until we address the truth and stop the lies, history will repeat itself. Until people like Sarah Palin stop creating a division assuring her lemming like followers it is safe to hate, we will never conquer the real demons. We talk about you Sarah because all you do is divide and conquer.

I had not even considered the term blood libel for this situation nor thousands other, but now that the genie’s out of the bottle and Pandora’s Box has opened as it was with the death panels, birth certificates, God hates Gays, we all will waste our time debating whether Sarah is right or wrong, at the consequences of ignoring the real issues. One of the most divisive people in America has once again managed to keep the ‘us vs. them rhetoric alive. Next thing is, I wonder when the Jews will be the new target of blame for the horrendous actions that took place in Tucson. If we did it to the Christians once we sure as hell are capable of doing it again. Sarah, the libel you are guilty is lying.