what's god got to do, got to do

What’s Love Got to With It, (T. Britten, G. Lyle)

What’s love got to do, got to do with it?

Whats love but a second hand emotion.

What’s love got to do, got to do with it?

Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken.

An email recently sent by Kansas House Speaker Mike O'Neal (R-Hutchinson) to his Republican colleagues appears to endorse a controversial prayer that some say calls for the untimely death of President Obama.

"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8." That's the slogan an email from O'Neal refers to, a phrase that's become popular in some circles on bumper stickers and other merchandise. The bible passages itself reads, "Let his days be few; and let another take his office." The real controversy arises in the next verse of Psalm 109, however, which continues, "May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow."

"At last -- I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president! Look it up -- it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. Brothers and Sisters, can I get an AMEN? AMEN!!!!!!"(Huff Post Politics)

And we are told by the Christians of this nation that the Muslims are the enemy of the state. It is those who follow the heathen cult of Islam who spend their waking days and sleepless nights plotting and planning the overthrow of this government and its leaders who we MUST fear. We are told by Bible thumping Christians that even though this is a Christian nation we can tolerate the Jews until they all head for Israel and the Rapture, but no room for any tolerance of the Muslim. And yet a an avowed Christian Evangelical who uses God as a scapegoat for his human frailty of fear, loathing and jealousy sends out a message that proclaims the glory of God will happen when God smites, or maybe one of his soldiers of fortune smote the President of the United States. And with most cowards, only when caught he acts the victim and says with the smile of a Cheshire Cat you misunderstood.

During a rally today, Santorum was confronted with the ugliest part of that side of the aisle– supporters of his who think President Obama is Muslim– and on CNN tonight, John King asked him to explain his response to the lady, which completely dismissed her comments.

King culminated the interview with a final question on an occurrence at a Santorum event today, however, in which a woman at the event refused to call President Obama the president because “he’s legally not the president,” and that “he is an avowed Muslim” (King was generous to label it a “pretty out there attack”). Santorum only responded to the lady that he was “doing my best to try to get him out of the government, and you’re right about how he uniformly ignores the Constitution.” King used it as a launchpad to ask whether Santorum believed he had a responsibility to call people out who say such things at his events.

“I’ve repeatedly done that, but I don’t think it’s my obligation every time someone says something I don’t believe to contradict them,” Santorum responded, adding that President Obama “is a big boy and he can defend himself and his record.” (media ite)

A man who says God talks to him, beckons him, urges him to run for president because among the many Catholic attributes of Santorum is honesty and a sincere heart. His values are beyond question, his morals are above reproach, he has God on his side. And yet the man of morals has no problem in permitting falsehoods to be said about the President of the united States.

Santorum can speak for his Lord on issues of rape, incest, Gay marriage, abortion and he proudly vents that it is hard to be spokesman for God but it is his burden to bare to free this nation of poison. But somehow his Lord and savior was eating a baloney sandwich or on his cell phone when Santorum somehow could not respond to a lie about the President as it is a lie and you are a liar.

It always someone else disobeying Gods commandments, but when convenient forget any knowledge of truth and honesty when it suits your own course of crass in trying to save your own ass.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus compared President Barack Obama to disgraced cruise ship captain Francesco Schettino, who allegedly abandoned the sinking Costa Concordia in an accident Jan. 13 that left 17 passengers dead off the coast of Tuscany.

On CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, (video below) the GOP politico called Obama a cowardly president driving his country into a metaphorical rock.(International Business Times)

According to the Republican National Committee Chairman, the man who helps set the tone and action plan for all his political candidates the President of the US is comparable to a man who is being held for manslaughter. Reince Preibus offers in his discourse regarding the problems in America today, that the man in the White House is like any run of mill man-slaughterer. In issuing this statement Mr. Preibus shows little respect for the families of the victims lost on the Costa Concordia and show more disrespect for all Americans who define murder and manslaughter as moral, ethical and religious issues.

Like many of his Republican/tea Party compatriots, Mr. Preibus talks about the values of Christianity and the 10 commandments and all of the books found in the New Testament. He loves to cater to the Evangelical Christian motives of purity, selection and holier than thou, but when convenient, slander, fabrication and lies override any so called Christian value.

For most Republican/Tea Party officials God is never angered with their stretching of the truth, divide and conquer attitude, or scapegoating tactics because their God is as two faced a hypocrite as they.

These past two years we have been inundated with the God factor and how one God is better than another God. Over the past two years we have heard candidates swear that it was God who whispered in their ears telling them run candidate run. Over the past two years we have been told this IS a Christian nation and the division between church and state has been slightly exaggerated and since God was a creator of the Constitution why would he list something as Devil like as that.

I am amazed at hoe eagerly people permit God to deny, divide and destroy the lives of their neighbors, friends and fellow citizens. I am even more amazed that those of us who truly believe in a God void of politics or racism, homophobia remain silent while the purveyors of hate control God’s microphone.

In this nation of ours the louder people shout God’s name the more they begin to speak for God and seem to act like God. We have all been warned about false prophets but they seem to be multiplying with no end in sight.

“What’s God got to do, got to do with it? What’s God got do”?

since, however

Thank goodness I have never been in a situation where I thought I might drown... however the few people I have spoken with who were saved from an almost drowning have made it very clear in their description just how miserable, fearful and dominating it was for them.

Thank goodness I have never been held at gun point or mugged or stopped on the street having someone with a weapon demand my valuables...however the few people I know who have had that experience have made it very clear that time stopped, their breath froze and a quiver of shock controlled their body. For them it still resonates and they find no reason to understand it.

Thank goodness I have never I have never had a life threatening disease being told by a doctor I might have only a few months left to live...however, sadly I have known some people who were given that news and then had to face the world with that knowledge. For them the emotions ran wild, their anger moved from rage to calm, from frantic to finally realizing the need to place closure in their life.

Thank goodness I have never been homeless. I think I understand the meaning of living on the street, seeking a shelter, begging for food. But do I? So many of us see people lying on ground with a dirty blanket and maybe a shopping cart of plastic bags filled with items discernible, and some foreign that seem to look like trash. Some of us mutter under our breath “druggie”, “bum”, “get a job”, “lazy”, “you must have deserved this”, and we quickly walk faster past them or immediately turn our eyes to the ground. The lucky of us who have not had to find our shelter under an overhang of some store front, on the metal bench of a bus stop, on the choppy concrete of a darkened parking lot never really know what those who seek shelter must be feeling what they fear and if they see hope ever happening.

There is so much in this world we have not experienced but have come in contact with those in our lives, whether close family or friends or strangers, who have or are currently entrenched in pain, fear, distrust, worry, or doom. We think we know their emotions and often times we try to act as caregivers for their ailments. We either talk about their conditions continuously as if we were on crack or we become silent hoping nothing said will remove us even further from recognizing our inability to help.

Throughout this primary year we hear the candidates running for president talk about things they know nothing of personally but love to pontificate from some glass tower as if they were experts. They hate the Gay but none of them are Gay and don’t know what denial of marriage, adoption, job security is all about. They shout about women having no rights to their own reproductive organs and none of them have been raped, have had an incestial relationship with their father or brother, or had to make a choice of deciding my life or the life of a fetus. They shout about unemployment and that only the lazy are unemployed, none of them ever once receiving a pink slip, working at a job one day only to find the gates locked, being downsized so the corporation could do the Capitalistic thing and outsource your job. They want to sign an order making Obamacare illegal, none of them ever once worrying about the type of coverage they have for themselves or their families. Never once having to prioritize food, rent or medical care.

I am not sure why it seems so easy to belittle others, eagerly denying them of the same rights, privileges and pleasures we enjoy, callously demanding that some don’t deserve the basic human existences we have. I am not sure how when we scapegoat, divide, remove the people establishing we versus they we claim we do this under the guise of God and religion. And somehow invoking God’s name or his Bible, justify our inhuman treatment of all God’ children as reasonable and ration-able. I am not sure how if we have never experienced the pain, suffering,fear, loneliness racism, homophobia, religious bigotry ourselves we can blindly permit laws to be made to isolate and restrict.

There is so much, thank God, I have not directly experienced, felt, been the victim of in my life. But in my life I have made every effort to understand sympathize, empathize, become educated in to see just how someone else lives, thrives and survives.

The scary thing for me is that people like Gingrich, Santorum, Paul, and Romney are still running for office on a platform that reads America for some, not all, America my way or no way at all. And the scarier thing for me is that there are millions of haters who still give their support for this sinister and un God like philosophy.

Has America always been this ugly? Has America kept this hate hidden until now? Have we begun to define America in terms of black and white, we vs. they, love it or leave it? We must find compassion, care and concern or eventually some of us will find ourselves as the next group being denied or basic rights. We don’t unless we experienced it, but we can educate ourselves and make decisions on truth instead of fiction and lies.

$950 a night

When I was the Executive Director of a Northern California JCC I spent a lot of time with benefactors and donors of the agency many of whom were very wealthy individuals. One fund raising event took us to Napa and a day of both wine and food tasting. It was fun and my first time in Napa so it was also a chance for me to experience a part of the world beautiful and bountiful.

We were at our third vineyard and spending time at Julia's Kitchen a space designated as the official kitchen of Julia Child the television cooking queen. The ladies with whom I was sharing a bottle of Chablis, were a bit tipsy and discussing some of the places in which they spent their vacation. The conversation focused on a hotel spa located in Aspen. Three of the four ladies had spent a week at the spa and were effervescent and effusive regarding their week long sojourn at the hotel spa. They were trying to convince the fourth lady to book a reservation and told her that once there she would return often. Well, she said is it pricey? A look of shock fell across the three other ladies faces. A bargain the three shouted, rooms are $950 a night and actually better to book a whole week as they discount the price so all you pay is $6500. ( a savings of $150)

The fourth lady still did not look convinced of the bargain or the price when the other three ladies turned toward me and one of them said as the others starred at me, tell her how great the place is Gerry, we're sure you've been there.

(Now a bit of a note here: One... I have never been there, and I think I had never spent no more then $150 on a hotel room ever but if I had even spent that much money it had to be one of those times of my life where for the night I was delirious. Two... Vacations, were enjoyable but I had to budget for any or all vacations and perhaps the $950 a night for the hotel spa room would have been the total if I was lucky to have spent on the whole week of my vacation. Three...no one I had known until that conversation ever spent $6500 for just a hotel. Four... I was the Executive Director of a communal agency and no way no how would my salary permit me to spend $6500 a week to stay anywhere.)

Another lady interrupted the question with a comment saying Gerry we all respect your opinion so tell her how nice of a hotel it is.

There had been many occasions while as the Executive Director, my opinion came to be called upon, and many an occasion where being the boss was not all that fun because I had to be decisive and make a point. This was an extemporaneous moment and one where spontaneity was of the essence. There was an assumption I was in the same social strata as these wealthy ladies and with that financially I too could afford the same toys as they.

Honesty had to rise to the top and as it did I looked at each woman in the eye and said, I have never been to the spa hotel because I could never afford the fee. Before the three women turned to stone, I added but if cost is not the issue I am sure it would be a great place to vacation.

There was silence, awful silence for about 10 seconds (seemed and eternity), and one of the ladies as she took a swig of her Chablis said with a cheerful smile and chirpy tone oh makes sense, but I am sure when you can afford it, it will be fun.

Mitt Romney is not shy to state that he is proud to be of the 1% and eager to point out that he pays his taxes and there is nothing wrong in being wealthy. He had a Swiss bank account, as many wealthy people do who like secrecy, he has a tax address in the Caymans as do many a million, and billionaire, and since most of his income comes from investments he has no qualms in paying less then 14%. For Mr. Romney and his circle of friends there is nothing odd or obscure about paying less taxes to no taxes, finding locations for your money other than the US and like my wealthy ladies paying $950 a night for a hotel room.

I was not upset with my ladies or their assumption comparing my wealth as the same as theirs. My ladies live a life that can afford $950 a night hotel rooms and Mitt Romney lives a life of making $45 million a year. WHAT did surprise me was the assumption that everyone was just like my ladies, and that the commonalities of their lives were the same priorities of almost anyone else including an Executive Director.

Mr. Romney, immediately after the State of Union address, has lectured to the lemmings in attendance insisting that President Obama has lost touch with the American people and the American way. Mr. Romney who insists Corporations are people insists along with passing a law to lower his taxes he will speak to the needs of everyone else's concerns reasoning that if the rich remain rich the economy will thrive (just like it happened during the hey days of the Bush Tax Cuts). He is after all as he proudly states just like us.

I don't fault Mitt for being rich and living a life I cannot afford, but I am pissed as hell that he thinks that he should continue his lifestyle as I have to prioritize health care, food and rent for my lifestyle. I am angry at his arrogance in not admitting that not all of us have Swiss bank accounts or 5 homes. I am pissed that he assumes being poor or unemployed is a choice. And I am not forgiving that he has very little affinity with the average American who survives barely on an average of $40,000 while he laughs at making $375, 000 calling it chump change.

I want a president who at least if not speaking my language understands the translation of it. $950 for a hotel room... hmmmm hoping that when the next inauguration takes place Obama is placing his hand on the Bible you are spending that money at the spa hotel.

some grandma words

My Grandma Braff always felt that the more quiet you were about your own life the better you were to ward off the evil eye as well go under the radar (not her words but the meaning of her words) and not be noticed. She would pooh/pooh gossip and she would complain it was a 'shunda', (a sin) to announce outside of the confines of your own household any not so nice deed you did or anticipating doing. She was the queen of rolling her eyes whenever she disagreed, and the gold medal winner of pursing her lips as a response to not responding at all.

In the 1950’s I remember knowing two gentlemen, my grandmother’s first cousins, who at the time were in their 40’s, who were known as bachelors. Neither one was married and neither had a significant woman in their life. They were men who traveled quite a bit and wore a lot of jewelry. Some of the family was upset that all that travel and jewelry purchasing was selfish. Some of the family members would snicker as they described the men as bachelors and I remember a kind of an up and down movement of the wrist as the word bachelor was said. And because these men WERE bachelors, most of the family were sure that was the main reason why they were selfish.

The times I was in the presence of my grandmother and her sisters and her family, and the issue of because they WERE bachelors they were selfish came up, my grandmother would clear her throat and looking at each and every member of her family say in a nonemotional monotone we know they are bachelors so what. They are from the same loins as us, we may not like what they do because we don’t know what they do, but they are family. Your harsh words suit no one but the desires of devil. If we don’t love our ‘mishpucha’’ (family), then we provide fodder for those who are jealous and enable them to eat our flesh. When they do that all WE have left of those we love is ash.

It was after my Bar Mitzvah (the Jewish religious traditional ceremony of coming of age of becoming a man), that I heard my grandmother use the word ‘fagelah’ for the first time as she spoke of her two bachelor cousins. My grandmother said to me you should know that cousins Herman and Jessie are ‘fagelahs’ you know men who like ‘schtooping’ (having sex) with other men she added. Now we know that there is nothing wrong with them being ‘fagelah’s, but that is because they are family. For some however who are jealous of our love for family they will try and tell others Herman and Jessie are bad people. All these scoundrels and ‘schmucks’ (dicks) want to do is cause trouble because there is nothing good about their own lives so they pick at our lives for satisfaction. As a man Gerry, you have to be able to defend your family against hate. Then she said almost in a whisper, (always a sign to listen even harder to her), don’t we all have secrets we wish we could share.

At 37 I revealed a secret about my own life as a ‘fagelah’ and for some it came as a shock and for others they said it was about time to stop with the not so secret secret. There were some who couldn’t wait to whisper and say did you hear about Gerry Buncher using that same accusatory voice as my grandmothers family when talking about the bachelors. At first I was ashamed, then angry and finally content that I finally was honest about me.

The biggest deal about being Gay it seems comes from those who would rather spend time reviewing the lives of Gays instead of living their own life. It seems those so negatively verbose about Gays are those who as my grandmother says know nothing about what we do so they assume they don’t like it or we do it so much better!

Gay is an issue in the Republican/Tea Party that will help elect a candidate. The more hate for Gays the more popular the man who if elected will deny ALL Americans free and equal.

It seems that if the issues and problems plaguing America were approached as a family, an American family, ‘mishpucha’ then as my Grandma Braff said we will will make no one an enemy and protect all those we love from scoundrels and ‘schmucks’ who love to eat the flesh of anyone but themselves.

Words of wisdom I still remember from my Grandma Braff.

all true is it

Altruism: The belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.

Behavior of an animal that benefits another at its own expense.

All True Is It: The belief that all the truth needs not be told. Behavior of a human to pretend that saying its the truth, makes it the truth.

In politics especially in the past few years, we have heard politicians preach from a very unstable soap box how what they do is purely done for the love of America, and in turn the respect for the citizens of the United States. We have heard pontification after pontification that hard decisions are being made. And then we hear that all of these choices in policy and law are done for all people of this country whether all people in this country realize the hard choices made for their well being.

In politics we are witnessing the coming to the Lord and purity tests to prove just how much of the coming to the Lord you are doing and how much the Lord wants you to be elected as president. There is no longer the quiet side of religion, the intimacy between you and your God, instead the louder you scream the Lords name the more blessed you must be. We are told that to surely love America we must first surely love the Lord.

In politics it seems that the lowest common denominator is the denominator calling the shots. Politicians cater to the bias, bigotry, anger and hatred of the American who loves to scapegoat, ridicule, divide and refuse to recognize the beauty of difference and lust after the ugly of indifference. Politicians tell us we are just like you and change their colors like a chameleon depending on just like who they are gyrating and gestating to.

In politics we have candidates who tell us that wealth is a good thing, while the majority of us are not wealthy. They tell us that capitalism is a good thing and if you are not as rich as some you are either lazy or jealous. Some tell us that marriage is only for opposite sex couples while they are on their third marriage. They seem to think that dictating to others on the ethics of marriage while splurging on the immoral aspects are reasonable. Some tell us that women are not capable of choices regarding their own bodies, while the women in their own life have decided to override the ignorance and take on their reproductive rights.

We have witnessed a snake oil salesmen version of altruistic behavior. The snake oil salesman comes into town and is savvy enough to observe the peculiar behavior of the citizenry. He notices they love to blame, never own, they love to whine about the outside variables making their life miserable. and always point to someone else as the cause of the problem. The snake oil salesmen calls the disgruntled citizens to the town square and amazes them that he somehow spewing the same hate, anger and annoyance sounds just like them. He must be one of them, they think and all he says he says for no other reason except of pure altruism. He must believe what he says and it must be true.

Instead, as is the case of ALL Snake Oil Salesmen what he is saying is not altruistic comments rather All True Is It. The Snake Oil Salesman is sinister in his intent, smart in his approach, and a shyster in telling the truth. He loves to keep the weak minded feeble, he thrives on keeping the ignorant uneducated on anything called the truth, he feeds on the frenzy of fear. He speaks a version of the truth, but avoiding the real truth, he speaks the truth that temps the haters to keep on hating, and the dumb even dumber. And when the sheriff comes to town or some poor stiff rants that the Snake Oil was no more then poison, the Snake Oil Salesmen only then packs his flimsy bag of tricks and flees to infect another town.

Altruism is wonderful but so hard to call your motive.All True Is It is so much much easier to acquire and it asks no more then lying or denying.

some kind of music

I stand at your gate and the song that I sing is of moonlight
I stand and I wait for the touch of your hand in the June night
The roses are sighing a Moonlight Serenade.

The stars are aglow and tonight how their light sets me dreaming.
My love, do you know that your eyes are like stars brightly beaming?
I bring you and I sing you a Moonlight Serenade

Let us stray till break of day in love's valley of dreams.
Just you and I, a summer sky, a heavenly breeze kissin' the trees.

So don't let me wait, come to me tenderly in the June night.
I stand at your gate and I sing you a song in the moonlight
A love song, my darling, a Moonlight Serenade. (“Moonlight Serenade”, by Mitchell Parish and Glenn Miller)

It is a gray day in LA, not too many of them and sometimes not enough. The chill in the air the dark skies tempted me to maybe watch a bit of television before heading out for chores and activities. I had been inundated with the pundits and provocateurs regaling and recalling the bigoted votes for bogus candidates running in the primaries last night, so no politics today. The game between Baltimore and New England hasn’t started, and as a Steeler fan I am not too sure how guilty I would feel to watch it anyway so there is not much choice.

With well over three hundred channels of TV nothing really felt like the correct choice to cuddle on the sofa and just chill as the outside weather was chilled. Playing the remote control game I happened upon Turner Movie Classic and ‘The Glenn Miller’ story was playing. And as I happened upon this movie, the plot took us to the time when Glenn Miller was finessing the final version of his soon to be classic big band tune, ‘Moonlight Serenade’.

I was not even born when “Moonlight Serenade” became popular in 1937, and I was too young to have ever danced in one of those nightclubs glorified in the black and white movies where a 24 piece band played while the dancers swayed. I do remember my Aunt Meercy playing her 78LP on Saturdays as she cleaned her house and I also remember my aunt teaching me how to ask a lady to dance and then demonstrating to me how a gentleman leads and makes that same lady feel as light as a feather while the two of them fly across the dance floor.

I also remember something that seems unbelievable at least for me to even consider happening. When I hear many of the songs played by the big bands, and “Moonlight Serenade” in particular I stop, close my eyes and in a hazy woozy kind of backlit dreamy scene, I remember vaguely, being alive and listening to the music when it was new and fresh. Weird, but somehow for me any time and every time I hear ‘Moonlight Serenade’, I recall a time of my life mainly with shadow and hues of charcoal and grey but a time in which I lived. I never quite figure out where I am when the music comes alive in my memory, I am not sure who I am when the rhythm and the beat are sounded, and when my brain takes me back in time it is as if I am looking in a mirror while struck with terrible cataracts.

I know my partner Joe and I talk about wouldn’t it be great if, just like the movies, there could be mood music, theme music, background instrumentals playing as we went though our lives. Crescendos, violins, orchestral symphonies, big band soundtracks motivating, stimulating, persuading us as we traversed event to event, situation to situation, moment to moment. Music unique to us but shared for the world to hear. Music explaining to the world how even if we are like one instrument, when we play our music together we become whole and like a symphony or big band the harmonies blend beautifully.

I have been blessed to love creating music, dancing to music, tapping my feet to music and finding great meaning and measure with each note played. I also believe that some of that music is a road map for me to understand my past, enjoy my present and face the future. I still believe that maybe in a past life, if those do exist, listening closely to music I may find answers for questions I have no idea how to ask.

Whether or not as a young person listening to the radio channeling through the static to find a clear station, was in an army uniform waiting to fight WWII, a man about to launch my career, I somehow know when ‘Moonlight Serenade’ plays I stop and try hard to recall something that is just a milliliter away from remembering. It just seems so almost ready to be revealed to me.

I do believe that there is music being played as we struggle, thrive and live our lives. I do believe that all of us add our own notes and chords to the music played. And I do believe that when there is peace, accord, and respect demonstrated and delivered the sounds erupting, emitted are harmonious and heart stopping, that is when we sing together.

The skies outside are now turning from dull to sunny, ‘The Glenn Miller Story’ has finished and it is time to go on with my day. I smile as still playing in my head is “Moonlight Serenade”, and I secretly say goodbye to all those people with whom I am sure I had shared this tune sometime in my past.

in south carolina

Today in the Palmetto State, South Carolina, a primary is taking place. Usually one should applaud the democracy that takes place in this great nation of ours, but today the democracy taking place has pitted people of greed, gluttony, bias, bigotry, adulterers, hypocrites and heretics against one another asking for the opportunity to be the next candidate for president representing the Republican/Tea Party. I am not sure there is much to applaud, but a whole lot more to worry about.

Today the Republican/Tea Party voters of the Palmetto State are casting a vote hoping to find the man who best represents their views on this nation and their prejudices regarding the people living in this United States. From the reactions of the many audience members it seems that family values, race relations, the institution of marriage, women’s reproductive rights, the wealth divide and the divide between church and state and any recognition of the meaning and content of the Constitution of this nation are not important and worse are able to be deleted and redefined based on hate and fear as interpreted from a Bible which seems to be less inclusive but a whole lot exclusive.

Today in South Carolina we will soon witness a selection of a man to run for the office of president whose credentials have been vetted by the likes of FOX news, Rush Limbaugh, Family Research Council, Defense of Marriage, Karl Rove and the slew of racist, homophobic, ministers and preachers who use religion as a weapon instead of peace. We will find someone the winner based not on his skill a a statesman but his will to inject the venom to divide and alienate. We will hail the conquering hero as the man who has said enough derogatory comments about they, them and those to lead the lemming to the cliff of hate watching as the the poor souls who thrive on ignorance get ready to jump.

Today in South Carolina we watch as negative ads, accusatory tone, lies, innuendo, fabrication and avoidance of truth will help rise to the top the person who is not the cream of the crop but the residue of waste left over from bile of the bottom. We will watch as one person brags about the baddest ass around when in reality he has acted the best as an ass.

It is not about Republicans being the bad guy, but about this group of Republicans honing in on the the bad behavior and bogus beliefs of people who love to hate. It is not about the millions of Americans who believe that the Republican philosophy on government is better than the Democratic view, but it is about the those Republicans who prefer separate than equal, my God or no God, and this nation is my America not yours. It IS about the monster and the people who create that monster. It IS about the intent to deny, diminish, and destroy a country of the people for the people and by the people.

Today in South Carolina we will witness a winner based on just how much hate he has mustered, how much fear he has managed and how much division he has mastered. Today in South Carolina we will witness how those who love to hate have honed in on the person who hates as much as they do. Some fine primary indeed!

it ain't me..babe

You say you're lookin' for someone

Who's never weak but always strong

To protect you and defend you

Whether you are right or wrong

Someone to open each and every door

But it ain't me, babe

No, no, no, it ain't me, babe

It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe (“It ain’t me babe”, by Bob Dylan)

With the tenacity of a rat about to chew the peanut butter from the tip of a rat trap, with the sinister eyes of a person about to have an exorcism, with the hubris of a heretic caught in his own highlife of hypocrisy Newtie, (holier than thou and maybe holier than God) Gingrich chastised David Gregory for the outright indignity, audacity, and indignation of asking about the comments from Mrs Gingrich Number 2 regarding their now defunct marriage. Newtie called out Mr. Gregory for asking a question so un-presidential hopeful like, so above any respectable gentleman’s required response, so utterly true that to even acknowledge its circumstances might mean acknowledging a certain deviant behavior. And Newtie stood upon the mount in South Carolina before an audience who left their white robes at home with their ropes tar and feathers and lambasted the main stream press for having the pure unadulterated idea that anything that was the truth could even be presented during a Republican/Tea Party primary debate.

Mr. Gingrich was applauded for giving that Yankee shylock moderator a bit of Southern “hey boy you is dealing with the master” talk. The audience many of whom identify as the morals, the values , Evangelical Christian voters, the true conscience of an America on the fringe of finding FOX a bunch of heretics booed the moderator and shouted from the rafters with great glee and delight as Newtie said he could not would not answer this kind of of got you question. This audience of self proclaimed Christian Conservative voters would hear nothing of demeaning a man who cheated on two wives, not while at the same time he profoundly insisted that he hated Gays, Abortion, the Uppity Blacks, Arabs, Unemployed and the Poor. If you hate the right people, almost anyone not like me, then a few affairs of the heart and and open marriage are easily overlooked. If you heart is full of racism, homophobia, Islam-phobia, what are a few infidelities. Makes it easy for a good Evangelical Christian to overlook adultery.

And has been the case with base of the Republican/Tea Party once you hate enough, disregard most minorities as less then, use Gods good name to promote your hate, your name suddenly once again gets lit in neon. And you are a star. And suddenly as if two affairs, an ethics charge as Speaker of the House, being kicked out of office for doing more for your own career then the good of the nation becomes moot. Your angry words toward the main stream press, your bigoted bouquets toward people of color, your rants about no romance for the Gays your vigilance against equal and fair for all Americans makes you famous, THE MAN the base of the Republican/Tea Party admire.

You say you're lookin' for someone

Who'll promise never to part

Someone to close his eyes for you

Someone to close his heart

Someone to die for you and more

But it ain't me, babe

No, no, no, it ain't me, babe

It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe (“It ain’t me babe”, by Bob Dylan)

I could care less if a person wants an open marriage, I could care less if the lady has an affair with a married marries him only to find that the same shit she committed has come her way with yet another woman. I could care less if a man denies he had any responsibility in his own adulterous affair. Usually that is not my business and the only thing I might feel is sadness for the people involved who seemed to be fooled by the definition of love and the definition of matrimony.

But when Newite constantly tells me as a Gay man that I can’t marry, I don’t know how to love and when I do love it is unnatural...and that MY behavior is what is wrecking the Institution of Marriage I suddenly care very much what HE does in his own marriages.

When this man acts and reacts and thinks that all he does is private, but all I do is HIS business, I sure as hell care. When this man insights religious bigots, phonies, hypocrites to smell his shit and call it flowery and sweet and insists that my shit is simply just shit I care. When this man is running for president and his values and morals are corrupt I care.

Shame on the South Carolinians who have not spoken out against this facade of man and shame on the South Carolinians who put hate and bigotry before truth and equality.

all is not every

I was living in Houston when my daughter was about to enter middle school in Pittsburgh. It has been a time in my life of drama, distraught, and depression. I had come out as a Gay man but was so ashamed of being Gay at the time I felt it better to leave Pittsburgh and try my new life in a different city. But all along, even though I was not living in Pittsburgh, I still was vested in my kids lives, and albeit physically not available I was emotionally and mentally there for my kids.

The old adage of had I known now, blah, blah, blah now and then rings through my mind, but honestly, I didn’t know and I had to make the best I could the best way I thought I could.

I was not able to get to Pittsburgh the week of parent visitation but still wanted to enjoy the opportunity most parents living in Pittsburgh had to partake in orientation of Reizenstein Middle School. I was an involved parent in my kids lives and this newest of adventures for my pre teen daughter was one I felt important for me to experience. I wanted to be a part of the decision of where she would attend three very important years of her young life.

So I called the principal of Reizenstein Middle School explaining my situation that I could not book a flight during the week of parent orientation, but being an involved parent I would like the opportunity to visit at the school’s earliest convenience. The principal listened for about the first three minutes of my phone call and then abruptly said, sorry Mr. Buncher, one week for parents and that is all we can do, maybe next year you can visit. I then interrupted the principal and said, certainly if I lived in Pittsburgh I would find the time to visit during the week, but I am in Houston. Surely, I added you might consider this request as a. I am an involved parent and b. I am two time zones away. Sorry, rules are rules finished the principal.

This did not sit well with me and I immediately called the Pittsburgh School Board and spoke with two Board members told them my story and once again asked for permission to tour the school and meet with the principal. Both School Board members were shocked that the answer from the principal was no and that the principal said that rules are rules.

A week later I had an appointment to visit the school. I am a big believer that mistakes are made and holding a grudge longer than 5 minutes is not worth the time or energy. I was appreciative I could visit the school and did realize that in fact the principal was a busy woman. So I was ready to thank her for her time. Prior to my moving to Houston I had been the Assistant Executive Director at the Pittsburgh Jewish Community Center and because of the great work the JCC had done within the community I did have some name recognition. Upon meeting the principal the first thing out of her mouth was, oh so you are that Gerry Buncher. I was surprised and did not know how to respond. The principal continued, I want to apologize to you about not making an exception in visiting our school, but you and I being Jewish you certainly understand that once one person in the Jewish community finds out I did a favor or made an exception everyone else in the Jewish community will expect the same.

Needless to say I was appalled by the words of this self hating Jew who so easily categorized all Jews as the same person and pigeonholing all Jews as selfish and demanding. She went on to say, please don’t tell anyone you got to see the school a week after we closed visitations.

I won’t go on explaining my follow up to this ridiculous ridicule of ALL JEWS and the summation of character of ALL JEWS, and stereotyping of ALL JEWS, but I might add the principal did not have an easy life afterwards. Instead of rewarding my intent to be an involved parent, my eagerness to be a part of my daughters life, I was asked to not let anyone know a favor was provided me!

As we watch the candidates running for president trying to represent the Republican/Tea Party, we hear these men and women pleading for the hearts and souls of bigoted biased bogus people and in their zeal to be elected these candidates sum up ALL Gays as undermining the democracy of this nation, trying to destroy anything Christian, destroying the institution of marriage and the value of family. We hear the candidates labeling ALL GAYS as the same person with the same motive and ALL GAYS as evil. We hear the hue and cry of stereotyping, the slander of character, the determination that anyone GAY must be bad.

Among the things I happen to be I am a Jew. I am a Jew unlike any other Jew and very much the same as most Jews. I am a parent. I am a parent with my unique capabilities and share some very common factors with millions of other parents. I am a Gay man. I live and love in my own special way and I live my life participating in daily chores weekly activities very similar to any other Gay man living in Los Angeles. I am an American and I have a set of values and standards that fit my personality and I participate as a citizen like my fellow Americans. I am not always like anyone else and I am sometimes so similar it is scary.

My daughter is 31 and the incident at Reizenstein school is decades old, but I still remember how angry I was being told this is how Jews behave. I am 62 years old and I am so tired, angry pissed off, perturbed, how so many Americans are duped into believing how all Gays are the same. I know how I behave as a Jew,I know how I behave as a Gay man and I know how I behave as an American.

Whether the ignorance emanates from fearful religious leaders who secretly fear their God may not be all that powerful, from family members who put hate in front of love, from individuals who never look inward for truth but would rather point outward for blame, no matter from where it stems, it has to stop. The spread of lies is based on a baseless foundation.

If you dislike me, don’t trust me, hate me, do all of that because you know me. I am not like anyone else and I am so much the same at the same time. I am so tired of hearing all Jews...all Gays...all Poor...all Unemployed...all Rich.

It is time for a grip of reality, nope, not the kind we see on reality TV, but the kind we live,we participate we share with everyone else, Jew, Gay, Poor, Unemployed and Rich.

mr. romney

Dear Mr. Romney: Enough is enough and now all you are and try to represent yourself as, has been an insult to me personally and your indulgence into my life has been more than I can take.

You are a phony, a flip flopper of the highest grade and a flimsy man with the truth,

Now I am of the income bracket where our two social strata will never come to gather and I am sure had I not been a professional in the social services you might even had known me as just another pain in the ass worker needed to be fired so you and your wealthy clan of men could make a profit while ending my ability to earn a living.

You once sounded like a man with common sense and had a passion for the poor the average man or woman. But that was all part of the script written for you while you ran for office in a state with more compassion for the average person and had less hate for the poor. Your flowery language and intent to make life better for those without affordable health care was admirable. Your once concern for women to continue to have control of their reproductive rights was a hefty movement of man keen on justice. And more amazing than that you even had less negative to say about homosexuals and almost made the Gay feel like he or she was a normal American.

But now, Mr. Romney without regard toward your own history, less regard for the rights and freedoms of American citizens, and disregard for anyone not a millionaire, you have changed colors and stripes. You have decided that to get the vote, you must be as evil as the most hateful Christian, as non caring for rights or freedoms as the lover of the Confederacy, and act like a charlatan when it comes to social issues or government social nets to protect anyone from homelessness, unemployment, or issues of health.

And as you deride the poor, the unemployed the minority you smile this obnoxious Cheshire Cat grin looking to the camera hoping the dumb who follow you will believe the rhetoric and never once try to question your reasoning. You chuckle that $350,000 in salary is chump change and you coyly say WHEN you release your income tax returns we will find you at the 15% level but then as you whisper that is because like most American’s your income is not based on salary but income from investment. There is nothing wrong in investing but when you also state as president you want to lower the rate of tax paid for investments sounds to me you are chomping at the bit to lower your taxes even more.

Mr. Romney you also get into this hissy fit when anyone questions how abusive Capitalism can be and how selective it has become during these past 10 years. You never want to discuss how Free Markets might need a bit of a makeover and shy away from any dialogue when many ask why with our current definition of Capitalism/Free Markets it seems the 1%, people like you and your contributors to your Super Pacs seem to benefit from. But then again Mr. Romney you never want to wonder to far from your scripted message as most of us might find out what an empty soul you own.

You have insulted me as a Gay man, you have insulted my daughter who is a woman, you have insulted some personal friends who are unemployed and need any morsel of government support, you have insulted anyone who can not afford health care, and you have given God a bad name by cuddling up to the most bigoted and biased of the so called religious who don’t know God but love to worship the Devil.

So far, Mr. Romney you have had the last laugh in regards to trying to win the nomination for president from the Republican/Tea Party. You sit back as the crazies battle it out to be the non-You, and you somehow seem to find your way to the top. I am not laughing at your lack of soul, lack of conscience, lack of backbone, lack of what it takes to be a true American looking out for the benefit and well being of all Americans. I am sad that in 2012 America has lapsed into the Twilight Zone seeking out a candidate like you whose only goal in life is to be king of the United States.

Enough is enough Mr. Romney you are not a serious man but it is time to take you seriously and worry about the future of this great nation as you creep closer to being president.

the blame game

Newtie, Newtie bo bootie banana fanna fo footie Newtie, the blame game.

Seems in one of his insult first, wound deeply second then maybe say he never meant it that way, Newtie (do as I say never as I do) Gingrich, complained that President Obama was the President of food stamps. As always Newtie, (whatever I did was caused by someone else) Gingrich, implied that the black president was in favor of the blacks remaining lazy because the world according to Newt says only blacks use food stamps and they use food stamps because they don’t want to earn a living.

Newtie, (my past digressions all three dozen of them, should remain in the past) Gingrich loves to complain that the poor are poor because they like being poor and like to live off of food stamps, the unemployed like being unemployed because they hate to work and collecting up to $250 a month makes them live like kings, and anyone of color should stop complaining that the white folks who have been in power since the inception of this nation should just acquiesce and love their masters.

Your need for food stamps, your need for unemployment benefits, your need for equality are just demonstration of your lack of initiative and Newtie blames you for your misfortune.

Willard, Willard bo billard, banana fanna fo fillard Willard, the blame game.

Willard Mitt Romney says that maybe he does only pay 15% in taxes, but don’t blame him for not paying more. No he has not worked or earned a salary for over 10 years and if he had and been like the average non millionaire American who works for a living he might pay a higher percentage of his taxes. And seriously he adds he may have made about $350,000 in speaking fees but that is chump change and if your net worth is valued at $250 million who even notices $350,000.

Willard insists Capitalism is good and there is no greed or gluttony in being a Capitalist. Anyone can be a Capitalist and he insists there are no road blocks, unless he buys out your factory or business and lays you off, he ships your job to an overseas headquarter and replaces you with a worker happy to make $50 a month, or denies you the right to universal health insurance so all your earnings go to pay to stay healthy so you can work yourself to death.

You need to understand that there are rich people who need to be leaders and lead the poor people into the mines, factories and sweatshops. Capitalism survives because not everyone is capable of being king, and thank goodness for those who live upstairs cause they create jobs for those who live downstairs. Don’t blame me because I rich and want to keep you poor.

Ricky, Ricky bo bicky banana fanna fo ficky, Ricky, the blame game.

You don’t have to be Gay according to holier than thou Ricky Santorum. Nope nature has nothing to do with your homosexuality. Its like any other addiction if you drink too much stop drinking, if you eat too much diet, if you like the same sex stay home and masturbate the evil away.

And unless you are anyone but his wife having an affair out of wedlock she was innocent and young, you made a pact with the devil. Mrs. Ricky Santorum dated a man thirty years her senior had hanky panky with him but saw the potential of Ricky Santorum in becoming the son of God so dumped that man and became a virgin all over again. (I had no idea Catholics could be born again). In Ricky’s world he can call out Gays or women who act like whores and state that he knows what is best for them. In Ricky’s world it is okay to point the finger at others but the questions of his wife's abortion her affair and their spending Pennsylvania tax payer dollars to send the Santorum kids to school out of state is a low blow.

Ricky loves to blame everyone else for immoral and unethical and unGod like actions. He is like the Wicked Witch of the West however when any water is thrown back at him and asked to account for his own digressions he melts. He is shallow, insecure and inept and never admits to his own failings but loves to blame others for all that is wrong.

These three Bozo’s love to blame and never like taking the blame. Newtie, Newtie, Willard, Willard, Ricky, Ricky the blame game works well when you play it with losers who never like to admit their mistakes, bigotries, biases , and faults. The blame game plays well with an audience who always have their middle finger pointed toward others. The blame game seems to work well in the Republican/Tea Party Primaries where somehow those who vote think that Jesus hates like they do, the Constitution never mentions equal, free or choice and this is a Christian nation. The blame game works well when you Newtie, Newtie, Willard, Willard, Ricky, Ricky are men of no substance but a whole lot of bull shit.

The blame game...wait until one of these guys gets elected and see how much fun it will be to play it!

words with meaning

“Like an unchecked cancer hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly the ugly as beautiful and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true”.(MKL Jr.)

Somehow along the way towards the nomination for the office of president, the candidates representing the Republican/Tea Party decided that the most important criteria to be used to elect them was to demonstrate just how much hate they could demonstrate. Like cowards they used a misinterpreted representation of the Bible and accused all of their actions as being done for God. They admitted to their being so close to God and even in some circumstances God had spoken to them asking them to run, that any words, deeds or actions they commit, are all done with God’s blessings. And in doing so they described the beautiful as ugly, the ugly as beautiful.

This band of hooligans, pretending to be everything red, white and blue has somehow intertwined their Bible as a form of the Constitution. They confuse the true with the false and the false with the true. They like to pigeonhole, scapegoat, and blame. They like to promote purity as a true sense of Americanism, and they like to avoid any of their own weaknesses buy shouting from the highest soapbox the perceived lameness of anyone they fear.

And for me the saddest or is it the scariest of things to appear throughout this Republican/Tea Party primary are the scores of bigots, racists, homophobes who can’t wait to vote for the man or woman who hates loud and proud. And so many of these haters say they do it for Jesus.

“Hate paralyzes; love releases it. Hatred confuses life: love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life: love illuminates it.” (MLK Jr.)

There are differences in this nation of ours. Just the mere fact that our founding fathers understood the division of church and state, the need for no monarchy, the chance for each man and woman to express themselves with no limitation of speech or belief helped maintain the beauty of fair and equal. Now with the arrival of wealthy corporations/individuals buying the candidates, the fact that a base of people with no need for equal of free and a sense of superiority, and a political landscape which would rather divide then find consensus, it seems the beauty of difference which created this nation are sinful and taboo.

It seems that movement forward toward understanding are paralyzed by hate. It seems that confusion left like traps foil those who want to find harmony. It seems hatred is the resounding force and the louder it is shouted the darker this nation becomes in spirit and sense. It seems, during this Republican/Tea Party primary the only sounds that resonate loud are those of denying rights, destroying freedoms and debunking purpose and replacing it with pitiful lies and innuendo.

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends”. (MLK Jr.).

So often I lament about the loudness of those who hate Gays, Blacks, Poor, Unemployed,Muslims, Women and I grow so frustrated that those with the weakest argument seem to make the most noise. I am constantly writing about the power of the dumb, the religious zealot, those who deny any responsibility for their own failures, the lemming and I wonder where everyone else is, those who do not just shout that their morals and values are better but those who demonstrate morals and values.

I look around and the silence I hear is deafening, where are the really righteous people telling the blasphemous to stand down, shut up? Where are those who understand equal does equate to separate but equal? Where are those who see the harassment, the bullying, the demeaning by groups of insecure people led to the edge of normal by demigods whose only business is to pitch fear and loathing? Where is the outcry to stop this divide and instead replace it with compromise and compassion?

This whole primary period all we hear and sadly all remember are how potent the words of hate have been.

Six years ago I took a walk to the Civic Center in San Francisco and happened upon a park where the words of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech ‘I Have a Dream’ were written in marble in about a dozen large plaques. I thought I knew the speech but until I took the time looking at each word, each sentence, each paragraph I had no idea just how eloquent and relevant these words, this speech really were. I felt Reverend King was actually talking to me, that he knew my circumstance, that somehow he was privy to my private life. How utterly selfish was that, his speech created for me!!

I worry that hate, lies, innuendo, bigotry, and bias are taking precedent and that love, truth, understanding and fair are being sent to the hinterlands never again to b found. I worry the noise of the hater is louder then the sounds of those who love. I worry that we will move so far away from one another that finding the path back home will forever be gone and forgotten.

I appreciate the words of Martin Luther King Jr. and see meaning of those words in this very moment in which we live. I hope it is not too late to love.