When James von Brunn was sentenced to jail for the armed kidnap attempt of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors it was only because the Judge was a Jew and the jury was black. No doubt about it. He's been raging about Jews and Black people since most of you were children and he sees something called the Aryan race as victims of such inferior groups.
It's tempting, as a person who despises the growing culture of hate and defamation in the US, to tie this man and his hundreds of thousands of supporters to the hate shouters we're all too familiar with, but in good conscience, I cannot. Even so their endless derision of fabricated scapegoats has inured us to the danger of the terrorists out there among us. Their hate talk legitimizes and breeds more hate talk and we become habituated to it. Those standard scapegoats tend to include Jews, Blacks and the Federal Reserve Bank, all of which are also targets of people like James von Brunn.
Von Brunn has written that the "Holocaust Religion" is destroying Western (by which he means White) culture. It's common amongst people who would like to re-invent themselves as victims of relentless persecution to resent those who have actually been victims and so it's not surprising that the elderly hatemonger chose the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC for what was surely intended to be a suicide attack.
I'm probably less surprised about this than my Christian countrymen, since I've been listening to all the old calumnies and fantasies about baby-eating, blood-drinking, Christ-killing, warmongering, bank-controlling Jews all my life while many of them are just now beginning to accept that the vilification of Jews has been, if not the very backbone, at least a major buttress of Christianity. Certainly not all however and certainly they are not the only ones. Muslim vilification of the Jews in all their fantastic stereotypes is second to none and many of them consider the Jews to be in control of the United States, if not Europe, Canada and Australia as well.
There is a lesson here and it is that we have not only tolerated such people, but made heroes of some of them to a degree: men who will stand up to a government we blame for all our own excesses and deficiencies. They are not and their acts of terrorism are warnings that we should examine our own angers and stop blaming a host of straw men for having messed up our country.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
WHEN “PRO-LIFE” MEANS PRO DEATH
By (O)CT(O)PUS
The title of this post is borrowed from an article originally written in 1998 by Mary Lou Greenberg , who reports on assaults by pro-life extremists. She describes this bomb attack on the All Women Health Care clinic in Birmingham Alabama that killed a security guard and severely injured a nurse:
“As I held in my hand the sharp slivers of glass that were now the only remains of the shattered windows, my eye was drawn to a metal object in the debris. It was a nail, a small, sharp spike two inches long (…) Just as this anti-personnel bomb at the clinic was intended to rip apart bodies, so too was it meant to penetrate people's minds and emotions with a chilling message: If you provide abortions, if you work at clinics or go to them as clients, you will be a target!”This court case, Fargo Women's Health Organization v. Lambs of Christ, tells another aspect of the story. Established in 1981, the clinic offered routine gynecological services including first trimester abortions. For years, anti-abortion protestors held peaceful demonstrations in the vicinity of the clinic but conditions changed in 1991 when protestors stormed the clinic and occupied the building.
In the ensuing months, demonstrators jostled patients at the front door, struck and pushed escorts, confronted patients in the parking lot, vandalized cars, and blocked public roadway access. As a result, the clinic was effectively blockaded, preventing patients and staff from entering or leaving the building. Protestors called these blockades "rescues" and vowed to close the clinic outright.
Away from the clinic, the situation turned nastier when protestors followed staffers to their homes, to stores, even to the airport. For five months, protesters stalked a doctor at her home. Before dawn, “as many as 30 protesters” gathered on the front lawn, shouted, honked car horns, and blocked the driveway to prevent the doctor and her family from leaving. Protestors vandalized the doctor’s property and picketed the school where her daughter attended. Other staffers were similarly harassed; a car full of protestors stalked the daughter of a clinic volunteer.
Similar incidents spawned more litigation. In another noteworthy case, Bray V. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic, several abortion clinics sued in District Court. In hindering women as a class from seeking an abortion, they argued, anti-abortion protesters had violated their equal protection rights. Although a District Court ruled in favor of the clinics, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ruling in a 5 to 4 decision that defied logic:
“Opposition to abortion cannot reasonably be presumed to reflect gender-based intent, Justice Scalia wrote [my bold], because there are common and respectable reasons for opposing abortion other than a derogatory view of women.”In other words, a protestor’s right to free speech trumps a woman’s right to free and unfettered access to reproductive health services. In Planned Parenthood Shasta-Diablo v. Williams, Joshua Wilson describes the "ideological dilemma" when two legal concepts come into conflict forcing both sides of the argument to decide which rights deserve priority over others. For pro-choice liberals, the strategy is to protect abortion rights by limiting disruptive demonstrations near reproductive health facilities. For pro-life conservatives, their strategy is the reverse: To obstruct access to abortions by expanding their traditionally narrow views regarding freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. Depending upon on the issue, it seems, civil liberties are in the eyes of the beholder.
On January 13, 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Bray V. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic. Two months later, on March 10, 1993 to be exact, Dr. David Gunn was murdered by an anti-abortion extremist in Pensacola Florida :
David Gunn, 47, was shot three times in the back after he got out of his car at the Pensacola Women's Medical Services clinic, according to Pensacola police (…)Eight months later, on August 19, 1993, a pro-life extremist shot Dr. George Tiller in both arms. It was the first attempt on his life and the first of many threats throughout his career. Not only did Dr. Tiller survive the attack, he returned to the clinic the next day to administer to his patients.
Last summer in Montgomery, Ala., an old-fashioned "wanted" poster of Gunn was distributed at a rally for Operation Rescue leader Randall Terry, AP said. The poster included a picture of Gunn, his home phone number and other identifying information.
In response to a pattern of arson, bombings, murder, and intimidation at abortion clinics, the U.S. Congress passed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) on May 26, 1994. More than a dozen states followed suit by imposing buffer zones around clinics and homes, prohibiting threats to personnel, banning telephone harassment, and imposing noise regulations. On March 17, 1997, the case of Planned Parenthood Shasta-Diablo v. Williams reached the U.S. Supreme Court. This time, the Justices voted 6-3 to uphold the buffer zones.
Despite legislative initiatives to date to stop the violence, there have been:
These are not the actions of a mere handful of lone extremists within the pro-life movement. These statistics imply the existence of a pervasive and organized network of accomplices working underground and nationwide. Scott Roeder, the man charged with the murder of Dr. George Tiller, agrees. From his jail cell last week, Roeder said: "I know there are many other similar events planned around the country as long as abortion remains legal ..."
Meanwhile, what about our vaunted rights of free speech and free assembly? How can we claim these civil liberties as hallmarks of freedom when thousands of reproductive health professionals and their clients are forced to endure bullying, harassment, intimidation, and threats of personal injury every day? Which is worse: The threat of international terrorism from abroad, or the threat of pro-life terrorism at home that can strike at any moment.
What we have here is a failure
Sarah Palin says Obama is driving the country toward Socialism, although she's not exactly sure what that is or how he's doing it.
But that's OK. Former Speaker of the House and thoroughly dispicable human being Newt Gingrich says that whatever Obama may be driving us toward, President Barack Obama’s plan to fix the economy has “already failed” and “bowing to the Saudi King is not an energy policy.” Of course not, and Obama would agree. Playing basketball after hours isn't either, but neither is it supposed to be, any more than being a serial adulterer like Newt is a guarantee he means what he says. Of course none of us will get the chance to ask him whether Cheney's collusion with oil magnates about raising the price of oil is an energy policy either, but it helps that whatever Obama has been falsely accused of doing, he's failed to do it.
Rush Limbaugh isn't ready to call Sonia Sotomayor a failure yet, but he hopes she will be. Racist and hack yes, he's ready to say that, but as he does with our president and our nation, he hopes for a good, solid failure. And besides, of course, as with Michael J. Fox's Parkenson's disease, Ms. Sotomayor's recent broken ankle is certainly evidence of lack of character.
Drug addicted, draft dodging Limbaugh however, hardly compares with Gordon Liddy, the convicted felon/conservative radio host who thought it important to speculate as to whether the judge's menstrual cycle will interfere with her judgment.
Yes, 4 months is soon enough to talk about failure and face it -- who is more qualified to talk about failure than the Republicans?
"We’re borrowing more to spend more ... it defies any sensible economic policy that any of us ever learned through college."said she to Insanity Hannity although that's been the main thrust of GOP economic policy since Reagan. Never mind that she didn't actually study economics in her long, picaresque romp through a series of fourth rate community colleges and hasn't any real idea of who owns what part of American industry. If she did, perhaps the failed beauty queen, failed VP candidate and desultory student would have to blush about Alaska's state ownership of oil and gas resources and her failure to bring capitalism to her state.
But that's OK. Former Speaker of the House and thoroughly dispicable human being Newt Gingrich says that whatever Obama may be driving us toward, President Barack Obama’s plan to fix the economy has “already failed” and “bowing to the Saudi King is not an energy policy.” Of course not, and Obama would agree. Playing basketball after hours isn't either, but neither is it supposed to be, any more than being a serial adulterer like Newt is a guarantee he means what he says. Of course none of us will get the chance to ask him whether Cheney's collusion with oil magnates about raising the price of oil is an energy policy either, but it helps that whatever Obama has been falsely accused of doing, he's failed to do it.
Rush Limbaugh isn't ready to call Sonia Sotomayor a failure yet, but he hopes she will be. Racist and hack yes, he's ready to say that, but as he does with our president and our nation, he hopes for a good, solid failure. And besides, of course, as with Michael J. Fox's Parkenson's disease, Ms. Sotomayor's recent broken ankle is certainly evidence of lack of character.
“Now, the question is, would a white, male judge have fractured his ankle in the same circumstances?”No, actually the question is whether Rush can say anything at all without his racism and misogyny creeping through, but we won't embarrass him by asking it, not while he's back on the Vikes and babbling.
Drug addicted, draft dodging Limbaugh however, hardly compares with Gordon Liddy, the convicted felon/conservative radio host who thought it important to speculate as to whether the judge's menstrual cycle will interfere with her judgment.
"Let’s hope that the key conferences aren’t when she’s menstruating or something, or just before she’s going to menstruate,"Liddy said in a conservative fashion.
"That would really be bad. Lord knows what we would get then."Yes, Mr. Liddy, and the Lord knows that would be bad regardless of which Lord you mean, just like conspiring to overthrow democracy in the US and bragging about it -- which seems to be your main "conservative" credential.
Yes, 4 months is soon enough to talk about failure and face it -- who is more qualified to talk about failure than the Republicans?
Monday, June 8, 2009
Ecce porta inferni
For many years now, you and I have been shushed like children and told there are no simple answers to the complex problems that are beyond our comprehension. Well, the truth is that there are simple answers. They are just not easy ones.-Ronald Reagan, Far-Left Liberal-
I haven't posted for a while, here or elsewhere. What was my way of dealing with the madness of Bushworld has become a bit of Sisyphean madness of my own, as the comment made to my last post does illustrate. The question of whether the US is too stupid to realize that it's insane or too insane to realize that it's stupid doesn't seem worthy of much attention any more. I just don't care.
Every Sunday, there is at least one letter in the paper about how the Constitution guarantees rights only for Christians, that criticizing a bad president makes one unworthy to defend a better one, that Republicans are a majority and ACORN rigged the election and Nancy is going to take our guns away, that Diebold rigged the election for Al Franken and all the other creative fantasies about Obama you've heard time and time again. Everywhere, the incessant American background noise of liberaliberaliberaliberaliberal, like the sound of some infant sucking on an imaginary pacifier, permeates life and makes it foul and hateful. Far-left Liberal! From George Washington to Ronald Reagan. Don't understand someone? He's a farleftliberal!
The offense of their verbal assault is less than the offense of their idea that they're making a trenchant point that I can't refute, that they're making sense. Insane? Stupid, Stupidly insane? Does it matter? The barbarians have been preaching that this is a mean, nasty and ugly world for so long that they've made it so, and the only freedom they recognize is the freedom to do just that.
I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I've been watching a TV series about how natural processes will erase all signs of humanity from the planet in a rather short time after we are gone and I find myself impatient for it all to happen, if only the insipidities and smug platitudes would be washed away along with all the beauty and majesty of all that we have done in our brief era and despite the dogs of God and the hate filled hordes.
For every complex answer there is a simple answer . . . and it is wrong.-H.L. Menken, Far-left Liberal-
Saturday, June 6, 2009
THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC
For the past four weeks, I've been in Southern California while a member of my family deals with a serious health problem. While this person is receiving treatment, I've been the proverbial chief cook and bottle washer for the family.
I can't say this situation is easy, but I can say that I'm where I need to be. Anyone who has faced an ordeal like this understands the stress that the situation presents: the uncertainty of the outcome; the need to keep the family routine as normal as possible; and most important, the need for the caregiver to be as emotionally strong and grounded as possible, given the difficult circumstances. That's why when the local classical music radio station announced that it would be broadcasting Beethoven's 9th Symphony on Tuesday afternoon, I made sure to set aside the 70 minutes to listen to it in its entirety.
William Congreve once wrote "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast. To soften rocks, or bend the knotted oak." And lately I have definitely been feeling like a knotted, twisted, gnarly, not-so-mighty oak. So I looked forward to hearing what I consider one of the wonders of the musical world, where "uncertain questions about life, the universe, and everything are asked and answered" as Jeffrey Kacmarczyk wrote in November 2008 in his review of a performance of the 9th by the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra. It was the perfect piece of music for me to listen to at this time. I am always thrilled to hear it, and this time the thrill was from its ability to transport me from a place of many uncertain questions to a place where those questions were incidental to what the composer was telling me. He was telling me "Yes." Well not just me, he said it to "Alle Menschen! Alle Menschen! Alle Menschen!"
After the performance, I was calmer, more hopeful, and I began to think about the different genres of music that have this power over me--the ability to change my mood, to help me cope with whatever difficulties I'm facing--to heal me.
I never learned to play a musical instrument and regret that, but I am a devoted listener to all kinds of music--classical is my go-to choice when I need comfort or a deeply felt musical experience. I go with 70s and 80s rock when I'm working out or doing a fast walk, I absolutely adore Mississippi Delta Blues, and am a fan of Hound Dog Taylor--love his "Gimme Back My Wig and Let Your Head Go Bald." I also am a fan of Zydeco, American Folk, Jazz, Country-Western [Patsy Cline era] Broadway Musicals, 60s Rock and Roll, all sorts of ethnic music; and because my parents were from Italy, I even learned to love opera, and have been to The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan. On a trip to Italy years ago, I made a Verdi pilgrimage. I started the day in Roncoli Verdi, outside of Parma, where Verdi was born, went on to Bussetto, where he studied music and met his first wife, Margarita, then on to Sant'Agata, his estate where he lived with his lover, Giuseppina Strepponi, who became his second wife (Verdi's first wife and son and daughter died tragically of illness early on in their marriage), then finished up in Milan with a visit to La Scala and the hotel where he died. I did a Puccini pilgrimage as well, and finished that tour by eating the famous Tuscan dish "pappardelle con lepre" [a sauce of wild hare over wide noodles] in the town, Torre del Lago, where Puccini lived and had his scandalous affair.
Wouldn't it be great if the Clear Channel radio stations that carry the likes of Limbaugh, et.al., and their destructive messages to the American people carried, instead, three hours of gorgeous, uplifting symphonic music. Perhaps this would contribute more to our national decorum and effect a reduction in hate speech and rancor, so prevalent in our daily lives. It could also help the GOP deal with their minority status in a more calm and hopeful way. Could we hope for a "Trade in Your Rush for Rackmaninoff Day?"
Imagine.
While Beethoven's 9th is among my top ten favorite classical compositions, there are many, many more. I'd like to share some of them (only certain movements and parts of the concerti are linked) with you and encourage everyone to enjoy and treasure them as I do and perhaps turn to these sublime masterpieces, as I have, when the world is too much with me.
Beethoven's 9th Symphony
Mahler's Symphony #2, "Resurrection"
Schubert's String Quintet in C Major
Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro
Mozart's concerto for harp and flute
Beethoven's Piano Concerto #5
Beethoven's 7th Symphony
Brahm's Violin Concerto in D Major
Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major
Mozart's Requiem, Lacrimosoa
I can't say this situation is easy, but I can say that I'm where I need to be. Anyone who has faced an ordeal like this understands the stress that the situation presents: the uncertainty of the outcome; the need to keep the family routine as normal as possible; and most important, the need for the caregiver to be as emotionally strong and grounded as possible, given the difficult circumstances. That's why when the local classical music radio station announced that it would be broadcasting Beethoven's 9th Symphony on Tuesday afternoon, I made sure to set aside the 70 minutes to listen to it in its entirety.
William Congreve once wrote "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast. To soften rocks, or bend the knotted oak." And lately I have definitely been feeling like a knotted, twisted, gnarly, not-so-mighty oak. So I looked forward to hearing what I consider one of the wonders of the musical world, where "uncertain questions about life, the universe, and everything are asked and answered" as Jeffrey Kacmarczyk wrote in November 2008 in his review of a performance of the 9th by the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra. It was the perfect piece of music for me to listen to at this time. I am always thrilled to hear it, and this time the thrill was from its ability to transport me from a place of many uncertain questions to a place where those questions were incidental to what the composer was telling me. He was telling me "Yes." Well not just me, he said it to "Alle Menschen! Alle Menschen! Alle Menschen!"
After the performance, I was calmer, more hopeful, and I began to think about the different genres of music that have this power over me--the ability to change my mood, to help me cope with whatever difficulties I'm facing--to heal me.
I never learned to play a musical instrument and regret that, but I am a devoted listener to all kinds of music--classical is my go-to choice when I need comfort or a deeply felt musical experience. I go with 70s and 80s rock when I'm working out or doing a fast walk, I absolutely adore Mississippi Delta Blues, and am a fan of Hound Dog Taylor--love his "Gimme Back My Wig and Let Your Head Go Bald." I also am a fan of Zydeco, American Folk, Jazz, Country-Western [Patsy Cline era] Broadway Musicals, 60s Rock and Roll, all sorts of ethnic music; and because my parents were from Italy, I even learned to love opera, and have been to The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan. On a trip to Italy years ago, I made a Verdi pilgrimage. I started the day in Roncoli Verdi, outside of Parma, where Verdi was born, went on to Bussetto, where he studied music and met his first wife, Margarita, then on to Sant'Agata, his estate where he lived with his lover, Giuseppina Strepponi, who became his second wife (Verdi's first wife and son and daughter died tragically of illness early on in their marriage), then finished up in Milan with a visit to La Scala and the hotel where he died. I did a Puccini pilgrimage as well, and finished that tour by eating the famous Tuscan dish "pappardelle con lepre" [a sauce of wild hare over wide noodles] in the town, Torre del Lago, where Puccini lived and had his scandalous affair.
Wouldn't it be great if the Clear Channel radio stations that carry the likes of Limbaugh, et.al., and their destructive messages to the American people carried, instead, three hours of gorgeous, uplifting symphonic music. Perhaps this would contribute more to our national decorum and effect a reduction in hate speech and rancor, so prevalent in our daily lives. It could also help the GOP deal with their minority status in a more calm and hopeful way. Could we hope for a "Trade in Your Rush for Rackmaninoff Day?"
Imagine.
While Beethoven's 9th is among my top ten favorite classical compositions, there are many, many more. I'd like to share some of them (only certain movements and parts of the concerti are linked) with you and encourage everyone to enjoy and treasure them as I do and perhaps turn to these sublime masterpieces, as I have, when the world is too much with me.
Beethoven's 9th Symphony
Mahler's Symphony #2, "Resurrection"
Schubert's String Quintet in C Major
Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro
Mozart's concerto for harp and flute
Beethoven's Piano Concerto #5
Beethoven's 7th Symphony
Brahm's Violin Concerto in D Major
Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major
Mozart's Requiem, Lacrimosoa
Friday, June 5, 2009
LET’S HAVE A REVOLUTION – HEALTHCARE REDUX!
A while back I posted a series of items being addressed by our new administration and across the blogosphere. While a lot of interesting comments and ideas were put forth, mostly we were all just killing time until the government made its move. And now, it seems we will soon have some answers.
There are many on the right who claim to be scared to death about the government “controlling” healthcare. I think what should be much scarier is the results of this recent study conducted jointly by Harvard and Ohio University.
“Medical bills are behind more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies. More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts.”
And for those who questioned what President Obama had in mind for healthcare reform, some details have been forthcoming. But, to be accurate, it must be pointed out that the president isn’t actually in “control” of healthcare reform; Congress is. There are committees in the Senate and the House trying to hammer out bills and our president has been letting them work.
But he did send a letter to Congress outlining what he would like to see included. Unsurprisingly, most all Republicans dismissed his letter out of hand. And some on the far left aren’t too happy, either. But I think this could be a sensible approach to ensuring affordable insurance for all. The article is HERE, but the thrust is a basic public plan to co-exist with private plans. People would still have a choice but those who cannot currently afford health insurance or are out of work will still have access to health care.
Seems to me a sick population is far more costly than a healthy one.
There are many on the right who claim to be scared to death about the government “controlling” healthcare. I think what should be much scarier is the results of this recent study conducted jointly by Harvard and Ohio University.
“Medical bills are behind more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies. More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts.”
And for those who questioned what President Obama had in mind for healthcare reform, some details have been forthcoming. But, to be accurate, it must be pointed out that the president isn’t actually in “control” of healthcare reform; Congress is. There are committees in the Senate and the House trying to hammer out bills and our president has been letting them work.
But he did send a letter to Congress outlining what he would like to see included. Unsurprisingly, most all Republicans dismissed his letter out of hand. And some on the far left aren’t too happy, either. But I think this could be a sensible approach to ensuring affordable insurance for all. The article is HERE, but the thrust is a basic public plan to co-exist with private plans. People would still have a choice but those who cannot currently afford health insurance or are out of work will still have access to health care.
Seems to me a sick population is far more costly than a healthy one.Thursday, June 4, 2009
TIANANMEN SQUARE – 20 YEARS LATER
Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the Chinese Tiananmen Square protests, when, on June 3-4, 1989, students followed by peasants and factory workers filled the square demanding a more democratic government.
Tanks and soldiers came and the brutal repression of the people was re-established amid gun fire and tear gas.
The world watched and did – nothing.
Not much has changed since then; the Chinese government continues its brutal inhumane acts against its own people and, on this anniversary of what the Chinese government claims was a nonevent, Tiananmen Square was closed to any who wished to mark the date by holding vigil where they lost loved ones.
"We've been under 24-hour surveillance for a week and aren't able to leave home to mourn. It's totally inhuman," said Xu Jue, whose son was 22 when he was shot in the chest by soldiers and bled to death on June 4, 1989.
Tanks and soldiers came and the brutal repression of the people was re-established amid gun fire and tear gas.
The world watched and did – nothing.
Not much has changed since then; the Chinese government continues its brutal inhumane acts against its own people and, on this anniversary of what the Chinese government claims was a nonevent, Tiananmen Square was closed to any who wished to mark the date by holding vigil where they lost loved ones.
"We've been under 24-hour surveillance for a week and aren't able to leave home to mourn. It's totally inhuman," said Xu Jue, whose son was 22 when he was shot in the chest by soldiers and bled to death on June 4, 1989.
While China tries to black out any images that point to dissent amongst the people, tens of thousands of people showed up for a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park.
Other world governments have asked China to acknowledge the events and examine their role in human rights abuses, but an unapologetic Chinese government continues to insist the world should mind its own business.
And so I hope everyone will pause for a moment to consider the plight of the Chinese people as well as other people all over the world suffering and dying for their desire to have peace and dignity and freedom.
Other world governments have asked China to acknowledge the events and examine their role in human rights abuses, but an unapologetic Chinese government continues to insist the world should mind its own business.
And so I hope everyone will pause for a moment to consider the plight of the Chinese people as well as other people all over the world suffering and dying for their desire to have peace and dignity and freedom.
In the words of Jacob Marley's ghost, "Mankind is our business!"
Reading the riot act - again
I remember when "subornation of perjury" entered the common parlance; back when they told us it was a crime for Bill Clinton to say "don't tell my wife" even though he wasn't actually on trial for cheating on Hillary. It's all zipped away in my hypocrisy directory along with Ann Coulter's call for Federal Judges to be poisoned and the amazing comment about me on another blog where I was accused of calling for the bloody decapitation of Rush Limbaugh when I said that heads should roll at Fox News. Fairness, balance and objectivity, if I could find much of it, would occupy a smaller file.
None the less, it may be that incitements to violence have at long last lost some of whatever it was that protected them. Racist Radio bloviator, blogger and frequent guest of Sean Hannity, Hal Turner has been arrested in Connecticut after he advised Connecticut Catholics to get out their guns and go after two legislators and an Ethics Committee official. Is there a difference between that and asking listeners to poison Judges? Perhaps someone in Connecticut thought the threat a little too credible; a little too specific, seeing that Turner promised on his blog to publish the addresses of his targets. Perhaps a little too much not to take seriously following the latest murder of Dr. Tiller.
Does this signal the beginning of an era when people are called to take responsibility for their words? Don't be silly, but if prompts the media to begin to reassess those they dub "conservatives" I think all of us should welcome it no matter what we call ourselves.
None the less, it may be that incitements to violence have at long last lost some of whatever it was that protected them. Racist Radio bloviator, blogger and frequent guest of Sean Hannity, Hal Turner has been arrested in Connecticut after he advised Connecticut Catholics to get out their guns and go after two legislators and an Ethics Committee official. Is there a difference between that and asking listeners to poison Judges? Perhaps someone in Connecticut thought the threat a little too credible; a little too specific, seeing that Turner promised on his blog to publish the addresses of his targets. Perhaps a little too much not to take seriously following the latest murder of Dr. Tiller.
"Mr. Turner's comments are above and beyond the threshold of free speech,"said Police Chief Michael J. Fallon according to Raw Story today.
"He is inciting others through his website to commit acts of violence and has created fear and alarm. He should be held accountable for his conduct."Yes he should.
Does this signal the beginning of an era when people are called to take responsibility for their words? Don't be silly, but if prompts the media to begin to reassess those they dub "conservatives" I think all of us should welcome it no matter what we call ourselves.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
¿qué has dicho?
My first reaction as a detail oriented person, was that Bustelo was an Italian brand of coffee and Pilon would have been a better choice if your trying to stereotype someone. My second reaction was "what the hell is he thinking?" Is he trying to tell us that Sonia Sotomayor is no more than some ethnic fortune teller whose advice is sold along with plantains and lotto tickets in some Puerto Rican grocery store? (and by the way, aren't those Puerto Ricans backward and picturesque?)
So what are you saying here, Mr. Danziger? Beats me - what about you?
Monday, June 1, 2009
Sticks and stones
We have come a short way toward a human society that recognizes our simian heritage of ganging up on, stereotyping, dominating and persecuting one group or another, real or created for the purpose, but it's a long road and I don't expect ever to see the end of it. Does our language reflect our resistance to women who step outside the roles, the personalities, occupations, attitudes and feelings our religion and popular culture allow? It does and a culture that exploits the most vulgar and ignorant and hostile people by making them role models and their ugly ways a thing to be aspired to, can't be expected to change without a fight. It's a fight not only against meanness and small mindedness itself, but against big corporations that make a lot of money marketing the paraphernalia and associating their soft drinks, vehicles, clothes and music with the self righteous vulgarians. And of course we can't count out Big Religion and the martial spirit of war loving America either.
Of course we all have our noses rightly rubbed in some things but there's a tendency to cash in on the enlightened counterculture as well and sometimes to absurd extremes. I was, for instance, reprimanded some time ago by some 30-somethings when talking about Rwanda. I had used the word Batutsi and was immediately identified as a racist because I didn't use the "preferred" term: the Tutsi People. That would of course be cause for someone of that tribe to smile - or perhaps anyone speaking a language of the Bantu family, since that's the proper way to refer to someone of that ethnicity -- just as the Ganda people are Baganda and speak Luganda in the country of Uganda. Sometimes we're just parroting ignorant opinion when looking for ignorant opinion to feel superior to. Sometimes we're using our enlightened purity of thought to be bigots toward others.
In a culture that defines any word by the way the 12 year olds are using it, it's not surprising that we can't even get schools to include American classics that use the "N" word if they were written by a white man like Samuel Clemens. It's easier to call a man who was always on the side of minorities and against slavery a racist, than to recognize the flexibility of the language we invoke every time we use it wrongly. Have we lost the idea that racism, bigotry, prejudice are intentions and not a list of words? Can't we laugh at the righteous feelings we give ourselves for calling a tiger Asian instead of the Asiatic that was preferred before the non-asian word police told us, without adequate explanation, that it was wrong? Has anyone mentioned receantly that "Caucasian" is a racist word? Not likely.
There's something terrible about "Asiatic" that we don't risk enquiring too deeply into but we don't mind giggling and japing at anything about a woman of a certain age by calling her "granny" every time she steps out of the rocking chair and puts down the knitting. I write hundreds of letters, that do no more than get me labeled as "Gramps" because I object to the wisdom and right thinking of the giggling class.
So maybe I can be forgiven for not being as carefully and visibly sensitive to the programs of movements and associations intended to improve the human condition and because it's as often as not misguided toward me and my intentions and my vocabulary. For one thing, the predominant religion of this country, the one people like to say should be substituted for the constitution, is based on stereotyping Jews and in a negative fashion and it's so ingrained in the culture that people who have made a career out being called tolerant and indeed Liberal don't bother to notice it.
I'm not talking about the "Conservative" troll who went after me at The Reaction a while back, calling me a "kike." I'm talking about people like Gary Trudeau, whose "Bloomsbury" strip has advocated for equality, fraternity and all the other good stuff, but last Sunday told us that the "Old Testament" God was crabby and snarky while the "New Testament" was all about Love. Of course that's not born out by the texts, unless it's the Sunday School excerpts selected to deceive small children, but neither is the assertion that Jesus the Pacifist "Snapped" at the "Money Lenders" in the Temple, because of course despite 1800 years or so of pernicious propaganda, it was money changers, not lenders who were there to prevent people from breaking the first and second commandments by bringing Greek or Roman coins into the building. Jesus like his countrymen from Israel, didn't like the sale of sacrificial animals or the Temple itself - otherwise he didn't give a damn about the exchange rate.
So ingrained is the stereotype of the perfidious money grubbing Jew that all our careful and choreographed speech can't prevent us from illustrating our ignorance, bigotry and condescention, particularly while our "beliefs" demand that we preserve it -- and if we were to accept that the Roman Empire killed Jesus, we would have to start all over and clergymen would have to get jobs.
As humans, we all have a strong need to set ourselves off against and superior to the Other and much that we do in the name of ridding ourselves of prejudice, ignorance and arrogance are just another form of it.
Of course we all have our noses rightly rubbed in some things but there's a tendency to cash in on the enlightened counterculture as well and sometimes to absurd extremes. I was, for instance, reprimanded some time ago by some 30-somethings when talking about Rwanda. I had used the word Batutsi and was immediately identified as a racist because I didn't use the "preferred" term: the Tutsi People. That would of course be cause for someone of that tribe to smile - or perhaps anyone speaking a language of the Bantu family, since that's the proper way to refer to someone of that ethnicity -- just as the Ganda people are Baganda and speak Luganda in the country of Uganda. Sometimes we're just parroting ignorant opinion when looking for ignorant opinion to feel superior to. Sometimes we're using our enlightened purity of thought to be bigots toward others.
In a culture that defines any word by the way the 12 year olds are using it, it's not surprising that we can't even get schools to include American classics that use the "N" word if they were written by a white man like Samuel Clemens. It's easier to call a man who was always on the side of minorities and against slavery a racist, than to recognize the flexibility of the language we invoke every time we use it wrongly. Have we lost the idea that racism, bigotry, prejudice are intentions and not a list of words? Can't we laugh at the righteous feelings we give ourselves for calling a tiger Asian instead of the Asiatic that was preferred before the non-asian word police told us, without adequate explanation, that it was wrong? Has anyone mentioned receantly that "Caucasian" is a racist word? Not likely.
There's something terrible about "Asiatic" that we don't risk enquiring too deeply into but we don't mind giggling and japing at anything about a woman of a certain age by calling her "granny" every time she steps out of the rocking chair and puts down the knitting. I write hundreds of letters, that do no more than get me labeled as "Gramps" because I object to the wisdom and right thinking of the giggling class.
So maybe I can be forgiven for not being as carefully and visibly sensitive to the programs of movements and associations intended to improve the human condition and because it's as often as not misguided toward me and my intentions and my vocabulary. For one thing, the predominant religion of this country, the one people like to say should be substituted for the constitution, is based on stereotyping Jews and in a negative fashion and it's so ingrained in the culture that people who have made a career out being called tolerant and indeed Liberal don't bother to notice it.
I'm not talking about the "Conservative" troll who went after me at The Reaction a while back, calling me a "kike." I'm talking about people like Gary Trudeau, whose "Bloomsbury" strip has advocated for equality, fraternity and all the other good stuff, but last Sunday told us that the "Old Testament" God was crabby and snarky while the "New Testament" was all about Love. Of course that's not born out by the texts, unless it's the Sunday School excerpts selected to deceive small children, but neither is the assertion that Jesus the Pacifist "Snapped" at the "Money Lenders" in the Temple, because of course despite 1800 years or so of pernicious propaganda, it was money changers, not lenders who were there to prevent people from breaking the first and second commandments by bringing Greek or Roman coins into the building. Jesus like his countrymen from Israel, didn't like the sale of sacrificial animals or the Temple itself - otherwise he didn't give a damn about the exchange rate.
So ingrained is the stereotype of the perfidious money grubbing Jew that all our careful and choreographed speech can't prevent us from illustrating our ignorance, bigotry and condescention, particularly while our "beliefs" demand that we preserve it -- and if we were to accept that the Roman Empire killed Jesus, we would have to start all over and clergymen would have to get jobs.
As humans, we all have a strong need to set ourselves off against and superior to the Other and much that we do in the name of ridding ourselves of prejudice, ignorance and arrogance are just another form of it.
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