Travel back to those grand old days of yesteryear and nowtomorrow to learn the secrets of the universe and political musings as only a Scottish African American urban legend and nonprofit Executive Director could tell them. All thoughts, beliefs, positions, etc. expressed in this blog are my own personal ones and not those of my employer.
Truer Words...
Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they are yours. -The Messiah's Handbook from Illusions by Richard Bach
Today, I'm going to mix things up a bit and review movies instead. We're 30 days out so this seems apropos.
30 Days of Night is a film adaptation of a graphic novel set in Alaska. The plot surrounds a group of vampires who descend on Alaskan towns during the period of Winter when the sun is absent for 30 days and feast on the people living there...
I didn't say there was any similarities....
All I'm saying is that the story has an Alaskan connection and talks about blood thirsty undead who systematically descend upon and destroy innocent, hardworking people by sucking their blood and rending them limb from limb...or garnering a $700B bailout strategy...
Now let's break this movie down a bit and tell me if any of this sounds familiar. So you have this sleepy little town of Barrow (America) that annually goes through a period where the sun doesn't shine (elections). People who don't want to put up with it leave for other parts (Canada). A stranger, essentially the Vampire Cabal (RNC) front man (W) lays the groundwork by sabotaging the town (destroys all cell phones, breaks the helicopters, kills all the dogs, gets us into a war on false pretenses).
Now the local Sheriff (John McCain) .starts off investigating all these things when the campai- I mean killing starts And a small group of survivors (Romney, Huckabee, Guiliani and the other candidates end up holed up in an abandoned houses and buildings (Ohio and other primary states) trying to survive and figure out their next move. A few things happened, one of the survivors is a senile old man who runs off into the night followed by his son and gets killed (this is either Ron Paul or Fred Thompson, it's hard to be sure...). They stay holed up, even when the vampires enlist a young woman to use as bait. (Sarah Palin) Of course, she's stupid enough to think that the vampires will let her go if she goes along with this, and of course tries to coax other people out to be killed...
Realizing that the only way he can beat them is to join them, the Sheriff (McCain) injects himself with vampire blood (accepts the nomination) and faces off against the vampire leader (Karl Rove). He turns into a vampire (have you seen some of his speeches and ads lately????) but does it to save the town (thus confirming my theory that John McCain is secretly supporting Barack Obama). In the end he watches the Sun rise (Barack) and slowly disintegrates into dust (see November 5, 2008).
I think it's beautiful when art imitates life, and fascinating when life imitates politics.
Strangely enough, Wesley Snipes has played Blade, a half human, half vampire superhero who has all of the strengths and none of their weaknesses and has dedicated his life to destroying vampires...he even has older partner named Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) who's been fighting vampires longer than him and mentors and aids Blade in a supporting role...
Gone were the carefree days of my youth, afternoons spent dreaming of young girls in sundresses, plans for the future as a rock star or president of the u.s.
The mindset had changed; the people didn’t feel the same; the magic was gone.........
Never again would we bask in the sun, unafraid of what the day would bring, believing that in America, anything was possible.
Who was I to remind them of their forgotten ideals, of the truth and principles that we supposedly fought so had for, of the evils perpetuated in the name of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Who would listen to a small voice which cried out from the pit of darkness, ever encroaching in from the sides, consuming the life from a once vibrant populace?
America, America, God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy Good, with Brotherhood...... But what happens when there is none to wear the crown?
Is it a Black thing? Is it a Hispanic thing? Is it a White thing? Perhaps it is a Justice thing, a Righteous thing, a Good thing! Supposedly, it was an American thing!
Rodney King, Auschwitz, Columbus, Egypt, Hong Kong. How long do the lies and extermination have to last, ingrained in the minds of our children before we wake up? "We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal....." Does someone not understand the definition of self? Of evident? Or is it equal? Perhaps the confusion centers around the phrase “all men” and who defined it.
It is well and good to support our country, to have pride in our troops, to celebrate the 4th of July, and Washington’s birthday; but what happens when you find out you’ve been celebrating a lie?
I do not hate America.
I believe in American ideals.
I believe in the American people!
I believe that when in the course of human events it becomes necessary, a nation must rise up and defend itself from tyranny, injustice, and oppression
but we can’t feed and clothe and heal and protect the very people who comprise this greatest of nations.
Where are the priorities, where is the truth, the righteousness?
Where is the country that "four-score and seven years ago our forefathers brought"?
Where is America, land of the free, home of the brave, nation among nations?
Hopefully preparing for a rebirth that will insure that all PEOPLE are created equal
and are endowed with the Rights to Life, to Liberty, and to the Pursuit of Happiness....
Just when you thought it was safe to wade back into the water, along comes Obama Waffles, brainfart of Matt Whitlock and Bob DeMoss, two Right Wing Christian Romance book writers who have worked for Focus on the Family(FOF).
Ahhh, Southern Right Wing Born Agains...imagine my surprise.
You know, in the good old days, bigots would wear white sheets or brown shirts, burn crosses in your yard or paint swastikas on your fence and shout racial epithets. There was no gray area. They made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that they hated you, you weren't welcome, and they would simply gerrymander your district and sick police dogs on you rather than hide behind the guise of "political satire" like some Larry Craigesque denial that everyone sees through except them.
Punks.
See, if you're really going to be "brave" enough to put yourself out there, don't try and hide it. "Say it loud: I'm bigoted and I'm proud!" Let the world know that you still live in an outmoded idea that White people are better than everyone else and it's okay to demean and belittle race and culture as long as you put quotes around it. You're funny and hip. We have Eminem now so it's alright to use the N-word. Of course when it turns out that you actually work for Fox, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
I'll say it again. Punks.
Not because they have a bigoted perspective, that's okay. Racist, sexist, xenophobic people have everyright to exist in the Republican Party and anywhere else. It's the hypocrisy that kills me. The idea that you can talk about terrorists as the enemy when you have actual religious extremists like Whitlock and DeMoss (with Rupert Murdoch) funneling their particular brand of "antebellum wisdom" couched as frat boy "humor" when in actuality it is the unique brand of fundamentalist ideaology that allows its members to participate in bigotry and prejudice while still claiming its Jesus' way...maybe this is why I'm a retired Catholic.
Where's George Carlin when you really need him?????
You know, it's been said ad nauseum: Hate is not a family value. But clearly for right wing idealogues, it is, because this kind of thing keeps rising up. My question is why?
Here at the Values Voter's Summit which was sponsored by FRCAction, the lobbying arm of the Family Research Council and featured such confirmed speakers as Phyllis Schlafly, Lou Dobbs and of course, hometown favorite, Michelle Bachman (who the hell was scraping the barrel to put Stephen Baldwin on the agenda), it only took THREE days to realize that selling the breakfast of racist champions might not be a very "value driven" prospect...talk about things that make you go hmmm....
Going back the entrepreneur's "Roots" (pun intended), you look at FOF's mission statement:
To cooperate with the Holy Spirit in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible by nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide.
Leaving aside for a minute the typical argument of FOF regarding what constitutes a family, help me understand where debasing people, hate speech and breeding intolerance is in that mission? Is it just a different definition of "Holy Spirit" or is there a Gospel that I'm not familiar with (After John and Paul did someone run across Letters from Ringo to the Ephesians and forget to mention it to the rest of us?).
James D., help a brother out here. You consider yourself a religious man, you promote your organization as one who's primary function is to spread the Gospel of Jesus, where does bigotry come in? Which passage in the Bible, which lesson in Proverbs or Psalms speaks to hate speech? How is it spreading the Gospel to be derisive? I'm pretty sure this would fall under the guise of "bearing false witness" in some respect, or given the way that Whitlock and DeMoss are posturing, I'm sure that Pride, deadliest of the Seven Deadly Sins is in there somewhere...
Even better though is the FRC which was founded in 1983 as an organization dedicated to the promotion of marriage and family and the sanctity of human life in national policy...When did marriage end up on the clearance rack? You have an organization dedicated to the promotion of marriage and family like it's on the back shelf and you need to make sure that they're "priced to move" before they go bad...I'm pretty sure they don't need the extra PR. Of course that whole "sanctity of human life" thing takes a dive when it comes to the death penalty. Sure, in their position statement regarding life, it says that the FRC "recognizes and respects the inherent dignity of every human life from conception (whether by natural or artificial means) until death. FRC desires to help build a culture of life, holding that all human life is a gift to be treasured. The life of every human being is an intrinsic good, not something whose value is conditional upon its usefulness to others or to the state....
...which would kind of seem to conflict with the position statement of theirs on capital punishment which says:
The [FRC], mindful of the strongly held and often conflicting views of many of our constituents on this important question, has never taken a definitive position for or against capital punishment.
FRC's Board of Directors and staff wholly recognize and independently grapple with the central question pertaining to the death penalty: Can capital punishment be morally justified? Needless to say, a consensus within FRC has never been reached regarding the moral permissibility of capital punishment.
Hypocrisy, thy name is FRC.
But back to the main points: Bigotry and Hypocrisy. Now I know I'm usually a little more upbeat and mirthful, but we've come to a point where we as nation must learn how to say enough is enough. We have gorged ourselves on reality tv and sanctimonious drivel with pundits who tell us it's okay to be bigoted, that it's just being an American...the original Maverick (well if you look at it, a gambling, fast talking cowboy who was always reluctant to put himself into harms way) and not that we have to better than that.
We have to be better than that.
We have to stand for something more than winning at all costs and the Cheney-style ends justify the means.
We have to be above petty derision and stand for things like honor, integrity and honesty.
Regardless of who you support or where you fall in the political spectrum, if your platform is strong, if your ideas are right and have merit, then you shouldn't need to sink to cheap parlor tricks and bigoted humor and scare tactics in order to win an election. But most of all, we cannot stand idly by while others do this. We cannot allow the hypocritical and disingenous idealogues to march across our airwaves and hearts unchallenged (yeah I'm talking about you Scarborough, Limbaugh and Hannity...oh and Colmes, grow a pair!). We are in a battle for the soul of not just our country, but for our very principles, spirit and standing in the world. For if we lay down and die, if we go gentle into that good night, all of what we are and what we've fought for will have been for naught.
We're Americans and it's time we started acting like it.
I have always liked Saturday Night Live from the early days in the 70s. Sure it's had some ups and downs (Joe Piscopo as the talent????), but it's lasted through out the years. One of the funniest segments has always been the News and not since Chevy Chase have we had someone as witty and creative as Tina Fey. I've really enjoyed her project, 30 Rock, and now she's catapulted back on to the National stage with a character that's a bit of stretch for her because of how bitchy and snarky she is while smiling smugly. Tina takes on her new role as Sarah Palin, an upstart political ploy and placation to women across the country, with sass and spunk to compensate for the hypocrisy of inexperience and absence of positions. She starts--
What?
What do you mean that's not Tina Fey? Is it Julia Louis-Dreyfus?
What?!?!?!?
THIS IS REAL????
Okay, someone explain who's smoking crack over at the RNC. Is Karl Rove pinching Rush Limbaugh's oxycontin??? In what can only be described as a sadomasochistic fever dream, the Republicans have selected Palin as their VP and on Wednesday night she, and a host of others, gave their junior high "in crowd" speeches. Normally, I'm very supportive of different political idealogies but after listening to the Molly Ringwald wannabes on Wednesday, the kid gloves are off.
Now the warm up act was Rudy "How Many Times Can I Invoke 9-11 in a sentence" Guiliani. With all the vim and vigor of the drunk uncle at the family reunion, Rudy gave his biting jabs with such stellar points as Barack has never run a city, never run a state, never run a business...apparently someone forgot to tell him that neither had McCain, his own nominee...
"Hello Pot? Yeah, this is the Kettle. You're black."
Oh and speaking of Black, you know that the world has spun off its axis when the RNC plays the Race card: "We began as a party dedicated to freeing people from slavery ... And we are still the party that is willing to fight for freedom at home and around the world. We are the party that wants to expand individual freedom and economic freedom ..."
Ah yes, the Party of Lincoln...unnnntil they dropkicked him to the curb in the middle of the Civil War and he formed his own party to get (successfully) re-elected in 1864 (National Union Party). A lot can change in 154 years... we no longer have Slavery, women have the right to vote, television and the Republican party has "flip flopped" so hard on its founding principles and where it came from you'd think Michael Jackson was the head of the RNC...but I digress.
Leaving aside that they must be working under a different definition of "freedom", "at home" and "around the world", they decided to pull Tina Fe- I'm sorry, Sarah Palin, out of a magic hat as a means of showing they're liberated and open...apparently no one was looking at the demographics and membership at the convention this week. I have seen a lack of diversity that great since the Idaho Grand Wizard Mayonnaise Festival and Grammar Jamboree, featuring Michael Bolton and Kenny G...but again, I digress.
People wonder what the draw and appeal is about Palin, and I think it's revealed in her speech...she is, in fact, a human talking point. She can invoke 9-11 and speak to the party's commitment to the war because her son and nephew are shipping out for Iraq (someone remind me when the tour of service was up for the Bush Twins...). She can laud her executive experience as mayor of a town that's just double the population of my alma mater, Morehouse College...in fact, the University of MN has about 7 times as many students as the population of Wasilla...does that mean Bob Bruinicks is more qualified to be the VP?
And keeping the executive experience, for the past 20 months she's been governor of the 47th most populated state...that's out of 50. For those of you keeping score on the home game, that's about 7% of the state of New Jersey or half the Bronx--just to put it in perspective. Of course, if she could actually handle the Bronx, I might have a little more respect for her...of course that would require her to actually have seen a brown person, and since Minnesota at ten times the population has more brown people, I'm thinking you can cross that off the list.
But the greatest pandering comes to special needs and family values crowds. Given that she and her sister both have special needs children, I have no doubt that she cares about the issues of special needs children...as long as you're just talking about her family. After watching the hypocrisy of the RNC being anti GLBT rights...except when it comes to Cheney's daughter, pro-abstinence, except when it comes to Palin's daughter, anti-drug, except when it comes to Rush Limbaugh, and pro-military...until it comes to the Bush Family and others, I'm pretty sure that while she did pledge that if they were elected, people would have a friend and advocate in the White House...she just didn't say it would be her.
But, I think the nicest part was the televised dump on the backbone of nonprofit and community organizations...the organizer. Perhaps it's because she hasn't had to work her way up or been in a true urban setting, she doesn't understand how challenging being a community organizer is and what one has to do. Hell, just being Black in America is a challenge, job, struggle and joy all in one feel swoop, add in real urban experience and there isn't any comparison...it's like the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing it.
Of course I did get a chuckle out of her criticizing Barack for scenery while she stood in front of a 30ft video screen showing scenery from around the country...I guess they don't get green screen in Alaska.
Now, it's nice that McCain got himself a cheerleader/librarian from Showtime After Hours, but this is a serious time and we need real commitment and real leadershp. and Barack fits the bill.
.... I've have been baffled by the McCain campaign, especially over the last 6 months. This is the man who served and suffered for our country as a naval aviator and POW, reached across the aisle to co-sponsor and champion campaign finance reform with the McCain-Feingold Act, launched the Straight Talk Express and had many successful (and funny, I mean, REALLY funny) appearances on my favorite, The Daily Show...if I didn't know better I'd swear he was either Captain America or Rambo or both.
But over the course of this campaign season, things have mystified me and I've tried to figure out WTF????
Singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb ... Bomb, bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys "Barbara Ann"; mixing up Somalia and Sudan or the Packers and the Steelers; and you'd be hard pressed to find a clearer way to say "all those people look alike" than the whole Sunni/Shia constant confusion...
But I finally figured it out...with apologies to Kanye West,
He really does. And he cares about one special one in particular...Barack Obama, whom he's secretly supporting for President...
Yes I said it.
It's the only explanation. Think about it. In 1983 he begins laying the groundwork by opposing the Martin Luther King Holiday and then continues to distance himself or ignore the Black Community in his state; in 2000 he lost to the Bush campaign, placing arguably the worst president in history in office, whom he subsequently endorsed in 2004, thereby continuing to galvanize Americans to action; and now in a continuation of this plan, he picks a relatively unknown governor to be VP, with none of the experience that he claims Barack doesn't have, all because she's a woman--thinking this will somehow mobilize the Hillary camp and women across the country to support him...you know, you couldn't ask for a more perfect straight line if you had Lou Abbott explaining Who's On First.
Follow me on this. We live in a country that has struggled with its issues of race, culture and class in regards to basic human rights since its inception: slavery and segregation, equal rights for women, immigration, homelessness, gay marriage, the list goes on and on. And throughout any conflict, there is always a good guy and a bad guy...and it can't just be, "Oh, yes, I'm the best, but the other guy's okay too...no Kennedy needs his Nixon, Holmes needs his Moriarty, the American people need their Dick Cheney and Superman needs his Lex Luthor...hmmm, John McCain is balding...
And how better to be that guy than to constantly place yourself opposite the hero and to do such idyllic things as to consistently exemplify hypocrisy? I mean really. McCain is tuned into the homelessness and the foreclosure crisis so much that he doesn't remember how many homes he has...he's lost his homes too. He is so ahead of the game against segregation and racism that he can't tell brown people apart...that's being colorblind my friend. And now he's so supportive of women that he picks the antithesis of Hillary for his ticket to draw in her supporters based on gender...hmmm, I can't imagine thinking that little of women's intelligence...
And don't even get me started on the family dynamics. Personally, I believe that people's personal lives should be left alone and out of it, but you have to subscribe to that belief too to get that consideration, and so conversely it's hard to preach abstinence and "family values" as a party platform when your candidate has had extramarital affairs and your prospective VP's underaged, unwed daughter is pregnant...(of course there is hope, her boyfriend's coming to the convention...why???) And, I'm definitely one for unique names, but will foreign heads of state really take us more serious if they think the Palin named her kids after characters from Buffy and Charmed???
Maybe a press release about Piper Cubs and Willow, Alaska...although I don't know how to explain a kid named Trig...
Or maybe, this can be start of a trend with the party that they begin respecting the rights of all people to have their lives the way they want them...
The stage has been set. Bush has run the country so far into the ground that people are ready for radical change. And McCain has set himself up as the perfect contrast to Barack. And that's why it's clear...John McCain DOES care about Black people, and he wants one of them to be our next president......Barack Obama.
Part of what I'm doing on this journey is a program that teaches participants about renewal. Finding that center that keeps you focused.
One of the early parts of this was defining our core values and I've been musing about them.
My three core values that I've decided to focus on are:
Honor/Integrity-I have grouped these two together because I believe that there are intertwined to the point of looking similar but still have distinct differences. Both deal with the basic principle of "saying what you mean and meaning what you say", but I think Integrity deals with how you do things and Honor deals with why. In both I am striving to live a purposeful life that focuses on "doing the right thing", which is often a moving target between people, but within on deals with a specific code of ethics and morals. I follow my code to do what I think is right, strive to do no harm and be willing to accept the consequences, regardless of what they may be, for this path.
Discipline-"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they are yours."~Illusions by Richard Bach. I have a rather dichitomous approach to this that I am working to simplify in that when it comes to doing the things that affect others, I'm very good. When it comes to things affecting only me...well I need a little work. Discipline is adhering to the course I set out for myself and it is much easier to do when someone else is dependent upon me than when it is only for myself and I'm working to make this consistent.
Compassion-Justice, standards and rules must be tempered by compassion, consideration for the circumstances and perspective of others. I have my own perspective and code, and I live it purposely to the point of seeming obstinate sometimes, but I am ALWAYS willing to hear another perspective, viewpoint or opinion. I am less receptive if a person is cruel, dishonest or domineering--if you aren't willing to work with me and talk as adults open to discussion, I have less sympathy, but compassion allows for circumstances and perhaps provides some extra room for negotiation.
Lastly, I submit for those who don't know it one of my favorite pieces, Desiderata. It reminds me, when I feel lost, where the path is and how to get back on.
Jonathan Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.~
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.~
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. ~
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. ~
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world.
So, this was in the Sunday comics...how perfect is that?
Of course it makes you think, sometimes things come in ways and shapes that you don't expect and you have to "cooperate with the inevitable" as Jubal Harshaw would say...
Points if you got the reference.
Bonus points if you understood the meaning.
Sometimes when you're not looking for something it comes raining down on you like sulfur in a biblical story, other times when the thing you've envisioned shows, you can't be surprised at the form it takes.
A little over two years to be exact, and I'm not certain what has lead me to come back here, but I have a pretty good idea.
But to bring up to speed, here's the dream sequence recap to bring anyone who needs it up to speed.
12 Months ago
I launched a campaign to run for office, shortly after running my first physical race in my life.
9 Months ago
With my program phasing down, I leave the EZ to focus on my campaign. I also begin the Shannon Institute Leadership Program.
5 Months ago
There is no endorsement in my race and decide to end my campaign while I begin a new position as Executive Director of Hallie Q. Brown Community Center.
1 Month ago
I go to see "The Dark Knight" and prophetically enough, my life changes forever and for good...really good.
Which brings us to where we are today...living the dream. I've often said that age does not necessitate wisdom, but in addition to that it does grant perspective...I look at where my life is today and where it was 2 and 10 years ago and some things never change...and yet some things do...
Posts
(W) lays the groundwork by sabotaging the town (destroys all cell phones, breaks the helicopters, kills all the dogs, gets us into a war on false pretenses).
starts off investigating all these things when the campai- I mean killing starts And a small group of survivors (Romney, Huckabee, Guiliani and the other candidates end up holed up in an abandoned houses and buildings (Ohio and other primary states) trying to survive and figure out their next move. 
A few things happened, one of the survivors is a senile old man who runs off into the night followed by his son and gets killed (this is either Ron Paul or Fred Thompson, it's hard to be sure...). They stay holed up, even when the vampires enlist a young woman to use as bait. (Sarah Palin) Of course, she's stupid enough to think that the vampires will let her go if she goes along with this, and of course tries to coax other people out to be killed...
vampire leader (Karl Rove). He turns into a vampire (have you seen some of his speeches and ads lately????) but does it to save the town (thus confirming my theory that John McCain is secretly supporting Barack Obama). In the end he watches the Sun rise (Barack) and slowly disintegrates into dust (see November 5, 2008).
