Born on 9-11

My Sporting Predictions Lay Pretty, Speckled Eggs

2010-10-12T23:31:00.001-07:00

I suppose I must wait no longer to remark on my latest failed prophecy about the Phoenix Mercury. It is painfully obvious that they lost to the Seattle Storm -- who went on to capture the 2010 WNBA title.

I just KNEW the Merc were going to win. Madame Hoopsie's crystal ball was cloudy.

This marks the official end of my career as a prognosticator of basketball results. I don't seem to know who's going to win at all. I can merely persist in patient hope. My girls have won two championships in three years. They seem to go all the way in odd-numbered years: 2007 and 2009 thus far.

All I'll say is that they're on schedule to do it again in 2011. I'm not predicting, mind you...just laying a few pretty, speckled eggs.

Special People Sometimes Act...Well...Special

2010-10-11T23:46:00.001-07:00

Most of my progressive friends are really as open-minded as they claim to be. In my gradual metamorphosis from progressive Democrat to Libertarian conservative, I have managed to keep almost all my friends. They may think I've gone nuts, but they still love me.

I especially tip my hat to the editor at Whosoever magazine, for which I frequently write. Candace Chellew-Hodge is everything a progressive should be: bright, open-minded, inquisitive and fair. She understands that religious faith is all about the search for truth. Her magazine exemplifies that conviction -- and I can truly say she also does so in her life.

One local friend, a former fellow church-member I'll call Sandy, has turned out to be the sole objector to my conversion in political faith. She just can't STAND that I no longer agree with her on political matters. She picks at our differences like a child picking at a scab.

I cannot help but notice, in Sandy's almost-daily preachments, that she regurgitates -- almost word-for-word, things the progressive "talking heads" have said. (She doesn't seem to realize that I still make a point of listening to both sides.) They may be her opinions, but she seems utterly incapable of expressing them in her own words.

Statist mind-manipulators on both sides -- Left and Right -- have discovered that if they play on people's insecurities, they can make them feel they must belong to their club. Those on the Right usually put forth the notion one can't be a loyal Amurrican or a godly Christian without being conservative. On the Left, this snake-oil is usually sold under the guise of "This You Must Think to be Smart, Sophisticated, Hip and Evolved."

Sandy wants nothing so much as to be smart, sophisticated, hip and evolved. Thus -- she seems to think -- she must identify as a "progressive." I'm not saying ALL progressives are like this. But hers is the worst case I've ever seen of it.

Regardless of which "club" such a person has signed up for, I call this syndrome "Political Opinion as Fashion Accessory." I made the mistake of finally telling her my diagnosis. This seems to have torn it for us as friends.

She may not understand this, but I did it out of love. Whatever she really and truly believes, she should learn to care enough about herself to hold and express those convictions without shame. I really hope, for her sake, that someday she is able to do just that.

I don't know how soundly she sleeps at night. But she doesn't have to listen to me anymore.

Mercury Vanquishes Storm -- Madame Hoopsie's Latest Prediction

2010-09-01T21:45:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm going to do it again...I can't resist. Surely EVERY prediction I make can't lay a goose egg.

I do hereby predict that my Phoenix Mercury will win the WNBA Western Conference finals over the Seattle Storm.

You saw it here. Take note of this bold and clairvoyant prognostication.

Will we win the championship? Madame will get back to you on that one.

Honor Restored

2010-08-30T18:02:00.001-07:00

I wish I could have been at the Restoring Honor rally in Washington D.C. this past weekend. But after nearly two years of "Hope and Change" under Obama, I find myself still without a job.

I have, however, found myself in another sense. What's going on now in this country is what I've hoped for for a long time, but for too long thought would never happen. America is waking up.

Glenn Beck is dismissed, by too many people who should know better, as a weepy crackpot. I admit that I used to think that, myself. Now that I have actually troubled myself to listen to his program, I find hardly any point upon which I don't agree with him. He's a modern-day prophet, and I'm glad more and more people are taking the time to find out what he has to say.

"Progressivism" has shown itself to be nothing but hysteria and lies. Of course the Democrat Party screwed gays again this last election cycle. I know now that they'll do it every time. Republicans and conservatives have come late to accepting us, but slowly and surely, it is beginning to happen at last. And once they come to accept a truth, they do not forget it.

Quite unlike our progressive "friends," who care about nothing but power. They change their minds about what truth is (and even about what "is" is) all the time.

I know many progressive individuals who are fine people. They are very sincere in their convictions, and I still respect them. That makes me even angrier at the Left, which is taking advantage of them and selling them fraudulent goods. They deserve better. So do I -- and so does everyone who ever trusted the progressives and their cause.

My basic values have not changed. Libertarians believe in all the same values most other Americans hold dear: freedom, independence, decency and -- yes -- honor. We differ with other Americans mostly over means, not over the ends we seek.

All too many on the Left have gone too apeshit crazy to understand that. They thought they had their wondrous revolution, only to find out that it has already fallen apart. They couldn't lead this country out of a crapper. They have led us into one, and we'll have to get out of it without them.

When the country has been restored to its former greatness, they will claim the credit for it. They always do. But they and their Dear Leader have been unwilling to accept the blame -- and you can't have one without the other.

Voting for Obama was the biggest mistake this American ever made. It will not be repeated. A whole lot of things are going to be different, for me, from now on.

Hark...the Thunder of Garlic Approaches...

2010-08-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well, again, later this week, I'm off to the wild North for the Minnesota Garlic Festival. As garlic is, indeed, a flatulent, those roundabout WILL hear the thunder at least afterwards.

This is the fifth annual occurrence of the event. Every year thus far has been terrific fun, with worthy attractions ranging from the educational to the immensely entertaining. I especially enjoy, of course, getting to see my family again. The middle of August has become, for us, a special time.

I have even learned to embrace garlic ice cream. I have always regarded ice cream, in general, as proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. When it was speckled with tiny chunks of garlic, I was not so certain. However, it has grown on me. Bring on the cones -- I'll eat twelve!

I'll also need to consume at least seven ears of squeaky-fresh, garlic-buttered sweet corn. Seven is my record, but perhaps this year I'll exceed it.

When I have returned from my trip (a working trip this time, as I'm researching an essay on the festival for Liberty magazine), I intend to return this Blog to the consideration of more serious subjects.

But for now, bring on the Maalox, and let the festivities begin!

FESTIVAL FACTS:

Date: Saturday, August 14
Time: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Location: McLeod County Fairgrounds, Hutchinson, Minnesota

Admission: Adults $5, kids under 12 $3, stroller/carried babies free
NO PETS, PLEASE!

This is an all-weather event. Unlike those of us in Phoenix, Minnesotans are prepared for even the most surprising and bizarre eruptions of nature.

For only $10, you can catch the Garlic Express from the Mill City Farmer's Market.

...And if you can't make it this year, circle the second Saturday of August on your calendar next year!

Guests Come In Those Boxes?!

2010-06-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

Evidently all the comments with the funny little boxes and other symbols are being posted in foreign languages. We are not being invaded by Klingons or assimilated by the Borg.

They ARE from this planet. And I like to think they're saying nice things. The system simply doesn't translate them into English.

Maybe, like Carrie Bradshaw, I'm a hit in Paris.

So, guests come in those little boxes! Who knew?

Use the towels on the rack closest to the sink, guys. In a while I'll go to Wal-Mart and get us some lemonade...

A Wanderer No Longer

2010-05-30T23:08:00.000-07:00

Well, this Blog's slogan has had to change. No longer am I a Libertarian Lutheran Lesbian -- today I was received into the Episcopal Church.

I've changed my intro. Now, as soon as I can figure out how to change the heading...

I was raised a Lutheran, and I will always be beholden to the structure and rectitude of my spiritual upbringing. Lutherans are great people. Most of my family are Lutherans, as well as a good many of my friends. But I have been restless for quite some time, looking around for a spiritual home that better fit my beliefs.

In my twenties, I became a Roman Catholic. For many years, I was at home there. When I came out as a lesbian, I realized its rigidity was due not to being "the only true church," but to human stubbornness and pride. So I moved on. For a time, this meant a return to the Lutheran fold of my youth.

Though I do not believe the Church of Rome to be the only true church, at heart I am still a Catholic. My dissatisfaction in the Lutheran Church was due to more than the brouhaha, in my last congregation, over whether one narrow-minded pastor could visualize it being big enough for two different minority groups -- both of which she wanted to patronize and manipulate. The real root of my dissatisfaction was with Protestantism, period.

Protestant churches are run like businesses. They certainly should be run on sound financial principles, but they are NOT businesses -- they are members of the Body of Christ. Catholic churches are also capable of getting off-track because of money -- that's why the Reformation happened in the first place. But essentially, Catholics of every kind belong to the apostolic body Christ intended the Church to be.

Episcopalians are Reformed Catholics. Though they recognize that the Pope is non-essential, and that the "rock" upon which Christ would build His Church was not Peter the individual, but the faith Peter displayed, they do carry on the apostolic faith tradition.

I will always be indebted to the Roman Catholic Church for nurturing my spiritual growth to the point that I was, at last, able to reconcile my sexual orientation with my faith and come out of the closet. For all the sins their hierarchy has committed toward gays, the inescapable fact is that I had been able to do this not in all my previous years as a Protestant, but only after several years of having been a Catholic.

Now I have truly come home. The more I learn about my new church home, the move I love it. Already I can feel my soul expanding, like a flower in the sunshine. Perhaps the full extent of it goes beyond explaining. All I know is that here is where I belong.

The discipline, the structure, the long and numerous centuries of wisdom, unbroken all the way back to the days of the apostles -- it is mine again. I get to refresh myself in it daily, as if in an envigorating ocean surf. And at last, all those years of wandering have come to an end.

This is, primarily, not a religious blog but a political one. I will, nonetheless, have more to say about my new Church later. For right now, I simply want to absorb what has happened to me, put down stronger roots, and continue to grow.

An Omelette on My Face

2010-05-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

Well...okay. So the Suns laid another egg. And since I went out on a limb and built a nice little nest there with my prediction of championship glory, it's now all over my face.

When life as a sports fan gives you an egg, you might as well make it into an omelette.

I REALLY wanted a piece of those drunken, bean-eating, gas-passing bums in Boston. Especially after last night, when the Celtics beat Orlando for the Eastern Conference title and they were at it -- already -- with the "Beat L.A.!" crap. None of those idiots is the least bit clairvoyant -- they can't stay sober long enough to think their way out of a paper bag -- so it was not only premature, it was unsportsmanlike.

It's Boston. I've learned not to expect any better.

I still remember thirty-four years ago -- as if it were yesterday -- how they dissed the Suns in the '76 finals. How they threw beer at our players, assaulted a ref, threatened players (while their useless cops stood by and did nothing), and even -- in one instance -- passed out, drunk, on a Phoenix TV announcer's lap.

All class, that crowd. The Lakers fans may be blase and spoiled, may show up at games in Phoenix sporting purple and bling and acting obnoxious, but at least they usually manage to do a tolerable impression of being human.

I'll NEVER root for an Eastern team over anybody from the West. Beat Boston!

Who knows how many more years Suns fans will have to wait for a title? My Mercury have done it twice in the last three years, and if they get the starch out of their undies, maybe they'll do it again this season.

However, there'll be no more early predictions from me...

Series Tied! Hahahahahaha!

2010-05-25T23:07:00.000-07:00

I know, this is supposed to be a political blog. But I can't seem to help myself -- the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA is absorbing me. My Suns tied the series tonight at two games apiece. They will beat the evil Lakers yet!

Those who are telling me to back down on my prediction will not get their way. It may take the Suns seven games instead of six, but they will prevail over La-La Land's band of whiny, overpaid mercenaries.

Watching Phil Jackson sulk his way through the postgame press conference was priceless. Is it even possible for a Laker to respond graciously to a loss? According to those golden-suited princesses, we never beat them -- they only beat themselves.

After all the ignoramus busy-bodies from California babbling about Arizona's immigration law and how they want to boycott us, it will feel ESPECIALLY great to send them home whimpering this time. Maybe Princess Kobe will threaten to quit.

Or maybe we'll pull the plug on the electricity we send to the L.A. area. Twenty-five percent of it comes from Arizona. Let the precious little darlings sit in the dark and cry.

There -- I got politics into this post after all.

Now, back to sports. BEAT L-A...BEAT L.A...BEAT L.A.! All the way to the trophy for the Suns in 2010!

Suns Sweep Spurs!

2010-05-09T22:13:00.001-07:00

The first week of the season, I made a prediction that sounded foolish at the time. I said the Phoenix Suns would win the NBA championship in 2010. Everybody told me how silly I was. Sure, they were off to a good start, but it was going to be a long season -- and after all, they were the SUNS.

I've been repeating that prediction all year long, and I'm certainly sticking by it now. The Suns just swept the dreaded San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinals.

Yes, THOSE Spurs. The ones who've humiliated us in so many playoff contests. But this is our year.

We've got to get past the Lakers -- and they'll be a bigger challenge than the Spurs. But we're going to do it. This is our year.

Seeing the Suns finally win it all has been on the short list of things I want to live long enough to see for forty-one years, now. I was at the first Suns regular-season game ever played, back in 1968, as a first-grader. I remember nothing about the game except the way the program smelled, and the fact that I dropped my dolly, Miss Turkey, behind the seat in front of me (my dad had to climb all the way under the seat to rescue her). But all the same -- I was there!

What would really be sweet is if the Suns won it all over the Celtics -- the team that beat us in our first finals back in '76. We've already had payback-time over the Spurs, so let the theme continue!

People have laughed at my prediction all year long. But when it's over, I'll be the one doing the laughing.

Tea Party in the Cafeteria

2010-02-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

All too often, we form our political affiliations the way we made friends back in junior high. It's all about who we want to sit beside in the cafeteria.

But we are supposed to be grownups. We graduated from junior high school long ago, and it's about time we started to act like it. When we're kids, we avoid doing anything we don't absolutely feel like doing: eating our vegetables, doing our homework, hanging out with the dorks. As adults, we are supposed to learn that there's a whole, big world full of different people out there, and hard tasks that must be done whether we like them or not. We have to learn that we can't always have everything our way.

It's hard for us to learn that, and many of us never seem to. I haven't always lived up to my own advice.

During the enthusiasm over Obama in 2008, and especially after my unethical sacking by the last company I worked for, I got sucked into the junior high mentality once again. All my friends -- the cool kids, with whom I liked to hang -- fell for Obama. They told me that libertarians were dweebs, that Obama was the savior of the nation, and that big corporations (by which, they generally meant, the entire free enterprise system) were evil. I was genuinely scared of what Boy Bush might have done to the country, and when I was dishonestly downsized out of my livelihood by yet another scummy company, I especially welcomed the consolations of my friends.

I began to think that libertarians might not be as smart as I'd thought they were. My friends all thought they were the uncool kids, and didn't want them sitting at their table. The very few actual, flesh-and-blood libertarians I knew -- jerky young guys who fit the stereotype those who dislike libertarians tend to have of them -- were no help. I came to them with questions, and instead of recognizing my questions as an opportunity to clear up misconceptions, they saw them as a threat. All I got from them was arrogant put-downs of my friends, and of myself for having dared to challenge their dogmas. They didn't want me to sit at their table, either.

Foolish as I was, my enthusiasm eventually came to a crashing end. Though my friends are still telling me how much Obama has "on his plate right now," and blaming everything on Bush, I have come to realize that the libertarians predicted almost everything that has happened in the past year. To limit my contact with them to a few jerky guys was a mistake.

I went back to reading, reached out to a wider circle of libertarians, and rediscovered the truth I had so prematurely abandoned. In short, I remembered that I'm an adult, living in the grownup world, and that junior high school is over. I have a responsibility to act like it, and never has that been more urgent than now.

I still love my friends, but I realize I don't have to think like them on every subject. I'm making new friends -- not instead of the others, but in addition to them -- and broadening my horizons. And I'm confident I'm moving in the right direction.

I'm even considering getting involved in the Tea Party movement. My friends gasp -- how dweeby of me! Don't I know who "those people" are?

They come, actually, in a wide variety. There are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians (capital "L" and small), straights, gays, Christians, Jews, freethinkers -- you name it. They are united only by the urgent need to take the country back from the politicians and restore limited government, preserve the Constitution and protect the American way of life.

Are there people in the movement at whose table I wouldn't want to sit? Of course there are. Some of them are certifiable loons. But the only way the loons can take over the whole movement will be if all the sane people -- which is to say, the great majority -- leave it to them.

Of course there are unscrupulous operators trying to infiltrate it and take it over. The only surprise in this is that so many people are surprised by it. Any time a movement really takes off, manipulative people are going to come along to try and hijack it. If we abandon the venture simply because of this, we will never be able to accomplish anything. The only sort of movement sharp operators won't be tempted to jump into and try to take over is one that isn't going anywhere.

We have never more urgently needed to lose the junior high school mentality and act like grownups. If you think all the founders of this country got along like buds, you need to go back and read some history. If they'd behaved like the Mean Girls in the cafeteria, this country would never have gotten off the ground.

Again, I'm leaving up all the posts on this Blog that now embarrass me -- all the ones that, when I read them over now, make me cringe. They are a record of my journey to the present, and I think they are instructive. But it's important for me to make sense of them in light of what I have learned since. Our society has become so childish that it's no disgrace to be affected by the madness every once in a while. The important thing is to recognize what's going on -- and be strong enough to rise above it.

I was able to do this before it was too late for me. I can only hope and pray that enough other Americans will do the same.

Another Et Cetera on Trolling

2010-02-16T11:38:00.000-08:00

Why do some bloggers give certain trolls free rein? Sometimes they do so out of a misguided conviction that ALL free speech is equally important. The problem with this is that if the trolls express opinions with which they disagree, those folks are either banned or spiritedly disagreed with by the freedom-loving bloggers. When they let a troll rampage freely without ever challenging what is said, I can only conclude it's because they agree with them.

"American Elephant" is so dishonest that he twists people's words around to mean something completely different than what they said. I remarked, on one commentary thread, that I did not believe gays and lesbians should pay high legal fees in order to safeguard relationships that the State protects for straights. He then turned around and tried to claim I'd said that he should pay my legal fees! There was simply no way any honest (or sane) person could have gotten that from what I said. "American Elephant" is, himself, a liar.

I also repeatedly -- REPEATEDLY -- stated that I don't believe the State should subsidize ANYONE'S relationship by taking more in taxes from singles, gay or straight, so that married people (gay or straight) can get tax breaks because of their status. There was absolutely no way any reasonable, or even rational, person could have mistaken my meaning. "Elephant" responded by repeatedly mischaracterizing what I said. He kept trying to claim that I wanted straight taxpayers to "subsidize" gay relationships.

Again, this guy is a liar. He is exactly what he keeps calling me. He is slandering me, and this is a legally actionable offense. In another age, he would have been called out for it in a fistfight or a duel. When I pointed this out to him, of course he resorted to the standard troll trick of claiming I was threatening violence against him.

He knew very well what I was saying. Again and again, "American Elephant" is a lying son of a bitch. It is far more likely that (if he had the gumption) he is the one who would stalk me than the other way around.

I called attention to the fact that I was using my own, full name in my posts. I told him I live in Phoenix, Arizona, and that I'm well known in the local GLBT Christian community. I assured him that if he wanted to take the matter up with me face-to-face, he would have no trouble doing so. Of course, being the lily-livered coward that he is, he then backed down and went into whine-mode about how I was supposedly threatening him. This is what liars and cowards do.

I have since informed him that I believe him to be a phony, and that I'm not the only person in the blogosphere with an incentive to expose his real identity and who he is working for. That, indeed, WAS a threat -- and I fully intend to make good on it if he persists in harassing me.

It's entirely up to the bloggers at Gay Patriot to determine whether they will ban him. He must express a lot of opinions with which they agree, since they never seem to challenge him on anything he says.

The only issue on which even "Elephant" and I seem to disagree is that of same-sex marriage. I don't believe that the State should be in the business of regulating private relationships or using the tax-code to manipulate individuals' behavior. He seems to feel the need to mischaracterize my viewpoint as "progressive" liberal, rather than libertarian, because he knows how to argue with the former and cannot intelligently deal with the latter. His own views on same-sex marriage are actually socialist, which I have also pointed out many times, and of course all he can do is go on lying about what I've said and impotently spluttering that he is not a socialist.

I intend to return to commenting on posts at Gay Patriot. Sooner or later, I will probably be banned, but I will never submit to censorship. Cynthia Yockey of A Conservative Lesbian seems to have declared war on Gay Patriot, but I am not interested in doing that. As I have stated in a previous post, my only real quarrel with that blog is that it permits one particular troll to indulge in blatant lying while he hurls the charge of "liar!" at others. It's up to each blogger to determine what he or she will allow, and that's not a choice I can make for any other blogger.

But again, if you permit that sort of crap, it makes you look as if you agree with it. Unless you state otherwise, which -- to my knowledge -- Gay Patriot doesn't. When one of your commenters baldly lies, and then calls others liars in a particularly stupid and childish attempt to obfuscate his own lying, it makes your blog look bad if you allow it.

It isn't going to be tolerated here. I still hope to build up readership for this Blog, and when I do, the same basic standard of common decency, and common sense, that applies to every other form of discourse will apply here. You will not be permitted to hide behind an alias and indulge in behavior that would get you horsewhipped, shot or sued in the real world. Nor, if anyone points this out, will you be permitted to wet your panties and squeal about how they are, supposedly, threatening you.

You need to be housebroken here. I don't ask much, but at the very least I demand that.

Further Thoughts on Trolling

2010-02-14T12:31:00.000-08:00

I must reiterate that trolling is one of the biggest threats to continuing freedom of speech on the Internet. As regular users of the Net, we need to understand how to deal with it. From time to time, on this Blog, I will post my ideas on how we might do this.

One of the most common epithets hurled by trolls, at those with whom they disagree, is "liar." They don't seem to understand what the word means, but that doesn't stop them from using it, and the reason is obvious. It's nasty, and it smears their targets. The fact that they often misuse the word, and that simple recourse to a dictionary would clear that problem up, does not seem to concern them. Their very purpose is not to illuminate the truth, but to obfuscate it -- which, of course, makes THEM the actual liars.

A "liar" is not merely someone who says something you believe to be untrue. The standard required to meet the definition of "liar" is higher than that. A "liar" is someone who KNOWS that what they're saying is untrue, and who is therefore saying it with the purpose of misleading.

If you disagree with someone because he or she has said something you regard as false, the only way you can know for sure if this person is a liar is if you can read their mind. If this person sincerely believes whatever he or she is saying -- regardless of the fact that you consider their statement untrue -- that does not make him or her a "liar." People who say things that aren't true, but that they believe to be true, are mistaken, and in some cases perhaps even stupid -- but they are not liars.

I suppose there is a second way of knowing if people who say untrue things are liars, and that would be if you can show they indicated elsewhere that they knew better. You would then provide the quote, or preferrably the link, that demonstrated this. This is by no means an impossible task, but most of those who scream "liar!" in every quarrel are too lazy (or too dishonest themselves) to attempt it.

Small children often holler "liar!" at other kids in their playground quarrels. This is because they don't yet know the meaning of the word. It may also be because it sounds really bad, thereby making them feel better. Children can be excused for doing this, because they just don't know any better. Those on the Internet, who are supposed to be adults, have no excuse for not knowing better.

What the shouters of "liar!" are really revealing about themselves is that they are too insecure in their own convictions to risk a real debate. Not only are they very likely liars themselves, but they are also cowards. Next time somebody screams "liar!" at you on a blog commentary thread, remember that the best way to counter their idiocy is to call them out on it.

Slaying Trolls

2010-02-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

I am still trying to free up enough time out of the process of establishing myself as a professional freelance writer to perfect this Blog and bring in more readers. Please bear with me, you dear and gentle few, as I do that.

One problem I have not had much of, yet, on this Blog -- simply because I do not post enough to keep a large regular readership -- is that of trolling. When the happy day arrives that I have enough regular readers to be assailed by trolls, I intend to deal with the problem differently than many bloggers do. I think a lot of them are too tolerant of this nuisance, which is really worse than merely a nuisance.

I will insist that persistent trolls identify themselves by their real names, as well as by location. Does this place them in danger? I must say that I don't care. The odds that anyone would track them down and go postal on them are significantly less than the near-certainty that cowardly trolling will destroy the freedom of the blogosphere.

If you feel you must hide your identity, you are actually aiding and abetting the very sort of people who might track commenters down and try to harm them. It is by standing up to these people that you can defeat them -- and there is no other way it can be done. A common troll trick is to claim those who confront them are threatening violence against them -- but as my identity is right out there front and center, that is obviously the last thing I could or would be dumb enough to do. They are the ones in the position of tracking people down with the intent to do violence -- which they well know, may indeed be part of the reason they hide their identity as they do, and even may be why the notion of doing such a thing comes so readily into their minds.

I use my own name when I comment on blogs. Just as it is visible -- along with my home city of Phoenix, Arizona -- on this Blog. Why do I do this? Because I believe it is important to be accountable for the remarks I make. If people don't agree with me, they know where to find me.

You don't need to remain anonymous in order to express yourself. As a matter of fact, by hiding behind a cyberspace alias, you cheapen and devalue every view you express. If nobody knows who you really are, for whom you may be working, or where you're located, then why the hell should they really care what you think? You're a nobody, floating around in the flotsam of nothingness.

Over at Gay Patriot right now, there is a very obnoxious and persistent troll calling himself "American Elephant." He has a blog, which my fellow-blogger Cynthia Yockey of A Conservative Lesbian believes to be nothing but a fake. It certainly seems, to me, that even if it expresses his real views (and I have no reason to believe it doesn't), he compromises the credibility of everything he has to say by hiding his real identity when he comments on blogs.

I think he's working for some fundamentalist church or far-Right social conservative organization, probably for pay. Unlike those of us who must toil every day for a living, he certainly seems to have a lot of free time to post his bilge. Unless he's still living in his parents' basement (I suppose, a distinct possibility with this type), he is on somebody's payroll. Those who read Gay Patriot have a right to know whose it is.

Generally speaking, I disagree with those who say Gay Patriot is a "self-hating" blog. We ought to be careful applying that label to others on the gay Right, because there will be those who will also use it on us. I have found much on that blog that is very worthwhile, and have enjoyed both reading and commenting there. But skulkers and back-shooters like the cowardly "Elephant" are poisoning the discourse there.

Those of us he keeps attacking are beginning to unite against this sort of crap, and sooner or later we will find out who he is and for whom he is working. Then we will expose him. This may take some time and effort, but it must be done for the sake of honest discourse. It is crucial that the blogosphere remain dedicated to freedom of expression. But when that freedom is abused by cowards who sneak around lying and attacking others, it sets the stage for the busybodies who have already started coming out of the woodwork with proposals to regulate Internet speech. If free speech in the blogosphere is regulated, the blame must largely be borne by people like "Elephant."

Perhaps that's exactly what they want. If so, shouldn't the rest of us know it?

Onward and Upward to 2010!

2009-12-31T12:59:00.000-08:00

Well, another year is in the can. I can't say that 2009 was altogether a good year -- I spent the whole year unemployed. It has, however, led me to do what I should have done a long time ago. I am a professional freelance writer at last. This is all I ever really wanted to do, anyway.

We can get lulled, by relatively good times, into trying to play it safe. But a life of doing nothing but playing it safe is really nothing more than a living death. I believe I'm now doing what I was put on this earth to do. That's the only way to truly live.

I guess, as I have finally come to realize, I am one of those rare and endangered birds known as a gay conservative. A "Goldwater" conservative, surely -- a classical liberal -- a libertarian. But that still, along with my Christian faith, sets me squarely on the Rightward end of the spectrum.

This in itself means that life will not be easy. I may never be an accepted member of the "club." But I have greater obligations to consider. I must follow my heart and stand for all I believe to be true. I will get plenty of flak for this. But as one of my heroes in the faith, Martin Luther, once proclaimed, "Here I stand, and so help me God, I can do nothing else."

No more playing it safe for me. I must answer the call of a Higher Authority. In 2010, it will be onward and upward for me.

I only hope and pray that, for the sake of this country, 2010 will bring many others onward and upward, as well.

A Long Road Traveled

2009-12-30T15:19:00.001-08:00

There is no longer any real difference between the way Left-wing and Right-wing statists behave. Both are equally addicted to aggression. They are twins under the skin.

THIS is why I have finally realized I am a libertarian for sure.

Each side has its own convenient scapegoats, which are mindlessly accepted as villains and demonized by those who adhere to its philosophy. For the statist Right, it's gays. For the Left, it's "the rich."

When Leftists start babbling about the "evil rich," look out. They're coming after the wallets of ordinary, working-class Americans. Never, ever do actual rich people end up paying the price of these crackdowns. Though the special interest groups that really benefit from the fleecing of the working-class -- many of which DO represent rich people -- quickly pocket the proceeds.

I intend to leave up all the posts I've written along my meandering way here. Some may prove embarrassing now, but they chronicle how I got to where I am now. I have had a real process of discovery over the past couple of years. That is why I know how to proceed now. And it is instructive just to go back and read through it.

Actually, I find that my views haven't changed that much. I just wasn't sure where I belonged on the political spectrum. My religious faith has changed very little since I was in my twenties, but because the political landscape keeps shifting, it hasn't always been possible for me to be as consistent in my political affiliations. It's hard to know just who to trust. Now I know that statists, anywhere on the spectrum, cannot be trusted at all.

Some of them are genuinely good people, but they are tragically mistaken in their politics. I hope that I can help to change their minds. Reading this Blog, from its genesis to the present, would give them a lot to think about.

Learning Our Lesson

2009-12-29T12:59:00.000-08:00

We definitely need to learn a lesson from the last nine years. But neither the statist Right nor Left seems to be learning it.

I should say that SOME on the Right do seem to be learning it, but nobody on the Left gives any indication that they've learned anything.

How hypocritical are conservatives to have suddenly rediscovered the Constitution and limited government after eight years of having given Boy Bush and his thugs free rein? Not as hypocritical as "progressives" remain for chiding them for that, while having learned nothing themselves.

At least the Right has a history of belief in limited government to which it may return. The modern Left has NEVER believed in anything but big government.

If conservatives try to return to fascism when they again get the upper electoral hand (and they will -- sooner than the Democrats want to think), will "progressives" be able to hold them accountable? Of course not. And after the way so many of them swooned over Obama, no one will believe them if they try.

Those on the Left who are critical of Doctor Utopia are angry because he's not statist ENOUGH to suit them.

The Tea Partiers have a tradition to which they now want to return. Lovers of liberty, like myself, are going to hold them to that.

Corporate piggishness will NOT be ended by the Obamabots, who only advocate even more of it. Nor can the way out of our economic nightmare be found in destroying the last, gasping vestiges of free enterprise.

The only way forward is freedom. The only way forward is ending government aggression against its own people. The only way forward is ending the civil war in which each faction of petty tyrants fights for the "right" to oppress the other.

A pox on both their statist houses.

Recently I read a book that changed my life. It didn't exactly transform my whole outlook, since I already believed many of the things it had to say. But it articulated these principles in a way so especially sharp and clear that the light-bulb really clicked on for me at last. Dr. Mary Ruwart is a libertarian's libertarian. And her book, Healing Our World In an Age of Aggression brought it all home for me as never before:

"We don't notice how our fear of selfish others creates the very world that we want to avoid. Our minds are trained by the education monopoly...We can hardly expect to learn the follies of aggression from an institution built on it." (Pg. 185)

"Even when government spends 'for a good cause,' society becomes poorer...Rich nations like Sweden can lose their ability to create wealth simply by increasing government spending. Freedom from aggression is not something that countries can 'afford' only after they become wealthy. Freedom from aggression is a necessary precondition for wealth." (Pg. 186)

Dr. Ruwart also explains why it is that companies like the one that unjustly dumped me from my position, then criminally slandered me, get away with their unconscionable deeds.

"Clearly, the high cost of counteracting aggression leads to its use as a tool of the rich. Only the well-to-do can afford to lobby, bribe, or threaten our elected representatives effectively." (Pg. 186)

"The illusion that this aggression benefits the poor at the expense of the rich is just that -- an illusion." (Pg. 187)

I was so angry at my former employer because of how it treated me that I began to believe the Leftist line that big government could or would crack down on corporations like it to protect "little people" like me. I forgot what I had once known -- which is that government tyranny only begets more corporate tyranny. Nothing the government can do will put a halt to the bastardy of big corporations. On the contrary, it can only make the problem worse -- and, indeed, caused it in the first place.

As long as it's made more and more difficult for businesspeople to make it, the "shit" will continue to flow "downhill" from them to us. All we can do, through government intervention, is pour more "shit" on them -- which also, inevitably, lands on us.

"Aggression, undertaken individually or undertaken collectively through government, can never create its opposite -- harmony and abundance." (Pg. 188)

"Once we accept this premise [that we can gain justice through aggression], we willingly defer to the authority figures who attack those selfish others on our behalf." (ibid.) -- Who then exploit our anger by seizing even more power, and more of our taxed wealth, for themselves.

Got it now. Won't forget it ever again.

"The loss that we experience because of our aggression is staggering." (Pg. 190)

It's exactly what's gone so wrong with our country, and our whole world, now. And we can't hope to achieve a different result by continuing the same methods. I'm not sure who said that to attempt such a thing is insanity, but he or she is as wise as Solomon.

We are, truly, now in the middle of another civil war. The statist Left and Right are tearing this country apart. The only way out of it is to depose both visions of government control. We do NOT have to choose between communism and fascism. Neither choice is acceptable for the land of the free and the home of the brave. The legions who died in our first Civil War -- and in so many foreign wars to protect our freedom -- did not give their lives to leave open to us nothing more than a "choice" like this.

This time, I have learned my lesson. I will do all I can to help other Americans learn it, too.

Why There Were Nazis

2009-12-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

When I got sacked a year ago, from what I hope will be my last big-corporate job, I said I could at last understand why there had been Nazis. After a whole year of reflection, I'm more certain than ever.

I've come to realize that the reason I was treated so barbarically -- eliminated without warning or even an honest explanation, then slandered to the State when they sought the cause of my termination -- was not mere "corporate greed." That was, at most, a secondary reason.

I was dealt with in this degrading manner because there is no longer any distinction between the big corporate world and government. Large companies behave as incompenently and irresponsibly as government, because they and the State have become one.

Corporate-owned statism is fascism. That is part of the very definition of the term. And after the mega-bailouts of President Utopia's rescue, the link between taxpayers' support of corporate America and the subversion of our Constitution by these same corporations has become clear.

No American citizen should be treated the way I was by my last employer. The Constitution supposedly forbids it, but the corporations that feed off of our tax dollars are not bound by the supreme law of our land. They have overtaken our government without having to fire a single shot.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to make as much money as possible. Greed only becomes criminal -- from a moral standpoint, if not a legal one -- when it is protected and paid-for by our taxes and our government. My last employer was a big insurance company. That says it all right there. Companies like that one have grown fat at the tax-feeding trough, and they feel they are accountable to nobody.

We have no way of outlawing greed. Nor, since we all hope to make as much money as possible, should we legitimately wish to outlaw the profit motive. But we have fewer available jobs than we have had for decades because the hogs at the trough are crowding out the small companies that might otherwise employ us.

I will, perhaps, be reminded that private companies, in their obligations toward employees, are not bound to the same strictures as those that are supposed to apply to government entities in their treatment of citizens. That is fair as far as it goes, but it only goes so far. Once those companies begin taking taxpayer money, they have ceased to be "private." My rights as an American citizen should not be revocable by any of the pigs who feed off of my taxes.

This is NOT "capitalism." It certainly isn't free enterprise, either. And the politicians who have aided and abetted this bloodiest of all bloodless takeovers of our country -- be they Republican or Democrat -- are nothing but whores.

I am as through with Democratic whores as I am with those who are Republican. Change will not come through tinpot "messiahs" like Barack Obama. He is proving to be every bit as bad as Boy Bush, if not worse.

There are individual libertarians who don't understand the situation in this country -- who are still too childishly credulous toward big business, viewing all that's done in the name of "capitalism" as right. But as a whole, the libertarian movement does understand the problem. Libertarians are the only ones out there who can articulate a real solution: take big corporations off of the sugar-tit, and make them compete in a REAL free market, where they will either swim or sink as deserved.

As the days' news events unfold, I am more and more certain I did the right thing by finally "coming out of the closet" as a libertarian. By having joined the Libertarian Party, I have already begun moving toward becoming a part of the solution instead of the problem.

I investigated the Green Party, hoping they understood the need for real change, but I found that the Greens are not critical of the Democrats out of any understanding of how dangerous big corporations are. As long as those corporations support statism as THEY approve of it, they are all for the growing cancer of fascism in America.

It's the Libertarians, people. It's them -- or now, I may say us -- or nobody.

I will not be fooled again. And from now on, I will vigilantly warn all who will listen.

Half a Shit Sandwich is Better than None?

2009-12-27T13:57:00.000-08:00

My political thinking was influenced, to a large degree, by the Baby Boomers a half-step ahead of me on the generational ladder. That influence was profound. And it has, to a large degree, affected my thinking -- though this effect has been both positive and negative.

Because of the active efforts of many in that generation, my life is not the shit sandwich it might have otherwise been. I know what sort of a life I would have had, as a lesbian, had none of the changes initiated by the Sixties and Seventies occurred.

But I'm getting a little tired of genuflecting to these people. They never tire of reminding me -- ungrateful whippersnapper that I am -- of all they've done for me.

I'd like to ask them a question: Was it all about the ideas that surfaced in those decades -- or was it all about you?

Ideas have legs. Truth has a life all its own. The Boomers invented absolutely nothing. They discovered quite a bit (or rediscovered some of it). Many seem not to understand the difference.

Ever since the Seventies, many Boomers have tried to make it all about themselves. THEY were wonderful...THEY were wise...THEY were courageous, and enlightened, and far-thinking and heroic.

Putting the focus on them is unwise not only because it deemphasizes the very ideas for which we're supposed to be so grateful to them. It also ties the Me Generation, like a millstone, around the neck of everyone who might benefit from those ideas.

As a result of how utterly, insufferably obnoxious that generation has made itself in many ways, many people refuse to deal, today, with women's issues, gay/lesbian issues, issues of economic fairness or any other issues in any way not colored by how tired they are of Baby Boomers.

As a lesbian, I am doubly perceived by Boomers and anti-Boomers alike as one of that generation's little pets. I live on their plantation. They discovered me, so I am theirs. Some of those who dislike me, simply because of my association with the Boomers, would go so far as to say that they INVENTED me.

I'm through genuflecting. I'm off the plantation. I'm a runaway pet. Nobody invented me but God. And all of God's inventions are available for the discovery of anyone.

Thanks, Boomers, that because of you I don't have to eat a whole shit sandwich. Thanks as well, I guess, that I have to eat half of one instead of none.

My generation, and the ones that come after, must do away with the other half of the sandwich. That yours eliminated the first half was a stellar accomplishment. Be happy with that, take one last bow, and then surrender the stage to those who have to finish the work you started.

Could you have finished it yourselves? Who the hell knows. You've been too busy taking bows to try.

Just What IS a Progressive, Anyway?

2009-12-16T21:41:00.000-08:00

I have come to realize, viewing the ungodly mess that is American politics at this time, that the word "progressive" has lost all meaning.

Those who use it really employed a sort of circular logic, anyway. "It's progress because we like it, so since we think it's progress, that's what it is." Circular reasoning subjects itself to no outside scrutiny; it simply says what it says, and that -- to those who think within that circle -- is enough to make it so.

There's a reason I haven't posted much here in quite a while, and it goes beyond the fact that I'm now establishing myself as a professional freelance writer. That takes time, it's true -- but it doesn't take THAT much time. I haven't been posting regularly because I've been taking it all in: watching, listening and learning. Doing a lot of thinking and rethinking, and coming to the conclusions that will guide this Blog from this point on.

Those on the Left are cackling about what hypocrites the conservatives are for having blindly followed Boy Bush for eight years, thereby forfeiting any right they ever had to claim they stood for limited government, low taxes or individual liberty. And they are right in this criticism -- as far as it goes.

The trouble is that it doesn't really go very far. The "progressives" haven't really learned anything from those eight nightmarish years, either. At least -- however belatedly, and with however much egg on their faces -- conservatives are now waking up. The Leftists are still cackling and crowing about what hypocrites the conservatives are -- but these sterling "progressives" are even bigger hypocrites than they are.

They haven't learned anything from it all, either.

All they want to do, now, is take over the more-gargantuan-and-monstrous-than-ever big-government apparatus Boy Bush built up and run it themselves. They talked a good libertarian game, many of them, when they were out of power. I hoped that they were sincere, but I have come to see they weren't.

If this healthcare boondoggle passes, American citizens will actually be forced by law to buy government-run health insurance -- or be penalized for resisting. Would another four years of Bush have been worse than this?

Just as bad, perhaps. But it's hard to believe it could have been worse.

Barack Obama is an unmitigated disaster as President of the United States. I'm sorry I ever voted for him. I still don't think McCain was any prize, either, but he almost certainly would have been better.

I still have my quarrels with some libertarians. But I guess I forgot for a while that my differences were with them as individuals, rather than with libertarianism itself. This cult of personality business can lead us into any number of errors.

So, all in all, I have come to realize I'm still a libertarian (small "l"). And earlier this month, I made the move official by joining the Libertarian (big "L") Party. I still can't stand the direction the Republicans have been going. They have a lot of changing to do before I'd ever consider them. Their long association with bigots and religious quacks is far too embarrassing for me to want to have anything to do with.

Anyway, this Blog is now set to sally forth. It isn't really a new direction, just a steadier one. I still consider myself (not a progressive, which has come to mean next to nothing, but) a liberal. But I suppose I can best describe myself as a Classical Liberal. Which is the same thing, really, as a Goldwater conservative.

It all still makes my head spin. But damn, it's fascinating stuff. I love politics, no matter how crazy. If you'll keep tuning in here, I can promise you'll get all the crazy politics you can handle.

A Post to Keep You Posted

2009-11-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

I still have plans for this Blog. It remains "under construction." As my search for gainful employment continues, and I establish myself as a freelance writer who actually makes a living from my work, blogging has fallen by the wayside.

There's a need for the out-of-the-box perspective of a left-leaning libertarian. As the Democrats prove themselves nothing more than a pale reflection of the Republicans -- corporate toadies, all -- those of us who feel we are "neither of the above" still recognize the need for change to be something more than merely a presidential campaign slogan.

There have to be at least a few blogs dedicated to that proposition. Actually, many more than a few. And mine is one of them.

I intend to explore some of the topics that interest me in the months ahead. For example, what does it mean to be an "independent," a third-party devotee, or simply someone who must check the box marked "none of the above" when all that is offered "above" is Republican, Democrat or something vaguely and generically labeled "Independent" -- and we want our voice to be heard to say something more emphatically distinct?

The reason for this Blog's name remains. We all, indeed, live in a century "born on 9-11." This continues to be relevant not only, to me, because I was born one long-ago and faraway September 11th, but because the world in which I now live dates its life from that momentous 9-11 of 2001.

Our economy was wrecked by the ruinous wars we've waged since those fateful attacks. We all still deal with that reality daily. What does that mean for us? The official version, served up to us by the corporate-owned mainstream media, is not only a lie, it is useless. Only the alternative media is willing to find the truth and tell it, and blogs like this one are a part of that process.

So again, I encourage all interested parties to "watch this space." I haven't forgotten you. And I hope you haven't entirely forgotten me.

I'll be posting from time to time, hopefully less and less gradually as I figure out exactly what I want to explore here. Most of my posts here will continue to test out ideas I will explore more fully elsewhere, on matters of progressive politics and progressive faith.

So in the words of the Terminator, "I'll be back." Not to terminate, but to continue. I persist in my ambition to build a readership here -- and to make this Blog a living, active part of the media that matters because it deals with what really matters.

Life goes on, for me and for all of us. And as it does, "Born on 9-11" will be right there with it.

Watch This Space...

2009-06-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

For the next few weeks, my posts will be sparse and very basic. I'm gearing up to try to make a living yet again, after months of unemployment. That, and my other writing duties, will right now take up most of my time.

I'll be depending upon three separate streams of income: freelance writing, temp-work and advertising sales for a newspaper, The Arizona Democrat, for which I also write. These three income streams will all be weak, at first. But once I'm on track -- God willing -- with all of them, I hope to be able to make it very nicely without ever having to take another eight-to-five, big-corporate job. This is, indeed, a longtime dream I now finally hope to fulfill.

I intend to find ways to improve this Blog and build up its readership. Everything else I write is pretty widely read (or, in the case of my plays, performed) and it is difficult to keep my focus on a format I'm not sure many people are currently reading.

I'm going to make this Blog bigger and better. But first, I need to make sure I can go on eating regularly. That concern obviously eclipses all others.

I'll try to go on posting here every Wednesday. Perhaps I'll write about my adventures in survival during this Great Recession. I hope that at least a few of you will keep on watching this space. And that, in the near future, you will be joined by many more.

Have a happy Wednesday, and God Bless...

California Secedes From the Union

2009-05-27T02:15:00.000-07:00

Now that the California Supreme Court has ruled to uphold Proposition 8, it is official: they don't want the United States of America anymore. They have rejected the U.S. Constitution, once and for all.

The rights of ALL Americans are guaranteed under the United States Constitution. It says NOTHING about the people's basic rights being subject to the whims of the voters. What this ruling by the California Supreme Court does is establish a new precedent. Now the rights of ANY minority group can be restricted by a voting majority.

Our Founders must be spinning in their graves. This wacky ruling basically nullifies the very principle of equality under the law. We are now, if we are members of ANY minority, officially separate and unequal.

We didn't need the Nazis or the Soviets to take us over. We did this to ourselves. Did none of those who voted in that election realize they were voting on whether they wanted to keep the U.S. Constitution -- or scrap it?

If ANYONE'S rights are threatened, EVERYONE'S rights are in doubt. I thought we had already learned this. The California Supreme Court's ruling imperils the very possibility of equal rights, and equal protection under the law, in this country.

This is a dark week for America. The very survival of the United States, as we have known and loved it for over two hundred years, is now endangered.

How can they put the genie back in the bottle? I have no idea whether it is even possible.

Of course the measure will go back on the ballot in California. The people there will, one way or another, be participating in mob rule. Congratulations, California Supremes. You have accomplished what the Nazis and the Soviets were never able to do.

If the mob really wants to restore the U.S. Constitution, it will vote not only to repeal Proposition Hate but to impeach every state "justice" who ruled to overthrow the supreme law of the land.

"Between a Rock and a Hard Place"

2009-05-20T13:38:00.001-07:00

Around the blogosphere, I still hear lots of weeping and gnashing of teeth about President Obama's inaction on LGBT issues. Lots of people seem surprised, though I don't know why.

As I've said before on this Blog, President Obama is going to disappoint us. He is a politician, and he's already thinking about reelection. All Democratic officeholders are politicians. Again, where is the surprise here?

One of gay conservatives' favorite games of obfuscation is to conflate "Democrat" with "progressive" and vice versa. As if all Democrats were progressives, and all progressives Democrats. No one familiar with the American Left and Center is dumb enough to believe this. In fact, a good many progressives will have nothing to do with the Democratic Party, and all too many Democrats are anything but progressives -- as they themselves would be the first to tell you.

It is not President Obama's job to lead on LGBT issues. That's right; you heard me. That isn't his job, it's ours.

He will do whatever we make him do. Progressives elected him. We couldn't have done it without the centrists, or the moderates, or whatever they're calling themselves these days. But right-wing Republican "culture warriors" had virtually nothing to do with his election -- that is, besides disgusting the rest of the country into turning toward Obama and away from right-wing "culture wars."

President Obama knows that. He will not cave in to that crowd. Like most Democrats, he seems to be enamored by the notion that "the center" is where it's at. How will he know better if we don't show him?

Again, that's OUR job.

All too many Americans are stuck between the "rock" of timidity and the "hard place" of despair. Both of these are passive, helpless, whiny, cowardly positions. Neither is a place of strength, much less of the hope for which we voted.

The "conventional wisdom" says we must be careful not to upset "the center." But the "center" does not determine itself; its position is determined, almost entirely, by the movers and shakers on the Right and the Left. WE are the ones who will decide where the center is. The Right has so completely lost all credibility that we have the rare opportunity to determine this practically by ourselves.

We do need for there to be some sort of a "center," to keep us from sliding too far to the Left. If we scare the hell out of everybody and make nuisances of ourselves, we will empower the Right to make a resurgence. It is, in fact, the only hope they've got. But the "center" can function only as a brake; it can never, ever be an engine. We on the Left must be the engine.

To passively sit by and expect Obama to do everything for us will lead to nothing but more of the sort of whining we now hear. It will get us nowhere. Engines don't whine unless they're broken.

On the other hand, to give up and despair of ever accomplishing anything because Obama hasn't waved his magic wand and automatically transformed the country into exactly what we want it to be won't help either. This is a representative democracy. Obama's job is to follow OUR lead.

We need to dig ourselves out from between the "rock" and the "hard place." And we need to get busy. We now have an unprecedented opportunity to get the country moving -- once again -- in a progressive direction. If we fail at it, we'll have nobody to whine at about it but ourselves.

Another Word from Your (would-be) Empress

2009-05-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

I get questioned, regularly, on why I am no longer a libertarian. And when I remind those who know me that the most I ever did was briefly flirt with libertarianism (it was where I happened to be at the time I started this Blog), my questioners are not moved. They note that I still refer to myself, on the masthead, as a "libertarian-leaning liberal." My answer to that is that I still am.

If I were the Empress of America, this would be a land of minimal government and a strong and energetic progressive spirit. It would voluntarily move -- in a libertarian sort of way -- in a progressive direction. I would, however, still see a governmental role in regulating commerce. And I would not allow the chartering of large corporations. Then again, if I were an empress, I don't suppose any libertarian nation would ever let me reign in the first place.

Enough of fantasy. Libertarian philosophy, as I have said before, is nearly perfect on paper. But we don't live on paper; we live in the real world. And in the real world, as libertarians would be the first to assert, all power needs to be checked and counterbalanced. The only way to establish such a counterbalance of power, concentrated in the hands of large corporations, is by government regulation. "Libertarians" who fail to see this have a fatal blind spot.

In Lori-land, NO organization would be permitted to grab too much power: neither the government NOR big business. But in the real world, mega-corporations now wield a power even Stalinist Russia, Red China and Nazi Germany could only dream of. And that power was handed to them, on a silver platter, by the very governments who claim to support free trade. Free enterprise is not even possible under big-corporate capitalism. Far from being the same thing as genuine free enterprise, corporate gigantism (itself a product of government, as ALL corporations are the creatures of government) is actually the enemy of free enterprise.

Libertarianism, in its delusionary conviction that ALL business is automatically an effective counterbalance against government regulation, fails to recognize this. And again, it is a fatal flaw.

Big government and big business need each other, and they work hand-in-glove. Big ANYTHING quickly becomes too powerful and strangles individual liberty. For the record, I'm opposed to both forms of tyranny. When given free reign by the governments that profit from them, gigantic corporations can do as much harm as the most despotic states.

Bust up the big corporations, give all a fair chance, and make sure we all play by the same rules. I love baseball, but because I do so love the game, I am quick to see the need for umpires. I love free enterprise, but just as baseball could not survive without umpires, neither could free enterprise last very long without at least some governmental oversight. I love peace, but we would not enjoy it for very long without an army to defend us. I love order, but without the police we would have nothing but chaos.

This is why, though I think libertarians are the ones who should be -- need to be -- robust opponents of government excess, I nonetheless count myself as a libertarian-LEANING liberal instead of as a pure libertarian. Idealism has its limits, and in political reality, the "perfect" is the enemy of all achievable good. I've said most, if not all, of this already. And if I have to, I'll explain it again and again.

It's too important for us to fail to understand it. Just take this as another word from your (would-be) Empress.

"Workin' for da Man"

2009-05-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

Over the past week, I have gotten at least three more "phishing" emails. In this Great Recession, it's quite clear that instead of robbing rich bankers, the desperate are turning on their fellow commoners. And posing, ironically, as bankers themselves. They now completely identify with the oppressors. In the most literal sense, they are "workin' for da Man."

It is probably lost on these lost souls exactly what they have done. They have betrayed all solidarity with their own kind -- have, in a very real way, betrayed themselves. They can slap all the bank logos they want on their phony emails. They will never be a part of that world. And they have exiled themselves from the only world in which they ever could belong.

The beneficiaries of this trickery are not those who may eke out a few hundred, here or there, defrauding suckers online. They are the criminals in the big corporations these small-time hustlers so long to emulate. It suits the bigshots just fine when we turn against one another and steal from each other. It means we have totally given up on the very concept of justice.

The "phishers" are utterly hopeless. They are absolutely whipped.

Instead of stealing from each other, we should be standing up and demanding justice. There are vastly more of "us" than there are of "them." Indeed, the only way they can defeat us is to turn us against one another. They can escape our justice by getting us to give up on the very possibility of justice. If we really, persistently, undyingly believe in justice, then we will settle for nothing less.

I refuse to give up on justice. Not only will I not be victimized, but I will stand up and do all I can to demand justice -- to work for it. To devote myself to the fight for it. I know who my enemies are, and I will never turn on my friends.

"Phishers" and other crooks who prey upon innocent, law-abiding, hard-working people are nothing but pathetic losers. And they have sold their shrivelled little souls for nothing.

No ballads will ever be sung for them, no movies made about them. They are "workin' for da Man." Very likely, they will end up going to prison for him, too.

Who Says You Can't Herd Cats?

2009-04-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of nights ago, at our Progressive Democrats of America meeting, the topic of discussion was the difficulty of getting progressives to cooperate with each other on a cohesive agenda. Although I didn't hear this expression at the meeting, it was basically the old lament that "You can't herd cats."

Now, I don't know how good an analogy that is. I herd my cats every day: whenever I feed them, and whenever I go to the bathroom. Then, all four of 'em always run right along behind me. They never miss a meal, and they like to gather around the potty to bond with Mommy. To them it is not a private moment, but very much a family affair.

The complain about progessives is that we're all over the place. That we don't ALL agree on anything. And while we probably do really agree on most matters, it's certainly true that each of us seems to have our own burning, non-negotiable issue. Some insist we must all turn vegan, others that we must either accept or reject religious faith, while still others care mainly about reproductive choice, or gender equity, or labor empowerment, or whatever else. Of course this fragmentation is a legitimate cause for concern; we really do need to come together to work and fight for progress in a bigger, broader sense.

I, of course, have my own opinion as to what is most important -- what the overriding principle of the Left should be. Of course I do. My vote for primary necessity goes to the freedom of conscience. Whether this takes the form of religious faith -- as it does with me -- or simply of conscience in a general, non-religious sense, freedom of conscience is the essential basis, I believe, for all else.

The Right Wing, now led by the fanatical "Christian" Taliban, is hell-bent on the destruction of freedom of conscience for that very reason. The fact that they try so hard to hide their real agenda behind a counterfeit crusade for "religious freedom" -- meaning, for them, religious freedom for no one but themselves -- only underscores the evil here. These people would sully and corrupt the very values in which they so loudly claim to believe.

It is time for us to rally behind the one cause that MUST succeed if progress is to be achieved -- or the civilized world to be saved from destruction. May the misguided souls who want to drive people of faith out of the public square come to their senses about this before it is too late.

We need to learn how to herd cats. I've had a lot of practice at it, and even some real success. I'll do all I can to show the way.

"Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam..."

2009-04-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

Even armed with state-of-the-art filtering software, every day I find my email inbox cluttered with spam. Increasingly, not only in the "Spam" box, but in my regular inbox. It is as if Yahoo has been bombarded with so much of it, it is getting too exhausted to put it in its proper place.

Surfing the Internet, I find myself, more and more, playing Whack-a-Mole with advertising pop-ups. There are some sites I will no longer even visit because I know how bad the harrassment will be.

The desperation of the sales pitches -- the sheer, hysterical aggressiveness of them -- is unnerving. With all the dollars concentated so heavily, now, at the top, those underneath must scratch and scramble for every loose penny simply to survive. This is worse than degrading; it is insane.

Is it any wonder that, to some of the Fourteenth-Century dwellers in the Middle East, modernity seems like a scary thing?

What makes the situation worse, for nine-tenths of humankind on this planet, is that the richest ten percent "must" take so much more than it needs, or even knows what to do with. The entire situation is totally unsustainable. And it is long since past time for the ninety percent to take control.

Global warming, ozone depletion, famine, flooding, terrorism and war will only increase if this is not done. We are now getting only a tiny, frightening, peek-between-the-fingers glimpse at the Apocalypse to come.

Perhaps most troubling of all is the fact that those who claim to be trying to save us from that Apocalypse -- the rabidly, reactionarily religious of every sort -- are actually those who are cooperating the most slavishly with the forces bringing it all on. Because of terrorism, we're told we need to wage an endless "war on terror." Which only leads to more terrorism in reaction. Those who claim, in the "Christian" West, to be battling against the Antichrist -- in whatever sense they see this conflict taking shape -- actually are antichrists, themselves.

No matter how many teabaggy tantrums these people throw, the rest of us are now beginning to recognize this. Their increasingly-desperate political propaganda is no more substantive -- and contains no more truth -- than most of the spam-scams that daily clog our email inboxes.

It is time for us to hit the "delete" button on them all.

Healers, Heal Thyselves

2009-04-15T11:24:00.001-07:00

Alcoholics Anonymous has become pretty welcoming to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender folks. Which is a good thing, because there are a lot of drunks in the GLBT community. I should know, because I'm one of them. And I know a hell of a lot more than one.

The organization has a ways to go, however, when it comes to understanding how to make us FEEL welcome.

Mind-numbed, Bible-thumping dogmatists are not our favorite people. A lot of us have problems with mind-numbed, Big Book-thumping dogmatists, too. Some of us have even become them.

The Big Book is the A.A. "Bible." And it really is a lifeline to untold numbers of people. It is read and quoted, by many, with the same devotion with which legions of Christians rely upon the Bible. It really is a wise, reassuring, challenging and empowering book. I now read my Big Book every day -- right along with my Bible, the current version for me being "The Recovery Bible."

A friend, also in recovery, has warned me about "the thumpers." Not the Bible-thumpers, but the Big Book-thumpers. And he's right; they truly are scary, scary people.

Some folks, when they became involved in A.A., seem to have been assimilated into the Borg.

I had a conversation, a few nights ago, with two lesbians who are in A.A. They knew virtually nothing about me except that I was in A.A., too, and that I had only recently returned to regular meetings.

For all they knew, I could have been sober for twenty years. It's actually only been two and a half, but whatever the case may be, my clear implication, in the little I did reveal about myself, was that I was not an active drunk and that, in fact, I had been sober for some time.

For reasons quite unclear to me (and probably even to themselves), they insisted on assuming I was only two or three tottering steps away from the halfway house.

One of them informed me -- with all the self-assurance of an expert -- that I "had not yet accepted that I was an alcoholic." And how had she reached this conclusion? Because I said I wanted a sponsor who actually cared enough about me to get to know me.

Heresy! Burn me at the stake, and hold a Big Book before my eyes as I roast. I'm not sure why it's heresy, but a mind-numbed dogmatist basically told me so.

It was obviously very important to her that she knew more than me, and that I was helpless. I recognize this sort of attitude; I grew up with a recovering-alcoholic father. It is the behavior of a classic dry drunk.

My temporary sponsor (and believe me, she is temporary) tends to treat me the same way: very bossily and condescendingly -- almost with contempt. Dry drunks, who are, of course, recovering alcoholics who's still got a lot of recovering left to do, seem to transfer contempt for themselves into contempt for those who happen to be at an earlier stage of recovery than they are.

I need a sponsor who has been sober long enough -- and who has recovered sufficiently -- to share her recovery with me, instead of her sickness. Only someone who isn't very smart, or very honest, could smugly diagnose my desire for a healthy healer as any unwillingness, on my part, to admit that I'm in need of healing.

Thank God, not every A.A. member's eyes glaze over into otherworldly obsessiveness when I speak with them. Some are farther along in their recovery than others. I hope and pray I'll find a regular sponsor at least a little farther along than I am. One, in other words, who can actually be of help to me.

I shouldn't be surprised that in A.A., there are a lot of sick people. In A.A., we're all sick people. But just as the Bible can be used as an excuse to keep from growing in holiness, the Big Book can certainly be used to keep from growing in health.

Thumpers of either Book need to stop their thumping and get back to their reading. It's especially unbecoming for straight dry drunks to lecture gay ones about God (as my temporary sponsor is prone to do) as if we could never possibly have heard of "Him" before. They need to be part of the solution, instead of being part of the problem.

Healers, heal thyselves.

"Barney" People

2009-04-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make. For me, watching old reruns of The Andy Griffith Show is a spiritual experience. It's not as goofy as it sounds. There are actually churches that do Bible studies based on the show. At this particular time of my life, living in the house where I grew up -- and where my father died -- I find it strangely comforting to spend some of my evenings in Mayberry on TV Land.

Indeed, I live alone with ghosts. They may be only in my mind, but they seem very real. I'm following in my father's footsteps, now, by staying sober. Like many recovering alcoholics, I get a lot of support from friends also in recovery. We share our stories, and we often laugh at all the common themes.

It seems, to this Andy Griffith fan, that there are basically two kinds of folks. There are "Andy" people, and there are "Barney" people. The "Andys" are self-confident, secure in their egos, comfortable in their own skins. The "Barneys" are always full of bravado, trying to prove themselves, but shadowed by self-doubt. Recovering drunks are almost always "Barney" people.

Oh, we're not all as funny as Barney. Some of us aren't very funny at all. But, like Barney, we're full of blarney. We've all just endured eight years of a recovering drunk: a classic "Barney" guy. Now we seem to have elected an "Andy." There's a new sheriff in town, and I think we can all see the difference already.

For years, we strutted and blustered around the planet, issuing macho ultimatums and telling people they were "either for us or against us." We proclaimed that our "mission" was "accomplished" -- and then the war went on and on. Our new "Andy," in contrast, goes abroad making friends, settling disputes and smoothing ruffled feathers. He understands that God can love us -- and everybody else at the same time. And Barney can keep that bullet in his pocket where it belongs.

Coming out as a lesbian was also, for me, a highly spiritual experience. And it was transformative, because it showed me just how powerful honesty can be. God loves me as I am, and I can see that now. Andy always knew that God loved Barney, which is why, for so many years, he so gently and compassionately put up with all those crazy antics.

Being "out" helps transform our inner Barneys -- our insecure egotists -- into Andys. Very much the same way that sobriety does. Gradually, we come to realize that we are loved, and accepted, as we are. "If God is for us," as Scripture says, "then who can stand against us?"

There's a reason why so many of us turn to alcohol or drugs to sustain us. We're filled with insecurity, loneliness and pain. Many of us feel that no one really understands us -- or would love us if they did. But God is the Ultimate Andy. God knows us, and accepts us, inside and out.

I couldn't stay sober without God's help. In fact, without it I couldn't accept myself at all. But I'm done with booze, with closets and with being Barney. And so -- thank God -- is the country. There's a new sheriff in town.

Phishin' With Bonnie and Clyde

2009-04-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

We keep being told that we're in the worst hole we've been in since the Thirties. Though it's too early to tell if this is a bona fide depression, it's being widely hailed (by those media minions who still have jobs) as "The Great Recession."

Gotta have a catchy name for it. Not that it makes the whole thing any easier to take. But hey, at least we know what to call it!

Among the many parallels between This One and That One, nearly eighty years ago, there's the surge in desperate crime. Not as violent, perhaps, as the gangland gunbattles of yore, but certainly just as banjo-twangingly, depravedly, folksily bold. For sure. No big names are likely to come out of these. Our Bonnies and Clydes are all anonymous.

I don't suppose what happened to me yesterday morning, when I checked my emails, was exactly the same as having a gun stuck in my face and my wallet demanded of me, but it was only slightly less bothersome. I got one bearing the Bank of America logo and informing me that there had been three unsuccessful log-in attempts to my online banking account. They said, therefore, that they "needed" my personal information verified (i.e. given to them), so they'd know that I was really me. If they did not receive this, they threatened, my account would be closed.

"Stick 'em up! Your money or your life! Don't talk back, and you won't get hurt!"

I called Bank of America, understandably mystified, since I don't do any online banking. (And this is probably why.)

When I read the email to the lady from the bank, she had a good laugh. This missive was the product of a mind bereft of even an eighth-grade education. "It's all about your security," it concluded. The education of the author seems to have come almost entirely from TV commercials.

"Yo, dude...it's all good!"

The bank lady advised me to forward the email to their fraud department so they could check it out. I did, and an impressively short time later, they sent a message telling me that this was, indeed, an attempt at "phishing." They were polite about it, but they basically said they hoped I hadn't been dumb enough to give those creeps the information they were seeking.

Nice to know Bank of America is looking out for us. Especially since, thanks to our tax money, they are now wholly a subsidiary of us.

Thank you, no, I gave the creeps nothing. Usually, when I get something like this, I shoot back a reply wishing them "Happy phishing!" This time, I restrained myself from such small satisfactions.

I could almost hear those banjos dueling. This has been happening more and more often to me lately. An indication, I imagine, of desperate times.

The question that must be asked, of course, is the same one people probably used to ask the bandits of the Thirties: "Wouldn't it just be easier to look for a real job?"

Easier, maybe, but I guess not as much fun.

I don't think the corporate bigshots who've been robbing us all are having very much fun right now, because we have figured out their racket. More than a few of us are even trying -- on a much smaller scale -- to copy it. Too many of the small-fry will get away with it. But I don't guess too many more of the big phishies will.

At least in the old days, the gang-bangers robbed the people who were robbing everyone else. This is a part of what I'm getting at when I compare the morality of our response "now" to the people's response "then." The Bonnies and Clydes of today had just better remain anonymous. Were they to come out and proclaim themselves, We the People would tear them limb from limb.

The crooks aren't the only people getting desperate. And there are mega-many more of "us" than there are of "them."

We'll get all this sorted out together. The Great American Kleptocracy is going down, and it's going down hard. If we're able to bring this about soon enough, perhaps our "Great Recession" will lead not to another depression, but to a new, better and fairer prosperity.

Let's do some "phishing" of our own. Let's catch these crooks and nail 'em to the wall. All of 'em, of every size. We all know what happened to Bonnie and Clyde. May the big-time looters meet justice in an only slightly less bothersome way.

Welcoming Miracles

2009-03-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

Over the past decade, I've been something of a wanderer. I was, for a while, estranged from my family. I left my longtime church and went through a long search for another one. Several close friends moved out of state. Then my longtime therapist (also a good friend) passed away -- shortly before first my father and then my mother also died.

I have tried to face too much alone. Now that I have -- at last -- found the church I've been searching for all these years, I'm finding it easy to make friends. I've begun reaching out and finding support -- building community -- and as I get more involved in church, politics and life, I'm feelin' the love again.

Now that, once again, something I greatly feared turned out to be groundless, I can admit this. For a long time, I was afraid that if I reached out for fellowship and support, everyone would yawn, shrug and turn away. What actually did happen is what I should have known would happen. People have been wonderful. A good many of them -- more than I could have hoped for -- have responded with great warmth and generosity of spirit.

People are better than I thought they were. There's much more goodness in them than I realized. I'd gotten pretty jaundiced in my estimation of human nature. We're not devils (at least, most of us aren't). And we do have better angels in our nature.

I've also been worried about how we, as a nation, would respond to the economic crisis we're all living through. Would we be at each other's throats, tearing our fellow human beings to shreds? Would we still be capable of pulling together and treating each other with compassion?

It's too early to know for sure, but I can only base my guess on my own, personal experience of late. In times of need, people will rally. We really WANT to care about others. Indeed, it seems to be a big part of who God made us to be.

And God is the key here. As I began actually reaching out for help and personal support, I made my need for this part of my daily prayer-life. As I poured out my need to God in prayer, I truly believe that "He" heard me.

Boy, did "He" ever! I asked, and I have received. Knocked, and the door was opened. Blessing has been poured out in abundance. My cup truly runneth over.

God has answered my prayers before, of course. It's happened so often that if I had any sense, I would no longer be surprised. Because God knows exactly what I need, "He" seems to prompt me, in fact, to know what I should pray for -- and to have the guts to go ahead and ask.

Everything good comes from God -- both inside of us and from without. That's true for us as individuals, and it's true for us collectively, as well.

I've been praying for us to come together now as a nation -- and as a world. I believe God put it into my heart, as "He" has into the hearts of so many others, to ask for this. Just as God has given us the will to pray for this -- so right, and so very, very crucial to us all -- God will certainly answer these fervent prayers of ours. The miracle is coming. Let's be sure we're ready to welcome it with arms wide open.

Ship of Fools

2009-03-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

As happens whenever the Religious Right's rampages flare to supernova magnitude, a major backlash is boiling. Many, many people at the Left and Center are angry -- VERY angry. The predictable cries now ring loudly again for religion's total, surgical removal from the public square.

Of course we don't study history anymore, so many of us seem unable to put what's going on in any intelligent perspective.

This is a regular cycle: the fundamentalist zealots get too big for their britches, they manage to convince the majority in society that they are the only "real" people of faith and their version of faith its sole legitimate form, everybody else gets good and heartily sick of them, there is a large-scale strangle-the-last-priest-with-his-own-entrails revolt against all things religious, and we enter another period of sterile secularity. Then, when people realize how -- well -- sterile this overreaction really is, in rush the fundamentalist zealots again to convince us how much we really need to get religion. Their brand of it, of course.

This is like keeping an ocean liner afloat by rushing madly, pell mell, back and forth from starboard to port. Just as the ship is ready to capsize in one direction, we ALL have to run over to the other side -- until it's about to flip over that way -- when we all head back over to the side opposite.

My grandfather was a deep-water diver in the Coast Guard, stationed on the Great Lakes, in 1915 when just such an event happened for real. The Eastland, a big pleasure cruiser, was on its way out of the harbor for a holiday jaunt. Everybody ran over to the side closest to the crowds on shore to wave at them. But they didn't get the chance to switch sides before the boat capsized. My grandfather pulled hundreds of dead people out of the water.

If we keep this nonsense up, that may eventually happen to our entire society. In part of the Middle East, it may be happening already.

Spiritual aridity always -- ALWAYS -- leads to spiritual excess. Human beings are incurably spiritual. This can be suppressed for a while, but it always, and inevitably, comes roaring back with a vengeance.

The progressive religious movement (Christian, Jewish, Muslim and whatever other tradition may be capable of progress) is an attempt to end this cycle and bring lasting spiritual health. It tries to spread us all out over the ship so we're more equitably distributed and the vessel can proceed in stability and safety. Not as exciting, perhaps -- but a lot less traumatic.

The antidote for bad religion just may be better religion, instead of none at all.

It seems that those at either extreme view religion only in stark terms of either/or. You're either a red-eyed, foaming-at-the-mouth fanatic, convinced that God is telling you to set the whole world afire, or else you're so sane and reasonable you allow yourself to believe in nothing.

The hardcore skeptics have the same attitude toward progressives that the fundies do. They are violently allergic to reasoned restraint, mutual respect or thoughtful, tolerant faith. We progressives are "flaky" or "wishy-washy," they scream. And we are, for the most part, too polite to tell these lunatics to calm down and stop screaming. To just stop scrambling back and forth from one side of the ship to the other and making us all pitch and roll along with it.

Do we really need all this drama? Must we allow extremists to shout past us and shove us around?

Again, folks, PLEASE try to evolve. We're supposed to be intelligent beings. Whether we all want to admit it or not, we are spiritual beings, too. We don't all have to believe the same things. But we also don't have to drown ourselves and everybody else.

Sucks to be Us

2009-03-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

My main worry about this economic implosion -- for the country, I mean -- is not merely economic. It's moral and, deeper still, spiritual. This was primarily not just an economic crisis in the first place. It's been moral and spiritual from the start.

We got into this because thirty years of glorifying selfishness and greed as virtues have corrupted us almost beyond recognition. This isn't ordinary human sinfulness; it is sinfulness on steroids. Which is exactly what a stunted-into-perpetual-infancy society on steroids is bound to become. So much for our big swing to the political and religious "Right."

The last time conservative Republican idiocy led this country to near-ruin, we had at least some residual decency left to pull us together, help us recognize our common humanity and see us through. It hasn't been "liberalism" that has corrupted us. These past three decades -- over which conservatives have been so insistent to have sole rule -- have nearly destroyed our ability to recover.

Everyone who still has a job, and a house, and a functioning life, looks at those who seem to be losing everything and thinks, "Oh, well...sucks to be you."

Frankly, it sucks to be ALL of us.

Not only because it could be anybody tomorrow, and perhaps all of us the next day, but because we no longer even seem to realize how connected we are to each other -- whether we want to be or not.

Human beings did not survive, from the stone age all the way 'til the space age, merely by "competing" with other human beings. That alone would, sooner or later, have driven us into extinction. No, human beings made it this far by cooperating and figuring out how to get along. By recognizing that a situation dangerous to one might very likely be one that endangered all.

Of course there must be some competition between us in order to make us strive to be our best. But if that isn't healthily balanced with cooperation, it will...well, it will lead to what's happening right now.

Our only hope is the sharp veer to the Left -- and back to sanity -- those in the nation who have not completely lost their minds are now attempting. Of course the barbarian children are trying to stop us. And of course we can't let them.

It does indeed suck to be them. But it doesn't have to suck, after all, to be the rest of us.

Yes, we evolved from apes. But we're not just apes anymore. God got us here how "He" got us here. And if we truly believe that Jesus revealed Who God is, then we need to remember what that has to mean for us. We have evolved into beings who are moral and spiritual, as well as animal.

I will make this perfectly clear. It is impossible to genuinely live according to the conviction that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh and yet support -- or even condone -- letting society function like some gigantic jungle.

It's time to free Jesus. The barbarian children have been holding Him hostage.

Too bad they don't understand that according to God's scheme, it doesn't have to suck to be anybody.

Some Corrections I Wish to Make (But Evidently Can't)

2009-03-04T11:32:00.001-08:00

Dear gentle reader, please excuse the sorry state of this week's post. I cannot find ANYTHING in Blogger to tell me (A) how the spacing of the paragraphs got screwed-up in the first place or (B) how to fix it.

I am not a computer whiz, to say the very least. It would be so peachy if there were, at some point, somewhere in the universe an ACTUAL HUMAN BEING to consult about technical difficulties like these.

I think the post below is a good one. I hope you'll overlook its squished appearance and give it a read anyway.

Please see below the link to the Andrew Sullivan "Daily Dish" post to which I refer. It was when I tried to insert that link in this week's post that all hell broke loose on the spacing of the paragraphs.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/03/neuro-soul.html

Unforgettable...That's What We Are

2009-03-04T11:18:00.000-08:00

"Pure science is always secular and horizontal in its references, and cannot express the vertical tendencies in culture which refer to the ultimate source of meaning in life."

-- Reinhold Niebuhr

Andrew Sulluvan seems concerned that anti-science fundamentalists are next going to attack neuroscientists the way they've already made war on evolutionary biologists. Thus far no major volleys have been fired, but I suppose it is possible. Rather odd, however, for a Catholic like Sullivan to be siding with those who would deny the existence of the soul. Strange as it may seem, for a fellow gay Christian -- who is no fan of the fundies, either -- I can rather see what might be the "evangelical" crowd's point.

When scientists extrapolate on their latest theories -- however plausible, interesting and possibly true -- once they state that this-or-that-one "proves" there is no God (or, in this case, no life hereafter), they are bringing on the fight.

I have already gone on record that I believe in God, also believe in evolution, and see the two concepts as not only compatible but complementary. But as illogical as fundamentalists can be about evolution, that was a war they didn't exactly start.

I remember sitting in science classes, in public school, and actually being told that evolution "proved" there was no God. And as a Christian, I didn't like it, either. Many scientists are openly antagonistic toward religion, and go out of their way to pull Christians' whiskers every chance they get. They asked for the antagonism, so they sound pretty silly crying about it.

If they start taunting us about how their latest neuroscientific studies supposedly "disprove" the possibility of an afterlife, they are definitely shouting "fire!" in a crowded theater. And they will deserve all the grief they get.

Okay, so when we die, our brain activity totally ceases. And while we're alive, all of our mental, emotional and -- apparently -- even spiritual functions are utterly dependent on our brain's neurochemical activity. Excuse me, but "duh!"

This is new?! Have we not pretty much always known that? Maybe I'm just slow, but this seems to be what the vast majority of the human race has always taken for granted. If, indeed, there is

no God, then there probably is no afterlife. But if -- as I and many other people still stubbornly affirm -- God is real, then there's absolutely no reason why "He" can't work around the neurochemical aspect of the situation.

Those who die, as the Bible says, "die in the Lord" (Rev. 14:13). If there really IS a Lord, then I fail to see the problem. What did people expect, that the human soul was like some tiny, fetus-like creature with a gigantic head who perched somewhere behind the cerebral cortex and plugged it all into a computer? Or the guy behind the screen in "The Wizard of Oz?" Puh-leeze, folks.

We continue always to live, I do believe, in the Mind of God. Nobody has ever been able to prove we didn't start out there in the first place, so there's no way they can prove we don't end up there, as well.

God never, ever forgets us, and God goes on forever. What is that, if not eternal life? It may not sound like much to some, but the memory of God is not likely to be as perishable as that of our loved ones here on earth -- who'll die like we will -- or even that of an entire civilization, which will one day inevitably crumble and be swept away. The Mind of God has called into being all that ever was, is now and ever will be. That seems, to me, to be a pretty secure place to be.

God's thoughts are so enlivening that they created us. They can certainly sustain us, too.

Christians need to stop worrying about things that cannot begin to be problems for God. We need to stop bragging about our great faith and begin living like we actually have it. No more

letting all the scoffers pull our whiskers. If we didn't make it so much fun for them, they'd go pick on somebody else.

To God, we're unforgettable. And that's good enough for me. As long as "He" never forgets us, our eternal survival is assured. Now, it's HOW God remembers us that determines what sort of an eternity we will have.

Corporate Kabuki

2009-02-25T11:29:00.000-08:00

I can now totally understand how Nazi Germany happened. Not to mention the Salem Witch Trials, the Spanish Inquisition, the Stalinist Purges and every other noted instance of mass insanity. Over a decade of having worked for major corporations has taught me all I need to know. Like these other eruptions of evil, our corporate age has brought out human nature's very worst.

Job-hunting, in these troubled times, heavily embroils us in a ritual I can only call Corporate Kabuki. It is an elaborate mummery, totally removed from reality: the domain of pisspot tyrants. And it demands, from those dependend upon it, nothing less than mindless and degrading fealty.

When you apply for a corporate job, the stupid grows like fungus on the process from the start.

"What are your aspirations for a career in Acme Enterprises?" you are asked. And of course, you are expected to tell them something grand. "I just need a damn job," would be the real answer. But that's the one you're not allowed to give.

You are expected to grovel. And certainly, when you play along with their little game of debase-ball and enthuse, with manufactured excitement, about your glorious potential future in widgetry, that is exactly what you are doing.

They know that, even if you're foolish enough to actually dream of climbing the widget ladder, they're only going to keep you 'til the next downsize and then dump you back on the street -- cheating you out of even a minimally-decent severance and, if at all possible, with absolutely no advance warning.

Either that, or -- and this is infinitely worse -- they will keep you for twenty-nine years, eleven months and three days, cutting you loose a matter of weeks before you were set to retire and collect whatever insultingly piddly pension they'd have condescended to give you.

Why do they do this? Why, simply because they can. They're frightened, cruel little people, and their only joy in life comes from lording their petty power over their underlings. The only difference between these soul-dead droids and the Nazis, or the Inquisitors, is one of opportunity.

They think they're frightened because the world is such a cold, hard place. But they have, by their own consent, become part of the problem instead of the solution. They are working to make the world even colder and harder than it has to be. They delude themselves into thinking "that's just the way it is" and that they have no choice. But of course they have a choice -- and of course they've made it.

That people like these continue to get hired and promoted -- just by playing the game -- when they have not a spark of originality, or even real humanity, to offer their employers, speaks volumes about how this situation got to be the way it is in the first place. If these are the sort of people they hire, then no wonder corporate executives hold their workers in such contempt.

The fakery goes on and on throughout the process, from the initial job-search on through to the Big Dump -- whenever it comes. And why? Because they want to get all they can out of us, giving as little as possible in exchange.

It is this that MUST be changed. And the only way we can change it is by WISING UP.

We don't need to devote ourselves to our corporate overlords the way medieval monks and nuns devoted themselves to the Church. We can hire out for a time -- as long as the arrangement remains mutually beneficial -- and then say "sayonara" when we've found something better. We know good and well we don't have any glorious future in widgets. But then again, why the hell would we even WANT one?

They've lost us. They no longer deserve our loyalty, and they never did deserve our dreams, our identities or our very lives. At one time they did deserve our loyalty, and it is entirely by their own treachery that they have lost it.

Wouldn't it be better if we COULD simply be honest with them, and they with us? Then we'd all know pretty much what to count on and what not to. The kabuki routine serves nobody. It has turned corporations and their workers into mortal enemies.

When the kabuki finally comes to an end, we will be able to work out a system that is fairer and more honest for both sides. Dishonesty brings out nothing but evil. It can never truly serve the good.

They've got to stop punishing those who tell them the truth. They've got to stop rewarding mindless conformity and moral cowardice. In the end, they're punishing themselves far more than they are us.

The curtain is coming down on the kabuki. But real life will go on.

Evolve, Already!

2009-02-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

As we pass the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, we hear the usual plaudits of him from the rational Left and irrational shrieks against him from the Christianist-infested Right. The stupidity of Christianist superstition has so taken over this country that polls show a frighteningly high percentage of the populace unwilling to "accept" evolution.

If these people were sincere -- if they had any principles at all -- they'd refuse to accept all the benefits that have accrued from agriculture, pharmacology, medicine and genetics.

Wait -- they can't do that. It would be impossible. Nearly all modern biological science is irrevocably based upon evolution.

New discoveries in genetics are verifying evolutionary theory every day. "Just" a theory? Sure. But without question, evolution is the best-attested scientific theory in human history.

Let's just go ahead and call Christianist crap science exactly what it is. It is atheism too cowardly and dishonest even to call itself by its right name. It is an insult to the God Who made us -- spitting right in "His" face -- because it is, in its self-indulgent fear, unwilling to appreciate the way God actually chose to make us.

Faith? It has absolutely nothing to do with faith. It is the anti-faith of people too feeble to believe.

If God is real, then truth need never be feared. Ever. Whether it leads in the direction people's pointy little heads expect it to or not. God did not "have to" make us the way all too many of us would have been more comfortable believing that "He" did. Sorry. Get over it, and get over yourselves if you don't like it.

"Intelligent Design?" Of course it is. The problem, for fundamentalists, is that they have confused themselves with God. They can't figure out how -- or why -- God would work to create through the slow, hit-or-miss process of evolution instead of simply going "zap!" and blinking everything into being, the way Samantha did on Bewitched.

But that is their problem -- not God's. Nor need it be anybody else's.

The anti-evolutionist know-nothings claim that evolution, if universally accepted, would make us more animal-like. Actually, and quite ironically, they use "creationism" -- whatever they want to call it -- to accomplish the very same purpose. It is used, by this crowd, as an excuse to behave like beasts instead of people.

If God just zapped us all here, then we "have to" keep carrying on like selfish, fearful, hateful, avaricous animals. We have no responsibility to keep on growing and learning. This is why these biological anti-Darwinists are, paradoxically, such fervent and devoted social Darwinists.

The only problem for those who are "Christians" -- as most of such people claim to be -- is that "creationism" would render the Gospel of Jesus Christ totally meaningless. It would reveal that God's relationship to human beings was entirely mechanistic and dictatorial -- that we were, to "Him," nothing more than puppets or robots, bearing little or no responsibility for how we lived our lives or what we were capable of becoming. The entire teaching of Christ, in Whom Christians believe that God can be most clearly seen, can be summed up in one urgent exhortation: "Evolve, already!"

Not only does science verify evolution, but evolution verifies the Christian faith. That's right -- it does not disprove it, but actually verifies it. It shows us that God's very mind, in "His" means of creating, works in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

So, indeed, Jesus is Lord. And someday, when sanity prevails, Charles Darwin will be recognized as the prophet he really was.

Evolve, already!

Taking Care of Bidness

2009-02-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

As I look for another job, I can't help but notice that the opportunities are drying up out there. Why are there so few available jobs? The real question, I believe, is why do we, as a society, have so little use for human beings?

We are fast approaching a world in which most human beings will be obsolete.

In any sane system, the people first to be laid off in a crunch -- especially one of this magnitude -- would be the CEO's who caused the problem in the first place. They have screwed up the economy, already having done more damage to the country than the terrorists did on 9-11, and if they were axed, we would save enough money for a great many jobs (the jobs of the people who actually do the work, anyway) to be saved. If these corporations honestly wanted to trim the fat, they would start at the top, not at the bottom.

The injuns and the chiefs do not, by any means, bear equal responsibility for our economy's woes. The overwhelming bulk of the blame belongs to those who held all the power and insisted upon making all the decisions.

If we entrust all power and authority to cheap, weak, cowardly, childish people -- people who refuse to assume any responsibility or accountability for the power they wield -- then we are surely doomed. We can afford this folly no longer. Especially since they're pilfering our tax money to bail themselves out of it.

An alternative economy is now urgently needed. Indeed, on a small scale -- flying under the radar -- there has long been one. Farmer's markets, independent bookstores, mom-and-pop shops, non-chain restaurants, cooperatives, independent contractors, freelancers -- we're all out there. And we will be the salvation of the economy. Perhaps even of our entire society.

People must be able to make their own way in this world. They certainly don't need to do it alone. We can form cooperatives, put on festivals, come together in collaborative associations and creative ventures of every kind. The possibilities are endless.

We must, however, preserve and protect our right to exist, to earn our own daily bread, and to transact the business necessary to do it. The big corporations, and their toadies in the Republican Party, have done everything possible to crush us. Totally contrary to their grandiose claims, they are the enemies of true free enterprise.

I now hope to make my living as a freelance writer and a temporary office worker. At some point in the future, for a time, I may again take a regular office job -- probably in insurance, as this is the field in which I have toiled for must of my adult life. But eventually, I hope to work totally as a writer, either for myself or for a larger organization.

As long as I am working at a clerical or administrative job for a large company, it will, indeed, be a temporary position -- no matter what they choose to call it. There are no "permanent" jobs, any more, in the corporate world. I know that now. I forgot it for a while -- but I will never forget it again.

People, we must take care of ourselves -- and of each other. If we don't, absolutely nobody else will.

We need to organize -- to unionize, whenever possible. We need to share information about how companies treat us, whether well or ill. We need to make sure that no company that treats its employees indecently or unfairly can any longer attract quality personnel. We don't need to belong to unions in order to accomplish that.

They have every right to expect an honest and reliable day's work from us for every honest and reliable day's pay. They do NOT have ANY right to expect any more than that. And they have made it pretty clear that neither do we. They deserve exactly as much loyalty as they are willing to give -- but not one iota more than that.

Our survival is up to us. We must fight for it every step of the way -- and in order to fight, we must unite.

We must, as one of this nation's founders once said, all stand together -- or we will all hang together. Let the new American Revolution begin!

Stimulate This!

2009-02-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

So now President Obama has placed a cap of half a million dollars on each fat-cat financial executive's salary. And of course, we can expect those on the clueless "Right" to whine.

They are playing childrens' games with the stimulus package. It is one of the bitterest ironies in the history of humankind that these people talk so much about "morality." They are, almost to a man and woman, utterly depraved.

My own experience with my most recent employer is living proof of this. Both my former manager and supervisor pride themselves on their "Christianity" -- and both are pretty much standard Right-Wingers. One is Catholic, the other Evangelical Protestant, but both subscribe to a supposedly-conservative moral theology. It has turned them both into moral idiots.

When I was "let go," as they put it, they told me it was because my "skill-set" didn't match my position. I then applied for unemployment insurance. When the Department of Economic Security investigated my claim, these same moral midgets -- my sterling former employers -- told the DES they'd "fired" me for "insubordination."

That was the first I'd heard of it. Not only had they never warned me that I was, in any way, "insubordinate," but they gave not even the slightest indication that I was doing anything wrong.

Of course the DES asked them for documentation of this. As the company was lying through its teeth, it could provide none.

Thank God for the DES. Justice was done, at least in this case. They have awarded me my unemployment compensation.

Whenever people contradict themselves, they are lying -- at least once, and perhaps (as in this case) even twice. I don't believe either of the two totally-different stories the company has told. As my former position has yet to be posted as available, over a month after I was sacked, it is pretty clear they simply wanted to "downsize" by disappearing one individual at a time so as not to cause a panic. How very, very noble of them.

If the Right-Wingers have their way, they will destroy every form of government protection we now count on to keep us safe from exploitation. I'm pretty sure my former manager and supervisor are now cursing the DES. But again, I am thanking God for them.

The Republicans in congress are quite hunky-dory with a government that spies on people, imprisons them without trial, tortures and murders them, and sucks them dry to finance immoral wars on innocent civilian populations. But now they want to lecture us all on "fiscal responsibility." Responsibility of ANY sort is totally a foreign concept to them.

And again, the brand of religion they use to try and glue it all together turns them into moral idiots.

All I got out of this incident (besides my unemployment compensation) was a lesson I intend never, ever to forget. Put quite basically, the Left is right and the "Right" is wrong. I forgot that for a while, but I will never forget it again.

People, let's put all the pressure we can on the Repub thugs in congress who want to kill our President's stimulus package, or to corrupt it beyond recognition. These are our lives they're playing games with. In 2010, we're going to need to flush even harder to get rid of them.

Cross Currents

2009-01-28T11:30:00.000-08:00

Of all the things gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians need most right now, perhaps the main need we have is fellowship. Solidarity. Just as the wider GLBT community is fractured into a bewildering array of small and divided fragments, so, too, are those of us who are of the Christian faith.

This new era of progressive reform must include unity, in the midst of diversity, if it is to survive. The recent bad feelings between the gay community and the Black community over California's Proposition 8 have made that clear. In the ensuing storm, Christians who are both GLBT and African-American have suffered from this alienation more than anybody else.

Some friends and I are starting a group, in the Phoenix area, to address the need for GLBT solidarity and fellowship. We're calling it Cross Currents, and we hope it will be a means for bonding and healing between us. We will welcome those of all races and gender identities, and we hope that, if our group is successful locally, this will lead to other chapters being formed elsewhere.

There will be no litmus tests imposed upon would-be members, whether these might be denominational, political, racial or ethnic. Of course those who do not support GLBT equality in the Church need not apply -- again, we seek unity, not division -- but those still struggling to come out and live honest lives will be fully included and supported.

Belonging to Cross Currents would enable members to attend any church they chose, without the fear of isolation and loneliness. Old friends long separated could reconnect, and connections made would not need to be broken as members moved to different churches. Thanks to the Internet, we could cross-pollinate the country as we moved to new locales.

Though we cannot allow Cross Currents to become a "meat market," it would also be an excellent way for singles to find mates with whom they were "equally yoked" in faith. Instead of worrying about whether there were any eligible single women or men at a church that interested them, they could concentrate on finding a congregation that was right for them in every way.

This organization would also help us share important information about developments in the various churches and denominations, both good and bad. It is harder for injustice to be perpetuated when we are not isolated from one another. In unity, there is strength.

While this would not be a political organization, we could discuss and keep abreast of the issues of the day. Individual members would be free to connect with one another to work more actively for social change.

It is our hope that no GLBT Christian need ever be alone again.

I'll post more here as we get rolling. Watch this space -- and watch us grow.

"Under the Bus..." Aaaaaargh!

2009-01-21T08:31:00.000-08:00

If I hear one more person say that President Obama is "throwing gays under the bus," I may scream. I won't throw them under the bus because I'm not a violent person. Besides, I use public transportation, and it doesn't run very well with people under the wheels.

President Obama. I so love the sound of that. I love to say it. I love to write it. Even thinking it makes my toes wiggle with joy.

I can guarantee you I wouldn't feel this way, boys and girls, if I thought President Obama was going to "throw us under the bus." (There -- I got to write it again!)

Why, oh why, is it not enough for some people that President Obama is the most gay-friendly President in history? President Obama has promised that he will be, and he gives every indication of being sincerely committed to keeping his word. President Obama has already stuck his neck out on this to a degree that he can never live down -- even in the eyes of the huge, hairy homophobes the naysayers in our midst think he is so afraid of.

There, I got to write it three more times.

Now, he isn't going to let us push him around. He isn't going to let anybody push him around. That is what so many in our community are really bitching about, but let's stop to think about that for a moment. In a President, that trait is a quality. If he did let people push him around, he would be no good to anybody but bullies -- and we've already had enough so-called leaders like that.

First of all, "throwing us under the bus" is a dumb expression, and it makes us look like idiots when we keep using it. If you want to, try saying something at least a little more original -- like "kicking us off of the bridge" or "holding us under the water." You'll still be wrong, but at least you won't be so damned tiresome.

If President Obama chose to stick us on the back burner (another stupid and very tired cliche), he would probably suffer no significant political fallout from most Democrats for doing so. Nor, however, would he gain any more support from the wingnuts, who will hate him just as much no matter what.

The lesson Bill Clinton's "triangulations" have to teach us is that the wingnuts can never be appeased. They made his administration a living hell no matter how much he tried to make them happy. President Obama is a smart man. I'm sure that lesson has not been lost on him.

The middle-grounders -- especially the younger generation President Obama most needs -- are moving increasingly in our favor. The people who hate us are gradually dying off. More gradually than we'd like, perhaps, but their demise is, nonetheless, inevitable.

So take a pill and chill. Keep the pressure up, by all means. But don't despair. "Waaaaah! He's throwing us under the bus!" is NOT an expression of power. And it only leads to more despair.

If you do succumb to despair, I'll kick you off of the bridge and hold you under the water.

Not really. I'm not a violent person. I'll just say "President Obama" three times, click my ruby-slippered heels together, and keep on hoping and working for change.

Cursing the Darkness

2009-01-14T12:25:00.001-08:00

I used to wonder how the Nazis became the way they were. Surely they were evil, in a way that normal people aren't. I wondered how it was that I could have been related to them -- however distantly. Had I sprung from a race of monsters?

The past eight years have answered that question. Actually, and with frightening rapidity, we have seen it develop over these last thirty years. As has so often happened over history, we have become what we once conquered.

Those who dispose of their fellow human beings, even professionally, for the sake of profits would -- if asked to -- as easily send them to concentration camps as they would fire them or "downsize" them out of their livelihood. They are "just following orders." And in the process, they have lost all contact with what it means to be children of God.

Listening to their ringleader, their Fuhrer, in his final presidential press conference, I hear an eerie disconnect between power and responsibility. We have surrendered the power over our lives just as laboratory rats give themselves over to the technicians who use and eventually kill them. Our corporate lords and masters feel no greater compunction about making life-and-death decisions about us than those white-coated functionaries do toward those small rodents. Their universe has no room for God. They are gods unto themselves.

We must fight this, just as the resistance movement in Europe fought the fascists of yesteryear. This is the moral task of our age. And it need not be done in hostility or anger; it can indeed be a positive, loving and life-giving endeavor.

If we, as a society, do not pull together now and stop behaving like jungle beasts, we will destroy each other -- and ourselves. Like the Nazis, our oppressors would keep us alienated from each other and from our very selves. We have to give a damn about each other, because a world that is a cold, hard, howling wilderness for others can never be anything better for us. To make a world we want to live in, we must make a world in which others want to live, too.

This is not about making "Heaven on earth," as the wingnuts would claim. It's about keeping the world from descending into Hell.

This is God's work for me -- and for all who would serve God in this world. I need to figure out how to live this mission more completely in my own life. Merely eking out a living -- a bare subsistence -- will never be enough for me again.

Times are tough -- there's little chance I might forget that. But the only way they'll ever get any better is if we all pitch in and help.

We can either light a candle or curse the darkness. But if each of us lights a candle, we can fulfill the mission Christ has given us to help Him light the world.

Left for Dead

2009-01-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

What if we simply refused to die, when others were ready to finish us off? Let's face it -- our corporate lords and masters need for most of us to die when it's convenient for them to be rid of us. There are far too many of us to suit their purposes. In the future, corporations will be unable to use most of us as employees; in fact, we've probably already reached that point. They haven't figured out that if they ever did manage to disappear all of us as employees, we'd be gone as consumers, too.

When I was let go a few days before Christmas, my now-former company was, in a very real sense, leaving me for dead. They seem to have figured out a way for our department of four people to be staffed by three, instead. Last hired, first fired. You get the story. Far too many of you are living it, yourselves.

It's clearly time for me to do some serious reevaluating here. Do I intend to die -- conveniently for them -- or am I determined to live on? And what, exactly, does living mean?

I have learned that I cannot let what I do for a living define who I am as a human being. I am a child of God, created for eternity, but forced, temporarily, to live in a world that must make use of me, like a cog in the great, man-made machine, or else cast me aside.

I've never totally accepted that. It makes me a rebel -- a misshapen cog -- and I not only accept this, I now know that I must learn to embrace it.

As must we all. We must refuse, for the sake of our very souls, to crawl off and die when the lords of the corporate empire refuse to recognize our value. We not only need to live -- we need to matter.

The rulers of the world have forced our entire society to the brink of disaster. They are anti-human being and anti-human life. They are also anti-God, despite the pious pretensions of so many of them. It is now clear that unless they are overridden by common sense and decency, they will destroy even themselves.

If no one can afford anything, no one can buy anything. The captains of industry, in their blind greed, are well into the process of impoverishing themselves. This is insanity. In their refusal to recognize that employees are also consumers -- even-two dimensional beings (Heaven forbid they would see us as fully-dimensional human beings) -- they are cutting off their own noses to spite their faces.

Only a system that recognizes the humanity of all people can survive.

I will continue to live a fully human life, in spite of them. I will minister to others, and make my voice heard. I will be of use to humanity -- and to God. I will never define myself as merely a cog in the machine. And I will not rest until I have found an occupation in tune with my vocation.

It may take a while. But I will never forget this resolution. Either the corporate world can find a place for me to be me, or I will gladly go to a nonprofit, to a social-service agency of government, a small company that counts every person in its employ, or a labor organization. God has a place for me somewhere. God has a place for each and every one of us -- somewhere.

They cannot leave us for dead, because though they may have been the source of our living, they are not the source of our life. God made us. And we do not live for the lords of the corporate world. We live for God.

As I write this, my faithful cat, Buster Kitten, lies dying at the age of nearly nineteen. He has been with me, very literally, since his birth. His brother and litter-mate, Punkin, stands vigil over him, meowing his heart out. Animals care more about one another than most humans do. And I care vastly more about my little cat than my former employer does about me.

Together, we can remake this world. There are more of us -- many, many more - than there are of them. We can't degenerate into soulless droids if we insist on living as complete human beings. They are trying to make us -- but we can't let them.

Let's all refuse to die -- and really begin to live.

Getting Real in 2009

2008-12-31T13:18:00.000-08:00

2008 will be remembered as the year we, as a nation, slid all the way to the edge of the abyss. 2009 will be defined by whether or not we go over it.

Just thought that, on this day when we're all reflecting, I would clarify things a little.

The national attitude -- on both Left and Right -- worries me. It seems to be, "Well, now we've elected Obama, and it's up to him to save us."

It's up to us -- all of us -- to save ourselves. And it always has been.

Just like Candidate Obama, President Obama will only do what he thinks the voters want him to do. He has not been elected King, and he certainly isn't a superhero.

I don't care how many gays, or women, or Blacks, or Latinos he has in his cabinet. Nor do I care who he gets to pray at his inauguraton. I care about what he does afterwards. I care how his administration impacts our lives in the years to come.

That's where WE come in. He will do what we tell him to. IF we vote, and work hard at the grassroots, and continue to make our voices heard.

Slavery existed, as an institution in this country, for three hundred years. This was because the people permitted it. When enough of them got tired of it, they got rid of it. Lincoln's help was, indeed, invaluable when the moment came. But the moment came because the people (or at least enough of them) decided that they were ready for it.

Progressives will always be in the minority. We've just spent a year commemorating the Democratic National Convention of 1968. What was that all about? Hello -- the conservatives held all the power, and they tried to keep the progressives out in the cold.

Those who gripe about this situation now (and I have been guilty of this myself) are forgetting history. This situation is not new. In '68, the people depended too much on the outcome of the election, and when Nixon came in, they let the movement stall.

Hello again -- what can we learn from that?

No matter who had been nominated by the Democrats that year, or who had been elected, I'm afraid the story would have been pretty much the same. IF we, the people, had continued to change hearts and minds, we could have transformed the country (even more than we did) from the grassroots up.

Riots and temper-tantrums do not change things in any positive way. They are the actions of those resigned to being on the outside, and they GUARANTEE that those people will stay there. These are nothing more than a form of terrorism, and like terrorism, they bring nothing but grief -- and guarantee further powerlessness.

We are displeased with the selection of Rick Warren to pray at Obama's inauguration, and we should be. The President-Elect knows that now. Let's see what he does with that knowledge, and let's make sure he does the right thing with it.

If he doesn't deliver for progressives over the next four years, I will vote next time for somebody else. I don't care if he or she is a Democrat or a member of the New Turnip Party. Let's be inside that party convention hall four years from now -- and inside of the Republicans', too. Let's study '68, figure out why we were left outside, and work to change that. And by all means, let's begin in '09.

Had it been up to those running the Republican Party today, we would still have slavery in this country. The progressives have been shut out of the Party of Lincoln, too.

A hundred and fifty years ago, progressives refused to be silent. On Election Day 2008, we also demanded to be heard. But now we're sitting passively back again and hanging on every word out of our new messiah's mouth.

Well, I have only one Messiah, and He is Jesus Christ. I am a progressive because Christ was a progressive. No matter how loudly and persistently the Right-Wingers slander us, they cannot change the fact that this is true.

Let us resolve, together, that we will not sit down, we will not shut up, we will not go away, and we will not succumb to the helplessness of impotent rage. Let us resolve, here and now, that we will stand up, we will speak out, we will stick around and we will fight our battles from the inside -- where we rightfully belong.

If we don't, then not only our country, but our civilization will be over.

We belong at the grownups' table. We belong inside the convention hall. We belong inside the voting booth, as well. The Obama people are already looking ahead to 2012. But we voted once, and we must vote again.

Let's make 'em deal with 2009 first. This year was the year we halted our mad rush to destruction. Let's make next year the year we begin to turn it all around.

Let's get real in 2009.

Pray Tell

2008-12-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

Like almost everyone else in the national GLBT community, I am not cheered at the prospect of a rich, homophobic business-preacher like Rick Warren praying at Barack Obama's inauguration. I have, in an earlier post, already made it quite clear what I think of Warren and his Wall-Mart church. But, like about half of us, I have decided that it doesn't mean anything particularly dire for us. Knowing what we already do about President-Elect Obama, and about the Democratic Party as it exists today, it is par for the course.

Obama has made it clear that his administration will be "bipartisan." I don't think much of "bipartisanship," as the Democratic Party seems to use the term today. To me, it smacks of the same old "centrism," all dolled-up in a bright and shiny new package. But the Progressive brand has been so badly damaged by the Right Wing's thirty-year smear campaign against it that if Obama were to come out of the gate as far to the Left as his principles -- as he has already very clearly expressed them -- indicate that he should, he would never be permitted, by the conservative establishment still so entrenched in power, to govern.

That is OUR challenge: to more the political machinery (which consists of so much more than just Obama, and at so many levels) to the Left. We never had any reason to believe we could merely sit passively by and let one politician do it all for us. And, for all his progressive principles, Barack Obama is still a politician. Surprise! But really, shame on you if you didn't know that.

As a political gesture, this is brilliant. The Nutball Right cannot credibly go on crying about how victimized they are if the new President duly genuflects to Pope Rick. And a mere genuflection is all this is. It makes no law and sets no policy.

What all too many are overlooking is that the other pastor invited to pray at the Inauguration, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, is about as progressive, inclusive and gay-friendly as they come. What Obama is trying to do is show a balance. Just as he's been saying he would, all along. Hello?! He DID, indeed, tell the country he was going to do that, remember?

Obama, like most straight people, does not think about gays as often as we do about ourselves. That doesn't make us selfish; it is only natural. But it's only natural for straights, too. To him, Rick Warren is a prominent (these days, probably the most prominent) representative of conservative Christianity -- and a good deal less reactionary, even toward gays, than some of the other characters he might have picked. So - whether we like it or not -- it's doubtful that he thought, specifically, about Warren's homophobia before he chose him.

Though I see no major problem with Pope Rick's little prayer, however, I disagree with those who say we shouldn't have protested it. By all means, we ought to flex our mucles, loudly and often. The Religious Wrong has no intention of being quiet or passive. And the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

What our indignation -- loudly expressed as it has been -- tells the new President and the Congress is that we are watching very closely, and that we're not going to shut up or go away. President-Elect Obama has made promises to us -- promises, I might add, unparalleled by those of any other President in history. We have no intention of forgetting that, nor will we back down if they're not kept. We need pay no mind to the threats raised against us by the Religious Wrong, as they warn us not to get too loud or too proud. Getting loud and proud hasn't hurt them any, and as idiots are going to say idiotic things, it is to our political advantage to let them go on making damned fools of themselves.

Will they go on crying about how victimized they are? Of course they will. Only now, no reasonable person in this country will listen to them. We, on the other hand, would have sent a message of weakness and ineffectuality, had we merely accepted Warren's presence at the Inauguration without putting up a fight. Whenever bullies preach reasonableness and passivity, we know we've got 'em cornered for sure.

We are flexing our muscles, making our voices heard and refusing to let ourselves be trampled upon or shoved out of the way. Good for us. And after the Inauguration, when the real business of governing begins, we must get still louder and prouder and exercise those muscles every chance we get. There's a new spirit in our community. The sleeping giant has been awakened, and we must resist every effort to lull us back to sleep.

The gesture has been made, but our message has been sent. And at Barack Obama's inauguration, we will hear not only Pope Rick, but also the good Rev. Lowery.

Pray tell!

"This is Drugs. This is Free Speech on Drugs. Any Questions?"

2008-12-17T19:36:00.000-08:00

It is utterly irrelevant, to me, that many Right-Wingers -- particularly of the religious sort -- consider the Constitution an inconvenience and do not understand the concept of freedom of speech. Evidently, from them, we can expect nothing better.

They babble some nonsense about "God's law" trumping "man's law." But what they mean is, THEIR conception of "God's law." In this irrational lack of anything approaching godly humility, they and the Taliban are two peas in a pod. And, like their Islamist allies (whom they only pretend are their enemies), these Christianist fanatics are beyond reason. They can only be contained, and dealt with as firmly and resolutely as possible.

What we must do is reason with with those supposedly sane folks who call themselves "centrist" or "bipatrisan" (the newest euphemism for "centrist") who don't seem to understand free speech, either.

Free speech means being able to say what you think without fear of governmental persecution. It does NOT mean that everybody has to agree with you, or that -- as if it were all some sort of schoolyard game -- the first person to speak up gets to say what he or she wants, but nobody else can comment on what they've said except to agree with them. The First Amendment protects your right to speak. It does NOT protect your imagined "right" to shut up everyone who disagrees with you.

Freedom of religion is yet another concept neither Right-Wingers nor many "bipartisan centrists" seem to grasp.

You have the right to live according to your own religious beliefs. You do NOT have the right to force your beliefs on others, or to try to make them behave according to your beliefs.

Why is this so hard for the Wingnuts to understand? The answer is that they are intellectually dishonest. They DO understand, but they don't want to admit it.

And why not? Because then all the "bipartisan" folks will know what liars they are, and the game will be over.

It is time to stop putting up with cowardly confusion from the press or from "bipartisan" politicians. They depend upon us for their jobs. If they refuse to deal in the truth, then we should fire them and send them packing.

There is NO Constitutional right to force others to pay you. That would be theft, and the very idea is ridiculous.

No one who cannot demonstrate even so much as an eighth-grade-level understanding of the Constitution should even be eligible for public office. Nor should any applicant for a position in the media be considered for a job if they cannot demonstrate at least this very minimal level of qualification.

Above all else, we must insist that people stop pretending they don't understand the truth when, in fact, they would be idiots not to. Most of these people are not idiots, they are merely liars. Dishonesty seems to be their drug of choice. They've gotten hopelessly hooked -- and it's time, now, for the rest of us to effect an intervention.

We can't very well stop the lunacy in the Middle East if we can't even stop it here.

No Free Ride for Traitors

2008-12-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

In talking with a friend today from the Lutheran church I recently left, I learned that the atrocities continue to mount. (She doesn't see this as an atrocity, but I most certainly do.) Even though Right-Wing churches all over the greater Phoenix area had up signs urging the passage of Arizona's anti-gay-marriage amendment, Proposition 102, there was much controversy and hand-wringing, at my supposedly GLBT-inclusive former church, over the "No on 102" sign someone posted outside of it.

They just "had to" take it down. Separation of Church and State, don't you see.

I demand -- I DEMAND -- an end to the tax-exempty status of every church that actively agitates against people's constitutional rights, yet persecutes churches that take a stand in opposition to their position. While Right-Wing churches feel free to do whatever they damned well please politically, we on the Left are hobbling ourselves by holding ourselves -- and ourselves alone -- to a stricter standard.

Anyone who voted for Proposition 102 in Arizona, Proposition Hate in California, or any like legislation, is a traitor to this country and a traitor to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Religious Right has been so totally corrupted by their own unbridled and unprincipled involvement in politics that it has thrown in to the service not of Christ, but of Antichrist.

The wingnuts' persecution of the United Church of Christ, during the presidential campaign, should have been the very last straw on this double-standard. Those who love freedom, in this country, are now in an undeclared war against those who would destroy religious freedom in the United States. A state of war against them will continue to exist until they are defeated, and until their churches are forced to pay taxes as they should. If they insist upon ruling over us as tyrants, then they are no longer churches, and they no longer deserve public support.

They have gotten a free ride at taxpayer expense quite long enough.

Hopes for Magic Jesus

2008-12-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry, but I've already reached "Tilt" in my ability to tolerate GLBT whining -- from both Right AND Left -- about what President-elect Obama might or might not do in office concerning gay mariage.

I get the distinct impression they weren't voting -- either yea or nay -- on that nice, very intelligent and humane man from Illinois, but on Magic Jesus.

Gay Democrats are hoping that after his inauguration, President Magic Jesus will immediately don his red cape, take up his magic wand and declare gay marriage fully legal in all fifty states.

Gay Republicans are gloating because -- of course -- President Magic Jesus will NOT do that, so they think this means they're justified in clinging (pathetically and beyond all logic) to the GOP.

A bit of reality here, please. At this point in time, Obama either (A) genuinely does not believe in gay marriage (a distinct possibility), or else (B) cannily grasps that the time is not yet right to try and push it, because it would stir up a backlash so severe it would likely end up setting back the cause for years (if not decades) to come.

I don't know which he really believes; I cannot read the man's mind. He claims to believe in Option "A," and even if "B" is actually more accurate, of course he isn't in any position, politically, to come right out and say so.

My beliefs line up pretty much with Option "B." It would be stupid and totally counderproductive to push for full gay marriage right now.

Furthermore, at whatever stage it is to be considered, the President of the United States will not be the one to implement it.

That's where WE come in. This is our fight, and it is up to us to win it. We need to quit passively sitting back and waiting on powerful straight people -- who, in order to get and hold their power, must appease millions of other straight people -- to do our fighting for us.

True, I have no plans to get married in the near future, legally or otherwise. I am a gay bachelorette -- in the very best sense of the term -- and right now I'm enjoying that. Like a happy little bee, I am flitting from flower to flower, sampling all the tasty nectar I can. There's a pretty good chance that by the time I am ready to settle down, gay marriage (or at least civil unions) will be legal in enough localities that I and my blushing bride will be able to avail ourselves of the opportunity.

That is not, however, the reason why I hold the view I do. No matter how ready for the ball-and-chain I might personally be, it isn't going to become an option for me any sooner than circumstances permit. To the degree that those circumstances are within my control, I intend to do my best to help bring them about. Beyond that, I'd be wasting my time to worry.

In the meantime, I must admit, I don't want anybody screwing things up so badly that they put the option out of reach for me and everybody else alive in the foreseeable future.

And that means ANYBODY. Not even Magic Jesus.

Confessions of a Ladies' Woman

2008-11-26T17:43:00.000-08:00

This is primarily, of course, a political blog -- written from a progressive Christian perspective, but political nonetheless. But now that the election is over, I hope, at least occasionally, to lighten up and have some fun with it.

As I seek to make this Blog more regularly readable, I will be instituting some recurring categories for my posts. One regular feature, I will call "A Woman About Town."

There's a lot going on here in the greater Phoenix area. Some people assume that a Christian lesbian doesn't do much. But there are adventures to be had, I can assure you. When something comes along that I really find worth sharing, I will, from now on, be posting it here.

Readers frequently ask me about my love life. They assume that because I'm single, I don't have any. And I have been reluctant to write about it -- not because it isn't there to write about, but because many people assume that any single gay person's love life must be, if not entirely sinful, then somehow less godly than that of someone with a partner.

As I ponder the current struggle for same-sex marriage, I have come to realize that this assumption is nothing but a sort of neurotic prudery. Let people think whatever they like. I'm certainly not one of those gay folks who does not believe in marriage, but precisely because I DO believe in it very deeply (and yes, for gays as well as straights), I believe it is important to take my time, shop around and find the right partner.

I don't ever intend to be divorced. I want my first wife to be my last one. And -- I will admit it -- I am one picky broad. The pool of eligible mates is considerably smaller for us than it is for straights. This means that we should be willing to be patient and use those U-Hauls sparingly.

In the meantime, I intend to thoroughly enjoy my search for a wife. I'm a ladies' woman -- a "woman about town" -- and I will freely admit it. Nor will I apologize for it. I lie to no one, do my best not to hurt anyone, am always up-front about both my intentions and my limitations, and make commitments only rarely -- because when I make 'em, I take seriously my obligation to keep 'em.

My role-model, as a butch of culture and sophistication, is Warren Beatty. He had a helluva good time being single, sowed plenty of wild oats, and never made promises he couldn't keep. Every woman with whom he became involved knew exactly what to expect from him, and if she didn't like that, it was her problem. But he knew the right woman when, at long last, he found her, and he ended up with Annette Bening. By all accounts, they are very happy -- and his first wife does, indeed, look likely to last.

Okay, so I may not find another Annette Bening. But what the heck -- it certainly doesn't hurt to try.

Watch this space for regular "Woman About Town" adventures. I promise not to brag -- or to stretch the truth. Too much.

We Are At War -- In More Ways Than One

2008-11-19T18:28:00.000-08:00

In case anybody out there is still somehow clueless and confused, let me spell out the official position of this Blog.

On September 11, 2001, Middle Eastern Islamists made war on the United States. Since that time, homegrown Christianists have made war on us as well. We are now at war in more ways than one.

Let me be perfectly blunt about this. The Christianists now bent on destroying our Constitution and our very way of life are traitors to this country. They are at war with each and every loyal American, and it is our duty to stop them.

The Christianists of the extreme Right Wing are no more genuinely Christians than the Islamists who blow up innocent people around the world are genuinely Muslims. It is as unjust to expect real Christians to share the "Christian" label with the treasonous domestic terrorists of the Right Wing as it is to expect real Muslims to bear the blame because of what Al Qaeda does.

Who would Jesus terrorize? Who would He murder? Who would He dehumanize? Those who answer that He would do ANY of the above, to anybody, are as pig-ignorant about the Bible as they are about the U.S. Constitution.

If you voted for measures that violate our Constitution -- especially as blatantly as do Proposition Hate in California and Proposition 102 in Arizona -- then you have committed an act of treason against this country. If you did so knowingly, then at the very least you should be stripped of your citizenship and transported somewhere else. Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia both come to mind, as they would doubtless be more to your liking. If you voted for this crap without realizing that you were committing treason, then shame on you for holding your country in such contempt that you didn't even bother to read the Constitution before casting your ballot. You have dishonored all the men and women who have ever given their lives for this great land, and you are a disgrace.

The U.S. Constitution was written at approximately eighth grade level. If you can' read well enough to understand it, then take an adult remedial reading course and bone up before you go out and vote again and do any more damage to it. Letting you vote is like letting a drunk drive.

I will fight -- to the death, if necessary -- any and every traitor who tries to destroy our Constitution by foisting off laws on us that violate it. I will also do my level best to educate my fellow Americans about what the Constitution -- and the Bible -- really have to say on the matters at hand. These matters are "controversial" only to the extent that people persist in wallowing in ignorance the way pigs wallow in mud.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans are on the front lines of this war because we must be. Any American -- gay or straight, young or old, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, Republican or Independent -- who understands that we are at war and is willing to stand up and fight for this country is an ally of mine. And anyone else is an enemy.

To quote our (thank the Lord) soon-to-be-ex-Commander-in-Chief, "You're either with us or you're against us."

Bring 'em on.

I hope that I have now made it quite clear enough for everybody.

A Whack Upside the Head from the "Whiny Gay Left"

2008-11-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

Although I'm (at least temporarily) glad Barack Obama won the election, by and large I'm as disenchanted with the Democratic Party as I was before. That's why I had to take a hike from it for a while, and why I gave myself some real exposure to libertarian and conservative ideas. I have conservative friends who still accuse me of not understanding them, but that's only because they can't stand to think I might reject their views precisely because I DO understand them.

My biggest problem with them -- besides the simple fact that I've come to disagree with them (for reasons now more rational than emotional)?

As far as the libertarians are concerned, I feel that they toady to big corporations, simplistically (and insanely) seeing them as somehow "freer" than big government. Libertarianism has become their religion, and I think they believe in it for reasons much more emotional -- and less rational -- than they want to admit.

When it comes to conservatives, my secondary beef with them is that they toady too much to the Republican Party -- an organization so corrupt they make the Democrats look like Little Bo Peep, while my primary beef is that they are just plain wrong. Wrong without the redeeming feature, sometimes possessed by the libertarians, of occasionally being right.

And as for the Log Cabin Republicans, yuck, yuck and yuck. The one gutsy and principled thing the organization has done in the last few years was refusing to endorse George W. Bush for reelection in 2004 -- but at least half of their membership wouldn't go along with it. They were too afraid they would get taken to the woodshed by the very bigoted assholes THEY should have been taking to the woodshed. A lot of people in the GOP have been very unhappy for a long time, and most of them are straight. It isn't like the Log Cabin folks couldn't have found some friends.

When they backed John McCain, I lost all respect for them.

John McCain has betrayed gays time and time and time again. He rah-rahed the vile Proposition 102 here in Arizona, which has left us here with a legal status on a par with slaves. He refused, as a matter of fact, to have much of anything to do with us -- except, of course, to appear on Ellen's TV show.

Sure he went on her show. She gave him some free publicity, and as bad as his campaign stunk up this country, he needed all the free publicity he could get.

The fact remains that of the two major parties (and sorry, Libertarians, but we still really only have two to choose from), the Democrats are better -- on the gay issue and almost every other -- than the Republicans. If you don't agree with me, then follow your bliss. I'm not part of the crowd who would call you names and abuse you just for being gay Republicans.

The GOP's "ideas are better," you say? Well then, why don't you folks do something you've been totally unwilling -- up 'til now -- to do?

Prove it. That's right -- just PROVE it.

Did it ever occur to the people crapping on the "Whiny Gay Left" that THEY THEMSELVES HAVE GIVEN US ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD REASON TO SUPPORT THEIR PARTY?!

You say that you believe in "individual responsibility." Well, try -- just this once -- taking a little "individual responsibility" for the political party you've chosen, and show us Lefty whiners why it is we're so wrong.

And no, the taunt that "there are bad Democrats, too, nyah!" does NOT constitute a reason. Not anywhere other than on a kindergarten playground.

The only intelligent and constructive reason for an embattled minority to join the very political party that leads the way in embattling it is to HELP TURN THE SITUATION AROUND. If you simply cave in to everything that goes on there, then what the hell good are you?

I keep hearing how "angry" I supposedly am because some gays are Republicans. But I'm not angry about that in the least. I'm overjoyed, as a matter of fact, that at least a few of us have the stomach to represent us to those who are, all too often, our opponents. I do that in the Christian churches all the time, so believe me, I can relate.

But gay Christians don't capitulate to every bigoted whackjob in the Church. If the Log Cabin Republicans had a tenth the gumption gay Christians do, I'd have some actual respect for them.

It WOULD be great to have both major political parties competing for our vote. Far from wishing that you'd leave the GOP, I have a totally different request for you.

Could you please, please, PLEASE -- just for a change -- do at least a halfway decent job of BEING gay Republicans?!

We don't need more traitors, cowards or mindless conformists. The Republicans would have quite enough of those, even if every last gay GOP-er left.

Praise the Lord...and Pass the Ammunition!

2008-11-05T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well, wa-hoo, hallelujah and amen! We've DONE it! We, the People, have elected Barack Obama President of these United States!

Praise the Lord. And pass the ammunition.

In order to be elected, of course, politicians must appeal to "the center." Even a would-be progressive like Barack Obama is not immune to this necessity. As much as I'd like to believe that his progressive "base" did it all on our own, if I succumbed to the desire to believe this, I'd be living in a fool's paradise.

I believe I warned on this very Blog, some time ago, that he would do some things (or fail to do others) that would disappoint or heartily displease us. And he didn't wait long. Already he has disappointed me. The opposition he voiced against California's Proposition 8 (and, by extension, other anti-gay measures, like Proposition 102 in my own state of Arizona) was too little -- and too late.

He had to "appeal to the center," you see. And unfortunately, in this case, that was how he did it.

We've got to move the "center" to the left, folks, or we will effect no real progressive change in this country whatsoever.

All the "center" is, really, is what the combined forces of Left and Right make it. As its very name implies, the center has no relation to anything except in its relative position to everything else. That's why all claims to a "committed centrism" are so vapid. For its very existence, the center depends upon the Left and the Right, as it can exist nowhere except in between them. Without them, there's no "there" there.

Over the past thirty years, the conservatives and reactionaries in this country have succeeded in pushing the political framework so far to the Right that, were it to slide any farther in that direction, it would drop right off of the map and be devoured by sea-monsters.

Progressives MUST be the agents of change; that is our function. If we aren't bringing about change for the better, then we have no function. And because we sometimes err and make changes for the worse, society needs conservatives to balance us out. That is the Right's ONLY legitimate and constructive function.

The Right derives its very reason to exist from the Left. Without an active and vigorous Left, the Right is simply unnecessary -- or even destructive. And when the Right tries to effect change on its own initiative, disaster is the inevitable result.

That's exactly what this election was all about. The Right tried, all by itself, to run the country. And now that the sea-monsters gape before us, the nation has cried "stop!"

I believe that when President-elect Obama says he wants to effect change, he does, indeed, really mean progressive change. Including for marginalized and embattled groups like GLBT Americans. He says it, and I think he truly means it.

But we will have a war on our hands right here at home, trying to help our new leader bring that about. Our adversaries are wounded, but a beast is never more dangerous than when it's received a grievous and painful wound. They are also armed -- which means that we must be, too.

The anti-gay-marriage initiatives passed yesterday are unconstitutional. They violate the First, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments. Were this nonsense ever to be passed at the federal level, it would violate the Tenth, as well. Thanks to the election of Barack Obama, we won't have to worry about a federal marriage amendment for at least the next four years. But during that time, we must beat back and reverse the horrible blows our Constitution received yesterday. This is more than an attack on gay people -- it's an attack on the very Constitution itself. If these measures are allowed to stand, then the supreme law of our land will not stand.

The American Taliban is still determined to take over this country and run all our lives. Barack Obama doesn't want them to do this. But he doesn't even pretend that he can govern all alone. He frankly and freely admits that he needs our help. And we must be ready to give him all the help he can handle -- and maybe even more than he may want.

May God protect our new President -- AND our Constitution.

This is a time to praise the Lord. It's also time to pass the ammunition.

The Desperation Express

2008-10-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, folks, six days away from the eletion, we are indeed seeing what desperation does to people. The McShame-Caribou Barbie ticket is calling out the theocrat brigade and robo-sliming formerly sewn-up Red State Arizona.

I've yet to be blessed with a robo-slime call, but I'll probably get at least one, or maybe twenty. I have the same telephone number my parents had for over forty years -- having inherited their house -- and they were stalwart Republicans. It's been weird, moving back here and once again having the same telephone number and address I had growing up. And there's nothing weirder about it than getting nutty Republican propaganda in the mail on almost a daily basis.

I am proud to say that my home state is no longer a solid red. It may not be blue yet, but it is at least a very bold shade of Phoenix Suns purple.

I only hope a real person calls me, instead of a machine. I would love to have some fun with these morons. But I would like to think the McShame campaign would have at least as much trouble staffing an entire call-center full of stooges to call people up and read lies about Senator Obama here as they've had in Indiana.

Now, about those theocrats (as the theme from Halloween begins to play...) Seriously, what the hell is wrong with these people? Some of them are actually resorting to saying that God is ordering us to vote for McShame, and that "He" will send us to Hell on a super-slide if we fail to do it.

And if you thought that, to find such dangerously deluded folks -- the sort who get special messages from God -- you had to go to Afghanistan, Iran or at least your local mental hospital, just think again! Nossir, we've got 'em right here, walking around free, armed and loaded in the good old U.S. of A.!

Well, theirs is a false god, and he's robo-sliming us. Blow it out your asses, you conceited, idolatrous kooks. Do me a favor...call me up and lay this crap on me in a way that gives me the chance to give you an answer.

Six more days, people! Six...more...days. Or, as a Vietnam vet friend of mine would put it, "five days and a wakeup."

Don't bother robo-sliming him, either, McShame. He, too, is voting for Obama.

I'm not sure just where the "Straight Talk Express" has gone. But the Desperation Express has now definitely left the station.

Out of Our Heads

2008-10-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

Already, I hear progressives obsessing over whether or not those on the Right will "accept" the election of Barack Obama when -- we can still only hope and pray -- he becomes President.

People, here is the correct answer: WHO THE HELL CARES?!

Who cares what they think? Can we doubt they'll bitch and moan and whine that somehow the election was "stolen" from McLame and Caribou Barbie? Of course they will, and we never should have been so naive as to expect otherwise.

Look back at the times, in the past, when the Left was at its strongest, and you will see a common theme emerge. They kept their heads high, kept on looking ahead and didn't worry their pretty little heads about what their enemies said about them. As a matter of fact, they paid them little attention at all.

Get ready for four (or hopefully eight) more years of Republican and general Right-Wing ranting, raving, character assassination and attempted sabotage. If they did it to a White conservative-lite Democrat like Bill Clinton, they certainly aren't going to spare a Black man -- and an at least would-be progressive -- like Barack Obama.

If we leave it up to Right-Wingers to determine whether or not we're "allowed" to be really progressive, can you just guess what they're going to say? How about "not no, but hell no?" And then -- know what? No matter how Olympic-gymnastically we may bend over backwards and sideways and upside-down and inside-out trying to convince them that -- oh, no -- we're not liberals, THEY'LL SAY THAT WE ARE, ANYWAY. So if we're gonna get called liberals anyway, what are we so afraid of?

We cannot -- and MUST not -- even let these people into our heads. We must beat them, and beat 'em again, and keep right on beating 'em until we've totally destroyed what's left of the Republican Party. If it ever rises again, we must make sure it doesn't happen until a total power-shift has taken place within the GOP "big tent" and nobody but moderates or libertarians remain in charge there.

Destroy the whacko-Right brand. Drive Limbaugh and Hannity clean off of the air-waves. Take no prisoners. Leave behind only scorched earth.

And in the meantime, we must retain our serenity. We are in the right, and we deserve to lead this country that we so love into a brighter era. We must save it, and only we can.

If they start to get to you, sit in a Zen garden and contemplate your toenail-cuticles. Take up underwater basket-weaving. Swim with cuddly dolphins, bond with them and learn their special language. Take a pill, smoke a stogie, fix yourself a great, big, stinky-dirty Martini. But don't fret! Don't let 'em damage your confidence, and never, ever let 'em get you down!

Right-wingers tend to be very spoiled and infantile people, and they want it all -- and I mean EVERYTHING -- to be about them. Progressives tend to think about others, not merely about themselves. Of course that explains why this dynamic of obsession over Right-Wing opinion so often happens. But for our own sake, the country's and the whole world's, we have got to stop that. If they're able to make it all about them, then they have, indeed, truly won. No matter what any election tally might happen to say.

We can only keep our adversaries from driving us out of our heads if we keep THEM out of our heads.

Too many people in there make a crowd.

Putting "Us" Back into the U.S.

2008-10-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks as if Barack Obama will indeed win the White House. And already, there is moaning and sighing from people who think he won't be progressive enough.

Excuse me, but that's where WE come in.

No, he does not support gay marriage. He's the most pro-gay presidential candidate in history, but that doesn't seem to be enough for some people. The Log Cabin crowd is criticizing him for not being a full advocate of gay marriage. What they're overlooking is that (A) he has not ruled it out for the future, even for his own administration and -- more importantly -- (B) John McCain not only opposes gay marriage, but opposes gay rights in almost any form. He's for keeping the ban on our open military service, he's against including us in hate crimes legislation, and -- in his home state of Arizona -- he favors cutting our partnerships out of all legal protections.

Excuse me again, but what the hell is the matter with the gay Republicans? Why are they criticizing Obama for being one stroke less than perfect on gay rights, but supporting McCain for being TERRIBLE to us? Hello? What planet are these people living on?

In the first Obama term, the priority will be on cleaning up the unchristly mess the Republicans have made of our country, the Constitution, and world peace. For any real progressive progress to be made, he'll need a second term. And again, that's where we come in.

We must hold his feet to the fire. The Democratic Party (not merely the presidency, but congress) must be turned away from the ruinous "centrist" course it has been on for far too long. Instead of sitting passively back and expecting things to just magically change on their own, progressives will have to work -- and fight -- to make things better.

Greens should join (or rejoin) the Democratic Party and stop throwing childish tantrums because the Democrats aren't giving them their way. In order to GET their way, they've got to join the Democratic Party.

No party listens to those who remain outside of it.

In the same way, Libertarians should join (or rejoin) the Republican Party. It's up for grabs right now, and the way to oust the fascists who have taken it over is to JOIN it and shove them out. That is the only way to save the GOP from permanent powerlessness -- or from a fascistic resurgence. The nuts and whackjobs won't leave voluntarily; they've got to be thrown out.

The United States is no longer the country of those who love freedom and believe in progress. If we do not salvage it within the next four years, I really believe it will become something monstrously unrecognizable. If the rest of the world comes to believe that it must be rid of us in order to save itself, then we will be doomed.

Let's not go the way of the Roman empire, or of its would-be successor, the Third Reich. Let's step up to the plate and save America. We need to put "us" back into the U.S. It won't be our country anymore unless we fight for it.

The crucial first step is voting Barack Obama into the White House. Not only is this Job One, but the rest simply will not happen without it.

The Crazies Act Crazy -- and the Clueless are Surprised!

2008-10-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

People are reeling from the shock of hearing yahoos, at Sarah Palin rallies, threaten members of the press and clamor for Senator Obama's murder. They may be surprised, but I'm not. And if they had any sense, they wouldn't be, either.

The nation has largely awakened to the fact that the Religious Right adheres to an ideology that is insane. McSame has backed himself into a trap, in which he must appease this crowd or lose the election -- but the rest of America has come to realize that the Religious Right is not as bad as the Taliban or Al Qaeda only because we the people will not allow them to go that far, and so he's going to lose the election anyway. If we did allow these fanatics to go as far as their Islamist brethren in the Middle East, they certainly would. Most of us know that now -- and I pray that we will never forget it.

Whenever you try to reason with these nuts, they tell you that the Bible condemns reason in favor of blind, "obedient" faith. Oh, they will try to reason with you as far as they can, but because they can only take their nonsense so far, at some point they have to stop there and resort to the "Because God said it in the Bible" argument, instead.

What they can never quite explain is just why God would have given us the power to reason in the first place, if "He" didn't intend for us to use it. Their quick-and-easy retreat to "biblical inerrancy" is -- truth be told -- not the result of a strong faith, but a weak faith. They quite simply, when they're alone in the dark, do not trust that their faith makes sense -- which is another way of saying that they don't really believe in it at all.

Fundamentalism -- ALL forms of it (including the Christian kind) -- is actually a very weak, cowardly and dishonest form of atheism. These people believe in absolutely nothing. They're like little children, hiding under the covers every time they hear a bump in the night.

True, muscular, vigorous faith certainly does admit there are limits to our finite ability to reason, but it follows God all the way to the edge of the Grand Canyon of unknowing that looms beyond what even the smartest of us can figure out for ourselves. It then stops at the edge of that gaping chasm and says, "You take it from here, God...this is as far as I can make it." To the degree that Scripture warns against trusting overmuch in our own powers of reason, THIS is the course that it counsels. To say that it forbids us to reason at all is not only absurd, but a downright blasphemy. It takes God's loving gift of reason -- and the responsibility that goes along with it -- and flings it right back into "His" face.

Let Sarah Palin do her Fuhrer routine for her screaming, lunatic base. The crazier they get (in other words, the more honestly themselves), the greater will be the reminder to the rest of us that we never dare trust these people, or even consider them benign, again. But let's hope that the Secret Service is doing a damned good job of protecting Barack Obama. Beyond the willingness of the rest of us to stand vigilant against their lunacy, the Religious Right really is no different than Al Qaeda or the Taliban.

I said it here. Mark my words -- and never, ever forget them.

More Gay Conservative Nuttiness

2008-10-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

Now they've got the vapors because McSame deigned to grant an audience with the Washington Blade. Good night nurse, these people are pathetic.

It makes no difference that he says he thinks the states should make laws regarding marriage, rather than the federal government. He favors an amendment, here in Arizona, that would deny any same-sex couples' rights to gays and lesbians. He merely thinks that the states should be the ones to slam the door in our faces instead of the feds. As we used to say when I was a kid, "Big whoop."

I have somehow managed to get myself on the email list of a group called "Conservative Gays." These uncle toms blather endlessly about every little crumb the Republicans toss us.

I will say it once again. Just because there are homophobic Democrats, that in NO way means that the Republicans are better -- or even a tiny fraction as good -- on GLBT issues. What it means is that progressive Dems need to take the party back from the sleazeball "triangulators" and "centrists" who have stolen it from us.

But from now 'til Doomsday, the uncle toms will keep needling us about those anti-gay "liberals." Flash bulletin, dipshits. NOT ALL DEMOCRATS ARE LIBERALS. Particularly not these days.

The patter of the conservative gays relies heavily upon the pretense, however, that Democrats and liberals are all interchangeable. A baldfaced lie. And any real progressive -- gay OR straight -- will be quick to tell you so.

Liberals -- the genuine article -- are far more frustrated with Democratic squishiness on GLBT issues than these truth-challenged gay conservatives dare to admit. As a matter of fact, their shtick depends entirely on their not admitting it at all.

They simply flunk the smell-test. And tomorrow night, their new "diva" -- unquestionably the most homophobic VP candidate in recent memory -- will crash and burn in her "debate" against Joe Biden.

You heard it here. The election won't even be a close one. We'll see Republican carnage from coast to coast. The only thing "red" in this country on November the 5th will be the blood from all those Rethugs the American voters will have ripped to shreds.

Let's get on with the election, already -- and get it OVER with. I, for one, can't wait 'til I hear "Hail to the Chief" played for President Obama.

Some Rare Democratic Gumption

2008-09-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

So, the Democrats in Congress aren't simply allowing the corporate bigshots to ram through a bailout deal that gives billions in freebies to corporations without any oversight, or without any possible benefit to the taxpayers and consumers.

They've grown a pair, indeed!

I quite understand why libertarians object to government having power without any oversight by the people. But in their eagerness to kiss corporate ass, what these folks fail to understand is the hypocrisy in their condemnation of governmental oversight of big business.

WE are the government. We are. Does that mean that irresponsible people never manage to worm their way into powerful government posts and abuse their power? Of course not. But when that power is abused too egregiously, there are others in the government who can smack them around. Like the FBI is doing to the CEO's who presided over last week's mega-corporate failures.

Who oversees these corporations? Within the corporations themselves, that is? Nobody, of course.

The shareholders aren't going to do it, because all they care about is the same thing the CEO's do: making all the money they can. The consumers can't do much, either, when huge corporations have eliminated the competition by running everybody else out of business so consumers have nowhere else to go.

Libertarianism has failed dismally at keeping corporate America responsible to the people these companies are supposed to be serving. This isn't because there's anything wrong with the basic principles behind libertarianism -- that all power is potentially corruptive and should be checked by those over whom the power is wielded -- but precisely because corporations are treated, in libertarian-world, as if they are incapable of corruption. Or -- just as insanely -- as if, once they have squeezed out all the competition, those companies' consumers are in any real position to exercise oversight over them.

Libertarianism is a great concept. Libertarians ought to try it sometime -- for real. Unless the theories behind that philosophy are applied consistently -- holding true in the world of commerce, as well as that of government -- then the whole concept falls apart.

Checks and balances, people...remember? Government oversees business, and the people oversee government. When government goes awry, the people are in a position to do a hell of a lot more about it than they are about a corporate giant that holds a monopoly on a product or service they can't do without.

The Democrats used to be the ones who understood this. Then Clinton came along and corrupted the whole works. Now the Dems in Congress seem -- thank Heaven -- to have wised up. Let us hope that President Obama does the same.

He's starting to show more gumption in standing up to Nasty Grandpa McCain. He's not going to let the old grouch chicken out of the first debate on Friday night. Good for Obama.

And let's hope we're still saying "Good for Obama" four years from now.

Some Random Ramblings for Mid-September

2008-09-17T19:22:00.001-07:00

Here are a few odds and ends worth mentioning in the middle of the month...

What earthly sense does it make for Bush and Company to assert that the terrorists "hate our freedoms," then use fear of the terrorists as an excuse to attack our freedoms themselves?
Republicans have a vested interest in another terrorist attack. And right now, that means pretty much all of them. Democrats, on the other hand -- particularly leaders like Senator Obama, who is campaigning on a message of hope -- have a vested interest in our not being attacked again. Hmmmm...seems to me that if we really want to be safe from further terrorist attacks, our choice is pretty clear.
Though I would in no way compare my loss to that of those who died or lost loved ones on September 11 of 2001, I certainly suffered a very personal loss at the terrorists' hands, too. My birthday was taken from me, in a very real sense, and I don't know if I'll ever really, truly get it back. Not the way it was, in any case. Probably for the rest of my life, every time I tell people when my birthday is, I'll have to hear "Eeeeewww...how AWFUL!" and restrain myself from belting the insensitive dolts. It is now a national day of mourning and remembrance, and as I cannot simply exchange my birthdate for a different one, I will always have to live with that.
If Sarah Palin hadn't made a career (as have most Republicans) of butting her nose into other people's private lives, then of course how she raises her kids would be nobody's damned business but her own. As it is, she -- and people like her -- had just better get used to their private lives being an open book. Karma's a bitch, ain't it?

Sorry I have nothing more cohesive or coherent, for this week, than these few musings. The election season has gotten me so frazzled that right now it's hard for me to put large concepts together. Thank the Lord in Heaven, we only have another month and a half of this. Any longer than that, and I think my brain would shut down completely.

If only so many Americans' hadn't shut down already. The McCain-Palin campaign is now running on sheer stupidity alone. Hoping for an Obama victory is no longer enough. Folks, we need plenty of prayer.

"Ice-Cream Cone...Right in the Forehead!"

2008-09-10T19:12:00.001-07:00

I still get emails from GLBT conservative groups like Log Cabin and Outright Libertarians. Now that I have been around a while and know the score, these people appall me. Ditto for websites like the Independent Gay Forum. I don't know where they come from, but it's got to be some planet other than Earth.

Whatever the problem is with this country, it is NOT (A) frothing-at-the-mouth extremist liberals or (B) the "liberal" media. I have come to the conclusion, watching the ongoing circus that is American politics, that MORE "extremist" liberals, and a genuinely liberal media. are exactly what we need.

Keep on drinking the Kool-Aid, Log Cabin and IGF people. And enjoy your fanciful little flight in orbit. The rest of us will just have to deal with the problems you won't.

I know -- "duh!" Or, as we used to say in high school, "Ice-cream cone...right in the forehead!" I was somewhat slow in coming around, but I have gotten here at last. And better late than never.

I have no idea whether Barack Obama will win the election or not. And, sad to say, I'm no longer sure it will make much difference if he does. He is, for sure, the "lesser of two evils." But he seems to have caught the same "centrist" virus that plagues most of the Democratic Party.

People, we've got to excommunicate ourselves from this cult of personality. I keep hearing people -- young ones, especially -- say they've gotten more politically active because of Senator Obama. They seem to be threatening that if he doesn't win, they'll crawl back under whatever rock they were hiding under before he came along.

I've got news for them. THERE IS NO QUICK FIX. This country is in such dire trouble that even if Obama is all that and a bag of chips, and even if he does get elected, there isn't much that he, as President, can do all by himself. He really does need us -- ALL of us. I don't think that's just rhetoric coming from him; I think he's smart enough to mean it. We all need to stay committed, keep active and stand firm.

I have gotten a lot of things bass-ackwards, in the past, from having listened too much to GLBT conservatives. This has caused some of my judgments about things to be real turkeys.

The flap about my former pastor is one example of this. After her betrayal of the GLBT members of her congregation, I spluttered that she was a "typical liberal." Well, no...she isn't. Her problem -- far from being "typically" liberal -- is that she is (no matter what she wants to call herself) no damned liberal at all.

Not everyone who claims to be a "liberal" or a "progressive" really is one. Most Democrats, these days, are neither liberal nor progressive in the least. Gay conservatives fail to understand this (or, in their eagerness to demonize their chosen political enemies, they simply refuse to). Not all Democrats are progressive. And, as I have said before, to defend one's Republicanism on the basis of the wishy-washy quisling-hood of many Democrats is absurd.

Real progressives -- who are not afraid, incidentally, to call themselves "liberals," either -- are pretty fed up with the Democratic Party. But they understand how utterly apeshit insane it would be for them to protest this by becoming Republicans or Libertarians. It is simply not logical to define oneself as a conservative because you don't think Democrats are liberal enough.

There -- I've said it again. No more ice-cream cone on my forehead. From now on, I'll put my ice-cream in my mouth. And I hope to enjoy a jumbo triple-scooper when Barack Obama becomes our next President.

At the moment, worry may be warranted. We're all still waiting for our champion to remember that the people who gave him the nomination were members of his progressive base, and not wishy-squishy "centrist" cowards. We're also hoping he'll stop crying about what a big meanie McCain is and ACTUALLY FIGHT BACK.

Hope is still a beautiful thing. Let's all pray it turns out to be justified.

All Alike in the Dark

2008-09-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

If there ever was any doubt that the Right-Wingers think women are stupid, since John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running-mate, that doubt has disappeared. They think we've even dumber than I realized. Throw those Clintonites a woman -- ANY woman -- and (the theory goes), they will automatically vote for her.

Of course no real Hillary supporter is going to go for this crap. Governor Palin is against everything Hillary Clinton stands for -- as is McSame. The polls clearly show that nobody's being fooled by this except for the fools on the Religious Right. And they are pretty much fooled by everything.

The philosophy seems to be that, as the old male-neanderthal saying goes, we're all alike in the dark. But unless we're Right-Wing, Christianist whackjobs, we are NOT in the dark. Therein lies their problem. They may believe their charlatan leaders' lies, but we won't. It's becoming encouragingly apparent that no one else will, either.

How odd that these people don't distinguish between one woman and another. How much odder, still, that they take such a view -- yet call themselves Christians. Nothing could be farther from the genuine Christian perspective.

The God revealed in Jesus Christ is "no respecter of persons." And in Christ, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but all are one." God looks at our humanity, NOT at our gender. Yet God made -- deliberately and lovingly crafted -- each and every one of us. God loves, values and judges each of us as an individual person.

This is only one of at least a thousand examples of why the "Christian Right" is neither. Not only are these people very, very wrong, but they are not even real Christians. Their view could not be farther from it.

Christian doctrine also says we should judge ourselves more harshly than we do anyone else. Not so the Republican thugs of today, who are tripping all over themselves with excuses for the trailer-trashy carryings-on of the Palin family, even while they pass endless judgment, with Moses-like sternness, on the morality of just about everybody else.

If she were anybody else's daughter, Bristol Palin's sex life would be none of our business. But her mother chose to run for the second-highest office not only in the country, but in the world. So her daughter's sex life is not only the business of the family, but of the country -- and the world. Can't stand the heat? Then get the hell out of the kitchen.

They want to pass judgment on us. Not only that, but they want to be able to FORCE their judgments off on us, whether we agree with them or not. They would usurp the very role of God "Himself." Thus have they forfeited any right to "privacy."

Please, please, PLEASE let's have the debate on morality -- especially Christian morality -- the Religious Right keeps claiming that it wants to have. They're playing chicken with us, of course. The last thing they really want is an honest and rigorous discussion about morality, but they think that we're afraid to call their bluff.

Never has a more shamefully immoral crowd run this country. We owe it to the country to call their bluff. In fact, we owe it to Christ.

The Party of Peace

2008-08-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

Whew! So both Hillary and Bill Clinton have officially endorsed Barack Obama. I'm not terribly surprised that they did this. If they didn't, they'd stink so badly in the nostrils of most Democrats, from here on out, that both Bill's legacy and Hillary's political future would be ruined.

It was the way they both did it that gladdens my heart.

Both of the Clintons showed a lot of class. It must have been especially difficult for Hillary to ask her supporters if they were in it simply for her, or for the people who so deeply need the Democratic Party to begin once again living up to its promise. That took gumption, and in my opinion it went above and beyond simply tossing Obama her endorsement.

Any remaining PUMA's are either Republican plants (some of whom are probably actually on the GOP payroll), racists who wouldn't vote for a Black man if Jesus Christ came back as one, or just very troubled and screwed-up people. It's not about Hillary anymore; it's about them.

Back to the Democratic Party's promise. Once upon a time, they were the Party of Peace. They never unanimously stood for it; not only were there quite a few brave and principled souls who opposed the Vietnam War, for example, but quite a number who supported it. Democratic Presidents got us tangled up in that mess to begin with, and it took a Republican to finally get us out. But even though a number of Dems also rah-rah-ed the current boondoggle in Iraq (Hillary among them), it is almost solely Democrats who are standing against it.

By and large, particularly in recent decades, progressive Democrats -- REAL Democrats -- have at least given lip-service to the principle of peace. And they can do nothing to bring about an end to the disastrous conflict in Iraq if they can't even keep the peace within their own party.

The whole Barack-versus-Hillary battle in the primary was buffoonish and bizarre. It made every Democrat in the country look ridiculous. It was largely Hillary's fault, which is why she lost the nomination. There were -- thank God -- enough real Democrats willing to stand up and support a decent, godly candidate genuinely dedicated to peace, both in the Party and in the world.

I'm glad to see the resurgence of people of faith in Democratic Party politics. It had a lot to do with the nomination of a genuinely devout, Christian candidate this time around. And those of us in the Party with strong religious convictions need to continue to be a driving force for party unity, as well as for non-military solutions to global conflicts. It is up to us. If we don't do it, then no one else will.

"Centrists" sell their souls to the Devil just for temporary political gains. We need to keep the Party's new, resurgent progressive edge razor-sharp. Obama, too, tends to drift to the "center" (and let's not mealy-mouth about this; it is really to the Right) when he fears that the Left isn't strong enough to support him. Let's show him that the "centrist" naysayers are wrong.

It is no coincidence that we sunk into this "centrist" mess at a time when Democrats were afraid to talk about faith, whereas now that we're standing up more boldly for our religious convictions, the progressive wing of the Party is again emerging. Those two phenomena go hand-in-hand.

Let us, again and as never before, truly be the Party of Peace -- both at home and abroad. It all begins with how we treat each other.

Serving Two Masters at Saddleback Church

2008-08-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

I am of the opinion that Barack Obama never should have agreed to participate in the dog-and-pony show at the mega-corporate Saddleback Church in the first place. But then I'm part of the REAL Democratic Party base -- the progressives -- so who in the party's going to listen to me?

Okay, so he went. And the general consensus is that he did not do well. Why? Because he gave intelligent answers to stupid questions. This crowd can't be pleased by intelligent answers, because they haven't the smarts to appreciate them. McCain gave them horseshit, and since that's what they're full of, that's what they gobble up.

Of course there was the usual obsession with abortion. Right-wingers simply lack the integrity to understand (or at least, to ADMIT they understand) what progressives really believe about the issue. We know that the abortion rate cannot be reduced without a significant increase in respect for life all the way across the board: from conception to deathbed. We are for ALL life -- not just the unborn variety. The sanctity of life will be observed at one end only when it is observed at the other, as well as at all points in between.

There is, first of all, no "moment" of conception. Conception is a complex biological process, passing through several stages and taking many hours to complete. John McCain knows this, and his very use of the term "moment" of conception shows that he is concerned only with the opinion of idiots.

Furthermore, were McCain really that enamored of adoption as a viable option for improving the life-chances of the young, he would be in favor of adoption by same-sex couples, as well as by heterosexuals. When he claims to support adoption, while denying the right of same-sex couples to adopt, he is speaking with a forked tongue.

These people obsess over abortion because their real concern is not "life," but control over women. The only stage of life at which they can get the twofer of protecting life while also controlling women is the stage at which life is yet in the womb. This is why they are pro-life when it comes to the unborn, yet so blatantly and obscenely pro-death when it comes to life at every stage thereafter.

Conservative evangelical Christianity is, quite simply, attracting the wrong sort of people. It attracts people who don't really make good Christians, because they are not genuinely interested in following Christ. They buy into a twisted gospel -- one that has nothing to do with what Jesus taught. One that, in fact, stands for the very opposite of what He stood for.

Their sort did not follow Christ when He was alive on this earth; they were the sort who tried, at every turn, to kill Him. They clamored for His crucifixion, taunted Him on the Cross and rejoiced when He breathed His last.

Are there exceptions to this? Of course there are. But the decent among them are being sold a bill of goods. All the more reason why Right-Wing Christianity is so wicked. It is, indeed, the religion of Antichrist.

We cannot serve two masters. The religion of the "Christian" Right worships power, comfort and control. Real Christianity would turn their tidy, cozy little world upside-down and inside-out. Obama is a true Christian -- which is why they slander him so viciously every chance they get.

Some say that Saddleback is a "new" evangelical church, in that it is more "progressive" than the norm. I say phooey. Saddleback wants to make money -- HAS to make lots of it -- in order to be the mega-corporate entity that it has become. You can NOT be a big-corporate megachurch, concerned with making lots of money, and truly serve Christ.

"You cannot serve God and mammon." This is exactly what Jesus meant when He said that. A church concerned with making lots of money will always, when push comes to shove, betray Christ for the sake of the dollar. Saddleback Church has made a lucrative schtick out of its "progressivism," in the hopes of snaring people who want to be progressive without paying the price in terms of standing up for right and truth in the face of a materialistic and self-centered America. This makes it not less dangerous than your run-of-the-mill Right-Wing church, but more.

At Saddleback Church, Senator Obama walked into the lion's den. These people never had any intention of giving him a fair hearing. Which is why, from now on, those of us who support him must hope and pray he has enough sense -- when tempted by the chance to pander to evangelicals -- to walk the other way.

It's the Trust, Stupid!

2008-08-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

All the busy little bees are still buzzing about the John Edwards sex scandal. As usual, the emphasis is on sex instead of on the real issue: trust.

It isn't a matter of who sticks what where. It is a matter of trust kept -- or trust betrayed.

We now know, from Elizabeth Edwards, that John did cheat on her, in the only sense that makes sense. He deceived her. And it was in that -- NOT in what he stuck where -- that he betrayed his marital vows.

People had been suggesting that the Edwardses might have had some sort of an "understanding." Elizabeth has since laid that speculation to rest. She didn't know that her husband was stepping out on her, and because of THAT, yes indeed, he was cheating.

And let's have done with the nonsense that private dishonesty is somehow different from the public variety. As Jesus said, one who can't be trusted in small matters can't be trusted, either, in larger ones. Not that this was any small matter. A marriage vow is one of the most sacred any human being can ever make -- or break.

As a feminist, I can't buy into the line that "progressives must accept this" simply because conservatives (supposedly) don't. First of all, conservatives are just as likely to cheat on their spouses, or to lie their heads off in general about matters large and small, as are progressives. Just ask John McCain's first wife, or any of Newt Gingrich's previous wives. A terminally ill woman was betrayed by the one person she most desperately needed to trust. John Edwards has great politics, but personally, he's a skunk -- and yes, a politician's personal life most certainly DOES matter.

Thank God in Heaven Edwards didn't get the Democratic nomination. Not only would he not get the nod for President, but he wouldn't deserve to.

Progressives need to stop running away from debates about morality. Even Christian morality. Especially Christian morality. I hope and pray that progressive Christians can help them to do this.

Christian morality, properly understood in light of Christ's Gospel, centers around HOW PEOPLE TREAT ONE ANOTHER. Most especially how those in positions of trust live up to that trust. And how those in positions of power and privilege treat those who are vulnerable, powerless and without privilege.

In light of how he treated his wife, John Edwards stinks at this. But so, too, do John McCain, Newt Gingrich and George W. Bush. It doesn't matter a tinker's damn whether they lied to and betrayed their spouses or the American public. An oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States is no less sacred than one to love, honor and cherish one's spouse.

This is not a partisan game. God is neither a Democrat nor a Republican. Nor has it anything to do with who's gay or who's straight. The true Christian standard is identical for those of every affectional orientation.

Notice I didn't say "sexual" orientation. Again, it isn't about who sticks what where.

It's the trust, stupid!

...And THAT is what all the buzzing should be about.

Saggy Cindy in the White House? Va-va-va-voom!

2008-08-06T18:32:00.001-07:00

I just can't express how inspired I am, as a lesbian Christian looking to those sterling straights for moral inspiration, by the latest "ha-ha" missive from John McCain.

He'd like to run his missus, Cindy -- that pillar of society here in my home city -- as a contestant in a topless and/or bottomless dancing contest. Really, if the Religious Right wasn't already inspired enough by the fact that he dumped his first wife for the princess of a wealthy beer-distribution empire, this really oughtta wow 'em.

That hetero and neanderthal enough for ya, boys? Nyuk-nyuk...

As a single bachelorette-about-town, I have no wife to enter in strip-o-ramas. But, depraved lesbo that I may be, I have difficulty imagining why I'd stay married to a woman for whom I had so little respect. Hasn't McSame already gone on record, somewhere, as having called Cindy a "cunt" or some such thing? Honestly, what an addition he makes to the Family Values platform of the GOP!

What the hell is the matter with this man?

All I can say is that I hope he and Cindy spare us. From Jackie Kennedy and her Cassini gowns to... saggy Cindy in a G-string? If the Republicans don't want to make us all nostalgic for the Sixties, they'd better stop giving us mental images like that.

"Now I've got this picture of John McCain having sex in my head," Randi Rhodes was heard to lament, not long ago, on her radio program. She could only conclude with "Oh, crap!"

Cindy makes for a better mental picture than her loving hubby. Even fully clothed, he's not too appealing. But let me tell you what's even scarier than the image of him in a G-string...

...Friends, we can't let this dolt get anywhere near the Oval Office.

The Right Finally -- Again -- Jumps the Shark

2008-07-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, so now I've heard everything from these Right-Wing twits.

Their take on the story of Jim Adkisson, the mutant nutcase who shot up the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, is (take your pick) that:

(A) The "liberal media" is calling it a hate crime because Adkisson hates lesbians and gays, but -- dark, dastardly them -- NOT because he opened fire on Christians.

Poor, poor Christians! Because they *ALL* condemn lesbians and gays, they are bitterly hated by us libruls!

-- or --

(B) Because they ARE liberals, who love lesbians and gays instead of condemning them, and/or because they don't hold traditional beliefs about Jesus, they aren't "real" Christians, anyway, their church is not a "real" church, and therefore, slaughtering them in cold blood is not really a crime of any sort at all.

Honestly, these so-called conservatives are so befuddled, their minds so darkened by the nonsense they've been telling themselves for so long, that it's a wonder how they keep their brains from blasting right out of their heads. How is it that, at mention of a news item like this one, the effort of assimilating the information doesn't drive them, naked and screaming, out into the streets?

Which is it, dimwits? Is it a hate crime because Christians have been brutalized and murdered, or is it not a crime at all because they weren't "real" Christians? Call me when you've drunk enough of the Kool-Aid to have it all figured out.

I am increasingly less concerned with whether people of faith totally agree with every single thing I believe, down to the tiniest detail, than I am with whether or not they get what Jesus was all about. The Unitarian Universalists are fine people. I am proud to know several of them -- including some members of my own family. I used to get my undies in a real bunch about whether people accepted my creed -- down to the last jot and tittle -- or not. Now I simply, and very gladly, count faithful folks like the Unitarian Universalists among those who follow Jesus the only way He really cared about being followed -- by living as He taught us to live.

Not, however, the people on the Right Wing, who have hijacked the name of "Christian" as surely as those terrorists hijacked those planes on September 11 of 2001. They harp on and on about "terrism" and who is or is not on Jesus' side. Yet they are about as far from Jesus as Lucifer himself, and the most extreme among them -- the Jim Adkissons of this world -- are terrorists just as vile and inhuman as anything ever dredged up by Osama bin Laden in the Middle East.

No wonder the American people are tiring of this shit. This isn't the first time the nutbag, asshat Right Wing has jumped the shark -- it has to be at least the hundred thousandth.

We are turning on this insanity -- turning away from it, in total, throw-up-'til-we-dry-heave disgust -- at long last and (I can only hope and pray) forever.

The vehement degree to which we are turning against it gives me hope this country just might survive after all.

Finally -- Some Honorable Opponents!

2008-07-23T19:12:00.001-07:00

I was heartened to see, as I surveyed this week's blogosphere, that the libertarians are asserting themselves -- loudly and proudly -- in the political fray. Even though I have determined that I am no libertarian myself, this is good news to me.

Ron Paul's supporters refuse to go away. They are stuffing the Republican suggestion-box with input about the direction they believe the Party must take. And they are absolutely right. Big-government Republicans inevitably degenerate into fascists. For far too long, the GOP has been controlled by bullies, brownshirts and theocratic, hyper-militaristic nuts.

A good many Republicans are also defecting to the Libertarian Party. They're fed up with the antichrist, counterfeit "Christianity" that has hijacked their former Party. I've come to believe that a third party can do no more than influence the major party ideologically closest to it; I don't think it stands much of a chance of becoming a major party. The United States is basically a two-party country, and the Republicans and the Democrats are too entrenched to be deposed as the top two anytime in this century. But the Libertarians have gotten big and bold enough to make some real noise.

The GOP refuses to listen to this noise only at its own peril. It will not recover in less than a generation from the thuggery and corruption of the Junior Bush Administration. As a Democrat, I rejoice in this. But I realize how easily the Democrats can go soft and stupid. Hell, they've been that way since the Seventies.

I'm a progressive first, and a Democrat second. I'm only a member of the Democratic Party because I think it's necessary to belong to a major party in order to make much of a difference as a citizen in this country. I don't hold out any hope that the party, in and of itself, is ever going to be much of a vehicle for positive change -- unless the progressive wing, under President Obama, is able to really get some traction.

I guess I should say that I DO hold out at least some hope for this. And I hope, as well, that the Republicans -- heavily influenced by the libertarians -- will provide some energetic opposition. No political party, however successful at the polls, can do much genuine good if it is unopposed. Opposition keeps it honest.

Here's to worthy opposition. Go get 'em, you Ron Paulites! Though libertarianism is far too minimalist, in its philosophy of government, to hold in check the rapacious powers of mega-capitalism (which, left unchecked, will lead only to tyranny of a different form), it can definitely provide an important counterbalance against the sort of dopey nannyism Democrats tend to push for when they get their own way too much of the time.

Finally, the Dems have some honorable opponents. Though they'll only be able to do some good if they're successful in taking back the Republican Party from the Nazis who run it now.

May the ghost of Goldwater rise again!

A Whack Upside the Head

2008-07-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that my now-former pastor is getting pretty picky-choosy when it comes to her multiculturalism. After all, most of these same alternative cultures, in their perceived macho-ness and primitivity, regard not just gays but WOMEN as second-class citizens!

Does she, also, intend to "take one for the team" if it is demanded of her? Or is that merely to be expected of the gays? And really, why do I even bother to ask such questions?

Honestly, what part of the Golden Rule do these cafeteria Christian multiculturalists not understand? As soon as anyone in the Church gets an edge up on anybody else, they try to turn it to their advantage. This particular woman pastor has managed to get in the door, and she slams it in our faces.

It may seem that I'm obsessing over the matter here, but issues like multiculturalism (what it should mean, and what it must never mean), as well as what it means to be liberal and progressive in America post-September 11 of 2001, are the meat and potatoes of this Blog.

Multiculturalism is definitely an important value for progressivism. But it can never be our most important one. Were it to trump all the others, it would also destroy them. Especially in the hands of Western cultural chauvinists who credit their own culture (quite shortsightedly) for having singlehandedly invented inclusiveness and broad-mindedness. When they decide to go slummin' and condescend to the "savages" that live outside their exalted ring of light, they are all too likely to project their own benighted views onto others and use their "multiculturalism" as a handy excuse to be hateful.

I suspect that this pastor never really cared very much for gays in the first place. She may have regarded her congregation's commitment to including us as a bother. She obviously considers it a hindrance to ministering to those Latinos of whom she thinks so highly, she's never even bothered to get to know.

I cannot too highly recommend Bruce Bawer's recent book, While Europe Slept. It broods on just these issues, in an international context and specifically concerning the influx of Muslim immigrants into Europe. I'm grateful to God that "He" led me to it before all the nonsense started at my former church. Indeed, it helped me to make sense out of an attitude that might otherwise have flummoxed me.

Many people are talking, right now, about what multiculturalism really means. I'm very glad we're having this discussion. And I can only hope and pray that it will lead to the realization that the best qualities of humanity are the province of no one particular culture.

Don't women and gays -- who exist in every culture in the world -- have the right to partake of all the goodies of enlightened humanity, too?

Given our track-record over the past several years, we in millenial America would do well to be a little more humble about attributing these qualities exclusively to ourselves. And a lot more open to recognizing them when they show up in places we can't imagine finding them.

There's no excuse for respect to be such a scarce commodity. In this world that God so loves, there ought to be enough of it for everybody.

A Big, Fat Gay Caveat Emptor

2008-07-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

Another brilliant light bulb has just popped on over my head!

Cross Currents, now forming here in Phoenix, is a local GLBT social group. If it works out here, hopefully it will spread to other locations around the country. We're getting it together mainly for the purpose of socializing and mutual support. It's a chance to make friends, and for singles to meet that special somebody, without being bound to any specific congregation. As there are very few of us in any one church, being able to come together will strengthen us in our daily spiritual lives.

Now for my latest brainchild. This idea is totally new; I haven't even shared it yet with the others in our fledgling group. I think, however, that it would be an excellent endeavor for Cross Currents to undertake.

We could develop a website that functions, as we do, independently of any church or denomination. This way, it would not be subject to censorship from any outside interest. On this site, GLBT Christians could post their observations and experiences about the churches they visit. They could brag about the great ones they have found, and warn others about the not-so-great ones.

We can't necessarily go by what churches say about themselves. That tells us more about how the straight majority in these churches want to see themselves than it does about how WE may see them.

Official designations (varying from one denomination to another) like "Open and Affirming," "Welcoming and Affirming," "More Light," "Rainbow," or whatever else, are as much about marketing as they are about ministry. They are somewhat helpful, but not much. Very often, they were adopted after marketing "demographic" studies that informed their leadership we were a ripe group to target because lots of us happen to live in their area.

Some churches may genuinely want to include us, but if they're in an area where not too many of us live, they may feel that the punishment they would get from their denomination (and maybe their neighbors) would make publicly reaching out to us too big a risk. Others may include us simply because their denomination allows it with a minimum of hassle, and because there are a lot of us nearby. Our money, of course, being as green as everybody else's.

The bad news is that some of the churches that tout themselves as fully inclusive of us aren't nearly as inclusive as they claim to be. The good news is that many that don't officially advertise their welcome actually are. Some of the "unofficial" ones are really more hospitable to us than are some of those that boast about their hospitality.

In some cases, the larger religious body simply doesn't offer the opportunity for their churches to officially welcome us. There are some Catholic parishes, for example, that are very warm and friendly, even though there's no way the Church will let them bill themselves as such.

The degree of welcome we receive, in truth, has more to do with what's in the hearts of the individuals in that congregation than it does with their theology, their interpretation of Scripture or the politics of their denomination.

A welcoming congregation may be stifled by a rigidly homophobic pastor. And a welcoming pastor may be stifled by a congregation that refuses to go along.

This is exactly why a website of church "reviews" would be so helpful, especially for those of us who are new to a location and don't yet know our way around. All the ads in the local GLBT publications are going to tell us, again, is what the churches that advertise there want to think of themselves, and that they want our "business."

I know that I, personally, would have been spared a lot of heartache had I been warned that the church where I spent the last three and a half years was concerned with little more than butts in the pews and bucks in the plate.

We can have follow-ups and updates, tracking the developments made in the churches we review. Some of the folks in these congregations -- should they genuinely care about extending a welcome to us -- could read the website and learn what those in their midst may be afraid to tell them.

For example, should the people at my now-former church choose to stand up to their pastor and make clear that they WILL NOT treat the gays there like some shameful secret that must be hidden from those who might not approve, we can cheerfully include that good news. But if, on the other hand, the congregation chooses to sit back with their thumbs up their butts and simply let the pastor poison the atmosphere for gays, we can make darned good and sure that others are not suckered in.

We just have to think of a catchy title for our website. How does "A BIG, FAT GAY CAVEAT EMPTOR grab you?

Okay, so it's kinda grandiose. But I'm open to suggestions...

Mercy, Mercy Me!

2008-07-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

As I reflect on the nonsensical blather coming from gay conservatives about this election, I wonder how I could ever have bought into so much of what they said. Granted, I was angry and disgruntled about progressives not acting like progressives, but I'm embarassed, now, to admit how susceptible this made me to gay-Right rot.

It is much, much easier to be a conservative than it is to be a progressive. The Right caters to the lowest common denominators: hostility toward anyone different from oneself, suspicion of any idea that does not promise immediate gratification to oneself, and fear, fear, fear. Conservative politics are childish; they appeal to the sulking, cowering little kid inside each of us.

Progressivism, on the other hand, sets the bar considerably higher: concern for others (even those different from oneself), dedication to the common good, optimism about the future. You have to be an adult to commit yourself to a Leftward course. And because of its very ambitious nature, progressivism is hard to follow with super-consistency.

Conservatives -- especially gay ones -- love to criticize progressives for their inconsistencies. But we must consider the source.

My former pastor's problem is not that she is evil; indeed, all in all, she's a pretty decent sort. Her problem is, I believe, a case of runaway vanity: a common failing in progressives. She thinks, quite wrongly, that if she isn't consistently progressive and enlightened a hundred percent of the time, she must be a bad person. But her inconsistency does not make her bad; it merely makes her human.

In her scheme to keep the Latinos in her church from finding out that gays are welcome there, she is making a very big mistake. She thinks that she must "manage" us all, and she is wrong. Now that she has met with criticism for this scheme, she's reacting with hurt and outrage -- a bruised ego. Her image of herself is being challenged, and she doesn't like it one little bit.

Of all the people who should be able to show mercy to themselves, progressive Christians should lead the way. God is far more patient with her than she is with herself. We should, as well, be able to help the Left, in general, to be more patient with itself and less over-proud. The excessive pride is a defense against the bitter self-flagellation that would otherwise result from the occasional discovery that one doesn't always live up to a high standard. It accounts, I think, for much of what non-progressives see as obnoxiousness.

What we must NEVER succumb to is the temptation to lower the standard. Conservatives and their evil twins, the "Centrists," are forever advising us to do that. They don't like the constant reminder that they could be doing so much better than they are.

At least we're TRYING to do better than they are. What would help us in this endeavor, perhaps more than anything else, would be to remember that the same God Who shows such steadfast mercy to others wants us to extend at least a little of it to ourselves.

Unite and Conquer!

2008-06-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

I've finally pinpointed what is, for me, the most upsetting part of my now-former pastor's lamebrained scheme to hide the gays in her church from the Latinos.

It's the same strategy used by "The Man" to whom "progressives" like pastor are supposed to be sticking it.

Divide and conquer. Keep us all balkanized into separate little groups. See us not as individuals, each possessing his or her own, free will -- no, that's too messy! -- but as neatly-manageable (and basically interchangeable) cogs in the machine.

The gays and the Latinos are being played against one another, very much the same way Hillary Clinton tried to play the African-Americans against the hard-workin' white crackers. That's the spirit, sister: Keep us ALL down.

Cogs in the machine...pawns on the chessboard. It's easier, I guess, to keep track of us that way -- when you really don't care about us as people. But what happens to those who happen to be members of more than one little minority group? What, for example, about gay Latinos?

They don't count, that's what about them. Not, at least, to their "pastor." She has failed them most spectacularly of all.

Boys and girls, if anybody ought to know better than to play such a losing game, it should be a Christian clergyperson. She, of all people, should be able to see each and every one of us as a unique creation of God. And she should recognize that NO one's rights may be sacrificed for the sake of anyone else's.

In a world in which ANYone's rights and freedoms are endangered, EVERYone's are. I'm not sure what part of that she doesn't understand.

United we stand. United we conquer. This must be our rallying cry in the face of anyone who would exploit us for the sake of their own power and control.

By all means, we MUST "stick in to The Man." Even when The Man is a Woman.

A New Page

2008-06-18T05:44:00.000-07:00

My now-former church likes to have what they call Adult Forums after Sunday services. They get together over coffee ("Lutheran gasoline") and goodies to talk about Important Issues of the Day. Even though I'm on my way out, I'd like to suggest a new topic for them to ponder.

How come it is they can't figure out how to be TRULY welcoming, tolerant and inclusive? Why does it always have to be a big show with little backstage substance?

The pastor was for Hillary in the primary. The two of them are just about exactly the same age, from the same sort of background, and with the same outlook on life. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

That generation did a lot for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you...but can we move on now? They don't seem to be able to yield the stage with a new generation, or even to share it with us. Addicted to the limelight, they stay out there bowing and kissing the air, even as the curtain falls on them.

Now they're merely getting in the way. We don't need Mommy (or Daddy) to do it all for us; we're big enough to do it ourselves now. They led the way, but they won't even let us follow.

So she wants to be inclusive -- fine and dandy. What a tremendous help it would be if they knew what that means. What she seems content to do is to THINK she's being inclusive, and to act the part. That it is nothing but a role she can step in and out of at will, she either doesn't realize or thinks we don't.

There are different conceptions of what multiculturalism means. She has chosen the most unsustainable, counterproductive and self-defeating conception possible. She credits Anglo America with moral superiority over everybody else -- all the good qualities come from us, she thinks, and are somehow uniquely ours. Everybody else in the world gets credit for nothing but misery.

Latinos, and quite a number of other folks in this world, might take some issue with the notion that Americans are the sole beacons of tolerance, inclusiveness and human dignity in this world. She thinks she's being "multicultural" by "letting" the Latinos "have" the bigotry and intolerance she evidently credits to them. We must be "inclusive" of them by denying in them all decent human qualities, and projecting upon them our own bigotry and narrowness of mind. She can't conceive of them as having the potential to welcome those who are different from themselves, so to make the church more "welcoming" for them, she must lie to them and make them think the gays aren't there.

Good topic for Adult Forum? I'd bet my eyeteeth it's one they'll never have the gumption to touch.

Progressives in this country -- and indeed, all over the world -- are turning to a new page. Visionaries like Senator Obama are leading the way. Getting prima donnas like Hillary Clinton and my former pastor OUT of the way is crucial to moving on. (And okay, maybe Obama's former pastor, too.) A new page, a new act -- there's much more to this play.

As I move on, like Senator Obama, to a new church home, I turn to a new page, too.

Out-Luthering Luther?

2008-06-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I've just about had it. A full year after I'd thought our pastor had given up on her "Let's hide the gays from the Latinos" scheme, I find out she's still at it. Balkanizing us into groups to avoid dealing with us as individuals, and pushing us around like pawns on a chessboard. And my fellow church councilmembers (the straight ones, anyway) have morphed into The Stepford People -- totally without consciences or wills of their own, apparently. Over this entire year, no one has had the backbone to stand up to her. Have I missed something, or have we elected her pope?

These people like to brag about their Lutheran heritage, but they'd toss Luther out the first time he made them the least bit uncomfortable. The Lutheran Church -- even its most liberal branch, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- has gone Catholic. Sooner or later, the institution becomes all-important. Don't rock the boat...don't make waves.

This is as insulting to the Latinos as it is to the gays. It is downright degrading to everybody -- even the pastor. Especially the pastor. I am so outta there.

The ELCA's "Sexuality Statement" is also an insult to everybody. They manage to take half a gazillion words to say absolutely nothing. And they took seven years of "study" to do it! I. AM. OUTTA. THERE. With bells on.

Truth be told, my two years in the United Church of Christ spoiled me for anything else. I lost my head and returned, from there, to the Catholic Church, quickly realized what a boner that was and then, too embarrassed to return to the UCC, went through my whole rediscovery of Luther -- who did, indeed, help me through my final break with Rome -- and returned, anew, to the Lutheran Church of my youth. Again, I have popped a massive green one.

There's a UCC downtown that everybody's talking about. Several friends and acquaintances of mine go there, and they all are proud to call it home. I'm on my way there, myself. Is the UCC for me? To quote them quoting Gracie Allen, "God is still speaking," and "Never place a period where God has placed a comma." Among all the children of Israel, Gracie is my favorite prophet.

The denomination has a stellar history. They didn't do so well with the Salem Witch Trials, but they pulled out of that tailspin pretty completely. Half the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Congregationalists, as the denomination was then called. They stood strong against slavery when few other churches did anything but cheerlead on its behalf. They were staunch champions of women's rights when that, too, was, to most of Christendom, considered uncool. And they have led the way for GLBT rights like nobody else under Christ.

Obama's church, too, huh? Jeremiah Wright said some wacky things, but I must admit I agree with at least 95% of the things I've heard him say. Including some of the stuff Obama himself has disavowed. I like the way they stood up to the IRS, too. Were there any justice in this world, most of the churches on the Religious Right would have lost their tax-exempt free ride decades ago.

First Congregational United Church of Christ. The "Church of the White Spire," as it's known here in Phoenix. Historic building -- it even looks the part of an old-style Congregationalist church. Come this Sunday, God willing, I am there. And maybe -- if, again, God is willing -- I will truly be home at last.

WAH-HOOOOO!!!

2008-06-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

Our man is in! It is now official. Barack Obama will be the Democratic Party nominee for President.

Hillary still hasn't figured that out. We're told we have to "give her time." Bullcrap. By the time she decides what planet she's on, the world will have cheerfully moved on without her.

And what of all those sore losers who say they won't vote for her? You know the ones...the hard workin' white crackers for Hillary and the sour old broads of the "Denver...Denver...Denver" chants in the balcony? Let 'em bite big green ones. They, too, are totally out of touch with reality.

Grandpa McSame would keep on screwin' all the working folks. And I guess the balcony-chanters don't need no stinkin' Roe v. Wade.

Watch this space for continued gloating about Barack's big win. And now for the official prediction: major Republican carnage in November.

That's right, righties. It's Custer at the Little Bighorn for you. That earthquake you hear is us comin'. You have no idea just how bad the slaughter will be. But you'll find out soon enough. You can run, but you can't hide.

Millions more are going to be voting this year, and they will pull the lever for Obama. So, too, will most of the former Hillary-ites who didn't fry their brains too far past the point of no return back in the Sixties.

McSame has gotten a cushy ride from the worshipful (supposedly liberal) media thus far. They call him a "maverick." Were he a Democrat, he'd be just another flip-flopper. This generation knows how to use technology. His every flip and flop will be instantly immortalized on You Tube. We're gonna nail him to the wall flatter than a flyspeck.

More cottage-cheese-on-lime-jello speeches, sir. Please. They are charming when you make 'em sound like bedtime stories for the kiddies. Give us all the screaming creepies as we imagine you reading us yet another rendition of My Pet Goat.

Obama in '08. You've seen the preview. Now brace yourselves for the reality.

An Education From My Flirtation

2008-05-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

My progressive friends are still celebrating my return from the libertarian wilderness. They're treating it as sort of a long bad dream. But I myself am grateful for that time of wandering. My flirtation with libertarianism taught me quite a lot. As I move forward on my journey through life, I am not exactly the same person I was before.

I learned, for one thing, that I can disagree with people on some issues, yet respect them very much. I never used to be very good at that. I tended to treat conservatives of every stripe (and yes, even liberal libertarians are conservatives) as enemies. They were bad people, as far as I was concerned -- except for my conservative friends, who were simply deluded.

Now, having really listened to them for a change, I understand that they have deeply-held convictions that make them think the way they do. I still think they're being hoodwinked by the Right Wing, but that doesn't mean they're nuts. I agree with them that there is much wrong on the Left today; we merely disagree about what should be done about it. They prefer to oppose everything about the Left, tarring everybody on that side with the same brush, while I choose to stay and work -- fight like hell, if necessary -- to turn progressivism back onto its proper course.

I choose this course of action because I also learned the consequences of picking up my marbles and leaving because things weren't going altogether my way. The American Left has been largely hijacked by whackjobs and unscrupulous opportunists -- people who either want to work out their personal problems on the political stage or hope to gain power and prestige by using progressivism as a cover. This cannot be improved by my leaving, which only makes things worse. If I were to exit forever, there would be one less reasonable and principled person and still more power for the whackjobs and the con artists.

There are a great many, these days, who fancy themselves conservatives not because they truly are (when you talk with them, you find out they're just disgruntled liberals), but because they've bought into the Right-Wing propaganda pronouncing liberalism dead. If progressive principles were as crazed and stupid as many people today seem to think they are, it never would have gained as much traction in society -- or made so many momentous changes -- as it has over the years. Truth be told, most of what now makes life worth living came about as a result of progressive values winning out over conservative ones.

Life would suck for me -- a woman, who also happens to be a lesbian -- if conservatives had their way. Almost everything I value has come about because progressives fought for it. And over the past few years, especially, it has become apparent that the Right Wing, especially the Republicans, want nothing short of my total destruction. I don't understand why these people hate me so much, but as I look around the country, at what they're trying to do to my life and the lives of those like me, I can no longer afford the luxury of thinking that they don't.

The libertarians are somewhat better, and seem to have real principles -- something that conservatives, in the late-Bush era, obviously do not. But they are so obsessed with government that they can't understand the threat global capitalism poses to decent human life everywhere. Once mega-corporations get the power of government, in effect, they BECOME governments unto themselves.

Oppression is oppression, and tyranny is tyranny. My foray into libertarian-land has left me stunned at their cluelessness about this very basic fact. Corporations now have the power to do to us what few governments, no matter how oppressive, have ever been able to accomplish by themselves. A hundred years ago, they called rapacious capitalists "robber barons" for good reason. They did something few of us any longer seem to have done -- studied history -- and they saw the ominous parallels between unbridled capitalism and the feudalism of the Dark Ages.

A final lesson I have learned, watching liberals become more and more demoralized and confused by the savage beating they've been taking from the Right Wing, is that today we need liberals more than ever. You miss them once they're gone -- no matter how tired of them you may have thought you were. We cannot presume that progress will continue. It can be undone -- and right now, the radical Right is trying its damnedest to do exactly that.

And so, onward and upward. Barack Obama must increase, and that charlatan Hillary Clinton must decrease. She MUST. If she is elected, it may indeed strike the final death-blow to all true progressivism in this country.

No wonder Rush Limbaugh is rooting her on...

Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself...

2008-05-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks as if Senator Obama's almost got it all sewn up now. The only way Clinton could possibly get the nomination would be to hijack democracy entirely somehow, thereby destroying the very party named for democracy. The Republicans who hope this happens are the ones who really hate America.

This week, as usual, I watched American Experience on PBS. One of this country's greatest presidents, FDR, was profiled. And I was reminded of a very crucial fact: Democrats are the enemies of fear. "The only thing we have to fear," President Roosevelt told the country in the depth of the Depression, "is fear itself." And how right he was!

Republicans love fear, and the chaos that triggers it. Just behold Rush Limbaugh, urging riots in Denver when the Democratic National Convention comes. Or "President" Bush, ignoring intelligence warnings of an imminent terrorist attack because -- quite obviously -- he wanted it to happen. Hillary Clinton loves fear, too, which is why she's done all she can, during her campaign, to whip it up into a frenzy.

Hard-workin' white redneck whackos for Hillary. How you "progressives" who voted for her must burn with shame!

It is the Democrats, and real Progressives in general, who should hate terrorism the most. Terror is a conservative weapon. It is, in fact, along with ignorance, the only weapon they've got.
It is Right-Wingers who hope for another terrorist attack on this country -- and make no mistake about it, they absolutely salivate with glee over the possibility of it.

I hate thugs who threaten cartoonists and writers with violence because free speech is still free. I also hate thugs who, under the guise of "legitimacy," leech away our freedoms -- supposedly to save them. We must pray there will never be another terrorist attack on America, and work with peace-lovers everywhere to keep in from happening anywhere.

I will say it, loud and proud. It is Right-Wingers who are the natural allies of terrorists. They love 'em so much, they're helping them to multiply like maggots in a corpse. Enough, already, with the lie that the Right Wing could ever effectively fight them. Actions speak louder than words, and despite their bombastic, macho rhetoric, they've shown themselves utterly dedicated to stirring up more terrorism around the world.

"Bring 'em on!" said our Cowboy-in-Chief. We didn't realize just how literally he meant that.

Barack Obama is the enemy of fear, and the true foe of terrorism. How nuts it is that so many ignoramuses think he's Osama bin Laden's long-lost cuz. He wants to bring back the sense of optimism FDR once brought into the White House like a fresh breeze. "Yes, we can!" he tells us. And he means it.

We really do have nothing to fear but fear itself. And any superdelegates who let Hillary browbeat them into backing her are gonna find out what fear is. Democrats are not going to forget who tried to cancel out their votes. And the next time any of these not-so-super delegates tries to run for any kind of public office, including dogcatcher and outhouse inspector, they'll find out just how over their glorious political careers really are.

Saved From Certain Brain-Death

2008-05-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

Some of my gay conservative friends wonder why I've become so darned argumentative. They've been working on me for soooo long now, and for a while they thought they had me -- at least halfway there. I was actually flirting, for a while, with changing my party affiliation from Democratic to Libertarian.

Okay, so I considered myself a liberal libertarian. And I told them I'd eat worms before ever considering becoming a Republican. I never had anything but comtempt for Frat Boy Bush, even when my Log Cabin friends were falling all over themselves about how he would save us from "terr-ism." And I have always, ALWAYS hated this war without reservation. But these were all perfectly respectable positions for a libertarian.

I still lean libertarian about some things. I think, for example, that it will be impossible to break the death-grip that big corporations have on America and the world as long as mega-government is enabling them. And I would like to see more of an emphasis, in social activism, on persuasion over coercion. I would, for example, prefer a "scarlet letter" law -- forcing employers who would discriminate against gays to publicly declare this and accept the stigma -- to laws telling people who they can and cannot hire. Employers who violated a full disclosure, or scarlet letter, law would be prosecuted for criminal fraud instead of simply receiving an ineffectual little slap on the wrist, and they'd be forced to think long and hard about whether the stigma was worth standing up for their vaunted "pro-family" principles.

But I have backed away from the abyss. It took some thinking, but I finally saw the light.

The reason I agreed with my gay conservative friends at least partially was that they are at least partially right. Liberals are NOT as solidly liberal as they used to be, and many are outright hypocrites. It is impossible, for example, to vote for a race-baiting, Limbaugh-courting bigot like Hillary Clinton and truly stand for progressive values. Though I respect many of those who support her, I cannot listen to their arguments in her favor and remain calm. If she wins, she will destroy what's left of the Democratic Party, and drive a stake through the already-feebly-beating heart of the Progressive Movement.

The gaycon's argument, however, departs from reason after that.

Lemme see if I can get this (in a manner of speaking) straight. They criticize the liberals for not being liberal enough, but their answer to that is to...become more conservative? Whaaaatheheck?!

If you think the liberals are not liberal enough, you are at least starting out on the right planet. But if you think the most constructive answer to this is to become a conservative, you have blasted off for Pluto.

This is drugs...this is your brain on drugs. If you think the liberals are TOO liberal, you're a conservative. If you think they're not anywhere darn near liberal enough, you are either a liberal yourself or else you are terribly, woefully, lamentably confused.

There is, in fact, only one constructive solution for someone like me, who wishes that the liberals were more liberal -- and that is to stick with the Left and try to help them get back to it. Turn that rocketship around -- a SHARP U-turn -- and head right back to Earth.

That, folks, is today's lesson on Logic 101. After a lapse of a couple of years, more or less, my brain is back off of life-support and functioning on its own. And I promise you'll hear nothing but clear thinking from me from now on.

Obama O-Rama

2008-05-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finally found the jump-start I need to get this Blog going again. From now on, I'd like to make it a weekly blog, posting every Wednesday -- God willing.

My new inspiration? The incredible emergence of Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential front-runner. This is, quite frankly, the most exciting political phenomenon of my entire adult life.

I had given up on the Democratic Party. Having confused the Progressive movement with the party, I had all but dismissed any interest in it, too. Long and soulful talks with good progressive friends have since restored my belief that without a strong Left in this country, not only America but the world is doomed. There are, indeed, elements of the Right (particularly liberal libertarianism) I find interesting, but let's look at the way the Right has dealt, thus far, with Senator Obama:

"Obama...Osama! Osama...Obama! Duuuuhhhhh...his middle name is HUSSEIN, d'yuh know that? And his preacher's real scary...and he's BLACK!"

That's it, folks. That's pretty much all they've got. In other words, they've got nuthin'. These poor, lost souls are so brain-dead that, post-Bush Junior, they can't even manage a coherent answer to the message of conciliation and optimism Obama presents.

Barack Obama is a classy man, and a gentleman in the true sense of the word. He's quality, through and through. I've read his book The Audacity of Hope, and I've heard him speak at least a couple dozen times. I've been watching and listening as he deftly, and with dignity, weathers the scumball bullshit the Clintons have been spewing at him. I can add very little to what he has to say for himself. Read his book, and listen for yourself.

It even looks as if enough Democrats still have the sense to remember what progressivism is that he may WIN the nomination. Let us fervently hope and pray. He may not wear a flag pin in his lapel (and what is up with that idiocy, anyway?), but he clearly loves America. There's a new generation of Democrats out there -- true progressives -- who are bringing the honor and common sense back to liberalism. It isn't a dirty word anymore.

Do I still consider myself something of a (very liberal) libertarian? Small-l, and without the creepy cultism, yes. But conversations with numerous true-believer, capital-L types have shown me that they'll never accept me as one of them. And I have to say that's a profound relief. There is nothing more utopian than Libertarianism with a capital L. Those poor, deluded souls, with their odd pride in their supposed anti-utopianism, will be the last to know it.

I know a few people still visit this Blog, because they've told me so. I hope they'll pause, once in a while, to leave a message and send me their hellos. There may be some way, through Blogger.com, to find out how many hits I'm getting, but I have no idea what that might be. I hope to build it up, now, to full strength, and to gather a loyal assortment of engaged readers -- however small that motley lot might be.

My theme -- and I do have one -- is that the far-out, whacko Right is what attacked America on September 11 of 2001. On that evil day, my thirty-ninth birthday, I was just too pissed-off that those thugs had chosen my birthday to do those deeds to be able to make sense of it all. But globalism does, indeed, present new opportunities to people all over the world, and never more abundantly than to extremist conservatives, both political and religious, who want to hold decent people everywhere hostage to fear. A new progressive movement, liberal at heart and libertarian in spirit, has begun to emerge from the ashes -- and Barack Obama leads the way.

He doesn't want us all to be mere followers. He hopes to energize us to take action alongside him. This is what I love best about him. And I fully intend to answer that call. May 2008 be the beginning of a real Obama-o-Rama. I hope as many of you as possible will come along for the journey.

Blowing Chunks

2007-09-30T23:11:00.001-07:00

Okay, I promised I would post about the latest Garlic Festival. I'll do it a little at a time, so it can be savored -- like bon-bons. Though hopefully NOT like garlic ice-cream.

And what can I say about garlic ice-cream? Besides the fact that they gave me a double scoop of it, and it was the longest time it ever took me to eat an ice-cream cone.

Basically, it was vanilla ice-cream, with little chunks of garlic liberally sprinkled in. I think that pretty much says it all.

It is difficult to overstate the shock to one's senses as one bites into a juicy cone full of ANYTHING liberally sprinkled with garlic. Mashed potatoes might have worked better than vanilla ice-cream, though that was not an option. Someone with a really interesting imagination thought up the recipe for this concoction. They must surely reside in an institution for the criminally (or at least culinarily) insane.

Thus endeth my official review of garlic ice-cream. Though I must admit it wasn't so bad once I'd gotten down to the last few bites. Very much the same way limburger cheese sprinkled with pickled beets might not be too bad, if you only had to eat a few bites of it.

I loved the whole experience of my trip to Minnesota for the Second Annual Garlic Festival. The rest of it was so good that on the balance, one wacky ice-cream cone was merely a blip on the screen.

Old Broads Behaving Badly

2007-09-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well, almost thirty years after hanging up my sneakers, I'm going to be playing basketball again.

Some fellow Mercury and Lady Sun Devil fans and I are launching our own local "mature" ladies' basketball league.

I am a very political animal, and basketball is definitely political -- at least when we women play it. All sorts of male losers are getting their tighty-whities in a bunch because women are playing basketball, enjoying it and loving to watch other women play it. This is yet another rung on the ladder of our climb toward TAKING OVER THE WORLD. Get used to it.

The sour grapes over at many of the online article comment boards are truly pathetic. It has taken MY Phoenix Mercury 11 years to do what the Suns haven't been able to accomplish in almost forty.

WAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

Yes, let's call the waaaambulance, please. The sexism and homophobia in the air is getting downright poisonous. But of course, we womens' B-ball fans just find it funny.

If all the women in the world were heterosexual, these sad clowns in the circus of life couldn't get one between them. Neither could any of them make a third-grade hopscotch team.

Weep on, you dead ends in the gene pool. And may your genes die out, as they well deserve to.

Bring on ladies' basketball and the Catwomen -- our new team. We may not be quite ready for the Mercury or the Lady Sun Devils, but our day will come!

Garlic's in the Air...

2007-08-17T00:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, it is now insanely late at night and I should be sleeping, because in three hours I have to get up so I can catch my flight.

To Minnesota! For the Second Annual Minnesota Garlic Festival!

It's full of even more wonderful ingredients this year. They'll have gourmet chefs, serving garlicky delights. They'll even have garlic ice cream!

I will blog more about it when I return. Hopefully inspired by all the garlicky goodness and family fun.

Nobody Left But the Ghosts at the George & Dragon

2007-07-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the relentless insanity of light rail construction down Central Avenue -- the main drag here in Phoenix -- many longtime businesses are going under. I just learned that one of my favorite restaurants, the George & Dragon, may soon be one of the casualties.

An English-style pub run by real Brits, the George & Dragon is a treasure. Not only do they serve wonderful, pub-style food -- fish and chips, bangers and mash and roast lamb to die for -- but, in very English fashion, they even have their own ghost.

At least one ghost, maybe more.

Several of the waitresses have regaled us with accounts of their encounters with the supernatural in that place. One young lady was quite alone in the (too small to hide anybody) restroom when she heard loud and insistent sobbing coming from right there inside. Another spotted a gentleman with a hat sitting in the far corner of the dining-room, went to fetch him a menu, and found him gone, even though there was no way past her in that small space. I'm told the manager refuses even to venture into the dining-room late at night after the lights are out.

Well, by the end of the summer the ghosts may have the place all to themselves.

Not only is this sad, it's criminal. How the city is able to get away with this is beyond me. It is literally strangling the life out of once-vibrant business along the Central corridor, all for a light-rail boondoggle that's thirty years out of date before it's even completed.

I hope the proprietors of these businesses sue the city of Phoenix. What's more, I hope they win. Will "the people" lose if this happens? Pardon me, but the people lost before the construction even started.

Pink Pistols and Cold, Dead Fingers

2007-07-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

Apparently only heterosexuals have rights under the Second Amendment. Bill O'Reilly's whacko-homophobe guest, Rod Wheeler, launched a lurid urban legend in late June about lesbian gangs -- supposedly all over the country -- on the basis of a story about a group of lesbians who helped a friend defend herself from sexual assault.

This time Fox has really outdone itself. When we are bashed, evidently we're all just supposed to lie down, take it and like it. If we dare to defend ourselves, some asshole like Wheeler will get on a Right-Wing program and warn the world that we're invading. It's Lesbian Jihad!

Particularly disgusting was Wheeler's attempt to smear the Pink Pistols. I happen to belong to the PP's, both because I enjoy shooting and because I want to be able to use my handgun proficiently (and safely) if I ever need to defend myself against a violent assault. That anybody could hate gays enough to claim we don't even have the right to basic self-defense is simply beyond the pale.

Next time anybody from this crowd tries to claim that they don't hate us, I've got the perfect response: BULLSHIT!

They'll get my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers. The day only hateful bigots can be armed is the day America is over.

"No Flags of Truce, No Cries of Pity"

2007-07-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

"As I returned across the fields I'd known
I recognized the walls that I once made,
I had to stop in my tracks for fear
of walking on the mines I'd laid..."

-- "Fortress Around Your Heart," by Sting & The Police

How many conservatives, I wonder, are really bigoted and hateful -- and how many have simply been demonized by their political rivals on the Left?

On the other hand, conservatives tend to do the same thing to liberals.

This mindless villification seems to stem from the all-out nuclear war now raging between Left and Right in American politics. At stake now is the almost total ability for the "victors" to tyrannize everyone else according to their own narrow ideology.

Were the powers of the State confined to what they should be -- performing the few tasks private citizens cannot do better -- there would be much more room for civility and understanding between those on the Left and those on the Right.

I know many good-hearted, decent and well-intentioned people on both sides. Far too few of them seem to recognize it in those on the other.

This war is tearing families, friendships, marriages and religious bodies apart. It is utter madness.

Bringing an end to politics that poison our souls by enabling the inner tyrant within each of us is the only way to stop the madness and restore us to peace.

I have come to believe, very literally, that a return to classical liberal, libertarian politics is the only way out of the hell to which we have damned ourselves.

We need to start seeing one another as people again, and recognizing our shared humanity, which is the only true source of our God-given rights and intrinsic value. Otherwise, the balkanization of our country -- which may have originated on the Left, but is now being perpetuated very nearly as much by the Right -- will surely destroy us. It will not end until we have destroyed each other.

Time to Find Their Heads

2007-04-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

Just a while ago on Fox TV, there was yet another of those interviews with "representatives of the Rapper Community." The rappers tried to explain to the pompous Fox dude with the good hair (I don't remember his name, but it they're so interchangeable it scarcely matters) that in their community, they have been discussing rap lyrics for a long time. He said twenty years, and he would know that better than either I or Good Hair Dude would.

What the hell is up with the chattering class on the Right? Are they really after the truth, or do they just want the chance to bag on people of color (as they do on gays) every chance they get?

Rappers, and those who listen to rap, have been carrying on a very long argument about the content of rap and hip-hop lyrics. They're well aware there's a problem, and they have been for decades. Okay? So bully for Fox, and all the other Right-Wing babblers, for having (so very belatedly) discovered the issue.

What's total bullshit is the way they insist upon acting as if they were the very first to think of it. When the rappers on Fox today tried to tell Good Hair Dude how long it has, in fact, been a concern, the segment -- quite conveniently -- came to an end.

The Right needs to be saved from the bigoted, ignoramus, pompous jerks who have taken control of it. When gay, white men like Andrew Sullivan try to define conservatism on intelligent terms, the Right-Wing jerks claim that he's not credible simply because he's gay. While Left-Wing jerks claim he just wants the door to privilege opened a crack wider so he, as a GAY white man, can squeeze in.

Of course the Right is wrong about more than simply gay rights. It simply is not credible to claim that it's right about absolutely everything else. We need to see what currently passes for conservatism and tell the brutal truth about what's wrong with it.

Sullivan is doing that. He's making a good case for a conservatism that brings together the very best of our heritage as Americans: that which is conservative and that which is classically liberal. I don't agree with his conservatism, but it's certainly a lot more credible -- and constructive -- than a lot of what else currently passes for it. If he were to appear on Good Hair Dude's Fox program, before he could get his point across, the segment would surely be brought to an end.

Sweet Little Me

2007-04-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I should forego eating or drinking anything in public unless I'm wearing a full-body bib. I had a caramel frappuccino at Starbuck's, and now I'm liberally festooned with caramel and whipped cream.

I wish that were as kinky as it sounds.

Maybe when I write a potentially-controversial post on this Blog, or a comment of that sort on someone else's, I should begin by telling everyone I'm covered with caramel and whipped cream.

Would I, perchance, sound sweeter then? More fun, perhaps? Would it be a good way to pick up women?

One of my best friends, a straight man, used to call us and bless our answering-machine with messages like this:

"I'm totally nude and covered with whipped cream, hot fudge and spanish nuts!"

Now, certain people (my mother, for instance) thought that he WAS nuts. My roommate at the time, who eventually married her preacher, was probably afraid to bring her friends over lest he would choose to call then. When I came out as a lesbian, one of the first things several of my friends asked was "then why did you let him leave that sort of smut on your answering-machine for so long?"

Hell, I think that EVERYBODY ought to spend some time totally nude and covered with edible goodies. Maybe it would put this country in a happier mood.

"Turn the Other Cheek -- You F--ing Idiot!"

2007-04-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

Over at one of my favorite blogs, The Queen of All Evil, there is yet another dustup over gun control. I made too much sense to suit somebody (bruised his vanity, in actuality), so -- though only moments ago, he had been lecturing me about Jesus' admonition to "turn the other cheek" -- he called me "a fucking idiot." He also told me, basically, that the death threats I have received, because of my stand as a gay Christian, are perfectly understandable. That I really do deserve it, after all.

Here, my friends, is the attitude of Mr. Cho, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, Timothy McVeigh and Mohammed Atta. It is identical to that of the "Reverend" Fred Phelps. These are the people who think somebody died and made them God, therefore their own, fragile, infantile little egos are sooooo important that anyone who transgresses upon them deserves to die.

This individual, however, is a liberal. How do we know that? Why, because he believes in the forcible, State-instituted disarmament of all law-abiding citizens. (Those evil, floating guns from outer space, don't you know?) Therefore, I am supposed to believe I can trust this clown, and others of his ilk, in their sterling, Christ-like moral judgment. Not only am I supposed to let those with this sort of judgment lecture me about what Jesus meant in what He said in the Gospels, but I am very literally supposed to trust it with my life.

Sorry. Thanks, but no thanks.

Might I put forward the possibility that it is just this sort of moral befuddlement -- this insane inability to distinguish between right and wrong -- that is the very reason so many loose cannons are running around out there, gunning for the innocent? Might I further put forward that this is the very reason WE DON'T DAMN DARE LET OURSELVES BE DISARMED?

Just a thought. If I make too much sense for you, and it bruises your little, Mama's Boy vanity, then I suppose it ought to come to no big surprise what you'll want to do about it. Just keep in mind that this weekend, I'm going out shooting with the new, local chapter of the Pink Pistols.

Armed gays don't get bashed. And I'll be ready for you.

Evil Guns From Outer Space....Aaaaaagggghhh!

2007-04-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

Another senseless, heinous shooting crime -- another round of hysterical hand-wringing over "all those guns out there." I wish I could simply dismiss it all with a "Ho-hum" of boredom, but I can't afford to.

This is one of the reasons I wonder if I truly can call myself a liberal at all anymore. I don't recognize the "logic" of most of those who call themselves liberals today as any sort of logic at all.

How are we going to get criminals to give up their guns, simply by banning law-abiding people from having them? No gun-grabber has EVER been able to answer that question for me.

I am getting sick and tired of condescending lectures from people who think they're oh-so-superior because they don't own guns. There is a hell of a lot of truth in the adage that "a liberal is a conservative who has never been mugged." Or raped, carjacked or home-invaded. Or robbed of a loved one because of a violent crime.

This is a POSE, people. It is strutting, posturing and pretty preening. And it is especially disgusting when it comes from heterosexual men who would lecture me on how Cro-Magnon I am to insist on having a gun to protect myself. What a bunch of cheese-eating, cowardly fools!

How much of modern liberalism has any connection, whatsoever, to reality? And how much is like some of those commenters at Pandagon, who feel morally superior to recovering alcoholics who have chosen not to become vegetarians because staying sober, day-to-day, provides them with all the challenge they can handle?

No real progressive is that smugly judgmental toward others. No real liberal is, either.

Two perfectly good words have been hijacked by the modern (or should I say "postmodern"), statist Left. They didn't even need a single gun to do it. No wonder they think nobody else needs a gun, either.

"We'll conquer you. And we'll do it without firing a shot."

-- Quick trivia question, people. What noted liberal said that?

Only Victims Need Apply

2007-04-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

It seems the Left only likes you when you're a victim. Why is that?

If gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians start attending churches that don't know quite where they stand on the issue of gay inclusion, is that too boring for the taste of our "activists?" Is changing hearts and minds one individual at a time by quietly living a good, solid Christian life -- instead of having endless marches and candlelight vigils in the most hostile territory possible and getting our heads bashed in -- simply not exciting enough?

Granted, it isn't regarded by the MSM as nearly as exciting -- as "newsworthy." And it doesn't make us feel quite so heroic.

There's so much bitterness out there from gays who have abandoned the Christian faith. They seem to think that all straight Christians are bigoted monsters. If all they hear about, in the news, are the grand protests and the policemen and the arrests, then no wonder they feel that way.

But we are the pets of the Left (both political and religious). It seems good to them to see us as victims -- always victims, and nothing else. After all, if we're victims, then (A) the Right can be portrayed as one-dimensionally evil and (B) those on the Left can promote themselves as valiant heroes in a titanic battle.

It seems we need our Leftist benefactors to save us from everything.

The same principle applies to the violent crimes that keep popping up in the news, like poison mushrooms after a rainstorm.

We must keep all law-abiding citizens unarmed, so the heroic Leftists can rescue us from guns. Guns are portrayed as these hideous, horror-movie objects that just sort of float around, shooting people at random without anybody attached to them. Perhaps the anti-gun crowd believes that guns possess some special, evil magic that casts a spell on anybody who touches one -- turning people into senseless killers by mere contact alone.

Well I, for one, am tired of being a victim. I'm tired of being kept as helpless as possible just so my self-appointed champions can save me.

Boys and girls, the game is all about power. If we ever doubted that, all we have to do is look at the slavish devotion we're still expected to shower on the Democratic Party. These jokers haven't done anything to make good on the promises they make to us. We're just supposed to go on endlessly trusting them to champion our causes.

We are assured that someday...when enough Democrats have been elected to high office...the sun will rise, the birdies will sing in harmony and all our needs will at last be met. But notice that before any of these good things can happen, we must GIVE THE BASTARDS MORE POWER.

It's quite clearly about power for power's sake, and nothing else. The libertarians have been telling us that for ages. Well, guess what: they're right.

When I'm Calling Yo-ooooo-ooou!

2007-04-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

Well, my wanderings in the political wilderness continue. Some may charge me with wishy-washiness. But I have no difficulty figuring out where I stand -- and never have. My problem is figuring out just where I fit.

After several months of trying out the Democrats again, I realize that the Libertarian Party is calling me. Calling me, I guess I can at last say, home.

I still have the same difficulties with the Libs I mentioned on this Blog. They don't have enough women in the party, and some of the guys who run things are assholes who don't know how to listen. But that doesn't change the fact that if I'm not myself a Libertarian, there's only one less woman in the party. How that could be considered a good thing, I don't know.

My concerns about the Libertarian vision still remain. But as a member of the party, I am in a far better position to help steer it in the right direction than I ever could be as a Democrat. And the Democratic party SUCKS A BIG ONE. There is no way around that.

Good night nurse, the Democratic Party sucks! I never saw such a bunch of whiners, cowards, crybabies and shameless, unprincipled opportunists in my life. For a brief, shining moment in November of '06, I had some hope that things might get better -- after all, we gave these clowns a sharp and clear mandate to lead. We practically gave them a kick in the pants to get them to lead.

They need a lot more than a kick in the pants. They need the boot of every American clear up their collective ass. And in addition to refusing to lead us out of the mess in Iraq, they have cut and run on gay rights.

Let me put the recent remarks of Garrison Keillor and Roseanne Barr in some perspective. They are mouthing the current party line. Gays are now the scapegoats for everything wrong in the party, and we're being thrown under the bus. Our "leaders" are still as hypersensitive as ever about what celebrities say, but they seem to be totally without a clue as to why these people are saying these things. Folks, it is only the new party line!

Democrats think they've got us in their hip pocket. They think we can't go anywhere else, because anywhere else it's worse. But the Republicans -- pathetic as they are -- have nowhere to go but up on social issues. Their party simply won't survive if they keep on pandering to the bigots. The Greens are off in la-la land somewhere (sorry, I checked into that party, and they are still stuck in the Sixties). That leaves the Libertarians -- as flawed as they are in some ways.

Yes, there are nuts in the Libertarian Party. Unfortunately, you can't keep nuts from joining your party, or from running for office under your party's banner. At least, according to Libertarian principle, the nuts can't force their nutty notions on the rest of us.

As for social darwinism -- a charge many lob at the Libertarians and of which I myself have worried they may be guilty -- I can't accept it. If I became convinced it was a necessary feature of libertarianism (small or capital L), I would, as a Christian, find myself fundamentally at odds with it. But as a Libertarian friend recently pointed out to me, the society they want does not HAVE to be one based on social darwinism. It is still up to the people in that society to determine how it will function -- but if it's libertarian, this will simply be done without resorting to brute force.

I can certainly accept that. I appreciate being reminded of it. I will do my utmost never to forget it again.

Libertarian principle. This is a party that HAS principle! In and of itself, that is such a breath of fresh air. Especially in this day and age.

Hurricane Imus -- A Little Perspective, Please!

2007-04-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

People on both sides of the Right/Left divide seem unable to stop babbling about the whole Don Imus thing. And as usual when a brouhaha of this sort blows up, sane and reasonable people are invited to keep quiet. Well, I'm not gonna.

From the Right, there is a minimization of what Imus did, along with a fixation on how "overboard" the Left has gone with this. From the Left, there is hysteria.

Let's not minimize what happened. A sixty-six-year-old man publically called college girls whores. Forget, for just a minute, the respective races of the people involved. If this clown called my daughters whores, I'd be moving furniture to get at him.

Has the whole thing been overblown? Of course it has. But I hear a lot of noise from so-called conservatives about how supposedly harmless it is that a man in late middle age could slander young ladies like that and get away with it. Along with an attempt to subliminally link these young ladies with the "exotic dancer" who falsely accused the Duke lacrosse players of rape.

If you've been guilty of this, then shame on you. I'm ashamed of you, if you lack the sense or decency to be ashamed of yourselves.

Never, ever again do I want to hear these phoney-baloney "conservatives" pine for the good ol' days when civility reigned in public discourse. A sixty-six-year-old fool called college girls whores. Next question?

Now, has the Left overblown it? Whenever Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton jump into anything, you know that's gonna happen. We don't seem to be able to stop it from happening. Perhaps, instead of chattering on about it, endlessly, we should simply point out that Jackson and Sharpton are publicity-mongering opportunists and laugh them off. Point and laugh -- a good strategy for fools who want to be taken seriously but shouldn't.

It is childish to respond to childishness with more of the same. Your kindergarten teacher used to tell you that. Maybe you should have listened to her.

Let me explain what Imus was really doing. He was bagging on womens' basketball. It had nothing to do with race, really. For guys in crisis about their own masculinity, any stick is good enough to beat women athletes with. Most of the Rutgers players happen to be black, so out of his motorized mouth popped some stuff and nonsense about "nappy-headed ho's." Had the players been white, he'd have made fun of their height, the fact that most of them don't look like fashion models, or whatever other lame-ass reason he could glom onto.

Because we have ignored what was really going on, it will continue to happen. Unless those of us who are, in particular, fans of womens' sports begin to stand up and call this crap out, it will continue to happen. The Rutgers basketball team deserves a lot of credit for having fought their way to the NCAA womens' finals. They had to beat a lot of great teams (including my own Arizona State Lady Sun Devils) to get there. And NOBODY can take that away from them.

Imus should not have been fired. Now they've made a martyr out of him. I can't think of very many people who deserve it less.

I Guess I'm Not A "Real" Progressive!

2007-04-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

Recently at Pandagon, there was yet another silly tiff about the politically-correct definition of a "real" progressive. The question was: can a "real" progressive eat meat? And the answer (not surprisingly) turned out to be no.

Oh, there were plenty of people commenting who THOUGHT they could be real progressives without giving up meat. It was a very heated and contentious post, indeed. And it certainly didn't seem to be the official position of the blog that carnivores failed to qualify as real progressives. But the post generated a lot of heat and very little light.

Unrepentant carnivore that I am, I of course weighed in with the opinion that whether or not a person eats meat has nothing to do with their progressivism or lack thereof. Several people agreed, but a few shouted, booed and hissed us down. One idiot in particular huffily informed me that I did not have "the moral high ground" on the issue.

Earlier in the thread, I had taken pains to explain that I am a recovering alcoholic, and that therefore I find it enough of a challenge to keep sober every day. While I admire vegetarians who refuse to eat meat on principle (vegans being another matter entirely, as the position that eating honey because it exploits the poor little bees is too ridiculous to humor), I do not find it necessary to be join their number.

What was the enlightened "progressive" response to this? That I was being oversensitive. One pimply-faced, twentysomething smartass asked me who'd "peed in my Wheaties." I might have embarrassed a few people when I reminded them I'd mentioned my reason for not being interested in vegetarianism. Then again, I rather doubt it; zealots seem to have no sense of shame.

Funny, I've always considered myself to be progressive. I always thought it had something to do with principle: a belief in societal progress. Silly me! It's actually all about following dimwit, pharasaical rules. Kinda like the fundamentalism of the Religious Right this crowd so vehemently professes to abhor.

I'm too liberal to suit the conservatives, and too conservative to suit the liberals. Woe is me!

My views used to be considered those of a thoughtful, reasonable person. Nowadays, they're considered extreme by both entrenched and societally-accepted "sides." And we wonder why the rest of the civilized world regards American politics as insane.

Homosexuality -- the "Special" Sin

2007-02-21T13:02:00.000-08:00

"Homosexuality" has become the Christianist, Antichrist Right's favorite, pet little sin. That much is very clear. For a long time, I didn't understand why that should be.

After all, the Bible is much less ambiguous on many other things: murder, for example, and rape, and theft. And far more people commit these things than do "homosexuality" -- however, in their fevered little sex-obsessed minds, the puppets of the Right are defining it.

Then when I saw the willful blinders the Christianists wear with regard to all the sins they let slip by them -- mass-murder in the Middle East to protect their oil supply, for example -- I began to see the light.

If homosexuality can be defined as a sin, then heterosexuality becomes a virtue. As no one chooses their sexual orientation, this means that the hetero majority NEED DO NOTHING ELSE BUT BE HETEROSEXUAL. Which -- quite neatly and conveniently -- they would be, anyway.

What a terrific money-raising tool! Just tell the majority of the population that they're automatically right with God -- simply because of something they couldn't help even if they wanted to -- and voila! -- the money just floods into the coffers.

Now I get it. At the Day of Judgment, these poor slobs had better pray that God is as easily-fooled as the suckers they're so determined to gull.

See You in the Funny Papers

2007-02-16T10:27:00.000-08:00

Over at Pandagon, there's a bright new crop of looky-loos and whackos pontificating about -- what else? -- the sinfulness of feminists and gays. I have been a loyal Pandagon reader for some time, now, but I've only now begun posting comments there. I don't have much time for that sort of stuff anymore, but I feel it's imperative that I join the ranks of folks who are deftly countering this crap.

Right-wingers have a childish, cartoon view of liberals in general. No mystery as to why; mega-mondo-millions of dollars have been spent carpet-bombing our society with propaganda portraying us this way. The trolls dropping their nasty little nuggets of "wisdom" at Pandagon tend to be very loftily disdainful of us poor, benighted liberals. They don't realize that they have no credibility with us because they cannot see us as we really are.

Now, I disagree with many things that Amanda, Pam and the other Pandagon writers have to say. I don't like it when they refer to my Lord and Savior as "Jeebus," and any number of those they dismiss as "Freepers" are actually pretty decent folks. That having been said, though we disagree on matters of theology, politically we're on the same page. Progressive people of faith have to learn to be more tolerant of religious diversity than do those on the Right -- and that, in my opinion, is a GOOD thing.

Conservative "Christians" content to dismiss those with ideas that trouble them, seeing them as cartoon characters instead of as real people, are merely showing that, in their claim to be Christians, they are utter frauds. It is such an insult to treat other human beings -- made, just like them, in the likeness and image of God and for whom Christ died -- like stick-figures. That they are willing to let it go at this shows that their claims to be followers of Christ are phony.

Those at Pandagon who are not Christians may or may not ever be won over to the faith, but one thing is for damned sure. The so-called Christians who go there spoiling for a fight, and who spend their time defending not real Christian faith (which is by no means being attacked by everyone in the Pandagon crowd) but rather their own, bogus little Xanadu world, have squandered the opportunity. And they will answer for it at the Throne of the very Christ in whom they so loudly claim to believe.

Me Stone Age Woman

2007-02-15T18:50:00.000-08:00

I don't think those Geico commercials -- "So simple a cave man could do it" -- are very funny. They remind me painfully of me.

I am totally clueless when it comes to posting pictures and the like. But I want a fun blog -- really I do. So I must now endeavor to join the 21st Century and learn these basic facts of life in the Internet age.

Thanks so much, dear readers, for sticking with me as I struggle to discover fire and invent the wheel. I can't go on being an anti-techno hippie forever.

And so, onward, upward and away!

I shall soon wow you, I promise, with technologically-advanced posts. (Only please keep in mind that "technologically advanced" is a relative term...)

I'm Baaaaack! I Promise!

2007-02-14T13:53:00.000-08:00

For some, this will elicit a hearty "Oh, no!" For others, it will be a "Who gives a crap?" But just maybe -- and hopefully -- a few of the folks who still check in from time to time will say "Hooray." Whatever the case, my minions, I have returned.

I have officially retired from insurance customer service, hopefully for good. This last job of mine came closer to literally sucking the life out of me than has any previous experience in my life. Although I managed to finish a novel, a two-act play, a couple of one-act plays and a Bible study during the six months I worked there, I just didn't have the energy to blog much. For that I am truly sorry. Writing is my vocation -- my calling -- and as I truly believe that blogging will constitute an important part of it, I must return to it.

Looking back over "Born on 9-11," I still think that it shows promise. I started this blog at a time when my political views were in a state of flux -- not so far as the convictions undergirding them were concerned, but on the issue of party affiliation and (for the sake of easy-labeling) what to call myself. I'm not as worried about this as I was then, which is a good thing. Because I still don't know for sure in which party (if any) I belong, and I'm not sure I can be that easily labeled.

I suppose the more accurate label is libertarian-leaning liberal. I am about as progressive as it's possible for a person to be and still be an orthodox Christian -- teetering right there on the far-left edge of orthodoxy -- but though I teeter, I hang on. Capital "L" libertarianism is too social-darwinist for my liking. No Christian -- especially a progressive one -- has any business getting tangled up with social darwinism, as it is antithetical to everything Jesus stood for. I'm once again a Democrat, but I'm just as disgusted with the Democratic Party as I was when I briefly left it.

What, you might ask, about the Greens? Very frankly, I know very little about them other than what I've heard: that they're starry-eyed dreamers, and that they play the spoiler in big elections and vote for wacky people as a protest against Democrats who act too much like Republicans (thereby electing Republicans). As there are enough starry-eyed dreamers in this world already, and voting against Democrats who act like Republicans obviously gets us nothing but more elected Republicans, that has never appealed too much to me. If I can ever corner a real-live Green long enough to get him or her to answer my questions about the party, maybe I can be converted. Cornering one may be difficult, though, as Greens are elusive little critters.

Judging from the actual Green literature I have read, conservatives misunderstand them. Far from being big-gummint lovers like the establishment Dems, the Greens sound almost as skeptical of the State as are Libertarians. The difference, it seems to me, is that Greens are even more paranoid than Libertarians, because while the latter merely fear big government, the former think big business equally dangerous.

In a close race, I'm NOT going to vote for Ralph Nader, or Donald Duck, or my dead old Great Aunt Bertha, and help some Right-Wing whackjob defeat a centrist Democrat. But if my take on the Greens is essentially correct, and they do understand that big government and big business (far from being enemies) exist in a hand-in-glove partnership that poses the real threat to our liberties, then they may be the party for me. For that, in a nutshell, is what I believe. And though my beliefs can be neatly encapsulated in a nutshell, I hardly think that makes me a nut.

We're going to have fun, folks. I've got time on my hands again (or at least a little of it). If I manage to drum up some readers, maybe I'll even take on a co-blogger or two. And who knows? Maybe we can get into as much trouble as one of my blogging heroines, the indominable Amanda Marcotte!

Bring on the trouble. Let the fun begin.

Those Democrats...They Always Revert!

2006-10-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

I have a very good friend we call Judy the Republican. She's a very nice lady and a good Christian (somehow, in spite of being a Republican). She's fun to go to dinner and Mercury games with -- even though it takes her half an hour to be satisfied with how she's parked her car. And she doesn't get the Internet (some porn popped up on it once and she's been offended ever since), so she'll probably never read this.

I don't know what Judy the Republican would think of "Born on 9-11." She probably wouldn't like it. It chronicles the odyssey of my political journey from disaffected liberal Democrat to liberal Libertarian on-the-rebound from being a Democrat to -- as I have since become -- liberal Democrat again. Although I remain a libertarian-leaning liberal (therefore slightly more palatable to some Republicans than a non-libertarian-leaning liberal might be), Judy wouldn't much care for the opinions I express on this blog. She certainly doesn't think much of most of them when I express 'em in person.

As to what she will say, the next time I see her, when I tell her I'm a Democrat again, I think I can make a pretty good guess. "Those Democrats," she'll sneer, "they always revert!"

Why have I done this mad and foolhardy thing? The Democrats still infuriate me, and I'm just as disaffected with the party now as I was when I left it. As a liberal of libertarian inclinations, I believe a free people must always remain skeptical of government, as the bigger it gets, the more likely it is that it will be controlled by the very rich and powerful people liberals so fear and hate. In this, I am like a growing number of other liberals -- who can no longer feel give the State the same degree of childlike trust we did before Emperor Dubya. But like my fellow liberals, I also realize something true-believer libertarians seem incapable of understanding: that the big corporations that run the State and rule our lives are now more powerful, tyrannical and dangerous to our liberty than any government in existence.

Apart from an irritation at leftist political correctness, and an understanding of the fact that we must conserve the best of Western, Judeo-Christian civilization if we are to keep alive the very values liberals cherish, I am certainly no conservative. Even my suspicion of big government is no longer considered conservative by most of the people who call themselves by that name.

I remain as firmly convinced as I have been since I began this blog that this country is being taken over by fascists. And besides having realized that I am nowhere near true-libertarian enough to suit the true believers, I have also come to understand that the only party that can defeat the Republo-Nazi takeover of America is the Democratic Party. It may be imperfect, but it's all we've got.

And so, here I go, as Judy might say, reverting. I can't wait for November the 7th. The take-back of this country, by real Americans, begins in earnest on that day. You just wait and see!

Bush's "Christian" Base! Haw-haw-haw!

2006-09-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

So now the Pom-Pom Boy-in-Chief has determined to go to bat for the "right" to torture.

So much for his claim that his favorite "philosopher" is Jesus Christ. Or that his political base is Christian.

The only "philosopher" he seeks to emulate is Adolf Hitler. Or maybe Attila the Hun. And his base is comprised of forlornly pathetic, stupid people.

Anybody who tells me that he or she is a Christian, while rah-rahing a coward who ran from his duty to serve in Vietnam and who now not only sends other young people out to do what he was afraid to, but who also advocates torture, is nothing but a clown. His followers couldn't be any more ridiculous if they wore frizzy orange wigs, red rubber noses, big floppy shoes and squirting carnations.

The "Christian" Right is nothing but a gigantic fraud. I wouldn't be surprised, on the Day of Reckoning, to discover that it is the very Antichrist itself.

These people won't stop making asses of themselves until they have destroyed every last shred of credibility they ever had.

And at the very same time they clamor to see unconvicted prisoners tortured, they crusade against equal treatment under the law for gays.

There's a connection between those two seemingly-unconnected facts. Wake up, America, and recognize what's just as plain as the red, rubber nose on your face!

Aquarius -- or Armageddon?

2006-09-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is...the day for which this Blog was named. As I have already explained in this space, I was born on a September 11th. As I have also already explained, so was the Twenty-first Century as we now know it.

My few, very hardy loyal readers have followed my spasms of self-analysis over the past ten months. They know how bitter, angry and defeated I have been. At least a few may also have realized something about me that I've only just begun to realize about myself.

I haven't been defeated. I have been defeatist.

I now confess that I have long felt as if good times -- the hopeful and progressive times -- were all behind us. I have mocked those who keep their torches lit for a new tomorrow. Not because my dreams were any different than theirs, but simply because I was ready to give up on them, and I thought they were bringing heartbreak upon themselves for not doing the same. I had suffered so many hurts, insults and deep disappointments over the failures of liberal progressivism -- and, more specifically, the Democratic Party -- that I felt I had to wake up to a harsh reality and toughen myself to face it. That is the way frustrated idealists almost always react when the backlash of the backwards against them turns into a cataclysmic storm.

But if the only people in this country who are willing to keep fighting the good fight are those fighting the WRONG fight -- those who persist in helping terrorist-recruitment efforts in the Middle East with their insane insistence upon "winning hearts and minds" by invading small countries and bombing the crap out of their children -- then we're all doomed. America is being run by neo-fascist nuts who think that God is calling them to bring on Armageddon. I can't laugh anymore at those who want to work for a new Age of Aquarius. I've come to realize that if, indeed, they don't succeed, the price we'll all have to pay is just too high.

It's come to that, people: Aquarius or Armageddon. Either way, we've got to slay the Dragon that threatens to devour us. The warmongers in the Islamist world and those in our own society are not enemies -- no matter how vociferously they claim to be against each other. The warmongering, fundamentalist religious loonies have declared war against every one of us who refuses to sell out to their evil agenda. Just like the worst of the Islamists, our own King George would use bad religion to enslave us, and terror to keep us in line.

Those who want to think I'm a starry-eyed dreamer can go ahead and laugh all they want to. I'd rather stand for something than fall for anything.