Crossing the Great Divide

Election day

Traditionally, election day has not been a biggie for me. Oh, I vote, have in every statewide election since first becoming eligible since Fred Flintstone was on the ballot and we chiseled out our vote. Actually, it was 1974, and the election I voted in... ended up in a tie.

A tie. For US Senate.

Yeah, it was weird. Weirder still was what came next. After the recount dust had dissipated, a special election was to be held in 1975. Two days before the election, I witnessed, well heard... something I was not supposed to hear, a nice, direct glimpse into the doings of politics.

In the summer of 1975, I was employed as a maintenance person for a local tv station for the duration of my semester break. Make that the only maintenance person. The place was run down and filthy, nothing like the state of the art facility that exists today. I went in and busted arse for three weeks, cleaning the place up like it hadn't been in years... sort of like cleaning a centuries old frescoe in Italy ;-) (delusions of grandeur, it's my blog)

After this initial wave of cleaning, there was nothing else left to clean. There was a glassed in room in the front of the building, full of books, mostly novels. Actual news stuff, har! I'd make my daily rounds, taking all of an hour, and then retire to this room to read for the bulk of the day, until there was something else actually left for me to do, I'd do it, then wander back.

I recall reading Letters to the Happy Hooker (Xaviera Hollander) and recall one writer who got off on lightning. Impressive. Another was the autobiography (yeah, right) of Bo Belinsky. I recall him drilling a hole in a hotel room wall so he could watch Miss Universe, in the room next door, with his teammates. One idiot was so fired up, when she shut her light off, he shined a flashlight on her. Not a good idea.

I've digressed, again. Where was I? Two days before the special election, I wandered into the restroom off the lobby. Oops. Whilst in there, into the building comes the governor, Meldrim Thompson (who was to the right of everyone on the planet) the US Senate candidate, and maybe a few others. The station gm, a good guy, met them.

I'm not moving. No way. I will root right to this toilet, but I am not going out that door. They were literally feet from that door, like maybe 3 feet. Clear as a bell, I could hear them plot strategy. You say this, then your opponent will say this, and it will all be timed so you get the last say before the voting begins. Great. Station manager is plotting strategy with the GOP. And I'm definitely not moving.

After maybe a half hour, they moved onward and upward, and I got the hell out of there as fast as I could move, once pants were back around my waist. And fastened.

We've come a long way since then, haven't we?

Wonder of wonders - may we be saved by South Dakota?

It has my attention, and I am intrigued.

A few days ago, a story was posted on how South Dakota voters are slightly leaning towards casting aside the legislatively enacted ban on abortion (see Feminist Majority Newswire 31 October, 2006.

And now comes Tight Battle Over SD Anti-Gay Amendment. 

Imagine... if they strike down the restrictive choice law, coupled with a rejection of the anti-gay amendment, in one election this geographically large, small population state could send a huge message. Oh, I don't for a moment think the message is we are pro-choice, pro-gay, rather it is we don't need silly laws restricting the rights of people.

South Dakota has been viewed as a test case, a jump off point to rid America of that dastardly thing called choice. It has no particular importance in the grand anti-gay scheme, excepting an unanticipated role of rally killer if it's people choose to eschew law banning gays.

And what a welcome relief that would be. We watched as an overwhelmingly male legislature pulled the rug out from under women, and now... those of us who were despairing the passage of the anti-choice law, now take hope in what this state will bring forth on Tuesday. I wonder how those in the SD legislature will feel and react to such a vote?

Meanwhile, whilst most states will vote to impose their marriage bans, a victory is still a victory is still a sign of viewpoints in flux. We start with one, we convince one more, we work mind by mind, showing our fellow citizens there is nothing about us to fear.

On Tuesday, send your good thoughts towards South Dakota. Heck mine are going to be everywhere, hoping for political change... this is one more change I never expected to be comtemplating. 

The extremes of age

I'm not a card carrying member of AARP, though my 52nd marker lies a week away.

I've always thought more in terms of our children, and had this notion, still do, that the AARP sometimes competes for government resources at the expense of the needs of our young.

This is not to say AARP and it's mission are flawed; far from it. I'd guess it is their incessant marketing to seniors that is the primary source of frustration for me... and for my mom, some 26 years older than I. It's so damn obvious their real motivation is to feed their machine.

So that leaves me with the extremes of age... seeing to the great needs of children, who are the promise of the future, who deserve that promisiing future in dream and in reality. And those ravaged by age, left to the care of facilities which specialise in the needs of our elderly.

As I walk through the faciliy my mom is recuperating in (likely to be home in 9 days) I see the room after room after room of bored seniors, most with some sort of issue that impacts their full range of function. Some of them see their children frequently, for my mom, sis and I are there daily. And some... not at all.

I think of the special person it takes to work in such a facility. I think of em. I ponder how each must feel, left locked in a facility, bereft of the love of those they nurtured. I think of how we eschew the care of our young and the care of our seniors, in favour of impressive equipment that will fly at supersonic speed, and carry ungodly amounts of ordinance, and release them with great precision,returning to a locale thousands of miles away. I think of needless war, and of needless loss, and contrast that with those who need the care and love of others.

And wonder what it will take to change it all.

A lot is at stake

It's election season, and alternating thoughts of the election's importance and my own tiredness with campaigns kick around my mind.

The tiredness springs from the opponents are vile, evil creatures bombardment in our media. The importance springs from actual talk on issues, and what my own eyes and ears take in.

We all have to make a call on what we support or do not, but if at all possible, please vote.

Most of you know my views, or can pretty much guess where they are. In this state, I'm voting for a governor that has a 2/3 margin in polling; and a representative for the House of Representatives that is down by 20. I've donated to her campaign, and I think she would be smashing as a rep, so go Carol Shea-Porter! Despite the odds and uphill climb, she would be a fine rep for our state.

Nationally, my guess is Democrats come away with control of the House, but Republicans squeak by and retain control of the Senate. I wish this were not the case, for this leaves power over judicial nominations in the hands of the right. If I had to pick between House and Senate, I'd rather have the Senate in Democratic hands.

When our interests and nationalism collide

We make the mistake over and over, lesson going unlearned.

We being the US government, which no matter who holds the top post in the executive branch, seemingly always manage to forget that people tend to not want others to dominate their homelands.

In our zeal to protect our homeland, we step all over someone else's homeland. Sometimes a certain amount of action is necessary, but then we screw it all up.

In Vietnam, we morphed from Ho Chi Minh ally to enemy overnight; the catalyst was fear of a communist victory in French elections. Let them reenter Indochina; let that boost their economy, then the threat of a  communist France diminishes.

We chose to support the Shah of Iran as he brutalised the people of his country. We paid a price years later.

We played and dabbled in Afghanistan during the 1980's, mainly to create trouble for the then Soviets. Ominously, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan warned we were creating monsters that would haunt us in the future. Hello, Osama.

Now we are in Afghanistan; we went for good reason, only to be sidetracked by some need to lord it over the world by invading Iraq. Attention and resources diverted, we now find the Taliban gaining ground with the Afghani people. If you wish to read a nice piece on this... In the Land of the Taliban will do nicely.

People thrive when they perceive their home to be well... their home. A home secure, of their own sweat, where they can live lives untouched by forces that are beyond their control. Here... they are caught in a global battle of ideology.

We've not learned the lesson of how strong nationalism is, which is curious given it has motivated us to all of these actions and faux pas. We have it in us, why is it we cannot see it in others?

Senseless and tragic

Today is the funeral of Michael Briggs.

Don't know this name? Neither did I, though Michael already was known to our community for saving people in a rapidly burning building.

In another instance, Michael treated a person who had been shot, one Michael Addison, caring for him until EMT's arrived.

On early Monday, Michael Addison, this person Michael Briggs cared for the day he was shot, shot and killed him.

Somewhere overnight on the 16th, there was a report to Manchester police of a domestic violence incident. Michael Briggs, Manchester police officer who patroled on bicycle, responsed. Two people were fleeing the scene, and one, Michael Addison, turned and fired at Officer Briggs.

The next morning, our news was full of the critically injured officer. When I left work, the first story I heard on the news was of his 'killer.' Nothing further to hear here, they had just told me with that one reference how Officer Briggs fared.

So this morning I bring lunch to my mom. She is watching the news coverage of Officer Briggs funeral at the Fisher Cats ballpark. Not two miles from here, the park is filled to capacity with dignitaries, local citizenry, and officers from all over the country. The size of the Boston contingent astounds. I've included a picture of the funeral procession through Manchester, courtesy of the Manchester Union Leader.

Hundreds of police officers pay tribute to Briggs

This was the first officer lost in our community in 30 years. The irony, the tragedy, the senselessness overwhelms. There is a partner, there are two children, who have had to confront unspeakable pain. I set and I watched with mom, my mind simply unable to overcome the need of my tears to flow.

The inverted world

Time was, being inverted meant you were a lesbian. I think we can lay that usage to rest, and go for a more modern and reflective usage.

Over the last several days, we've seen North Korea make some macho noise... men dig big hole, men make big boom. We have Iran thumping it's national chest, and our very own president, why... he has an action figure doll, need I say more?

And here we have a world where people are still being slaughtered in Darfur; where an entire continent is in danger of oblivion, with subsistence levels of agriculture declining. Where aids is taking out parent after paren, and whole communities. 

And the world spends it's time building bombs, testing bombs, dropping bombs.

The US Defence budget is approaching half a trillion a year. If any of us were suddenly charged with a half trillion dollar budget, what could we do in Africa to start solving issues? What could we do within our own country?

Would our schools be in decay? Would education instead be a shining light? Would 45 million still be without health care? Would there still be people with not enough to eat?

If we sent forth ambassadors who, instead of delivering ultimatums of compliance or else, spoke of working together to solve the issues that know no borders, would we not be better off? If we had occasion to not fear each other, would we not all be better off?

Wouldn't economic gain preclude radicalisation of various areas of the world? If one has a good job to go to, and a family to return home to, are they as inclined to be attaching bombs to their chests and setting it off on a bus?

We approach all of this arse backwards. We meet threat with do as we say or we bomb messages, and we run headfirst into human dignity and pride. Fuck you is the collective response.

I know not if the world will ever get this. It would be nice to see, but none of us should hold our breath. What I would like to know is... looking backward from just such a vantage point, from a place where we finally figured this out... at what point would we see the lightbulb go off over someone? And how did they get things rolling in the right direction?

Leaderless leaders

I'd guess the first failing is actually ours - we expect too much from those who hold high office. We expect them to be inhuman, to be infallible, even if the Pope is the only one to lay claim to such lofty perfectness.

I look to how my own life fell into disaster, and I then look up at others. How to reconcile obvious need for quality leadership with our individual propensity for success and failure, right and wrong?

Let there be no doubt I am tired of all Foley all the time. He's gone; both parties lie susceptible to why he is gone, this is hardly an exclusively Republican event. The potential for such transgressions transcend party.

Still, none of this excuses abhorrent conduct; for him, for me, for anyone. 

There is a chance one or both houses of Congress will flip next month. I've considered the House of Representatives a good possibility for some time, but the Senate, where the majority of seats up for election are held by Democrats... not so much. Now?

If Democrats do gain control of at least one chamber, will they be responsible? Will they stay to the issues? Will they move to implement sound policy, more open discussion, and allow Republicans more of a say then they had under Republican leadership? Will they work to reign in an out of control presidency, or will they simply look to wreak havoc?

Will they spend their time investigating Republican conduct, or will they devote their efforts to governance? If we give them the opportunity to lead, it is my expectation they lead - not play at vengeance.

We shall see.

Paedophilia and the wildly speculative

I'm listening to NPR's Here and Now on the noon hour, listening to a spokesperson for Log Cabin Republicans denounce Mark Foley.

Hey, all well and good, but um... didja notice that every other comment out there is associating being gay with paedophilia? Not a bloody word out of him in refutation.

Some spokesperson.

So it falls to us shout in the wilderness bloggers to speak up and out. Repeat after me... this is not about being gay. This is not about being gay. This is not about being gay.

I've argued the point for days on message boards, and one poster, in the most cogent moment of their life, posted in this manner to me:

GERRY STUDDS!!!

GERRY STUDDS!!!

This after I spent several days defending Republicans from the equally ridiculous assertions that Republicans are somehow associated with paedophilia.

Can we get past this shit already? Must we associate everything with paedophilia? You like coke, not Pepsi, must be a paedophile. You prefer Fox News to MSNBC? Paedophile. Speak French? Paedophile.

We tend to measure everyone else by the actions of the few or the one. Yet we try to pulverise the rights of the few or the one. Funny how we attach so much importance to small numbers, then think them irrelevant.

Well, psssssssst... paedophilia is not gay associative. Plenty of hetero paedophiles out and about folks... along with a whole herd of hetero rapists and abusers. So what? There are gay folk who do these things, there is no correlation to whom one is naturally attracted to.

Yet now we have to endure the fallout of this. And for that, a big huge, well swung foot square on Mr. Foley's backside. For the idiots who then make the association with gays.. may you face a rotten veggie food fight.

Fences

So the big plan to win votes this fall is to authorise spending a billion building a fence.

What a novel idea.

What troubles me is the lack of ingenuity in this bill. We are going to move heaven and earth, well, earth at least, to build this linear, concrete monolith that will run like a snake between Mexico and the US. Um... China draws millions each year to see it's very own monumental monolithic wall... theirs has class.

So let's spend some money on the design. Lets make this thing uniquely American. Let's make it people friendly for people on the move, with information booths, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Subway, Fridays, Starbucks, and maybe even mini-Walmarts built right in. We could have bike and hiking trails on top, or how about rides? Imagine a Disney ride that went the length of the border?

If this is not acceptable, perhaps we can go the other way entirely, rethink sending all our nuke waste to Nevada, and instead use it as contruction material. Who would wish to go anywhere near the border if the thing glows in the dark?

And who will actually build it? If we hire Bechtel, given the Boston Big Dig, we know the thing will leak, even if the area is normally quite arid. If we hire Halliburton, we know the price will be ten times estimate. Of course, they tend to get no bid contracts... so this would have to be no bid.

I'd imagine, given who has authorised this construction, there will be no wage protections... so we'll need to bring lots of folk across the border to build the wall that will keep them out.

I know my opinion stands amongst the minority in America, but... we surely have failed if we have to make our nation into some sort of walled in enclave. Yup, we've failed. And no, the blame does not solely rest with us, plenty of other places around the world have failed as well. We've all failed to help those in need. We've failed to look after each other. Failed to work together for a common good.

Yeah, there are bad guys out there. Always has been. I don't recall a wall being built prior to WWI or WWII. And prior to that, we were too busy taking land from Native Americans and Mexico walls would have to have been on wheels and expandable.

Has anyone heard suggestions from our would be wall building legislators on perhaps inacting measures that improve the human condition, perhaps then mitigating the need for walls? I don't recall mention of such discussion.