Early thanks

This week we commemorated Columbus Day. It is called by other names in some places these days, but observed nevertheless.
I certainly understand the animosity towards the historical meaning of this day, but I think it should be celebrated anyway.
The European concept of the 'discovery' has long since been discredited rightly, but Columbus still began something wonderful, more wonderful really, than he could have foreseen.
Many progressives denigrate America, and it is true, it has never lived up to its image, but the image is worthwhile even so. To be realistic, we have to expect that we won't live up to it, because it is so lofty. THAT is the greatness of America - not that we are so wonderful, but that we set wonderful goals for ourselves, goals that were not set before.
The striving towards those goals is what makes us exceptional, if anything does. To be sure, many other countries can claim equal conditions to ours, equal freedoms and material conditions, but do they have a civic creed like ours?
This is where we can still lead if we want to.
It demands that we don't give in to our lower impulses - fear, greed, lack of care for those outside our borders - which one party seems to have decided to make catering to its raison d'etre.
It demands that we remain aware of what America means and how much it  takes to be a real American.
Congratulations, Chris.

The Prairie really is Grand

I had cause this week to feel really proud of my adopted state of Texas, thanks to two girls in Grand Prairie. They brought a painful episode of my childhood to a complete close with a gesture that I never got.
Like their classmate, when I was in school (junior high for me) in Florida, I was played a cruel joke by being 'nominated' for class princess. It was all a joke to those who put my name in, and none of them voted for me. Unlike their classmate, I had no one to stand up for me and show the bullies what being human means.
Like their classmate, I found much nicer people when I moved to Texas, and that is why I don't live in Florida anymore, even though a lot of my family is there.
Thanks, girls, you have helped people you don't even know.

Thanks, but no thanks.

The one good thing I can say about W is that he has stayed out of politics since he left office.
Unfortunately, it seems his supporters don't have that kind of consideration.
While the man himself has not commented on Obama's current conundrum, they are digging up some words from the past and inserting them now.
In spite of the fact that he got us into this mess to begin with, and in spite of the bigger mess his officials made of Iraq once they got there, and in spite of the fact that he abandoned Afghanistan to go fight the war he really wanted, which gave al-quaida more time to work its will, they now insist he was downright prophetic in saying that we should not leave until every general said we were done.
Of course, they forget how much the American public wanted us to leave, how tired they were of the wars the Bush administration had gleefully committed us to. And they forget that Obama tried to leave a larger force, but the Iraqi government wouldn't agree to it.
We should have done it anyway, I guess.
Bush was willing to ignore the facts to go into war, and his supporters are willing to ignore the facts to make him wise and keep us there for who knows how long.
Maybe they should all take up painting.

Garner/Garner

We lost two Garners recently.
James was a great loss. He was there all through my childhood, a steady presence and quite a favorite of mine, from Maverick to Murphy's Romance. He was masculine without being overbearing, laid back without being purposeless. I will miss him.
But he lived a long and successful life, and one imagines, had at least his share of happiness.
Eric Garner was another story. Whether he was selling 'loosies' or not, he had a hard life. He  obviously was NOT successful and he had a lot of conflict in his short life. He had a history with the police and in the end, was horribly mistreated by the group of police which ended his life.
Let me point out, I am usually on the side of the police when a controversy arises. They have a hard job, dealing with the worst of humanity and putting themselves in danger many times and we need to give them some benefit of the doubt. Most of us don't know how we would react in their difficult situations, but certainly we would expect some understanding.
When the police tell you to drop your weapon, it is YOUR fault if you get hurt if you don't.
Unless you have reason to believe you are dealing with a bad cop, it is YOUR fault if you get hurt when you run from the police.
However, this situation is quite different. This man was accused of a minor crime, was unarmed and it is really a stretch to say he was resisting arrest. Even if he was, he was not violent and the number of police around him should have been enough to subdue him without an illegal choke hold and kneeing him to the ground for an extended period of time.
At the very least all of the officers involved should be disciplined, several of them should be fired and the legal case against them would be an easy win.
I am ashamed of them AND of the union who supported them. Unions have a duty to their members, but it DOES NOT extend this far. Not even close. Whoever the spokesman and decision makers are for this union are the reason that everyday people don't like unions. They are giving us all a bad name. Other unions should take a stand against them.
The best thing I can say is thank goodness we have the current administration in NYC, because under some of the recent administrations, this would be swept under the rug.
Godspeed, James and Eric.

Real feminism

OK, I confess, I have been watching old reruns of Buffy the vampire slayer.
One of the video comments got under my skin though.
The young woman commenting implies that feminists believe that women are/need to be stronger, unflawed, that seeing women as just ordinary, not better or worse than men is somehow anti-or at least unfeminist.
I strongly disagree. Seeing men and women as equal is true feminism. Insisting that women are always in every way better than men  is foolish and totally impractical, leading to great frustration and most likely abandonment of the cause completely.
Women DO NOT have to be perfect to deserve equal rights.

Listen closely

Many people are upset over Rick Perry's comments on gays/alcoholism, but I think they are missing the point. Buried in his comment is his suggestion that homosexuality is a genetic condition i.e. something your are born with. Seems to me this is a real step forward for a Republican like him.
For a long time it was said that sexuality was not qualified to be a protected status like color because it could be changed. Is this a back step from that?
Something to think about.

Security?

It is truly amusing, in a black humor kind of way, to see the investment companies all over my TV talking about the need for a 'secure retirement'.

Funny, I thought that's what we had in our country until they came along and persuaded legislators and business leaders to destroy it in favor of their plans.

And for all of those who say we don't need unions anymore, that they accomplished their goals, so now we can move on, this is a good example of why that's wrong.

Yes, unions did improve the conditions for working people - and those who bad mouth them should remember that - but the battle is NEVER over.

Just like the battle for civil rights or for the environment. When one side wins, the other side doesn't just give up and go away. They are still their fighting for their goals just as strongly.

Between complacency and the belief in the ugly propaganda and yes, some misdeeds by some people in some unions, the other side has managed to start chipping away at the gains unions fought so hard for and some people died for not very long ago.

What will it take to change the attitude back? I don't know.

People are starting to wake up to how lopsided things have gotten in this country in the last few decades, but if the vote in Tennessee is any indicator, they are still not making the connection between unions and a solution.

That simply must be done, because the only way the common people are going to be able to take on the big boys is by banding together. That is uniting, that is unionizing.

Any day now, people.

Beyond Bridgegate

Now that Gov. Christie is back to his job at the Republican Governors Group, he is REALLY giving us reasons not to vote for him.
So he says Americans want income opportunity, not income equality and tries to make you think fairness is mediocrity.
But what he doesn't tell you - none of them do - is that the same people who are working against equality are working against opportunity, including him.
That opportunity song and dance is something they have been pulling, pretty successfully, for decades. They get away with it because people want to believe it. They want to believe that those who 'made it' are for everyone making it. Or at least they believe that those at the top make the rules to favor those at the top and when you make it, you can take advantage of those rules too.
What people don't figure on is that those at the top don't want you to make it, and in fact are working hard to make sure you don't.
Governor Christie talks about opportunity, but he doesn't tell you how hard he works against education funding. Where is the opportunity in that?
I know it can be hard to face, but the fact is, most of the rich don't want anyone else to join them. Hell, if they could, they would kick most of their fellows out too. See the fewer of them there are, the fewer they have to share their obscene wealth with. That is their ultimate goal.
Further, Christie equates greatness with wealth. Not achievement, not peace, not happiness, but wealth. Like others of his ideology, to him, the rich are superior beings. If you are not wealthy, you don't measure up. If wealth is not your goal, you are probably mentally ill, and certainly un-American. Listen to him, that is how he defines America - the place where everyone strives for his version of greatness. The place where the dollar rules supreme.
This is a perversion of what America means - and if they can't get that right, how can we trust them with anything else?
How can we trust them in office?

Bad topology

'Climbing the corporate ladder' is a common phrase that is totally wrong.
There is no ladder, there is a pyramid.
I am not sure if the ladder image was ever consciously devised, but it is definitely deceptive.
It gives us more hope than is warranted that workers can move up.
The true shape of organizations, that of a pyramid, shows us the hard truth.
Each 'rung' is smaller than the lower one, meaning fewer and fewer are able to reach it.
Conservatives talk about people getting better jobs when they are opposing raising the minimum wage without admitting that many will not be able to do that due to the organizational structure.
They also keep hidden their underlying belief that those who don't move up deserve to live a lesser life. They so admire those at the top that they deeply believe that they are superior beings, deserving of the lavish lives they squeeze out of our lopsided economy.
I see them as more just different, with different strengths and weaknesses, than superior, but even if I were to grant them such exalted status, I would still believe that ALL workers deserve a decent, comfortable life.
After all, no matter how skilled they may be, none of these corporate bigwigs could run the company alone. We MUST keep pushing the belief that workers are valuable and deserve recognition commensurate with that value.
We can start by acknowledging the true facts about institutional shapes.

odds and ends

The odd is the reaction to a beautiful ad by Coke. I would go into that, but I think Colbert covered it pretty well, so I will refer you to his site.
The end is PSH.
This was more than a shock. This was the first time in many years that a death of someone I didn't know felt as unreal as that of a relative.
At first I was angry at him. How could he not respect his amazing gift more? How could he take this gift away from all of us?
Then I learned about the heroin mixture that is killing many people in the northeast. As if this drug wasn't deadly enough, someone is mixing it with something that makes it worse. So we don't know how many amazing people we have lost.
Next I was surprised to learn how much I didn't know about him. The man was an actor, not a celebrity. Celebrities get their every move publicized, but with actors, we really only know what we see on the stage. I knew nothing about his struggles over the years, and we still don't know what drew him back into this horrible habit.
Now I just feel sad and lost. I am 15 years older than he was. He should have outlived me. I should never have had to see this day.
I see I am still confusing brilliance with good sense and emotional control.
I was foolish and I feel robbed.

Rights beyond humans

First, I need to make clear (because so many people don't seem to know this) that the environmental, animal welfare and animal rights movements are three separate things.
Environmentalists are concerned with saving species and even sometimes support the killing of individual animals to further that goal.
Animal welfare groups want to protect animals from neglect and abuse.
Animal rights groups take things farther and want to secure legally recognized rights for animals similar to those for humans.
I would consider myself in support of the first two, but not the third. I believe that in many cases, animal rights groups go too far.
Rather than talk about animal rights, I would prefer to talk about human responsibilities.
Humans are the dominant species on this planet and at least the most sentient one.
No matter whether you believe in the biblical or scientific theory of the origin or humans, you have to believe that we fought for this status.
In the bible dominance is given, but sentience is taken. In scientific theory it is the other way around, but both show humans striving for their present position.
These two states together give us serious responsibilities to/for the other life forms on the planet.
We not only control more of what happens than any other species could ever conceive of, but in fact, we can also conceive of more than any other species.
Unlike the dinosaurs, the last truly dominant creatures, we know what will happen if we run amok and screw things up. This puts the rights of animals way beyond a philosophical question. It is a serious, practical matter.
Being a person with rather strong moral musings, I believe we do have a moral responsibility to prevent and repair any suffering that we can in the world, especially that inflicted by other humans, but I also think it is in our best interest to do so. The loss of species does affect us in countless ways and those are just what we currently know about. We are learning all the time and even though some may think it a drag, I believe it is best to be prudent about what we don't know yet.
And while you may think that there is no practical reason to be concerned with the suffering of a single animal, a story I saw recently about a rescued dog that made a huge difference in the life of an autistic child tells me the opposite.
That being said, I do think it is possible to go too far in our emotional response to animals. For example, with proper regulations, I am not opposed to animals working or food animals being killed. I do believe we should make these animals lives as happy as possible, with comfortable conditions and limits on their work times for example. With proper limits, I don't think it is worse for animals to work than for people to work. And some animals are clearly put on earth to serve as food for other animals, including people, so following the natural food chain is not outside my morality. If someone wants to become a vegetarian, fine, but I don't think it needs to be forced on the rest of us. Personally I think westerners eat too much meat and I oppose eating non-prey animals such as bears, but ultimately, we are omnivores.
IMO, at the present time we are in a strange state in our culture. So much remains to be done to simply protect animals and bring us up to a state of fulfilling our basic responsibilities and at the same time some of us are going off the deep end and exalting animals over people. We live in a country where in some places it is still legal to fight chickens and in other places we are getting ready to eliminate horse drawn carriages. I would hope more people would get concerned about the cruelty that still exists and fewer would be trying to turn animals into demigods.

How much difference would it make?

A few words on the divide between left and right.
While I agree that it would improve the general atmosphere in our country if we both stopped demonizing each other and tried to see each other's point of view, I don't believe it would make the difference some think it would.
It's true that some of the negative attitudes come from leaders and media types that profit from them with more votes, viewers or whatever. But they have to have something to work with at the beginning. If anyone thinks that things would be peaceful and harmonious without these incitements, they are just wrong.
It would probably help all of us to know how the other side sees their positions and themselves, but that would not make us agree with their view. If we were going to agree with their viewpoint, we would have done it already.
Conservatives who get to know gays or women who have had abortions as basically nice people will most likely still see them as sinners condemned to eternal hell in the afterlife.
Liberals who get to know right to lifers or klan members and see that they treat their families well and give to charity will still see them as intolerant and cruel, if not downright dangerous.
One thing I believe is a fundamental tenet of liberalism is that there needs to be a place in the world for most people, even people who don't fit the mainstream, or those we disagree with. There are limits of course, but as much as we can we try to allow a place for all types. So we would certainly agree that there is a place for the right wing somewhere in the world.
That doesn't mean the place has to be in our face.
And if we who support diversity still want some freedom from it in our lives, what can we expect from the side that supports narrower straits?
Being respectful to each other is certainly a good idea, but it won't end the deep philosophical battle.