Welcome to WWL, a place for Liberal Politics, Op/Eds, Information, Rants and Just Plain Fun.
Join in the Project to enlighten Humanity and create a more Humane, Sane and Just Society for America ~ and for the World!
I consider this a Radical Gumbo, with many varied ingredients making more than the sum of its parts. We are no-holds barred, passionate and not overly PC here. Yes, Liberals can have Fangs. Jump in and be part of the cutting edge!
This is a rather silly song, but it always had the ability to cheer me up--no matter how briefly--whenever I was going through a "dark night of the soul".
So this song goes out to Diane and family.
"You have to sleep late when you can."
That should be on our currency instead of "In God We Trust", no?
I just realized it is "gay pride" season, so I figured I ought to get into the gay pride spirit seeing as how I like to suck on penises and whatnot. For your listening pleasure, I offer you the following brief clip from NPR: "A 'Queer' Argument Against Gay Marriage".
The interviewee is San Francisco-based author and activist Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore . She was one of the instigators of the Gay Shame phenomenon that once terrorized San Francisco, and I was fortunate enough to find myself in her orbit back in 2001-ish. I am not ashamed to say that I had/have an "activist crush" on her (hat tip to the blogger who described her own affection for Mattilda that way....wish I could remember exactly who it was). Whenever I think about what I should be doing with my life, or whenever I find myself wishing I really knew how to write, I think of Mattilda. She would cringe if she read that last sentence, but it's true
It seems people either love her or hate her--and honey, the white homotocracy fucking abhors her...right along with most liberals regardless of sexuality or gender identity. Nevertheless, the fact remains that she has helped a lot of queers realize they aren't utterly insane for not feeling at home in the racist, classist, hyper-patriarchal capitalist mindfuck known as The Gay Community. Her raw and relentless voice helped many of us discover that it was okay if we searched for our own voices too. And if the addition of our discordant voices to the HRC-sexuals' deafening chorus helped mangle their perpetual swan song into a Wilson-Philips nightmare, even better!
If the desperately mainstream Gaysbien "Community" had a conscience, it would be Mattilda. I highly recommend her post about "gay pride" in SF, Pink Saturday: Party or Police State?
Just thought I'd throw this into the mix and see what happens.
So I hear Panama City Beach, FL is awash in BP's slime.
Just got off the phone with my dad. It seems he had an encounter with Officer Friendly recently for driving while brown. After the economic collapse, my father had to come out of retirement. He spent his whole life doing backbreaking work 10 hours per day, and he had just settled into retirement when They stole everything.
He now cleans rich white people's pools for a living.
Officer Friendly began by interrogating my father about his national origin. My father was born in the US, and after detaining my father for a couple of hours, Officer Friendly realized he wasn't going to be a big hero for saving Florida from the illegal brown menace. His next tactic was to accuse my father of "false advertising" because my dad had a sign indicating he was "licensed" to clean pools. The only problem with that approach is that my father is in fact licensed to clean pools. Despite producing the license, he was slapped with a ticket, a court date, and a few racial epithets for good measure. Then he was allowed to go.
My father followed up on the issue, because he had no intention of paying the fine. Strangely, there is no record of his ticket for "false advertising" or that he had been pulled over by Officer Friendly in the first place.
These are the things my father tried to hide from me when I was a kid, after we left Miami and moved to the rural South. Over the past couple of years, he has opened up to me about what he had to put up with on a daily basis at the hands of ignorant white people for almost 15 years. I always thought I was going through it alone. My brother is very light-skinned, so he never experienced it to the same degree that I did. But I digress...
The reason my father recounted the incident was because we were talking about Arizona, and he said he was worried about me because my state is poised to pass the same law. I told him that I was so happy that he and the rest of my family were back in Florida, because the right-wing Miami Cuban mafia (or "exiles" as they call themselves) would never allow such a law to pass. "At least I know you all are safe," I told him.
Then my dad told me about the gubernatorial campaign in Florida and the candidate who is leading in the Republican primaries. Here is one of his campaign ads (and apparently the theme of his whole campaign):
For me, the phrase evokes images of a bar fight in Alabama instigated by some hapless alcoholic's slurred "hello" to another person's partner. "Disproportionate responses" are what take place on virtually every reality TV show, whenever Vapid Fifteen Minutes assaults a housemate for "disrespecting" him by looking at him the wrong way.
Oh, and what about the way they send an ambulance and a fire truck (or two) whenever somebody dials 911 about a cat stuck up in a tree? That seems like a disproportionate response to me.
Why, just the other day, my partner pointed out that I was exhibiting a disproportionate response (I know, hard to believe, but true) by pounding my fist on the goddamn motherfucking cocksucker of a printer that wouldn't fucking work. That was most definitely a disproportionate response.
Now I am going to give you an example of what a disproportionate response is not:
He planned to sprint across the border to steal non-existent jobs from god-fearing white Murkans...oh wait, those lazy worthless spics don't like to work. What I meant to say was that he planned to sprint across the border so he could enjoy a lifelong siesta suckling off Murka's bone-dry, long-withered welfare teat, courtesy of this asshole:
Dennis Bernstein's show Flashpoint's is based in the SF Bay area's legendary and notorious independent radio station KPFA. His latest show covered events re: the Rachel Corrie, and he interviewed people on board the ship. If you haven't heard of him, you can listen to the show at http://www.flashpoints.net/ He's an interesting character and a passionate reporter. If you like Democracy Now, then chances are you will enjoy Flashpoints. Just thought I'd throw that out there for those of you looking for alternate sources of news and are tired of hearing Israeli PR talking points being presented as journalism in the mainstream liberal media.
Did anyone happen to catch Bill Maher? I always knew he was a Democrat-Zionist shill, but his defense of Israel's actions re: the flotilla massacre nevertheless surprised me. His politics and faux-progressive posturing have always annoyed me, but I usually let it pass because (1) he is an outspoken atheist and (2) he is fucking hilarious sometimes. There's usually enough humor to cover the stench, so I watch him from time to time. He is sadly about as far left as it gets out in TV land.
New rule:
I will no longer tolerate the presence of apologists for genocide, whether on TV or in my personal life. The ignorant I can simply ignore...but I will not even pretend to try to be civil to people who clearly know better. A number of years ago, I was raising funds so I could travel to Palestine as part of the International Solidarity Movement. Then the Zionazi's murdered Rachel Corrie and the ISM had to briefly put the program on hold, and understandably so. Long story short...I never went. I have always felt ashamed about that. It is true that finances played a role in that decision. It is also true that cowardice played an an even bigger role.
Every time Israel pulls this kind of shit, I again feel that familiar sense of regret and shame that I was too much of a coward to take part in such a small act of resistance. I was younger then, and I always told myself "I'll go eventually". Then one day I awoke to discover that my youth was gone. "Life" happened, or at least that was what I told myself the last time Israel went into hyper-genocide mode, just prior to HomophObama's inauguration.
And here I am again singing the "eventually" refrain. Pathetic.
I will no longer pretend that those who support genocide merely have a different political stance on international affairs. I can be civil with a Keynesian. Hell, I could even share a pint with one. But the second someone defends a holocaust, I will respond with hostility and revulsion, social graces be damned. It is the only natural, human way to react upon hearing someone abdicate their humanity by cheering as a group of people are herded like cattle onto a train "bound for glory". Speaking out when someone voices support for the Nazis of our day is the least I can do. And I do mean the "least". For now, anyway...
Recently, I was the target of a relatively mild, racially-motivated crime. It was nothing major. I have this small sticker of the PR flag on the bumper of my car. I was parked at the supermarket for perhaps an hour, and I returned to discover that someone had worked really hard trying to peel the sticker off. When they realized they would not be able to remove it entirely, they expressed their indignation that I had the gall to display the flag of a US territory by keying the hell out of my car and bashing the driver's side door in, probably by kicking it. The door works, but the window will not roll down. Fortunately, it is just severe cosmetic damage so I won't have to shell out hundreds of bucks to fix it.
Had this happened a few years ago, I probably would have been pissed for awhile. I certainly wouldn't have been frightened by such a childish act.
Things have changed a lot in the past month though. What follows is a small sample of what I have seen in the news in the last week or so:
Queer Latina Prof Sandra K. Soto was booed giving the commencement speech for the University of Arizona School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Fortunately, no one physically attacked her although it was clear most of the audience wanted to do just that. The clip reminds me of that part of M. Atwood's book The Handmaid's Tale when a large group handmaids dismembered and eviscerated one of their own for violating a law established by the very society that enslaved them. And this is the "liberal academy" David Horowitz pisses and moans about? This is a public state university and therefore a hotbed of left wing radicals. Worse, it is a school of social and behavioral sciences, so the murderous rage evident in this video must be the result of the Stalinist brainwashing techniques those "behavioral science types" use on impressionable young adults.
Now, watch this scene.... it could have just as easily been filmed in Germany in the months prior to Hitler's election.
Did that make you tremble? It made me tremble with fear and rage. Mostly fear though.
Even more frightening is what just happened to 32 year old Eduardo Caraballo in Chicago. Eduardo was born in Puerto Rico and is therefore a US citizen [Incidentally, a recent law just rendered every Puerto Rican birth certificate invalid (see Vivir Latino) so I hope my grandmother doesn't go to the wrong emergency room, because she'd be fucked if they called ICE because of her odd-looking shoes]. He migrated to the mainland as a kid and speaks better English than most whites from the Deep South. Nevertheless, he was detained by ICE for several days because they suspected he was an undocumented immigrant. It must have been his shoes. The fact that his mother produced his birth certificate and his state-issued ID did not make a bit of difference to the ICE fascists who were trying to deport him to Mexico. Click here to read the story or watch the clip below:
Liberty University confers an honorary doctorate on Glenn Beck, who responds by blubbering and sniveling on command. This is a nauseating yet amusing clip of his commencement address at the University of Jerry Falwell (no, it is not a parody):
Here is one absurd quote (among many) from this clip:
"If the government takes the fruits of your labors, how can you keep Jesus' commandment to help the poor, to support your churches, or to give to missionaries spreading the gospel throughout the world?"
Goddamn libruhls wanna raise your taxes too keep you frum obeyin' the lord!
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer just signed a law that will authorize officers to pull over, question, and detain anyone they have a "reasonable suspicion" to believe is in this country without proper documentation. It's legalized racial profiling, and it's an affront on all of our civil rights, especially Latinos. It's completely unacceptable.
Join us in letting Arizona's leaders know how we feel, and that there will be consequences. A state that dehumanizes its own people does not deserve our economic support.
I love the southwest...beautiful country, mostly good folks. My better half and I have always thought we'd end up settling there eventually. But I'll be damned if I am going to travel through, much less fucking live, in a state where I might be detained indefinitely unless I can produce a copy of my fucking birth certificate on demand.
It's all good though. We've always been partial to New Mexico anyhow.
Jeez....that's all the rant I got left in me these days.
Certainly Not News (CNN) has been insisting, along with the Obama administration, that his proposed executive order to coax anti-choice Dems into voting for the HCR bill simply reiterates existing law regarding federal funding of abortion.
I am not a lawyer, but it seems to me that this executive order will be a de facto insertion of the Stupak Amendment into the bill after it becomes law. It will prohibit the so-called insurance exchange--from which the uninsured will be required by law to purchase private health insurance coverage--from including plans that provide family planning services.
Are there any lawyers out there who can correct me if I've misinterpreted the ramifications of this proposed executive decree? The full text of the executive order is below the jump.
The progressive blogosphere has worked itself up into quite a lather following Dennis Kucinich's "betrayal" on health "care" reform. His sudden decision to back Obama's efforts to bail out the beleaguered health insurance industry has left many progressives feeling understandably confused and pissed.
I can sympathize with the rage and despair that many of you on the real left feel as a result of Denny-boy's decision to take the cock of Hope™ up his ass balls deep. Despite being an ardent capitalist (the theme of one of his last two presidential campaigns was "Saving Capitalism" or something like that) and a Democrat, Kucinich has nevertheless been the closest thing resembling a leftist that Congress has had during my lifetime. I have personally admired many of his seemingly principled stands on behalf of the poor and the working class, and I found his vocal opposition to Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama's endless wars to be a much-needed breath of fresh air. Like many of you, I once desperately wanted to believe that he would eventually emerge as a powerful progressive force capable of actually redressing social injustice instead of merely paying lip service to a few leftist values while raping an indigenous South American child and fellating Aetna. I wanted to believe in a "people's politician", if you will.
I stopped having that dream a long time ago. It wasn't easy. From time to time, I still catch myself fantasizing about the Utopian society that would inevitably follow in the wake of a Kucinich or Nader administration. But I now recognize such mental meanderings for what they are: fantasies.
With few exceptions, I've generally remained silent when people here at WWL have made statements to the effect that the left needs to come together to get Kucinich elected President. I was a huge fan of Kucinich at one time myself, and I can understand why many on the real left have revered the man. Compared to his colleagues, he is practically the Congressional version of Che or Ho Chi Minh--albeit a much mousier version and sans the army fatigues.
I am not going to presume I can divine his motives for entering politics. From what I have read, I am even willing to concede that his motives were pure and his heart was in the right place. However, I concluded a number of years ago (perhaps incorrectly...only time will tell) that in the extraordinarily unlikely event that Kucinich (or Nader or McKinney etc.) managed to come within a few thousand light-years of the Oval Office, they would still wind up perpetuating the status quo. Call me a cynic if you like--goddess knows I've been called worse--but please hear me out.
The problem with a potential Kucinich presidency or a Nader presidency or a [insert your favorite progressive/radical candidate here] presidency does not necessarily lie within the politician himself/herself. Your dream president may therefore very well be a genuine and ardent proponent of a boldly progressive agenda with the courage to fight for a measure of social justice in our capitalist Gomorrah. Unfortunately, the content of your dream president's character and the substance of his or her convictions matter not one whit.
Preguntaréis: Y dónde están las lilas?
Y la metafísica cubierta de amapolas?
Y la lluvia que a menudo golpeaba
sus palabras llenándolas
de agujeros y pájaros?
"Why are Obama and the Democrats so incompetent/such wimps/such 'pussies'? They control the White House and both houses of Congress, yet they haven't even managed to [insert embarrassingly modest and/or reformist liberal/progressive goal here, e.g., "pass health care reform that includes a public option", "end the Iraq war", "enact strict regulations on Wall Street", etc.]! Obama needs to 'grow a pair' and start acting more like the Republicans did when they were in power! You know, like a man. I mean, Bush never cared about bipartisanship and consensus-building when he was president. He was willing to use his power to enact his agenda, and he did so without giving the Democratic opposition in Congress a second thought."
The Left's™ persistent broadcasting of variations on the Democrats-as-incompetent-"pussies" (Bill Maher's word, not mine) meme reeks of a highly sophisticated and finely-tuned advertising campaign. The corporate owners of Brand Left™have so thoroughly saturated the nation with this message that even Apple's marketing department has started taking notes.
Of course, it is unsurprising when Brand Left's™ corporate mouthpieces help spread such a patently false characterization of Obama and the Democrats. The Leftists™ that have been anointed by our capitalist dictatorship -- Rachel Maddow,Keith Olbermann, Michael Moore, Ariana Huffington, and Bill Maher (to name a few)- have each done their part to perpetuate this dangerous lie about Obama and the Democrats. One should expect nothing less of such a distinguished cadre of amoral hypocrites.
Despite their faux-leftist rhetoric, they are cut from the same rotting, moth-eaten corporate cloth as Certainly Not News and Fox. The plutocracy has allowed them to express their "left wing" convictions for one primary reason: A few advertising firms conducted focus groups to figure out what kind of programming would best attract a coveted demographic to various media sources where they could be subjected to target marketing (i.e., mostly white limousine liberals who constantly reiterate their love for National "Public" Radio whenever they are going for progressive realness). Likewise, The Jersey Shore was created so that advertisers could target an equally repugnant demographic.
(NOTE: updated to better video quality- not so blurry now, so you can really get a good look at the dead kids!)
This is not a typical post.
Instead of writing a blog post and further destroying my wrists in the process, I thought I'd try something a little different.
Below you'll find a video that I cobbled together from pictures I found online and designs created by my partner. I am not a film director, nor do I desire to be one. It shows.
The song, however, is one that I think many people here will enjoy. It's called "Money Machine", and it was recorded live at Eddie's Attic in Atlanta. The album is entitled Jeff's Last Dance, by Kahler & Mullins. I was at this show. It's just two guys singing, one of whom plays the hell out of the congas. I suppose my affinity for this song results from the fact that I do possess an inner hippie (shhh!). The song is all about corporate greed & US militarism, but it actually manages to not be cheesy. IMO. it happens to rock. I hope you enjoy my amateurish iMovie editing, which was intended to convey visually the sentiments expressed in the lyrics (with a bit of snarkiness). Even if you dislike the editing, I hope you'll enjoy the tune.
