What if?

I generally try not to engage in hypotheticals. We can't change the past, and we shouldn't even think that would be a good thing. Just think of what happened when Captain Kirk saved Edith Keeler! Seriously. Everyone knows that you don't tug on Superman's cape, and you don't fuck with the space-time continuum.

However, I'm currently reading Ted Kennedy's autobiography, True Compass. The other night, I finished the chapter entitled "1963," and yesterday, I finished the one entitled "Bobby." Although Ted Kennedy didn't dwell on details (I wouldn't expect him to...plenty has been written about both brothers' assassinations, as well as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s.), it was enough to bring tears to my eyes. I was too young to remember any of these tragic deaths, and I only remember a vague hint of unrest happening in my young world. My Dad was in the National Guard, and I believe he got called out a couple of times to deal with civil unrest in our city.

I can only read about it, and I can't help but wonder how things might have been different if John Kennedy had lived. Ted writes that the President was becoming increasingly convinced that the war in Vietnam was not winnable, and had expressed his desire to begin to extricate ourselves from our involvement there. After he became President, LBJ increased troops, despite advisors telling him it was a futile effort. Bobby had also come to the conclusion that we needed to get out of Vietnam, and was gaining ground in his presidential campaign by running on an anti-war platform.

Both brothers were committed to civil rights efforts, and felt that our humanitarian efforts in our own country and around the world were the best way to serve mankind. They truly saw the promise of our country, and the good that it could do for all. It's ironic that those born into such privileged circumstances would be so committed to helping those who were less fortunate.

Ted lived to carry on the fight. I know that not everyone likes him, and I didn't always like him myself. However, I feel that in his latter years, he redeemed himself. He seemed to get a grip on his addictions and seemed to settle down with his wife Vicki, working towards passing legislation that would help the least among us. Ted got to spend his whole life in service to his country; so did John and Bobby, but their lives were cut cruelly short. How can you not wonder how things might be different, what might have changed in our atmosphere and direction, if these two bright, compassionate, and remarkable young men had been able to continue in their efforts to serve our country?

It seems like things are out of control in America right now. The rhetoric is bountiful, the passions are running high, and civility and honesty seem to be at an all-time low. However, I think it's important to keep in mind that things have been much worse in the past. Just forty or so years ago, there were riots in the streets, violent protests, kids being shot on college campuses, and three of our very best got bullets to the head, ending their promising lives just as they were getting started.

I feel as passionately as anyone about politics; you all know that. I am not afraid to offer my opinion, and I have been known to piss people off because of it. But I never, ever want us to return to the atmosphere of the '60s, when those who dared to protest or dared to put forth ideas that strayed from the status quo were killed for their beliefs. Not just silenced, not put in jail...killed. We can disagree in this country and that is part of what is good about it, and about us. Crossing the line from disagreement to violence is an unacceptable option.

I get in some lively discussions with some friends on Facebook. One advocates very aggressive tactics, basically doing whatever is needed to win; the other says that such tactics solve nothing, and that stooping to such levels does us no good. I'm somewhere in between. Violence is no answer, and I will never condone that. Lies and deception is also not acceptable. I want to see aggressiveness, though, in responding to the lies and deception that are perpetrated by the GOP. I'm tired of being conciliatory when I hear people like Christine O'Donnell talk about how evolution is a myth, or Jan Brewer talk about fallacious beheadings in the Arizona desert. We can't just say, "Oh, you're entitled to your opinion!" In cases like that, I think it's important to say, "No, that's wrong, and here is why."

I know that some will not be swayed by facts and logic. Those people are beyond reach, and I refuse to argue with them. But there are some who still cling to a little reason and a little respect for the facts, and I still think it's worthwhile to try to reach them.

I also think it's important to ask those who espouse anger and violence (including Sharron Angle, who has spoken of "Second Amendment solutions" to those who oppose her) if they really want our country to return to the dark days of the '60s, in which people were killed in cold blood because some nutcases took the rhetoric just a little too much to heart. Sarah Palin seems to get off on the culture and the language of the gun, exhorting her toadies to "Don't retreat...reload!"

I would urge anyone who thinks that is funny, or who carries a gun to a political rally, or who believes that violence is any sort of a solution to read up on the events of the '60s. It was not a pleasant time in our history, with much civil unrest and people being hurt and killed. It bothers me greatly that people are so ignorant of history that they would want to repeat it. Read about the grief that gripped our country during those dark days. Look at the picture of the tiny little John, Jr. saluting his father's coffin, or the picture of the Kent State student wailing over the dead body of her friend who was killed by National Guard troops. Investigate what happened when Bobby Kennedy gave a speech in Indianapolis when Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed; numerous other cities around the country were gripped by riots, but Indianapolis stayed calm because of Bobby's compassionate and masterful words.

I know that there are quite a few who want our President dead. Death threats against Obama are up over 400% from what President Bush faced. The hate mongering of people like Beck, Limbaugh, et al fuels the fire and provides perceived legitimacy to those who wish to do the President and his family harm.

It is one thing to be passionate about politics. I certainly am, and people like John and Bobby Kennedy were (not that I'm comparing myself to them...not by a longshot!). That is a good thing. Passion to the point of violence is quite another thing, and after over four decades, you'd think we'd have progressed beyond that. We haven't, and that makes me very sad.

I asked "What if?" in the title of this entry, wondering what if the young Kennedys had survived and continued to make policy and serve our country. My "What if?" has a darker side: what if we've learned nothing from that horrible time? What if someone decides that our current President deserves the same fate? How would our country and how would the world react? People like Beck and Palin and others who foment violence care nothing about such questions, and they care nothing about this country. They only care about their ratings and their place in the public eye.

Look at the second image and ask yourself if that is really what we want again. I would hope that the answer is no, and if so, it is up to all of us to condemn the suggestion of such violence and remind people of what a horrible result such a thing would engender. It breaks my heart just to read about what happened forty years ago; I can only imagine what it must have been like to live through it, both for the families and for the country and for the world.

Is that really what we want again? If not, what are you going to do about it?

Anybody here seen my old friend John?

One of Tuesday's big stories (besides a few state primaries, but I'm not all fired up about those) was of the Alabama geometry teacher who used a lesson on tangents to mention the assassination of the President of the United States.

Oh, I know, I know...don't be so hard on him. After all, it was a student who brought it up first, saying, "Well, if you shoot the President..." and then geometry teacher Gregory Harrison went along with it and said:

OK, if you shoot off his ear, that is a point of tangency.

Sure thing, Mr. Harrison, so it is.

It is also completely irresponsible for you to condone, in any way, shape, or form, such a horrid remark about shooting the President of the United States of America, let alone continue the joke. The proper response would have been, "No, Joey, we don't shoot the President of the United States, because that is wrong, remember? That is an act of treason, and it is murder. Assassination is bad, mmmkay?"

Normally, I wouldn't get my panties in a wad about something in a far off land like Alabama. But the more I thought about it, I realized that this is my country, too, and Alabama is part of it. If they are saying things like that in front of kids that might be a part of my national government one day (although I have to express skepticism about that, she said with an arched eyebrow), I feel the need to speak up. I found an email address for Corner High School of Jefferson County in Alabama: rcooper@jefcoed.com. I don't know if it's a valid address, but I sent the email a while ago and haven't received a failure notification yet.

Why did this bother me so much? I think it was because although I was too young to remember the assassinations in the 60's, I have actually made the effort to read about that turbulent time and try to understand the impact that it had on our country. My Dad was in the National Guard and was called out for local riots; my sister was a member of the SDS and protested the war (although not the soldiers); my friend Dan Edwards assisted with a sculpture commemorating Robert Kennedy's speech in Indianapolis after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, a speech that was credited with staving off the rioting that occurred in other large cities at the time. So many people I know speak of that time with sadness, horror, and regret. I have taken the time to try to learn about it and understand what an impact it had upon our country and upon the world.

For this student to make such a hateful, ignorant remark, and for the geometry teacher to go with it rather than pointedly saying that it was completely inappropriate, completely appalls me. It is this sort of rhetoric that hurts me deeply and makes me wonder what is wrong with some people in my country. Whether it's a Facebook group praying for the death of the President (oh, but it was only a joke, they say!) or a teacher in Alabama joking about shooting off the President's ear, you know what? It is not one fucking bit funny.

I was looking for pictures for this entry, and I came across President Kennedy's autopsy photo, as well as a closeup of his wife reaching for his exploded head. I chose not to use those, because I still found them horribly upsetting, and I was only a year old when that happened. However, I am intelligent enough to read and learn and understand what a horrible time that was for our country, and why we never want to experience anything like that again. It doesn't just affect us, it affects the entire world. And on a more personal level, it would certainly affect a wife who calls our President husband, and two young girls who call him Daddy.

Teachers play a part in kids' lives. Not just formal education, but also in the foundation for being a good citizen and responsible member of society, someone who realizes that change comes not from chaos and murder, but from working towards making things better for all. The tacit approval of this teacher with his joking comments made me feel that he has no place in guiding those children who will soon be taking their place in our society.

The deaths of President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. have left a lasting mark on our country and a deep sadness in our psyches. These were men cut down in the prime of their lives, and who knows what they might have done as they grew older? They have already left a profound legacy...what might they have done if they had been allowed to continue their lives in peace and prosperity, rather than have their heads blown off by lunatics swayed by propaganda? This is the danger that many of us sense, and many of us are speaking out about. The rhetoric of the far right who continue to ratchet up the anger in the name of ratings, those who advocate the violent overthrow of our government, the ridiculous hyperbole of those who call Obama a socialist/communist/fascist, what have you...this is the sort of thing that gave rise to the tumult of the 60's, and led to the death of three good men who were trying to make a difference in our country.

Make no mistake about it: people like Beck and Limbaugh do not worry about who might act upon their words. They want ratings. Beck's ratings are dropping, and Limbaugh is making ridiculous statements about how the Sierra Club should be paying for the BP oil spill cleanup. Even the 'rightiest' of the right have to realize how insane that sounds, so I hope that people are starting to figure out that it's not a good idea to get all of their Instructions for Life from these fucktards.

I'm sure that some will say that they advocate change through the ballot box, not violence. Well, you might want to tell your teabaggin' friends about that, because they don't seem to be getting the message. People might take you a little more seriously if you put down the fucking guns and stopped threatening to blow people's heads off. Okay, not really. Most of us still won't take you seriously. But yeah...the blowing people's heads off stuff doesn't help matters one iota.

I would ask these people to remember...or at least to do some research. This is not something we want to revisit. It was a divisive, horrible, upsetting time that lingers with us over forty years later. Look at the picture of a President shot in the head with his wife next to him; look at the picture of his brother, a presidential candidate, shot in the head and dying in the arms of a busboy whose hand he was shaking when the bullet entered his brain; look at the picture of a man who advocated peaceful protest and equality for all, shot in the head and dying on the balcony of a Memphis hotel. Look at these men dying and ask yourselves if that is what you really want. Ask yourselves if you think that killing good men is the way to achieve the change YOU want.

If you don't want that—and I believe that the majority of you don't want that—then speak up and tell your like-minded friends to lower the level a bit. Tell them that it's not funny to joke about assassinating the President. Tell your kids' teachers to be true leaders rather than spewing their own ideologies. Make the changes you want by pulling the lever at the voting booth...not by pulling the trigger of a gun, or by advocating it, or by giving implied approval by not speaking out against it.

A bullet in the brain is not funny. Ever.