TDFKAJJ*

Tonight we attended the Democratic Gala (*The Dinner Formerly Known as Jefferson-Jackson) in Mishawaka, a dinner for the St. Joseph County Democratic Party. I think this was our third one, and it’s a fun opportunity to meet some legislators and hear some good speakers. (Also to stand and applaud a lot. I told Ken, “Jeez, it’s like being in church!”)

This was probably my favorite one that we’ve been to so far. We sat next to an elderly couple, Chuck and Dot. Chuck is retired from teaching, and Dot was on the Mishawaka City Council for many years, and was the first female president of the Council! They were just delightful people. Chuck is big on unions, and they have both campaigned and worked for the Democrats for many years. They’ve been married for 58 years! People were constantly coming by to say hello to them and shake their hands. It was a treat to sit next to them and I am very happy to have met them.

We got to meet the county clerk and the county auditor. We got to say hi to Senator Donnelly and of course, to South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. We also got to shake the hand of Tim Roemer, who was the keynote speaker and a former Congressman and Ambassador to India.

It was obvious that Tim Roemer was a seasoned professional. He was motivational and got us all wound up (in a good way) about supporting Democrats. He also sat on the 9/11 Commission and told the heartbreaking story about hearing the messages that passengers on United 93 sent to their loved ones when they knew that they were going to crash the plane rather than fly it into the Capitol Building. He was in the Capitol Building that day, and those passengers may have saved his life and countless others. It made me cry. It was an honor to shake his hand afterwards.

They also had a silent auction and Ken bid on a few things, and we won three! We counted up the swag, and we absolutely got our money’s worth in these packages. All the items were donated, so it went to a good cause: our county Democratic Party!

Finally, I can tell you that it was a charged and upbeat atmosphere in that room. There were no unkind remarks about any Republican opponent or any of the candidates running for president, even after last night’s debate. There was talk about defeating Governor Pence and about the harm he is doing to our state, but it was all policy-oriented and absent of any personal attacks. After some of the recent remarks from Republicans, it was quite refreshing to be around people who want to win because they feel that they are doing the right thing for the right reasons, and can do it without playing to the basest fears of people. There was also a sense of unity concerning whoever the Democratic nominee ends up being. There was no splintering of the party and no disagreement about supporting our eventual nominee, be it Hillary, Bernie, Joe, or the other candidates. It was a very positive vibe and everyone seemed happy, fired up, and ready to go!

After Wednesday night, boy, did I ever need this!

Never the twain shall meet

I’ve got the Republican “kiddie-table” debate on, but I don’t feel the necessity to pay extremely close attention to it, so I think I’ll take this opportunity to write a bit of frustration out.

I was beginning to have a little debate of my own earlier today, but because it was on someone else’s post (someone I love a bunch) and because the other commenter/debatee was also someone I know and care about, I decided to nip it in the bud there. It became obvious very quickly that we weren’t going to come to a place of agreement, and if I’m going to take the time to write out my thoughts, I’ll do it here rather than in a futile debate on someone else’s page.

Anyway, the whole thing started with a post comparing Mike Huckabee’s comment about religious law to that of Anjem Choudary’s comment about the same thing. (Don’t worry...I had to look him up, too. He’s a prominent British Muslim political activist.) The other person took exception to comparing Huckabee to a Muslim. Never mind that they essentially said the same thing, about religious laws trumping (Ha! Trumping!) those of man and of the courts. The argument was that Muslims kill people and Christians don’t. Then there was some back and forth about whether our country was founded as a Christian nation and what the founding fathers intended and following the laws laid out in New Testament but not following those in the Old Testament and...well, you get the idea. It’s a debate that I’ve had before and nothing is ever really resolved. I just didn’t feel like engaging in it again.

The core issue here was Kim Davis and her refusal to accept the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality. You all know how I feel about that. However, I feel that the larger argument is the question of whether people can refuse to obey laws based on their religious beliefs. Some have compared Kim Davis to Martin Luther King, Jr., which is absurd. Rev. King advocated for civil disobedience of laws in order to expand the rights of blacks; Kim Davis was going against the law in order to deny the rights of others.

This is a significant difference. I have no problem with people worshipping the way they wish. The First Amendment guarantees that the government shall not establish a religion, or prohibit people from the free exercise of religion. This means that you have the right to worship whatever god you want, or not worship any god at all. But that right ends when you infringe upon the rights of others. Specifically, those rights laid out in the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the laws. Kim Davis was not only denying the right of couples to a marriage license—couples both gay and straight—she was infringing upon the rights of those in her office who wished to do their jobs.

To use an extreme example, let’s say your religion requires human sacrifice. Are you free to practice your religion? Sure...but you cannot infringe upon the rights of others by taking their lives. If your religion requires animal sacrifice, you cannot violate animal cruelty laws. You are taking rights away from others based on your religion, and that is exactly what Kim Davis was doing. Those rights are guaranteed by the Constitution, the Supreme Court made the decision, and you’d best get on board or get out of the way!

This brings up another point when it comes to those who would like to see us be a theocracy. Who gets to decide which religion we’re going to follow or which religious book we’re going to base our laws on? Let’s go ahead and assume you’re going to say that no one has to decide...we’re a Christian nation, period (a point that I do NOT concede at all). How many Christian denominations are there? How much do those denominations differ in their dogma and interpretation of the Bible? Who gets to decide which belief system will prevail? Who is The Decider?? Is it the President? Whatever denomination he or she happens to be will be the one that we base our laws on? Is it the Supreme Court? Do they get to come to a consensus and vote on the denomination? Does the Congress decide? Or do we leave it up to the states? Do states with a large population of Jewish people get to base their laws on Jewish laws? Or is it up to the individual county? Or each city or municipality? (I’d probably be moving to Portland, Oregon.)

And hey, if it’s up to the President, what if he or she has an epiphany while in office and converts to Islam? Then decides to make that the official religion?

This is why we don’t base our laws on the Bible. We base our laws on the Constitution. We are not a theocracy.

I honestly do not understand why some people don’t understand this and continue to advocate for a religious influence on our politics. We are a very diverse country. We have people of all faiths and we have people of no faith. Our government cannot promote any religion or one religion above another.

I am happy to keep my government out of your religion. I expect you to keep your religion out of my government.

This ain’t Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, folks.

Party in the Bend!

Pardon my brief absence here (I’ve been trying to update much more regularly), but it was a busy weekend, and Monday was my Introvert Recovery Day. As much fun as I have on weekends like that, I’m exhausted by the time they are done and have to spend some downtime to recharge my battery. I’m feeling quite a bit better now!

The busy weekend was because we had the super talented and amazingly cool Bob Walkenhorst back in town! We had Bob out last year for a house show and it was so wonderful that we had him come back this year, again at Shane and Matt’s house. In the year since we had him out last, we’ve been to Kansas City to see him a couple of times. Once for New Year’s Eve (a show with the Rainmakers) and a business trip for Ken, in which we got to see him play at the RecordBar with Jeff Porter (the guitarist for the Rainmakers) and Norm Dahlor (bass and banjo player for the Elders). Bob and his super cool and groovy wife Michele invited us into their home and we got to meet the rest of the band and friends and family and...well, we seem to have ended up friends!

This show started turning into something special pretty quickly. Many of the attendees last year were happy to join us again this year, and we had friends from Detroit (Tony, Alaina, and Winston) come down, friends from Chicago (Joe and Maria, George and Karen...we met them through Bob), and of course Bob and Michele from Kansas City.

It was another great night of fun and friends and family, and Bob brought it, as always. He is an amazing performer and is capable of connecting with an audience to a degree that is a rarity. It was even more special for us this year after getting to know him and Michele and enjoy and cherish their friendship. It really was another magical night.

Oh, and this happened. One of my favorite photos of all time is this one of a young Elvis fan at a Philadelphia concert in 1955. This young lady embodies everything I feel about music. The craziness, the joy, the fandom, the sheer ROCKITUDE of it all. I’m not sure how Shane and Matt and I came to the conclusion that we would try to recreate this photo, but we did, and Bob was a great sport and played along as Elvis. Bob. Elvis-Bob. The angle isn’t quite the same due to the constraints of the room, but we all had a blast with it and it was a very fun time! (Thanks for doing the photo, Dan!)

On Sunday, we all met at South Bend Brew Werks for brunch and for some of us, beermosas. (Yum!) We had a wonderful time talking and it made me sad to have to say goodbye to Bob, Michele, Joe, and Maria. But not as bad as last year, because I know I’ll get to see them all again. In fact, we’ll be seeing Joe and Maria (and George and Karen) this weekend when we go up to Chicago to see a Cubs game! They very graciously invited us to come over to their place after the game, so that will be fun!

After brunch, the rest of us went back to Nutwood Junction so Tony and Alaina could see the place. After being blogger friends for years, I think they really enjoyed getting to see a place they’ve seen so many pictures of! We even took a little hike through the wetlands and the woods. We didn’t see any critters, but we saw lots of bees (so happy our bee population is fairly healthy here!) and a couple of Monarch butterflies! They also got to see the Retro Lounge. Then it was back to Shane and Matt’s to load up the truck with the borrowed chairs and coolers. We then waved like crazy people when the Detroit gang drove off, and I felt sad to see them go, too.

But as we discussed with Shane and Matt afterwards, it really wasn’t quite the feeling of sadness after last year’s party. We’ve all become friends (Tony and Alaina went to Vegas with us, Winston has done several things with us, we’ll see the Chicago and KC gangs again as I mentioned above), so it’s more of an auf wiedersehen moment than a sad farewell. We WILL see them all again!

I’ll end this story of what was really a wonderful weekend with something that was truly one of the most joyful moments of my life. And no, I’m not exaggerating! When we saw Bob, Jeff, and Norm in KC, one of the songs they did was “Daydream Believer.” There is something about that song that just brings out the Full Happy in me. After that set, I told Bob that I loved it and would he maybe sing that at our house show? He said, “I’ve never sung it by myself before...but I’ll learn it for you.” And by golly if he didn’t sing it as the last song, and I get a little teary-eyed just thinking about it! It was a perfect ending, and he gave me a big hug afterwards. Thanks to everyone who helped make this shindig happen, and thank YOU, Bob, for such a special music moment!

Video by Dan; photos by Dan and Tony. Thanks guys!

We say what if?

I decided not to write or post a lot about 9/11 today. I’ll leave that for more eloquent people. I haven't forgotten and still recall that day vividly. But as always, music speaks to me and touches me in ways that distill my thoughts and feelings perfectly.

The song that did that today was “Point of No Return” by Duran Duran, from their 2004 “Astronaut” album. It’s generally an optimistic, uplifting album, but this song asks some good questions, including if we can change...and do we really want to? Lyrics, then video.

The random aspects of our lives

Come together once in a while

So blinding and decidedly

Naivete falls from our eyes

And we'll not regain

As we watch the tower falling down

Maybe things can change

Only if you want

Maybe things can change

Only if you want

You know, you know there's no avoiding

The lesson to be learned

The lesson to be learned

The point of no return

We say what if?

But can you live it?

It's all that we deserve

It's all that we deserve

The point of no return

Don't blame yourself

Don't blame me

But we're the ones

Who can feed the ground

So this poison tree don't grow again

And from this glass and broken nerve

There is a way that can be built

A better life for everyone

Maybe things can change

Only if you want

Maybe things can change

Only if you want

You know, you know there's no avoiding

The lesson to be learned

The lesson to be learned

The point of no return

We say what if?

But can you live it?

It's all that we deserve

It's all that we deserve

The point of no return

Hoodwinked!

In case you missed my update on yesterday’s entry, the story about Survivor suing Huckabee and Davis was false. ARGH! I added an update on here and on Facebook but I wanted to write a little more to make sure I didn’t continue to perpetuate the hoax.

I try to be so careful about that, especially because the proliferation of fake news sites has become ridiculous. I do my best to not share misleading things, and it irritates me to see people sharing things as if they are real. Here is a pretty good list of fake news and satire sites (try to ignore the misspellings). I apologize for sharing something from what I should have known was a fake site. I saw the NBC News tagline, but missed that the website listed was NBC dot com dot co, which is absolutely not the real NBC site.

It occurred to me that I was easily hoodwinked on this one because I really wanted it to be true. Pardon me, my bias was showing! So it was fitting that I came across this interesting Vox article today about a quiz that checks your political bias.

Almost all of us have some bias. We tend to read sites that reflect our opinion and reinforce our beliefs. That’s been well-established. I consider myself very liberal, but I really make an effort to learn the truth about things and follow the science if it’s there. This is why I haven’t jumped on the GMO or gluten bandwagons. Science doesn’t support either claim (unless you have celiac disease). But I digress.

It didn’t take long to take the quiz, and it gave a nice, detailed report about the methods behind it and about my results. It’s worth checking out if this is something that interests you. My results showed that I was 25% biased, which was less than approximately 60% of those who took the test. The average result was 40% biased.

I was okay with these results, although it made me want to be a little more diligent about researching things and continuing to learn more. It’s very easy to grow complacent in our beliefs and not challenge ourselves. But challenging ourselves is how we learn and grow.

Onward! (And I promise to be more careful about what I share!)

The Story That Wouldn’t Die

It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

When Mike Huckabee had his opportunistic grifting photo op rally with Kim Davis, she came out onto the stage arm-in-arm with the Huckster and her minister. Since you’ve gotta whip up the crowd a little bit, someone had the bright idea to blare “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor. Remember that one? From one of the gazillion Rocky movies.

Well, Survivor was none too pleased that their song was used in this way, without their permission, and for someone with whose politics and attitudes they totally disagree. They made it very clear that they were unhappy with the usage. Thus continues a fine tradition of politicians using songs without permission, usually resulting in a cease-and-desist order, or one of my favorite rebukes of all time: the Dropkick Murphys telling Scott Walker to just stop it already.

This ended up not being just a cease-and-desist order or a cut-it-out tweet. Survivor is suing Huckabee and Kim Davis for $1.2 million.

I literally laughed out loud when I saw that.

The Huckster, in a hyperbolic spasm, said that he was willing to go to jail in Kim Davis’s stead. It looks like Survivor might have a pretty good case here, so I wonder if he’s willing to pay the settlement for ol’ Kim?

When will politicians learn that musicians DO NOT LIKE IT when people they completely disagree with on almost everything use their songs without permission? I realize that copyrights are a weird and thorny area, and sometimes the musicians can’t stop these people from using their song. But it seems to me that common decency would dictate that you respect the artist and get permission first. Using it without the artist’s permission is a dick move.

I suppose that’s why the vast majority of complaints against politicians doing exactly that is on the Republican side. It strikes me as a sense of entitlement, an attitude of “I can do whatever I want to,” thinking that there will be no consequences or objection.

The political season is just revving up, so I’m sure we’ll see more unfair use and more objections from musicians. This topic comes up every presidential election. My personal favorite suggestion for a politician’s theme song that my friends and I came up with was this one by Nine Inch Nails. The politician? The Half-Gov herself, the Quittah from Wasilla, Sarah Palin!

Head like a hole

Black as your soul

I’d rather die

Than give you control

PERFECT!

**UPDATE** It seems that the story of Survivor suing Huckabee and Davis is not true! The band definitely is not happy about it and is considering the possibility, but no lawsuit has been filed.

What do you call a group of hillbillies?

I don’t know, but it looks like this.

::sigh::

I’m so sick of writing about this, but I just can’t help myself. I’m sure most of you have seen this picture making the rounds on the Interwebz. My immediate reaction was laughter.

After that wore off, I was left with a feeling of what I was surprised to realize was sadness.

I’m sad that Joe Davis is so backward that he decided that his overalls and straw hat would be a dandy outfit for his photo op with a presidential candidate (albeit a rather second-rate one), a photo that would circulate nationally.

I’m sad that he is reinforcing every bad stereotype of a hilljack Kentuckian. As someone from Indiana, I’ve had to work hard to counter an image of stereotypical Hoosiers, and it hasn’t been easy. I don’t embrace the image of a hick Hoosier, and don’t try to perpetuate it. I think it’s sad and kind of weird that Mr. Kim Davis seems so proud of his farmer gear.

Finally, I find it sad that the Davises are apparently so ignorant that they don’t realize that they are being used. Used by their lawyers who are trying to gain national prominence with this case, despite surely understanding that they don’t have a legal leg to stand on. Used by opportunists like Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz, who showed up to visit Davis in jail, only to have the judge release her. Kind of spoiled the heartfelt prayer across the bars of the jail cell, Judge Bunning. (I know it probably doesn't work that way, but can’t you just see the Huckster gripping Davis’s hands through the bars as they bow their heads in prayer?)

The Huckster got his photo op with Davis onstage, but poor Ted Cruz missed out and had to watch from the audience as Huckabee stole his righteous, persecuted Christian thunder. As if this whole thing weren’t bizarre enough, a Huckabee aide apparently physically blocked Cruz from joining them onstage. Man, why didn’t Cruz fight back? Now that would have been some must-see footage! Brouhaha in the Bluegrass State! Commotion in the country! Hubbub in the hills!

So while I’m laughing at this whole stupid situation and especially at this incredibly stupid picture, I’m still left with a sense of sadness. Maybe the biggest source of my sadness is all the people that are buying into the thought that this woman is on the side of what is right and just.

She is not. She is forcing her religious views on others. She is on the wrong side of history in denying every American their right to marry and to be free of discrimination. And this IS discrimination, in the name of religion. She will one day be viewed in the same light as all those people who resisted integration in schools and interracial marriages.

That really is sad.