Time for a break

I will be keeping a low profile while on vacation. It's a good chance to step away from the computer for a bit, so I will see you all soon!

This is my country, too

As we head into the July 4th holiday, I’m feeling a little feisty.

::sigh:: I know, I know. I just can’t help it.

I was just in a Facebook discussion that arose when a friend posted something about Richard Hofstadter’s 1963 essay about right wing conspiracy theories and paranoia. I’ve written about it before, and if you’ve never read it, I highly recommend it. It’s eerie in its application to what is happening in our country today.

I simply left a comment stating that I love that essay, and someone else commented that Hofstadter was a Communist and hated capitalism, and if I thought that was great, maybe I should move to Russia or China. They wrote that our government is “the people for the people.”

Yeah, it was on. I’ll post my reply here, with slight editing. I’m sick of some people saying that because I’m liberal, I don’t love my country, or I don’t support our troops, or I’m not a true American. First of all, I’d sure love to know what constitutes a true American. Apparently some think that it entails wanting to kick the ass of every country on the rest of the planet, just to show that we can. True leadership—and I still believe that America is a global leader—comes through diplomacy and friendship and a genuine desire to help others and make things better for all. Simply dropping a bomb on someone is not a sign of strength; it is a sign of weakness and bullying. Some seem to feel that a “real American” lives in rural areas, perhaps in the Midwest. I’m guessing that every New Yorker who witnessed the death and destruction on 9/11 would take exception to that definition.

Anyway, here is what I wrote.

Hofstadter's personal beliefs and ideologies have nothing to do with the validity of his essay about the far right and their paranoid behavior. It was valid when he wrote it; it's every bit as valid today.

It continues to amaze me to hear people say that their freedoms are being taken away by this liberal government. Where were you when Bush was tapping your phones? Where were you when he and his cronies advocated throwing people in jail without charging them for any crimes? Where were you when they gave the green light to TORTURE, ignoring the Geneva Convention in order to satisfy their hair-trigger, cowboy, jingoist, sadistic wet dreams?

Why weren't you up in arms when THOSE freedoms were being taken away? And I'd really like to know which, exactly, freedoms you feel are being taken away by this administration.
Just like every other American, I've been affected by taxes, health care, the military, student loans, and housing. I've seen the devastation wrought by an incompetent administration's tax cuts, unjustified wars, and an unwillingness to fix our broken health care system. I've had family members, senior citizens, have to declare bankruptcy because of catastrophic illness and huge medical bills. I've seen our national deficit go through the roof because of the previous administration's wars without the taxes to finance them. I watched as our economy came close to collapsing because of the GOP's lack of regulation on Wall Street, and I watched as the unfettered greed of bankers and mortgage companies took our country to the brink of economic destruction.

"The people for the people?" Are you prepared to pick up the tab for infrastructure maintenance and construction? Do you have a neighborhood group that has potluck dinners once a month so that you can plan how you'll fight the fires that strike one of your neighbors' homes, or YOUR home? Do you like your public library? When you retire, are you planning on opting out of Social Security and Medicare? Are you prepared to foot the bill for your parent's nursing home bills and medical bills? Do you have bake sales where you raise $500 to help pay for the kid next door with leukemia's hospital bills, which are approaching three hundred grand?

I am sick unto death of people talking about the evils of our government. It is OUR government, it helps us stay healthy, it helps with our education, and it helps us with our day-to-day lives.

If YOU hate our government so much, I suggest that you take a slow boat to any country that oppresses its people, restricts their speech, dictates their religion, and requires women to be punished for not being virgins on their wedding day or forces them to bear a child that resulted from rape. Just go enjoy that for a while, and then tell me about how much you hate our liberal government.

Fuck yeah.

Insult Fail

I was a little curious when someone used the word "Rotisserie!" hurled my way, apparently as some type of insult. I love a good barbecue as much as anyone, but I don't think this broad was wishing me a good meal and good health.

I did a little checking, and enlisted my Facebook friends to see if they might have an idea of what this person was trying to say. My, my, what a shocker! (So to speak...haha!) Here is the Urban Dictionary's explanation for "The Rotisserie." I'll wait while you check it out.

tap tap tap

Welcome back! Well, you can imagine my surprise. I'm assuming there are variations on the theme, because I'm not sure why she was wishing this on me. Or whether she wants to be a participant or merely an observer. My friend Stephen wrote: "A rotisserie? Oh that's easy. You're very petite. You're a "Spinner". She is obviously a butch. Let me know if you have any more questions."

Well, I never. (Really. I never.)

I'm reminded of the teabaggers, who are the ones who began calling themselves that when they were first starting out. It's too bad that they didn't bother doing a little research before they gave themselves a moniker that refers to a sexual practice. (When am I going to stop calling them teabaggers? Nevermore.)

It's probably a good idea to check into things a little bit before you start bandying terms about in an attempt to insult. It didn't insult me. In fact, I got a hearty laugh out of it, and so did several others (even without knowing the circumstances). The Urban Dictionary can be a lifesaver...or at least save you from thoroughly embarrassing yourself.

The next time I have barbecued chicken, I bet I'll laugh as I nom nom nom it!

In a state of high hilarity

Despite kind of a crummy start to the day, I'm now in a good mood and laughing. It wasn't a totally horrible day, not at all. I just had to spend over a couple of hours sitting in the waiting room at the Ford dealership as they did some work on my car. Nothing major, everything was fine...just some routine maintenance, and an electrical systems check that showed that I had a bum battery. Still under warranty, so no charge for a new one!

The upside of the wait that was that I got a lot read in my current book, Blasphemy by Douglas Preston. I'm about halfway through it, and I started it last night. He's one of my favorite authors (he and Lincoln Child have written some really entertaining books, including many with FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast.) This one is about a supercollider deep in the Arizona desert. (It's an American project, so it has no chance of being deported. HA! Thank you, I'll be here all week. Try the veal.) What's really fun is that there is a televangelist involved, ranting about how the supercollider is an affront to God and a product of ay-thee-istic scientists trying to discredit the story of Genesis and creationism. There are mentions of secular humanism and liberal elites and it's all just a lot of fun! What I find especially amusing is that some of these rants from this preacher (who recently survived a scandal in which he was caught cornholing a couple of prostitutes in a hotel room) are things that I've heard almost verbatim from various televangelists over the years. I'm really having a good time with this one!

After getting my car back (all washed and looking awesome), I ran a few errands. When I got home, there was an invitation in the mailbox, for an "old-fashioned Independence Day celebration!" Woohoo! One of the neighbors is apparently having a shindig. The only thing that people have to bring is hamburgers and/or hot dogs and buns for your family and guests. Oh, and two side dishes (salad, dessert, etc.) plus extra if you bring guests. Oh, and serving utensils (labeled) for your dish, a cooler for your dishes that need to be kept cold, lawn chairs and/or blankets, insect repellant [sic], fishing pole for the Biggest Bass Competition (optional), and if you have an ice cream maker and would be willing to bring homemade ice cream in place of ONE of your side dishes, there was a contact number provided. They will provide pop, tea, lemonade, table service, and "awesome fireworks after dark." There will be activities for all ages, and "great Christian fellowship and outreach opportunities."

Now THAT sounds like a party! I'm sure it will be a really nice time for all involved, but I'm guessing it's not my cup of tea...in fact, I bet there would be some teabaggers there that I might get into a discussion with. Since I don't have a desire to have the house firebombed, or being shunned Amish-style, I think I'll pass on the invitation. One little ornery part of me, though, had the passing thought of how much fun it would be to take a cooler full of beer and just be as contrary and as obnoxious as possible. No, of course, I'd never do that...but it was fun to think about for a moment. You all know me well enough to see the humor in the situation. The phrase "wolf among the sheep" comes to mind!

A question. How many of you here are satisfied with being my minions? Please raise your hand if you feel good about it. What? No one? You don't even know what I'm talking about? What the hell am I doing wrong? This is embarrassing. I really thought that my hypnotic personality and powers of suggestion (Perhaps even a little bit of charm...? A gal can hope.) would cause you to do my bidding, and that I could unleash you upon my enemies in order to wreak havoc upon them. I am humiliated that none of you are feeling the least bit miniony. If some of you are feeling a little confused, it's probably because you didn't get the minion memo, in which I sent you all out to be my eyes and ears on the Web as I sit in my basement lair and direct you all like the puppet master I am. Dance, minions, dance! Bwahahaha!

The background there really doesn't matter. It just makes me laugh that anyone could think that anyone who reads this—I find you a genuinely intelligent bunch—would ever take direction from me or be so vapid and directionless that you would want to. I find it amusing that anyone would think that I would try to do so. I'm a fairly resourceful woman, and I think most of you see that in me. I don't need minions. I don't want minions. OR henchmen or henchwomen. I appreciate those of you who continue to read me, and I appreciate any new readers I get along the way. I appreciate your intelligence, your spirit, and your independence. I suppose that anyone who thinks that I would manipulate anyone in such a manner, or send them to do my bidding, is merely projecting and is thinking about how they would behave, rather than how I operate. Perhaps they are thinking of how they spin things in order to get people, their own easily manipulable friends, to sympathize with them and feel sorry for them.

I love it that you are all intelligent, thinking people who will never compromise, never bow to anyone, and will always stand up for your principles. If you ever allowed yourselves to be manipulated or directed by me, it's likely that you wouldn't be friends with me, or would not still be reading me. I love you just the way you are, and don't go changin' to try and please me!

My paper, I wrote it a letter

(You can probably guess what song that is meant to be sung to!)

In today's paper, I saw this letter to the editor:

How many Americans will give serious thought to what the Fourth of July and the Declaration of Independence are all about? If you really study this document, one cannot help but notice that there is a lot of talk about God in it.

He is named four times in the document. As a lawgiver, the author of “the laws of nature” and nature’s God. As a maker, the “Creator” who endowed us with our unalienable rights. As a judge, “the Supreme Judge of the world.” And as a protector, “Divine Providence” to whom we look for protection.

This document looks up at God and acknowledges his supremacy. The authors appeal to his authority for the basis of their actions. They seek his protection. They acknowledge that their rights are a gift from him.

In the Declaration, we accused King George of violating “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” It meant King George was violating the will of God and the laws of the Bible that was our foundation.

The Founding Fathers’ actions hinged on the fact that law came from God, and not from man. It is upon this concept, a purely biblical one, that our government was founded.

Ken B*****, Shipshewana

I suppose that most days, I'd just let that go by and move along about my daily business. Not today, for some reason. I've written about this topic in the past, and felt the need to respond to this. Maybe it was his smug assertion that no one really thinks about these things. My paper asks for letters of no more than 200 words, and this is about five times beyond that, but I asked them to consider it for an opinion piece. I won't get my hopes up, considering the conservative nature of my area, but my local newspaper is generally a little on the liberal side. So we'll see what happens! Even if they don't publish it, I enjoyed writing it, and I hope some of you will enjoy reading it. Here you go!

~~~~~

In response to Ken B*****’s letter of June 26 stating that the American government was founded upon Biblical laws, I would like to address this continued fallacy that America is a Christian nation and that is the way the framers of our government intended it.

Language from the Declaration of Independence is quoted, including the terms “Creator,” “nature’s God,” and “Divine Providence.” The Declaration of Independence is not a legal document for our country; it does not set out to establish our laws, and has no legal authority over our legislators, or our citizens. Its primary purpose was to delineate the reasons for ending the ties between our country and Great Britain. As such, it is a powerful document, but it in no way prescribes the actual governance of the United States.

The language used in the Declaration is also in keeping with its primary author’s Deism. Thomas Jefferson and other framers of our government were not theists. Their belief system consisted mainly of a deity who set things in motion and then established a hands-off attitude. While they believed in a “Divine Providence” and a god of nature, those terms are not the equivalent of the Christian God. Most of our founding fathers subscribed to this deist philosophy, and had no use for the usual trappings of religious dogma. George Washington refused to participate in communion at his church, and when chastised by the minister for his lack of reverence, he simply stopped attending church. To continue to maintain that these men were highly religious in terms of a Christian god is simply not historically accurate.

In fact, Jefferson and other authors of our Constitution (which is the true legal document when it comes to our country’s governance) went out of their way to ensure that we were not and would never become a Christian—or any other religion—nation. The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This is usually interpreted to mean that the Congress is prohibited from the establishment of a national religion or the preference of one religion over another or the support of a "religious idea with no identifiable secular purpose." If you recall, the Puritans left England because they no longer wanted to be told by the Church of England how to believe. The last thing they would ever want was to have a national religion established in their new land.

In Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, he wrote:

“That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.”

In his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, he wrote:

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of the government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.”

Beyond his coining of the phrase “wall of separation between church and state,” note his usage of “the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience.” As with the wording in the Constitution of “we the people,” he means clearly to establish that our laws are based on humankind’s laws, “of the nation,” not on God’s laws. They are written by the people and the legislators who represent them, not by any deity or any book ascribed to a deity.

Jefferson is recognized by many as one of the most visionary men in history; regardless of his own feelings about religion or how he practiced it, he realized that true freedom could come only when a government does not have the power to coerce any citizen into a certain type of belief system, or into any type of belief system.

He wasn’t the only founding father to feel this way. The Treaty of Tripoli, signed by President John Adams in 1797, states in Article 11:

“As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion [italics mine]; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”

That treaty was unanimously ratified by the Senate; no one objected to anything in the wording, indicating that the prevailing attitude at the time was consistent with that set out by the framers of our Constitution.

We are not a Christian nation, and our laws are not based on the Ten Commandments or on any religion; as hard as it may be for people to accept that, it is the historical truth. We are a nation of many faiths, including those who have no faith at all. It doesn't mean that anyone of a different faith or lack thereof is less of an American or a "bad" American. They're still American, and have the Constitutional right to believe or not believe in the manner which they choose. That is the way our founding fathers intended it to be, and anyone who reveres and respects the Constitution would do well to remember that. We were never intended to be a theocracy, and as we watch the abuses perpetrated in the name of state-run religions around the globe, we should applaud these men who established our government for having the foresight to attempt to ensure that such behavior never happens here.

At least it won’t happen as long as “we the people” do not allow it to happen.

Your reality has been disconnected

I'm really noticing a major break from reality in a lot of people lately. I'm not talking about getting things a little bit wrong; I'm talking "fuck the facts I'm just going to make shit up" wrong.

We've got the Missouri farmer who placed a huge sign on his farm calling the Democrats the "party of parasites." This same farmer has accepted a million dollars in crop subsidies from the federal government. Sir, I know parasites; I worked with parasites for much of my career. The Democratic party may have its share, but certainly does not have the market cornered on parasites.

Then there is Michelle Bachmann, teabagger royalty, who takes every opportunity to rail against big government and Obama's "socialistic" agenda. Bachmann's farm received over a quarter of a million in federal subsidies. Kind of digging that whole socialist scene, aren't you, Bachmann? At least when it is you who is the beneficiary.

Let's see...then there is Lutheran pastor Tom Brock, who is virulently anti-gay and takes every opportunity to tell gays that they are immoral and disgusting and going to hell if they don't change their ways. In his down time from gaybashing, he attends conventions with other pastors, and in a recent one in Slovakia, apparently fell into temptation and was weak...and had some sort of a homosexual encounter with a Gypsy (who he says are toothless, filthy, and smelly, although I guess for such an encounter, toothless might be a plus!). Oh, he's admitted that he's gender-confused, and belongs to a group that promotes abstinence among men who are fighting homosexual urges. All the while, he continues to preach his I-hate-gays-and-so-does-my-god rhetoric. What an amazing amount of self-loathing he must be carting around! Give it up and be fabulous, dude!

We're not done. There is the lovely desert flower, Jan Brewer, who, in order to drum up more support for her racist immigration bill in Arizona, is claiming that illegal immigrants are mainly concerned with smuggling drugs across the border rather than trying to get jobs here to feed their families. The assertion that illegal immigration in Arizona has led to higher crime rates is simply not true. It is a falsehood, and Brewer continues to spew such lies...and people continue to fall for it.

In a delusional break that hits closer to home, I've had a person who ridiculed my nephew as a coward and a "mama's boy" for not deploying to Afghanistan while in the Marines--despite the fact that he was hospitalized for over a week with a severe abscess and designated as non-deployable by the U.S. Marines themselves--in a tizzy about their own family member's possible immediate deployment, and ensuring that such deployment was delayed by whatever means necessary. Gee, really? How is that cowardice, mama's boy thingie working for you?

What do all these things have in common? From what I can tell, it's such a hatred and disdain for the other side that there is an inability to recognize one's own inconsistencies and irrational behavior, or that of whatever group affiliation is claimed. We saw it during the health care debate, when teabaggers were calling for smaller government, but at the same time shouting, "Keep your hands off my Medicare!" Or when Palin continued to harp about "death panels," when it was a patently absurd suggestion and a complete fabrication and misrepresentation of something that every family should discuss. I honestly don't know if it's a matter of being unable to grasp the larger complexities of an issue, or simply willful ignorance. Not all of these people are unintelligent; I believe it's often a calculated attempt to prevaricate and persuade through dishonest means. It is most certainly a disconnect from the reality of a situation. I may try to persuade with my arguments, but I always stay firmly rooted in reality. Once you give that up, I suppose you can justify anything, at least in your own mind.

That doesn't change reality, though. No matter how deeply you've managed to deceive yourself, those of us who haven't followed you to your own personal Bizarro World know the reality of things.

Letting nature take its course

This looks so much like Sheeba, but it isn’t! Just some random Intarwebz cat chowing down on a bird.

I love living out in the country, but it does have its drawbacks, and there are some things that are hard to deal with. I've been snowed in during winter storms; the recent bad storms have taken their toll on several trees, although there were plenty of people in the area who had it much worse; and worst of all at times, for me, is seeing the inevitable cycle of nature. As Stewart Copeland wrote in his song "Serengeti Long Walk" from "The Rhythmatist:"

All around there are creatures as big as donkeys, eating and being eaten; it's a barnyard sound. The cycle of life and death is repeated--endlessly--undisturbed by the contaminated curiosity of humans. But there is a pattern there to see, and the point will soon be clear to me.

There have been many nights when I've heard the screams of something being grabbed and eaten. It's chilling, and my heart aches for whatever creature has just met its demise. The occasional dead squirrel shows up, and I've seen dead or dying raccoons out in the yard. Birds fly into the windows, and sometimes don't survive. I've watched as a raccoon has hung from its front paws from the deck and dropped several feet to the ground. There are a couple of does with bum legs that are return visitors to the yard, and it breaks my heart every time I see them. (Although the one with the bum foreleg is still going strong. She's been around for several years now, and I love it that she is such a survivor!) There have been bones and mauled carcasses found out in the marsh of fawns who fell prey to predators.

There have been so many times when I was tempted to intervene when I could. It's been a hard lesson for me to learn to stay out of nature's way. Nature has business to do, and part of that is living and part of it is dying. There are coyotes and foxes here...I've seen them loping across the yard. I've had people suggest that I shoot them. Not a chance. I understand the reasoning behind the suggestion; for anyone who has grown up on a farm, coyotes and foxes (and back in the day, cougars and bobcats...I'm not sure if wolves and bears were ever in this area, but it wouldn't surprise me) had to be shot to protect the farm animals, so it's an immediate reaction to such predators. I don't live on a farm. I understand that there is natural predation that needs to happen, and I'm glad that there is a fairly intact ecosystem here with predators like coyotes and foxes that keep check on other animals. As much as I love deer, I understand that they will devastate an ecosystem if they are allowed to breed unchecked. I don't hunt, and there is no hunting at Nutwood, but I understand that hunters help keep the deer population under control. Things seem to be pretty good here, with a little band of fairly healthy deer, and a fair amount of predators to keep things balanced. (There are also quite a few hawks and owls, and if I'm not mistaken, skunks will also eat small critters. Just checked...yes, they are omivorous.)

As hard as it is for me to not intervene, I understand that the best thing I can do is just stay the fuck out of the way. There are people who rehabilitate animals and are good at it--they usually have some sort of background in veterinary science, or have people close by to advise and help. (I'm thinking of my friend Lori and her family, who have taken in all kinds of critters and nursed them to a healthy adulthood. Her daughter seems to have a real knack for it.) If you don't have that knack, chances are good that you're just going to prolong the animal's agony. As hard as it is to accept, sometimes you have to understand the bigger picture and let things eat or be eaten.

If that sounds hard-hearted, you don't know me very well. I still think back to some fifteen years ago when I lived in Indianapolis and hit a cat on my way home from work one night; or when I hit a squirrel a few years ago when I was driving home in the rain; and I still remember when a tufted titmouse ran into the window and sat on the deck railing stunned, his poor little eye puffing up. I so wanted to reach out to that young raccoon I mentioned earlier hanging from the deck and help him up...but I reminded myself that these are still wild animals, and our intervention does not necessarily help. In fact, sometimes it hurts, or prolongs the inevitable.

I'm not trained in rehabilitation of wild animals, and I'm smart enough to recognize my limitations. I also don't want to create a Pet Sematary out back, because we all know how that ends up! Nature is sometimes a cruel and dirty business, and it's generally better if we just accept that and step out of the way. It's been a hard lesson to learn, but I've learned it. That doesn't mean I don't feel bad when I see something hurting or in distress. Quite the opposite. I just have a healthy respect for the natural order of things, and am inclined to let happen what happens in any sort of natural environment. You might say that I don't like to play God. [wink]

Enjoy a little Stewart Copeland (you'll find short samples of several songs there) and here is a video for you. With "The Rhythmatist," he traveled to Africa and explored various tribal rhythms as well as the amazing wildlife and environment there. It's one of my favorites.