Saying What I Think

Defending "R.I.P. J.D. Salinger"

2010-01-29T08:39:00.000-08:00

I've just been part of a Facebook thread which began with my posting "R.I.P. J.D. Salinger." I've been surprised at the tone of the discussion. Some people have questioned the sincerity of posting an "R.I.P." when someone dies. Others have said that Salinger was good only to give white people permission to imagine that they had problems. Others have compared him negatively to John Lennon, pointing out that he wrote his book and disappeared, whereas Lennon went more and more public with his dissent. I don't want to turn this into a major issue, but here's my answer:

Since I did post R.I.P. J.D. Salinger--I can say I was actually sincere in feeling that. Even though Salinger sought utter solitude, somewhere the mind that came to "Catcher" was still working--and maybe in privacy he was still writing. We won't know that for a while. So his passing is sad because something that moved the world forward is no more. Now I've defended my R.I.P.

As to his contribution, I don't think it was just to let white people pretend that they have problems. White people were stuck in a horrible plantation mentality. "Catcher" was part of breaking that loose--and, at least for myself--it was one of many things (Rolling Stones, Hells Angels, Tim Leary and more) that gave me permission to leave Orange County California and join the anti-war movement and civil rights movement. The book didn't do it all by itself, but everyone who's in any way progressive or even a little bit liberated owes a smidgen of gratitude to Mr. Caulfield.

Lennon was true to his message with his life. That is admirable and beautiful and wonderful. He used his celebrity to increase the power of his opinions about justice. But Salinger's dropping out was, in the opinion of many people, his way of saying that the world had to change. I'm not comparing one to the other in terms of effectiveness, but I am saying that there is the obvious and then there is the power of suggestion.

I hope that when I kick the bucket that my list is complete, that somebody writes "R.I.P. Brent" on Facebook (or iFacebook as is may be by then), and that a bunch of people of many different age groups have reason to argue on pages like these about the effectiveness of my life, the worth of my books, and toss my name around in the company of some of my heroes--even if it means that I'm being compared negatively to them. We all measure success differently, but I'd settle for that. So J.D. hasn't done so bad.

Saying "Hmmm" to the Madness

2009-12-30T17:07:00.000-08:00

I spend a lot of time shaking my head these days. It isn't something physically wrong. The cause of the shaking is the unbelievably bizarre world that surrounds me.

Case in point. This week we've been bombarded by the news that a young Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutalla, tried to blow up an airliner that was landing in Detroit. We hear that this young man has been tracked for a long time, that his father met with US authorities (the CIA) to warn them that his son was talking about being a suicide bomber. But as reported on ABC News, all that information was so "vague" that the man wasn't put on the no-fly list. Hmm.

That sounds a little like the "oops" explanation about the fellows who flew the planes into the World Trade Centers. "Gee, we were following them for years, but our information was still a little vague." Of course many security agents had been instructed to end their investigations of those men and their flying lessons. Hmm.

See, I'm skeptical because a friend of mine who wrote a respectful letter to George W. Bush during the buildup to the invasion of Iraq stating that he was opposed to the invasion on both practical and moral grounds--that friend immediately was put on the no-fly list. He didn't threaten, he didn't use inflammatory language, he simply voiced his opposition to killing a few hundred thousand people. That apparently wasn't a "vague" threat to the powers that be. Hmm.

Could it be that national security is a selective process? Could it be that there is a political (for want of a better word) strategy behind all these things? Could it be that when it is convenient for there to be a tragedy which has Americans BEG their government to remove more of their freedoms and liberties and support any number of wars--could it be that then no amount of evidence would be deemed anything but "vague?"

We lived through the horror of 9/11 here in New York City. What I saw from my government was a power grab of horrifying proportions--accompanied by a staggering inhuman attitude to firemen, rescue workers, and average New Yorkers.

That isn't vague to me--it is something so glaringly and blatantly wrong that I'm inclined to believe the worst about the people in power.

As we sacrifice more young Americans to insure that the USA owns the oil pipelines that will run through Afghanistan and that Russia and China won't, I continue to shake my head and wonder why the people who are speaking the truth in this country are called "conspiracy theorists." And with each shake I also wonder why the liars, drunk with their genocidal power, are called the authorities.

If I see you walking down the street shaking your head, I'll be encouraged to know that there is someone else who is inwardly saying "Hmmm" to the madness.

You Must See Iyaba Ibo Mandingo's "Self Portrait"

2009-11-08T05:58:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to Casa Frela in Harlem to see Iyaba Ibo Mandingo's one-man show, "Self Portrait." To say that the evening was amazing is to damn with faint praise. The evening is electrifying, educating, provoking, emotionally tender, and at times, shocking. Life, race, art, politics, love, and the meaning of manhood are interwoven in the story of Mandingo's childhood, youth and adulthood.

An award winning poet, Mandingo tells his story through what seems casual encounter, mingled seamlessly with his intense, perceptive verse. All the while he is literally painting a self portrait as he speaks.

As the show opens, Mandingo stands alone in front of the audience looking down, then occasionally making eye contact. It's evident that he is in a situation of shame and humiliation. He acknowledges instructions from an unseen authority, obediently removing his clothes until he is standing before the audience naked, defenseless. And then we realize that he is in prison and is being subjected to a cavity search. That moment of realization -- that moment which is at once intimate and unbearably brutal -- forms a connection between the performer and audience that makes observer and observed inseparable for the next 90 minutes.

From a childhood on the isle of Antigua to his sojourn as a Black man in this country, Mandingo has us see and feel and understand the progress of a mind searching for truth, dignity and freedom. It was once said of the first heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson that he was a "brunette in a blonde nation." Iyaba Ibo Mandingo's journey illuminates that in a way that will be both new and recognizable no matter what your background.

I originally became aware of Iyaba's work while engaged in the fight to get justice for Amadou Diallo, the young African man who was murdered by the New York City police. Mr. Diallo, unarmed, was shot by those police 41 times. As Professor Arthur "Arturo" Pfister said in his introduction to "Self Portrait," if police shoot a man once or twice, that's a shooting, but 41 times is murder. Iyaba's poem "41 Times," included in this show, was what had me realize that he was a major talent.

I could say so much more about the evening--the story about a mystical experience in the South with spirits of the ancestors, the wondrous memories of learning to cook in Grandmother's kitchen, and the journey of spiritual awakening of one man as he learns what it means to respect women and treasure his family--but I am simply going to urge you to find out more for yourself.

You can call (203) 504-4600 for information about future shows. Go to http://iyabart.blogspot.com/ to see Iyaba's paintings and learn more about his poetry.

I'm grateful to Lawrence Rodriguez of Casa Frela Gallery (47 West 199th Street, NYC 10026) for hosting this extraordinary event. You can find out more about exhibitions at the gallery at: http://www.casafrela.com/main.php

Real Civility

2009-09-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

With the current discussion of civility, I find myself thinking about what civility really is. There are some who have criticized me and called me uncivil for use of the word "stupid." I have to say that there are times when I feel that "stupid" is the right word. I’ve called people “stupid” for expounding positions that are anti-human. For instance, I thought it was stupid for Bruce Sessions to say that he feared Sotomayer was unqualified to judge because she had “empathy.” A judge without empathy? God help us.

When Plaxico Burress went into a nightclub and shot himself in the leg, I don't feel it's name calling to say that it was "stupid."

I think that the people who wanted to ban Obama's speech encouraging children to stay in school and who called it a "socialist plot"--well, those people could easily fall into the stupid category. A President not allowed to speak? Let's not undermine democracy to that point when we claim that the men in the armed forces are being sent off to die for democracy.

The other night during Obama’s speech when I saw members of the US congress sitting with little hand-made signs taunting the President of the United States I thought of words much stronger than stupid. I won’t even comment on the fella who shouted, apologized, and then un-apologized.

We've become a society of strident comment on one side and tepid discourse on the other. I long for someone in power who will talk straight and not always have built-in deniability. For instance, I was sickened that in Obama's health speech he hinted at his willingness to forget a public option rather than sticking with his earlier assertions that a public health option had to be part of any bill he would sign.

At the same time, I long for an end to the noise from people who just want to stir up hate for the sake of self-promotion, media ratings, and money.

I have friends—some of whom have corresponded with me recently--whose civility I appreciate. They are able to see what is going on and somehow never raise their voices or get outwardly furious at people who are a constant impediment to human progress. But I don't have the same thermometer. So bear with me when I rant against people who will do anything but admit that when a person is born, he/she deserves guaranteed health care, food, housing, clothing, and at least an even playing field for progressing beyond the crib. I will enjoy my life more when there aren't people who are sick from preventable diseases, when there aren't people enduring painfully infected teeth, when there aren't people living with correctable physical deformities, and when there's aren't people dying just because they lack health insurance.

While I'm at it, I'll also enjoy life more when there aren't people who are homeless, hungry, or ill-clothed. And I won't mind if it raises my taxes. After all, I've been forced to pay taxes all my life to finance the carnage of wars to which I've been absolutely apposed. So some taxes for the good of others, my pleasure.

To work to prevent people from having basic rights is the height of incivility. So back to my beginning point, I believe that true civility is doing whatever one can to improve absolute human rights, and providing every person (even illegal immigrants) what they need to live with dignity.

I think most humans actually share those values. I also think there are many people in Washington (and on Wall Street and in the pharmaceutical and insurance businesses) who do not--and who would be happy to attend funerals rather than see their portfolios decline. Maybe I should quit calling that stupid and just say it’s evil.

Wouldn't that be civil?

What I Think Health Care Reform Must Look Like

2009-08-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

I've been following the news about the Obama health care reform matter and have read endless discussions on the Internet. I'm beginning to feel it's all becoming a tempest in a teapot because the main points have been lost--and can NEVER be found so long as the underlying purpose of health care providers is profit. It's very simple really, but just try and bring up the subject on a Facebook link and watch the hysteria.

The problem with Obama's plan is not the fact that he wants to include a public option (I'm hoping he doesn't cave on that too), but that it DOES include private health insurance. It's crazy. Who in their right mind buys groceries, but hires and insurance company to make the payments at the grocery store and to dictate what can be bought (no donuts, no raisin bread . . .)?

It's the pharmaceutical companies (remember they LOVE this new health plan and have made a little $80 billion concession so they can roll merrily on collecting their profits), and the insurance companies (who were some of Obama's biggest contributors) also love the plan ONLY is there is no public option. Bob Herbert wrote extensively in the New York Times this week about Obama's deal with the drug manufacturers which promises that the government will only buy non-generic drugs at full price. No negotiations on the full retail price of drugs which already have generics available. Does this sound like change?

If health care reform is going to succeed in the long run, this is what it will need to be--and I hope will be soon:

1) It is a single payer system--all health care is pain for by the government just as it is in Norway, Finland, even Canada.

2) Doctors are employees--well paid to be sure, but are on fixed salaries with their insurance costs covered by the government.

3) The pharmaceutical companies are nationalized--and profit is removed from the equasion of why a drug is on or off the market (they removed the lyme disease vaccination because it wasn't profitable enough).

4) Everyone in the country (including illegal immigrants) is covered by the national insurance because they are ALIVE.

5) If wealthy people which to pay for cosmetic surgery or other premium, totally elective procedures, they are perfectly welcome to supplement the income of a doctor or medical facility. Here there could be private insurance companies--and they would be free to gouge the rich for elective cosmetic procedures as much as the traffic will allow.

6) All medical facilities are not-for-profit and the people who run the facilities are public service employees. No "non-profit" corporations who have CEOs who are paid in the high six figures. Again, they are well paid, but their job is service, not to make profit.

7) All unfair trade agreements like NAFTA are repealed, and the US begins to treat its neighbors like Mexico as countries that actually have human beings. That will eliminate the need for people to risk their lives to sneak into this country.

I'm afraid that Obama's current plan will have a terrible time because he isn't courageous. He is a dedicated capitalist and thinks that if you smile enough, capitalism can work. It can't. It's doomed. Or put another way, it can't work unless huge segments of the populace are impoverished and denied basic human rights (like health care).

Israel's Unjust War

2009-01-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

My good friend and admired colleague Ronald B. McGuire has written about the current Israeli incursion into Gaza. With clarity and an eye never wavering from truth, he bares the lie that is the accepted explanation justifying the assault.

His writing on the subject has been censored on the CUNY Senate Forum List serve, it was removed from the New York Times' blog. Why? Because to perpetuate a lie, the truth must be buried.

With his permission, I post his article here.

Brent
========================

Youngbloods, Elders and Friends:

All of us living in the United States need to speak out against the genocide unfolding in Gaza.

The casualty toll of at least 280 Gazans killed and over 700 injured includes many civilians, including children who were hit when Israel struck as their school day was ending.

Israel has once again proven that the Zionist regime is based on a form of racism that rests on a belief that Jews are the "chosen people" and that Jewish lives are more valuable than Palestinians. Israel's barbaric persecution of the indigenous Palestinian population since 1948 has proven that Zionism is a pernicious form of racism that should be eradicated, not accommodated.

Israel's lame justification for the latest genocidal attack is that it is a response to the resistance by Hamas. However, Hamas scrupulously adhered to the cease fire declared six months ago until it became clear that Israel was continuing the blockade of Gaza that has resulted in malnutrition, lack of medical supplies, power outages and the destruction of the Gazan economy. Hamas struck back in desperation, firing rockets into the Negrev. By any measure, Israel's inhuman response is out of any proportion to the level of resistance by Hamas. Israel's blockade of Gaza as well has its current exercise of mass murder are against international law which has condemned Israel's occupation and aggression against Gaza and the West Bank and which recognizes the right of an occupied people to resist.

Israel's current attack against one of the most densely populated territories in the world was not perpetrated by right wing Likudniks or even the so-called "moderate" Kadima adherents. The architect of the attack was Ehud Barak, the likely candidate of Israel's so-called leftist Labor Party, proving that there is no major political force within the Israeli government that can be trusted to make peace.

For six months Barak and his fellow conspirators prepared for this weekend's attack while Israel told the Egyptians to assure Hamas that Israel wanted to resume negotiations over renewing the ceasefire and would not launch a major strike on Gaza at the present time. Under the last ceasefire brokered by Egypt several months ago Israel agreed to end its blockade of Gaza in return for a cease fire that Hamas adhered to Israel continued the blockade, provoking Hamas to resume resistance by firing rockets into the Negrev. The Palestinian rockets did little damage and Israel's murderous rampage in Gaza is a disproportionate and unjustified response.

Since the Second Intifada several years ago it has become apparent that there is no effective opposition by Jews in Israel or the United States to the plunge of the Zionist movement into genocide. A genocidal mentality is sweeping the Jews of Israel and there is a real potential for a Palestinian holocaust in the coming few years as Israelis and their supporters rationalize inhuman acts from torture to extrajudicial murders of Palestinian political, religious and cultural leaders on the ground that they are "terrorists."
Settlers are conducting pogroms and lynching Palestinians while the IDF has turned into an army of occupation. The West Bank is a racist, violent, apartheid state and Israel has turned Gaza into the largest concentration camp in human history.

Israel's murderous and treacherous attack on densely populated civilian areas in Gaza guarantees that future generations will remember the Zionist regime alongside other purveyors of racism and genocide such as the Nazis, the apartheid regime of South Africa and the post-bellum Jim Crow regimes of the southern states in the United States.

The current attack on Gaza underscores the point that the attempt to build a Jewish state in Palestine has failed. The only solution that will guarantee human rights to the indigenous Palestinian Arabs will be a single state with an Arab majority.

Today, the Gazan people are heroically resisting a ruthless and seemingly omnipotent oppressor, similar to the resistance of the heroic Jews of the Warsaw ghetto in 1943.

The Gazan massacres are being carried out with U.S. supplied weapons and with the tacit approval of the United States government. As citizens and residents of the United States we have a special responsibility to speak up NOW! to oppose Israel's atrocities.

Please don't remain silent at this critical time. We cannot be good Germans when the Gazan people are facing genocide. Go to demonstrations, post to blogs, even write to elected leaders or newspaper, but please do something!

Ronald B. McGuire

This Is Your Nation on White Privilege

2008-09-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

Because it is so powerful, because it is so necessary, I am posting this article by Tim Wise. When you've read it, go to www.YouTube.com, type in my name "Brent Buell" and watch the three episodes Andrea Reese and I did about Sarah Palin.

http://www.redroom.com/blog/tim-wise/this-your-nation-white-privilege

THIS IS YOUR NATION ON WHITE PRIVILEGE
By Tim Wise

For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or whoare constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it,perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of yourfamily is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you oryour parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," likeBristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes withyou, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to"shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in sixyears like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of,then returned to after making up some coursework at a communitycollege), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment toachievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan,makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all pisson themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-termstate Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for thefounding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediatelydisqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added untilthe 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terroriststheir rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used toteach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make peopleimmediately scared of you.

White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of womento vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your runningmate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket hasinspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give yourparty a "second look."

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being atypical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black andmerely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a goodchurch-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a blackpastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department ofDefense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you sucha "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to giveone-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being blackand experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light"burden."

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined,unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

A Response to Bush's Treasonous Speech in Israel

2008-05-16T08:20:00.000-07:00

There is a letter to President George W. Bush in today's Huffington Post written by Larisa Alexandrovna, which I think is one of the most import letters of political history ever written. It is a response to the remarks made by this this selected President in front of Israels' Knesset in which this selected President compared Barack Obama to Nazi appeasers.

Some of the information in this letter is central to the plot of my new novel, Rapturous. But I will let Ms. Alexandrovna's response to this shameful, politically treasonous speech speak for itself. You can read it at the following URL:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandrovna/all-the-presidents-nazis_b_102022.html?view=print

365 Days of Marching

2008-05-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

Filmmaker Veronica Keitt's new movie, 365 Days of Marching is about the murder of Amadou Diallo by the New York City Police and the mass protests which followed as the police were cleared of any wrongdoing.

I’m proud to have been part of those protests and the protests that followed when Patrick Dorismond was shot and killed by undercover police.

My wife, Janice Cline, who teaches cultural diversity and English at York College, CUNY was arrested with two other York College colleagues protesting at One Police Plaza. She was with many college professors who protested while wearing their caps and gowns.

I was arrested twice–both times with my colleagues in National Action Network. As a white man, it was a privilege to be included in this fight for justice.

I’m proud to have shared a cell with Rev. Sharpton, Minister Conrad Muhammed, Eddie Barnes and so many others. My friend Azim Thomas photographed every step of the way. His photographs can be seen at http://photosbyazim.com.

Tami Gold’s film, “Any Mother’s Son” chronicles the effects of police brutality on the families of victims.

Yet, year after year the NYPD continues its carnage unpunished. Sean Bell, a young man who was to have been married the next day, was killed in a hail of 50 bullets in Jamaica Queens when undercover police opened fire. Even though Mr. Bell and his friends--all of them unarmed--were shot multiple times, even though windows of the Jamaica train station a block away were shot out, even though the police never identified themselves as police--Queens State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Cooperman ruled that none of the officers were guilty of wrongdoing.

If the murderers of Amadou Diallo had been brought to justice, I believe that Sean Bell would be alive and that his friends, Mr. Guzman and Mr. Benefield, wouldn’t be suffering life-long disabilities from bullet wounds.

The NYPD has a long history of rogue cops, and yet they continue to assert that any accusations of rogue activity is against the entire police force. What we are asking is that the NYPD–like any other city organization or any corporation–stop protecting its guilty employees and begin to work in BEHALF of the community and not against it.

The lesson of Amadou Diallo’s death must never be forgotten, and I am very glad that 365 Days of Marching will help to bring that message to millions of people.

You can learn more about the film, including screenings at: http://www.365daysofmarchingmovie.com/home.html.

Answering Clinton's Racist Hope

2008-03-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

I'm sick of hearing white people say, "I don't have a racist bone in my body! Why are THOSE people so thin-skinned? Why are they always making something out of nothing?"

Those statements have been particularly loud from the Hillary Clinton camp lately. Poor Hillary, accused of being a racist! Imagine! Hillary, who didn't see anything wrong with Geraldine Ferraro's statements until the polls told her that it was politically advantageous not to like them. Hillary, who makes sure her surrogates drop little seeds of doubt about Barack Obama every chance she gets.

Well, now there's the uproar over Reverend Wright. Give me a break. The man is courageous, fairly careful, and certainly speaks for what millions of us believe about the wrong direction this country has taken. Obama was forced to distance himself from his pastor, but in true Obama style, he turned the attack on him into a tremendous opportunity to articulate matters of race in America.

I won't say more now, except to include a link to an important article which I think everyone--Black and white should read:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_032208F.shtml

The Bush Library

2008-02-23T17:05:00.001-08:00

Southern Methodist University has agreed to allow a 99 year lease on its property in order to establish the George W. Bush Library. Now, granted, a library which has to do with the least-literary president in history does not deserve a lot of words. And it is funny to note that the library grounds will simply be leased! In any event,I shall be brief.

For a church to lend its name and tacit approval to the president who has acted in the most ungodly way towards humanity, the man who has most flaunted an un-Christian attitude towards the nation, its citizens and its Constitution is an outrage. Southern Methodist University, reject this project. The Bush Library--tiny as it will be--should be established in one of this nation's maximum security federal prisons.

Holy Christ, George

2008-02-23T17:02:00.000-08:00

“Why call ye me Lord, Lord and do not the things that I say?”
Jesus Christ to George Bush–Luke 6:46

I think that if I hear one more person say, “I stand by my president because he’s such a wonderful Christian man,” I’m likely to puke. Seriously. I’m not religious, but isn’t a Christian supposed to be someone who at least attempts to bear some passing resemblance to the original? So far as I can see, everything about our nation’s George is about as anti-Christ as I can imagine. Did I say that? I don’t want to get the end-of-the-world gang going with the “Anti-Christ” stuff. I just mean that everything the man does seems 100% opposed to the teachings of the guy who founded the religion.

Simple enough. If George wanted to say that he was a follower of So-and-So whose life’s mission was to end the world in a fiery swamp of misery, and that he worshiped the guy who said, “Stomp your heel on the windpipe of every lousy bastard who hasn’t made his first million,” well then I wouldn’t really have a gripe about George’s religious profession. I would still count myself as radically opposed to everything that he stood for, but I wouldn’t be calling the guy the king the Perverted-Nausea-Inspiring-Hypocrites-of-the-World Society.

Forget that Christianity is an organized mess of religions. Get back to basics. Wasn’t this Jesus fellow someone who said “Love thine enemies” (Matthew 5:44)? Uh, George, Guantanamo–how’s that fit into the love of Jesus picture? I know the dude sitting in his own shit on the floor is just an Arab who hasn’t embraced the wonderful encompassing love of his fellow man that you have, George, but hell, don’t you think he maybe is a little uncomfortable with the dog collar around his neck, the menstrual blood on his back, and the genitals of that other prisoner dangerously near his mouth? I mean, George, you may have had your hand on a Bible the day you took the oath of office, but open the damn thing George, put on your reading glasses, and spend the hour or so it would take you to read the sentence, “Love thine enemies.” See? That would be real good for you, and it would damn sure be good for the rest of us that are shaking in our boots as we helplessly watch you destroy the planet.

Oh yeah, that’s the next thing–this planet issue. That Bible that you love so much says that God will “destroy them that destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18). Better run for cover on that one, George. Hell, you’d better try and find one of those Iranian bunkers you’re always blathering about. You know, one of those bunkers that would take some of your tactical nukes to blast open. I’m only reading a King James translation of the book you venerate, and I know that it was written by people who speak languages pretty close to the one spoken by that poor slob lying on the floor at Guantanamo, but I have read it backwards and forwards and I would still say, Mr. I-won’t-sign-Kyoto-Bush, that God is gonna get you and, what was the word? Oh yeah, destroy you. That’s not me talking, I don’t talk that way. That’s GOD talking. The One you say wrote every damn word and every period and every comma in the whole Bible. Hmm. Now maybe Jesus will give God a talking to and plead your case so God won’t kill you. Maybe He’ll be nice and just end up putting you on the floor in your own shit with a bunch of blood on your back and a collar on your neck and some part of Dick Cheney’s anatomy which hasn’t been replaced yet near your mouth and say that you can relax there for say, eternity. God is kind like that when Jesus gets on His case. Or so they say.

And speaking of kind. What’s this business about “No Child Left Behind?” As far as I can tell, that Jesus that you slobber about when it’s convenient said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me” (Mark 10:14). Now I figure that you’re dyslexic and probably read that as “Make the little bastards suffer,” but disability or not you really messed up your Christ-like credentials with that one. How many millions have you funneled into the profit snorting testing companies? About as much as you’ve yanked away from the squalid classrooms that the little ones sit in 8 hours a day? Would that be fair, huh, St. George? Crap. When I think of little kids in third grade quaking in their boots because they’ve gotta pass some test that a guy whiter and nerdier than you dreamt up, I could scream. When I think of my grandson who’s very Black and very smart having to give the same answers to questions that your Ph.D. (Profit Hungry Doctor) friend thinks everybody ought to give–well, I’d say it was time for a new American Revolution led by little kids who are throwing their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches—oh no, that’s right they don’t get those anymore; I’ll amend their weapon of choice–their McChicken Do-Thingies at the White House. If you had the basic decency to look at what you’ve done and follow the example of this Guy whose message your bastardized and screwed-over and rammed-up-the-ass bunch of TV preachers are always quoting, you’d be getting somewhere. What I read is, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Wouldn’t it be great to see you do that just before you fell on your genuine Japanese sword?

And how about your miraculous plans to “save” social security? Wow? Wouldn’t Jesus just whip out His wallet for that one. I’ll bet He’d just catwaller, “Screw the masses, I’m gonna play the stock market!” Why He’d just be a blizzard of white running in His sandals towards Wall Street. Only problem for you is, when He got down there and saw what was happening, He’d pick up the nearest bunch of rope and chase all the brokers and traders right into the East River. You probably couldn’t read far enough into that fat Bible of yours, but you see, the original Jesus, you know, the one you snicker and smirk about after you put one over on the masses, that original Jesus went into the Jewish temple and drove out the money changers. Not ATMs George, no. Listen carefully. Money changers. People who make money from money and not from an honest day’s work. Cummon, George, don’t play like you don’t know your friends, your buddies, the ones you give the nick-names to. They’re the one percent who willingly believe that you are so holy, so in touch with God, so above criticism or reproach, that when you fuck a nation–ours or someone else’s–they clap their hands and say it’s really OK. They’re the moral perverts raking in billions. You know, they’re the people you pimp for. Enough said. I know my train of thought is leaving you in the dust.

But I’m not finished. These wars you’re running. Something stinks. Something smells. It seems to me that Jesus, remember that guy who’s so convenient to you at times?–that Jesus said, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). Well, actually it was His Dad who said it, but who’s counting? He wasn’t about to come down here and start contradicting His Dad and risk being sent to Hell now was He? So He said, “Thou shalt not kill,” but you say, “I’m gonna bring you democracy and freedom and capitalism–so boom, there’s my present to you. Aren’t you feeling free now that you’ve gotten over your shock and awe? Now get your sorry asses up off the ground, collect your kid’s body parts, and get with the USA program. We’re here and we’re gonna stay. You’ll get to vote, just like the folks in my country–and look what a bunch of beer guzzling happy folk they’ve turned into.” You won’t mention that the reason we’re all guzzling beer is that we poked the other guy’s button on a Diebold voting machine and somehow ended up voting for you.

But I digress. It’s just that when you get up with that look on your puss like someone has just asked you to add the tip to the dinner bill–I mean that look you give that says you’ve got a pair of eyes that lack backup inside your head–and you start talking about the sanctity of life, well I get a little confused. Now I know that Pat Robertson and Senator Frist and some of the other goofballs who wear those fancy Fruit-of-the-Loom Jesus underpants, start to spray holy jism when you rant about those little unformed fetuses, those little collections of stem cells that haven’t yet decided if they are going to be Republicans or Democrats, and you do your sick routine condemning the people who don’t want to bring infants into a world where you can make them suffer. But then, in the same smelly breath you go on to brag about how many “turists” you’ve managed to have killed that day. I won’t mention the fact that international travelers just about faint every time you talk about killing “turists” because . . . well, I’m not going to talk about it. Now George, even your with limited synapse capability can put “save the fetus” and “kill the turist” side by side and see that there is a contradiction. George? George? Okay, don’t answer. Obey Dick and keep silent. You’ve gotten a long way playing dumb, so why change now?

I hate to be all preachy, but you’re the one who’s always quoting the Bible and stumbling out of churches when you’re not snorting cocaine, so I guess you are the one who brought it up. But see, from what I know, Jesus sort of thought His Dad was onto something when He wrote the ten commandments, which He may or may not have stolen from Hammurabi. Anyway, one of those commandments talks about not coveting your neighbors’ ass. Now way back then the ass was a means of transportation. So I figure that zip forward a few thousand years and now we’re talking about oil. Oh George, you really are a big fat ugly abscess on Jesus’ sweet face. He may have raised from the grave and gone back to heaven, but right now He’s saddled with you like a big pustule in the middle of His forehead. I mean, how can anybody like the original Dude when you’re stomping all over the world and pretending that you’re His faithful imitation?

No wonder three quarters of the world is mad at Jesus. You say you’re His big representative, but just look at you. You’re a disgusting display of everything that can go wrong with a rich boy who’s drunk too much, used too many drugs, and wasn’t too bright to begin with.

I’ve got a plan. I don’t want to offend you or say anything that you could understand well enough to make you really mad. But here’s what I suggest. The next time you get up in front of a bunch of people, I recommend that you say, “I’m an atheist who sort of leans towards Satanism and sadomasochism and pedocide (I think that means killing kids) as my religion. Now if you can handle that, then make sure that Rummy and Dick and Condi and all the other wads of human detritus that I’ve elevated to super-status continue to have lots of power. Hail Satan. Hail everything ugly and nasty and detestable. And by the way, my apologies to Satan for putting such a rotten spin on his reputation by saying I’m a follower.”

Hey George, I might not vote for you then, but I would stop calling you a crap-sucking hypocrite. That would be win/win don’t you think?

It's Time to Say No

2008-02-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

Like other Americans, I have been stunned by the news that the Bush administration is seriously considering the use of nuclear weapons against Iran. It is almost incomprehensible to think we've come to a point where media pundits and government officials rather glibly acknowledge that tactical nuclear weapons may be dropped on the citizens of a country which has not attacked us.

I am so ashamed that our nation--a nation that was to champion the idea of democracy and freedom--has betrayed its charter again and again. Only the legacy of the enslavement of African people can match the ugliness of what we are witnessing today: a rapid slide into fascism, wrapped in the flags of patriotism and faux Christianity.

When do we say "enough?" We have to say it soon or it will be too late. I can easily see the neocons claiming that elections in the US have to be suspended because of the extreme conditions of war. After all, the Rand Corporation prepared documents for Richard Nixon outlining how to suspend elections for just such a "noble" reason.

There will be those who smugly assert that any talk about the US utilizing nuclear weapons is just "saber rattling" and that the people who take it seriously are "conspiracy theorists." But I seem to remember it was those same people who called us the same thing when we opposed the invasion of Afghanistan and the destruction of Iraq. I have come to see the G.W. Bush explanation of the world as the true conspiracy theory: a simplistic arrangement of facts to spin millions of people into a state of terror, conveniently blinding them to the motives of their leaders.

I believe one is buying in to a major conspiracy theory when he or she accepts the fact that it is necessary to welcome the limitation of personal freedom so that a militaristic government can "protect" one. I believe a person is buying into a conspiracy theory when he or she believes that the same people who so cherish the sanctity of life that they would criminalize a woman's choice to terminate a pregnancy, are equally respectful of life as they bomb the hell out of a citizenry to bring them "democracy." And I believe that it is swallowing the biggest conspiracy pill of all time if one believes that world domination is a God-driven directive.

No, I'll stick with the facts that I see. A gluttonous 1% of America that is gorging itself on the wealth of the world. A president who smirks and blinks and acts dumb, while he denies that the world is overheating, denies that scientists should be free to share ideas internationally, champions dictators around the world so long as they comply with his capitalistic vision, and denounces and condemns democratically elected leaders who choose to use their nations' wealth to benefit their citizens rather than United States conglomerates.

I stick with the fact that a lying, cheating, double-dealing, murderous gang of lowlifes have overtaken the governing of this country and are plotting with a speed that astonishes to finish their apocalyptic, messianic (and I'll add demonic) rush to gobble up the planet.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I'm a patriotic American citizen who wants to live in a country that truly stands for freedom, human dignity, and the pursuit of scientific, artistic, and human achievement.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist when I find it more than troubling to learn that Halliburton has been given a $375 million contract to build "detention centers" across the country--which are modeled on the work camps this nation once fought to liberate.

No, the conspiracy is not in the facts, it is in the illusion that Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rice, Pearl, Powell, and the rest of the non-elected administration trash that worship and obey them, are divinely inspired leaders.

The rush to destruction is underway and must be stopped. Perhaps there will be a day when people across this nation--not in an organized fashion, but just in a human response--will stand up and say "No more."

If that day is soon, maybe it won't be too late.