Haters gonna hate....I guess

For those of you who do not want to read my take on a political issue, stop now. Don't bother to comment. 

Along with millions of others, I have watched and celebrated the decisions this week handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States. It's not that either of them directly affect me now; it's that they do impact my friends and family, along with so many millions who have worked so long and so hard to make them happen, who have prayed for them to happen, whose lives are changed for the good because they happened.

But this post is not directly about either decision.

It's about seeing that a Facebook friend 'liked' a post by someone else that piqued my curiosity enough for me to go read the post.

The accompanying picture showed the White House illuminated by rainbow lights -- an image that was all over social media. But this original poster had written about how disturbing the picture was -- not because of the ruling, but because of the "fucking clown who lives here" and who "feels it's his right to involve himself in your life...." The post ended by saying that Americans are slaves and sheep to the media and the lies "the pompous ass who lives in this house dictates."    

Whoa, Nellie.

So....President Obama is responsible for the marriage equality ruling? Huh? Because of his lies and fabrications? Because he wants to control our lives? 

We learn early in school -- well, at least I did -- that our government has three branches in order to act as checks and balances for the others. We learn how they function. And we learn that the Supreme Court's  job is to make sure our state and federal laws and our President's actions are within the boundaries set by the Constitution. (There is more basic info here...)

The President had nothing to do with the Court's decision(s). Under our Constitution and our laws, he could not assume that power. The Congress didn't either. Nor did the media, folks. 

The Court decided the way they did based on the Constitution and how the case that was argued before them is interpreted through Constitutional law. Nothing else. 

This post was clearly from someone who hates our President. HATES him fiercely and irrationally and vengefully. And while all our Presidents have had their haters (I was no fan of George W. Bush, believe me), President Obama has been the subject of more vitriolic venom and vengeful action than ever before (or, as in the recent Congress, INaction, deliberately and for no other reason than the Republican Congress HATED that Obama was in the White House and made a pact not to pass any Democratic bills).

The primary basis for this hatred is race. You know it; I know it; they know it. It just KILLS them to see a black family in the White House, a black man as the leader of our United States. Any other reason given is way secondary to this fact. It's just not acceptable to publicly hate on a black man in power because of his color; especially not when he is our duly elected President (by a MAJORITY of the voters, by the way). So the haters always find another way to justify their diatribes and hate speech, even when Obama had nothing to do with the reason the haters state -- like this Supreme Court ruling, for instance. It's his race, people. His black skin. That's the real reason.

In truth, however, President Obama has been an extremely influential leader (despite the Republicans in Congress). Most remarkable is that he actually managed to get a national healthcare bill passed -- a feat attempted by leaders of both parties since 1912. But there is a lot more on his star chart. Read the article.

(I have absolutely NO doubt that if Hillary Clinton becomes the next President of the United States that she will be the next target for extreme hatred and vilification by the conservative camps. And that, friends, will be because of her sex: a woman? In the White House? As the Commander in Chief? Leader of the free world? A WOMAN?)

So yes, this post disturbed me a lot. The fact that someone I know 'liked' what the poster wrote disturbs me too. It's worth pointing out that both the original poster and the person I know have many inspirational and motivational posts on their public pages -- comments that urge people to keep going, to stay positive, to be who you are and embrace life, among others. To write or approve of something so full of hate and contempt (on so many levels, from the full text in the original post) seems to belie their good words of hope and encouragement and acceptance. I'm not sure you can do both and actually live what you purport to believe. 

There is a popular quote by Janis Ian making its way around social media: "We don't have to agree on anything to be kind to one another." 

Maybe that doesn't extend to politics, to Supreme Court decisions, or Democrat-Republican, liberal or conservative differences and opinions. Or religion, especially when one religion sees itself as the only right way and everybody else is wrong, no question, no arguments. Or social justice issues, where everyone is equal but some are a little more equal than others, especially if you have money, are male, and are white. 

But I think it does. 

However:
*** Do not make the mistake of thinking that I am a Pollyanna who never sees the ugly side of anything. Do not think for one moment that I do not know what it is to lobby and fight hard for issues I believe in, or to be bitterly disappointed in the actions and inactions of others, especially politicians, but also corporate management. Do not label me as a do-gooder, knee-jerk liberal Yankee Democrat who doesn't know what the "real" world is like. And especially do not dismiss my incredibly good research skills, my ability to write an impactful letter or testimony or opinion piece, and my Scorpio nature. All while being kind, of course....





 

Another reason why I MUST vote for Obama

I have been absolutely baffled for some time why any woman, especially one who is educated and smart and knows exactly who she is, one who has full control of her own power, would possibly vote for a Republican.

A pair of wanna-be Senators in two states I've actually been residents of have embarrassed not only the Republican party leaders -- at least briefly -- by their comments about women, but have also shown themselves to be ignorant and very misogynistic.

This general disdain for women and their ability (or right?) to make health choices FOR THEMSELVES is rooted firmly in the language in the official Republican Party platform, 

The official platform does NOT provide exceptions to abortion for anything, including rape, incest, or life of the mother. Read it.

Furthermore, the platform says it wants to teach abstinence in school. ONLY abstinence. "Therefore, we support doubling abstinence education funding. We oppose school-based clinics that provide referrals, counseling, and related services for contraception and abortion. "

Uh huh. You try that with teenagers who are bombarded today with sex, sex, sex in today's music and fashions and role models. You try that when the kids have relatives and friends who have affairs and one-night-stands right in their own homes as a matter of course.

It's a nice theory. But it doesn't work. It didn't work when I was a teenager back in the 1960s either.  Ask the teachers and social workers and counselors and specialists in our schools who work daily with at-risk teens. (I'm not even sure if sex education is part of today's curriculum!)

The Republicans also want to defund Planned Parenthood, even though the organization which provides valuable medical testing and contraceptive services to underserved and poor women does not use any federal funds to provide abortion. 

...Yeah. Let's go back to the good ol' coat hanger abortion days, and limit access to birth control so that women will stay home and stay pregnant whether they want to or not...

And while they're on the 'put the little woman back in her place' kick, the Repubs put the Violence Against Women Act into limbo this year, an act which since 1994 has provided  " investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposed automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress in cases prosecutors chose to leave unprosecuted "(Wikipedia) They don't want to extend any sort of protection to  gays, lesbians, American Indians, or illegal immigrants who are victims of domestic violence.

Missouri Senatorial candidate Todd Akin nearly offed himself back in August with his comments about 'legitimate rape,' prompting Republicans leaders to distance themselves from him immediately. Akin refused to step down, though, and the Repub moneymen have slowly crept back into his camp. He continues to belittle his rival Claire McCaskill, recently likening her to a dog, and calling her 'unladylike.'

And now Indiana Senatorial candidate Richard Mourdock is claiming that a pregnancy resulting from rape is 'a gift from God' and that it is 'meant to be.' And what the bloody hell would HE know about it?

Seriously. You must bring a child of rape to term and you must look at your rapist's face in that child every single day because God meant it to be? What about the child's right to be loved? Pro-birth is NOT pro-life.

How can a person actually diminish, -- negate -- so callously and calculatedly the horribly invasive, violent rape of any woman?

And do you really want someone who can say that in all sincerity to represent your vote, your city and county and state?

The Republicans have this last season in Congress, especially, repeatedly and publicly tried to erode women's rights to control their own healthcare choices and to refuse equal pay for equal work and to deny gays, lesbians, American Indians or illegal immigrants the right to seek recourse for domestic violence. They will continue to drive this agenda.

And I just do not understand how this country's women, no matter their political leanings, can throw their sisters under the GOP bus by supporting and voting for ANY Tea Party or Republican candidate, from the Presidential candidate on down.

If you do, please don't call me your sister. I will continue to defend your right to make your own healthcare and reproductive choices despite your vote because I believe so strongly in that right.

But I know you would not do the same for me because of your Republican/Tea Party vote. You will destroy any trust I had in you, any semblance of sisterhood, by your actions.

Reverb11 -- Day 17 -- Saying No and Loathing

#1 Prompt: Saying "No":  Recall a moment when you said "yes" to something but felt you probably should have said "no".  How did you feel?  Why did you choose to rollover your intuition?  In 2012, how can you choose to only do things that serve you?

#2 Loathing - Who or what do you loathe and how have you expressed that in 2011?

 #1 -- No. I actually got pretty good about saying no in 2011, or saying that "I'll think about it" at least. I am no longer involved in anything where I think I've outlasted my useful contributions, I don't volunteer to do things I really don't want to do, and I make a conscious effort not to be around people who are nasty or otherwise unpleasant. I plan to continue this policy in 2012! 

This is a sea-change from the people-pleasing behaviors I've exhibited in much of my past, and I'm proud of myself.  While I still sometimes want to open my mouth and express an opinion about something that needs doing in a group setting, or that could be done better (how arrogant is THAT!), I have managed to SHUT UP and smile because most of the time I don't want to get involved in doing it (usually something related to publicity or graphic design). It's not that I won't volunteer; it's just that I want to spend my volunteer time on something I feel passionate about, and right now there isn't much that I'm finding.

#2 --  Loathing. The dictionary definition is "verb (used with object), loathed, loath·ing.

to feel disgust or intense aversion for; abhor: I loathe people who spread malicious gossip."

I loathe what the Tea Party has manifested itself to be in our country, especially those Congressional legislators who have as their primary goal the ouster of President Obama AT ANY COST. Programs which aid the poor, the elderly, the sick, and the mentally ill have dramatically suffered because of their votes or unwillingness to compromise. Our financial stability has this year been gravely threatened even further by their refusal to extend the debt ceiling. Their rigid stand on women's rights and conservative views of marriage and equality is simply unacceptable to me, and I don't understand how they justify such positions from a Christian point of view.

I loathe lying. Nothing breaks my trust more quickly than lies. The truth is always more acceptable even if it is hard to hear. (Okay, little white lies about where I've hidden the chocolate or the Christmas gifts being the exception...)

I loathe deliberate cruelty, especially to animals and children. The sick tickets who think it's funny to light a cat on fire or chain a dog with water and food just out of reach (or not available) have a special place reserved for them in hell. And those who molest children deserve castration, preferably without anesthetic. (While I realize that such sick adults were also probably abused as children, there IS help available for them. Well, unless the Tea Party has their way, I guess, and eliminates all mental health programs.)

That clear enough?

What are we doing to our country?

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church have waved their horrible picket signs at military funerals as well as other funerals for some time, trying, they say, to send the message that God is angry with the United States because of increasing acceptance of homosexuality.

Their Web page is filled with vile language and hatred: not the God in whom I was raised to believe.

And next fall the Supreme Court is actually going to consider a case about their rights to picket military funerals.

Where is compassion? Empathy? Respect for a soldier serving our country?

**********
Conservatives are rallying en masse against the healthcare reform bill, calling it full of socialism, communism, and insisting the President and supporters are 'ramming' it down the throats of the people. ( Never mind that BOTH houses of Congress have already passed a healthcare reform bill. They're now voting on the compromise.)

What do they think Medicare is? Social Security? Who do they think REALLY controls healthcare in the US? We sure don't control what kind of care we get, nor what we pay for that insurance -- that is, if we can get it at all.

In California, more than 8 million people are without insurance. Know what happens when they finally have to visit the emergency room because they are too sick not to? We insured pay in increased insurance premiums as well as through increased hospital and physician costs.

Congress doesn't care, folks. They get great insurance, guaranteed, no waiting period or pesky pre-existing condition requirements, and we're paying for most of it. See what they get? And they're also getting some great perks and job offers from the health insurance companies who are lobbying so heavily against healthcare reform.

Where is compassion? Where is empathy? How can this happen in our country -- people dying because they can't afford healthcare? Isn't that what happens in third-world countries? Surely not in the United States! (think again)

***********
Education budget cuts across the country are causing thousands of teacher layoffs and program cuts. There are many schools who have few or no arts programs because they can't afford it and haven't been able to for years. Sports programs -- at least in sports other than football -- have been cut. Diversity in education is waning. In my town, our adult education program is being eliminated -- no more computer classes or GED classes.

So we have another group unemployed and searching for non-existent jobs.

But who suffers? Our kids. Our future. Their future.

And history is being rewritten anyway, at least in Texas, and because they are the country's largest purchaser of textbooks, their decisions will eventually affect the rest of our country's curriculum.

In 50 years, we may not even acknowledge that the Holocaust happened, if the conservatives have their way, not to mention evolution. If it even takes THAT long.

What is happening to our country?

It scares me. And my only consolation, honestly, is that I am 62, and likely will not live long enough to see the full effects of the hatred, twisted unethical actions, and poor, inadequate and misleading education. Unfortunately my daughters probably will.

I am also beginning to understand why I've always seen so many grey heads among the politically active. Mine may soon be one of them.

Check 'em out -- little bytes of interest

Bits from the news today:

Awhile back I wrote about print newspapers and their struggle to stay in business. A new poll shows that while my generation and the ones before me value print newspapers, those born after 1977 generally do not. Most say they get all the news they need from their televisions. Scary. Sad.

If you travel via plane, be careful what's in your luggage. Like organic chocolate, rosemary, or natural soaps -- all of which can test positive for illegal drugs with a quickie test. Yeah, you'd be cleared if you were innocent, but it could cost you lots of money and major hassle.

The fat police apparently are trying to regulate what we are allowed to put in our mouths. But when they start messing with chocolate, I think they've gone a bit too far.

A local opportunity to learn about the media industry -- podcasts, video games, and the like -- is coming up soon, and it's free. I just read about it here, and then found lots more info and registration for Playing with Ideas here. Especially if you know a young adult who is fascinated by the possibilities -- or if you need a creative kick-in-the-pants, this is an unbeatable deal right in our own back yard.

And finally, a bit of cheer. This video was filmed in London's Liverpool Street station as part of a commercial for T-Mobile. Big hit for the ad agency! And a lot of fun to watch.

Our eroding rights

In a Cat-E-Whompus post today, my eloquent husband opines on yesterday's Supreme Court decision on partial birth abortion. It's a clear look at an emotionally-loaded subject.

Nearly 30 years ago I was involved in a grass-roots organization that reflected the faith-based points on view on reproductive choice. It's still around, still actively offering a religious point of view towards reproductive freedom that reflects the beliefs of the majority of American citizens. It is an organization that is subject to even more vehement attacks than the better-known prochoice groups such as NARAL because it is an organization of religiously affiliated groups that are working to preserve an individual's right to reproductive choice as a matter of religious liberty.

I have much to say about being prochoice, but I don't intend to use this as a soapbox (and besides, this is not primarily a political blog). I am a strong advocate for adoption. The two are not mutually exclusive. If you want more on my take, e-mail me at oldmuse@yahoo.com.

Bottom line: every right we have to make our own choices for our personal religious beliefs and for our physical and mental health is in jeopardy because of this decision. Regardless of your beliefs on reproductive rights, be watchful of this Court. If they can strip away your right to make medical choices for your own health, they can strip away far, far more.

Life lines

A few words about life
The news has been full of 'life' these past few weeks, especially as regards Terri Schiavo's plight, the desperate pleas of her parents to keep her alive, and the various Congressional personalities pontificating about the situation.

Makes my blood boil.

It also irks me that those who would keep her in that vegetative state are largely labeled as 'pro life,' implying that those who support the right to die with dignity and the right to a safe and legal abortion are what...pro death?

A couple of things bother me even more: the disabled protestors who imply that because of their very disability, they too might be subject to measures which would end their lives without their consent, for instance. I know there are terrible diseases which limit communication and mobility, but I do not believe that a feeding tube on someone who is still able to communicate and clearly has brain activity is going to be arbitrarily yanked. It's the same sort of analogy that the antiabortion folks use when they compare abortion with the Holocaust.

The interference of the Congress in what is so clearly not any of their business morally or legally is simply unacceptable, and I've written my representative to tell him so.

I pray for Terri every day, that she might finally be able to leave her clay feet and soar. I pray for her parents, that they may let her go in peace, and I pray for Michael, and the agonizing decisions he's faced over these 15 years.

And I selfishly pray that I don't ever have to make such a choice. But I know what it will be, if the situation is the same.

Contemplating life
I'm about to finish 'Traveling Mercies' by Anne Lamott. I love her story, I relate to some of it all too well, and her phraseology is memorable. For instance: Forgiveness, she says, is giving up all hope of ever having a better past. She talks to God the way I do, and I like that there's someone else who does that.

I need more spirituality in my life, and I'm not sure quite where to find it. Organized religion -- a church -- may not be the best way right now, with the way we work and live, and yet I'm a little at a loss to figure out where to seek it.

I've put energies and passion into a variety of things over the years, many of them through church. I'm trying to watch and listen for the next right thing.

Gratitude
I try to live my gratitude every day: how thankful I am to be here, to be with my husband, to have the children I do, the freedom in this job to work how I'm most comfortable and productive. I'm grateful for my little fragile mother whose birthday I'll celebrate with her soon, and for those who love and encourage me. I am aware of the responsibilities I have with regards to life, and I'm working on making me more healthy in all the important ways. I've done a good job with that over these past several years, but it is always a challenge!

Peace to Terri tonight, and peace to us all.