Ouch My Head Hurts!

It Martin Luther King Day! (Or it was when I wrote this.)

And since my last couple of swipes were at the right (Hey! The party in power always makes the best target.) let’s redirect my venomous out pouring of bile to the left.

In the fifties and sixties the appalling and viscous treatment of the minority population in this country was finally address. Many people bravely lost their lives to ensure that justice and liberty was applied equally to all.

So what the hell went wrong! As it currently stands blacks in this country are about as integrated into mainstream society as oil gets integrated into water. In the history of this country we have successfully repressed and then integrated many populations into mainstream America. Many of the populations were illiterate uneducated non-English speaking immigrants. German, Ukrainian, Dutch, English, Chinese, Korean, and Hispanic all have made the leap or are actively trying. But the Blacks seem to have hit a wall of their own making. It is ironic that the very population that started the civil rights movement seems to have lost their way. An oriental that becomes a success is held up as a role model. A black person who becomes a success is regard by his own people as a sellout.

The attitude of the major different population currently integrating is startling. An oriental wants to achieve the American dream so bad they will do anything, including endure some of the most appalling hardships. True they can be some of the most viscous, immoral and cutthroat individuals I have every met, but at least they are trying. Then there are the Hispanic populations. Regardless of their legal status and language skills nobody can say they are not hard workers.

But the blacks just seem to be lost in their own little world. And the blame for this sits firmly at the foot of the affirmative action program. What started out, as an attempt to jump-start the integration program has become an abomination. Instead of assisting the black population into mainstream America it has become a drug they cannot do without. It has taken the spirit of the civil rights movement and corrupted it into something truly evil.

Yes I know that discrimination still exists. I have witnessed it myself. Yes I know something had to be done to address the institutional inequality of the early 20th century. I am even willing to concede that at the time affirmative action was introduced it was a necessary thing.

But it has turned very ugly in the 50 odd years of its existence. And the people it was designed to help have swung 180 degrees. What had started out, as an attempt to achieve equality has become a system of inequality. It is ironic that roles of the black man and white man have switched from what they were in the fifties. Today if you are black you don’t have to show up for work on time, you can cop an attitude that would get a white person fired and if you do show up for work you don’t have to do anything productive. If anyone points out your inadequate performance they are label a racist and reported to the Equal Opportunity Police. If you are black you can sue your employer for the slightest preserved slight, ruin his business and get a large monetary reward. In today’s work place black people actually have more rights than whites. I have personally witnessed this behavior on numerous occasions. In fact I have only meet one black person who has not “played the race card”. The absurdity of the situation makes me wonder if I am on some bad acid trip.

The most heart wrenching part about this scenario is that I use to be a liberal. I was raised on a steady diet of liberal sit-coms and police dramas in a rural town that didn’t even have a single black man. I never even met a Black, Hispanic or Oriental, till I was in my 20’s. I just assumed that the TV portrayal of all the races living in harmony as one big happy family was correct. That the entire planet was populated by intelligent, articulate, reasonable people, who just happen to have different color skin. Then I got a job in the South, and was subsequently transferred into the Deep South. What a shock! All of a sudden blacks and redneck that totally embraced all their negative stereotypes were everywhere. It was also very obvious that to point out this deviation from “television reality” meant that the redneck would beat the crap out of you and the black man would get you fired as a racist.

To this day the true nature of the world makes the little gear in my head grind like fingernails down a blackboard.

Hold the Armageddon Please! I’m on a spiritual diet.

The working of the religious mind constantly fascinates me. As an existentialist agnostic I find their thought processes completely alien. Yet as a resident of the year 2004 I am living in an era of religious extremism. Much like the period of the crusades or the catholic/protestant wars thing are getting ugly in a godly kind of way.

Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jew or Hindu (regardless of sect) will explain how the cosmic authority of the universe has been reveled to their particular sect, of their particular religion. Most don’t even know the historical context from which their belief system arose or how their holy book was first compiled. Nor do they care. Facts and logic are not important, since god has personally revealed to them that they are right, and everyone else is wrong. A mistranslated holy book is “gods will” and contradictions are a “mystery”.

I have come to understand the huge emotional investment they have in their particular belief system. It is very much a life or death decision to acquire a “faith”. An individual who has done this is not going to give up his “faith” over a little thing like logic. To do so would be equivalent to death. In fact death is preferable to renouncing your faith. This is because the foundation of a believer’s sanity is his faith. Unable to cope with the brutal nature of life they have opted out. They have turned their life over to God/Buddha/Allah. For the rest of their lives the question of “is there a god” or “which religion is right “ is no longer pertinent. Like the concrete foundation of a house when the cement sets up, there is no going back. Not unless you want to risk the entire structure of your sanity. Now when you do something, it is really god acting though you. What a powerful and seductive idea. No personnel responsibility, no doubt and no uncertainty. You have become an instrument of gods will. He will use you with surgical precision to reshape the world.

Of course that leave us with the thorny question of what to do with all these surgical instruments lying about. Especially when they violently disagree or even hate each other. Logical persuasion is useless. If their sect has a logistical setback (like having the leader struck by a bolt of lightning) it was Satan. If a car hits the opposition’s leader it was gods will. How do you argue with something like that? Pointing out the other guy thinks the lightning bolt was gods will and the car accident was Satan’s work is not a viable strategy. (Try it if you don’t believe me). Nor is pointing out that this country was founded on religious tolerance. The original thirteen colonies were partly founded by people who fled Europe after being force to follow the state religion. But when an Alabama Supreme Court judge tried to establish evangelical Christianity as the state religion 70% of the country agreed. (Step #1 was covertly placing a block of granite with the Ten Commandments on it in a government building) He considered it a good thing to force me to acknowledge and be subservient to his religious beliefs.

I am convinced that the only thing that could impact these foundations of faith is a truly horrific war of their own making. History has show that this insanity will only stop when both side have exhausted themselves in an orgy of blood, chaos and destruction. I am overwhelmed with a great sadness when I consider this prospect. None of the major religions of this world are going to wake up and say, “Maybe tolerance is better than fanaticism”. They seem quite intent on taking their “God/Jesus/Allah loves you” belief system to the battlefield. How many times do we have to do this? We have been fighting these stupid religious wars for millennium. Although a number of smaller sects have been exterminated nobody ever wins.

Being a lone voice pleading for sanity in a world dominated by the hurricanes of self-righteousness is not a lot of fun. I am horrified on a daily basis by the slow motion train wreck that is world events, but I can’t seem to look away. Will someone teach me how to not care?

(footnote: ex·is·ten·tial·ism: A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.)

Over Christmas, my cousin’s husband (cousin in law?) made the comment that Fox news was run by Bush W’s cousin. Being a less than trusting soul (and knowing that this individual was a very left wing liberal) I started looking into the situation.

What I found was more disturbing than the original assertion.
But first:

The whole “cousin thing” seem to be about John Ellis, first cousin to George W. Bush, specifically the son of Bush senior’s sister Nancy. Mr. Ellis is a freelance political advisor contracted by Fox News to run the election night coverage. He made a very questionable call by declare Florida for Bush W. What he is doing now a days I am still looking into.

The really disturbing Part starts with a guy called Roger Ailes and just gets progressively worse. Mr. Ailes is the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President, of FOX News. If you use the search function on foxnews.com it can’t seem to find anything biographical about Mr. Ailes on the fox news site. Also it turns out that Mr. Ailes is “Bush seniors” former campaign strategist. But nowhere on foxnews.com does it mention this. Most commercial news sites have an “about link” it tells you who own the company and usually links you back to the parent company. Nothing like that appears at Fox news. A casual observer can’t help but conclude that Fox news is a 24-hour political commercial for the Bush clan that actively is hiding its intentions.

Now the interesting question is: What does it mean when a political party in the united state takes control of a 24 cable news station and then represents itself as a independent, “fair and balanced” medium? I have always felt that the mainstream press was bias to the left. But I am pretty sure that we would hear howls of disapproval from the right if Bill Clintons former campaign strategist was named Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President, of CNN. Lets face it, from the view point of an impartial observer having a political crony run a new service is no a big deal. But having him run the news service in hiding, while the station itself very loudly proclaim that they are a “fair and balanced” alternative is just outright deceptive. Or as we common folk like to say “Fox news is a big fat liar”.

Now I have never been a fan of ANY of the news services. I always got the feeling that they were trying to sell me Pink elephant insurance. However when I watch Fox news my general disgust of the American news media turn to absolute gagging revulsion. Their so-called debates are so obviously rigged and/or staged. The reading of the news is blatantly sprinkled with praise for the Bush clan and criticism of their enemies.

I have always said that it not good to lie. However what is even worse is to lie badly. Take the Fox news political commentary “debates”. The Pro-bush commentator sits erect and confident. His body language, clothes and demeanor says confidences and integrity. The “liberal” looks like a smuck. One of those cardboard cutouts you see at the mall would present a better image. And this is before either individual opens his mouth.

There is no real surprise when they do start to speak. The individual on the “right” is articulate, witty, plain speaking, he has a smooth delivery and a confident tone to his voice. The person on the “left” is a winy stuttering husk whose arguments are full of holes and who’s delivery is pathetic. Of course the person from the right will constantly shout down and interrupt the guy on the left just to put the final nail in the debate coffin.

If the Republican Party wants to own a 24 hour news service, fine! This is America. If you don’t feel like your side is being told then go out and tell it. But don’t masquerade as a independent news source. The tone and presentation of the Fox news is obviously using the teachings of Joseph Goebbels the Nazi propaganda minister "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it". The fact that they are winning the cable news race makes this a sad day for the USA. Joseph Goebbels must be laughing his head off down in the bowels of hell!

Hello world!

Today’s magic question is: Why are the Arabs/Muslims/Al Qaeda so pissed off at us?

On 9/11 a bunch of guys didn’t just get up and say:
“You know what would be really cool ….”

These guys must have been upset about something. Even if you subscribe to the belief that not all the hijackers knew exactly what was going to happen, they must have suspected. When your profession is hijacking your retirement plan is a dirt nap. Given the previous history of Al Qaeda suicide attacks, it’s hard to argue that no one suspected that death was going to be the ultimate outcome.

Which bring us back to the original question. Why?

Soul searching introspection is not fun and my answers will offend most readers.
But this site is about offending people’s worldviews so let us proceed.

War is by definition an act of organized theft. And I think we can all agree that we are at war. Since we don’t have anything they want. We must have taken something from them. This is an incredibly uncomfortable though for 90 % of Americans. Ignoring the stolen item(s) in question, lets us contemplate the idea of the USA removing something from a people/country/culture.

As the lone super power we certainly have the means to take anything on this planet we want. The CIA, pentagon, and state department have the operatives, equipment and intelligence assets to acquire what ever we desire. However, since shooting people tends to offend our delicate sensibility, most acquisitions are accomplished by monetary transaction. But just because you paid for something doesn’t mean it wasn’t stolen.

Saudi Arabia was the homeland of the hijackers. It is a totalitarian government where speaking out of turn means you end up in jail (no first amendment rights exist there). That government exists today because the local Muslim religious leaders have blessed it, because of billion of American dollars in oil money, and the very overt support of the US government. Guns, planes, tanks, technicians, training and intelligence are all supplied with the intent of propping up the Saudi government and insuring their obedience. Although this relationship is becoming publicly frayed it is still privately very strong. After all, the Saudi elite get mega-rich and the U.S. gets cheap oil.

This “money for obedience” tactic has been used repeatedly by the USA to get what it wants. In the short term (several decades) it works pretty well. Then the locals tend to get annoyed at the puppet government. Things then start to go down hill. The local puppet forms Secret police squads while the repressed population forms resistance groups. Then everything goes to hell. Iran, Peru and the Philippines come to mind.

For the most part this tactic has served the United States very well. However on the September 11th it came back to bite us on the butt.

Hello world!

Todays magic question is: Why can't the political center be attractive?

The Right has it's acidic radio personas, fundamentalist jingoism, department of dirty tricks, money talks business men and kill them all military machos.

The Left has it million whatever marches, socialistic government can fix it viewpoint, ivory tower idealism, bleeding heart and a "you owe me" attitude.

Both have an unwavering belief that they are irrefutably correct and that the other side is the spawn of Satan.

Both have a fervor and intensity that comes from the knowledge that they are political perfection. That logic and god have smiled on their cause, giving it an air of inevitability that can polarize a country.

But what emotional, sexy, certainty does the center have?
Answer: Nothing!

How do you rouse a nation to a viewpoint that starts with "Now lets consider both sides"
People want a nice clean answer and a shining cause. Not a lesson in perspective and logic. Asking a person to question their own motives and behaviors is a good way of ensuring you never get invited back to the party.

Asking a black person to argue the viewpoint that affirmative action is a failure means that you are a racist.

Ask a Fundamentalist Christian to explain how invading a foreign country and slaughtering women and children can be justified and you will receive a tirade of logical inconsistency and self-delusion.

In the end analysis people want certainty not a shaky middle ground that constantly requires them to shift their emotional burdens and worldviews. A person doesn't become a frothing liberal/conservative out of boredom. They do it out of fear and pain. And it is a fear and pain that is with them every day of their lives. It stands behind them like an evil spirit ready to drag them into the bowels of hell.

Could an average black person get or keep a job with out affirmative action? If you were black and were just one generation forward from a history of poverty and illiteracy would you want to take that chance? In a world of boiling hatred wouldn't you find the idea terrifying? How bad would the abuses of affirmative action have to become before you would give it up? Are you good enough to survive?

For a Fundamentalist Christian, who came to the church emotionally bleeding and near suicide, with your mind, life and soul in torment, how can you question any section of your beliefs? You're continued life, sanity and existence depend on your beliefs. You need that rock of faith to survive.

Neither these two political arch types are going to be easily lured from their emotional safe havens. They will cling to their beliefs through fiscal hurricanes and Armageddon itself. Even the most horrendous event imaginable will have no impact. They would rather die than ever consider that they might be wrong.

So I end with a variation of how I started:

How can the political center be made attractive?