Hallway to Nowhere

  • Faith and Office

    So. I get an email from Hillary telling me how she has picked Tim Kaine to be her VP. As a Virginian  I’m happy, though I had hoped she’d pick Elizabeth Warren. But something has been irking me. She made a point of telling me how he and his had joined a church and built a home centered around faith. And this annoys me why? Because I do not think his faith has anything to do with his ability to govern, unless I’m missing something and churches ARE now teaching classes. (Given the current political atmosphere, I fully expect that some Evangelical churches probably are doing that very thing.)  I long for the day when a political candidate does not feel obliged to take a faith-based litmus test in order to run for public office in the US, as if being a good Christian automatically confers greater executive, legislative, or judicial skills. I say “good Christian” because, despite there being Jewish and even a few Muslim elected officials, we all know that Christianity is the religion that rules the land. Witness the RNC. And let agnostics and atheists beware! For a individual to come out publicly as a nonbeliever is the kiss of death. No-one currently serving in the Senate or House of Representatives admits to being atheist or even agnostic. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), the only openly avowed atheist, left office in 2013; Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) only came out as atheist after he had left office. No-one atheist has ever been elected to the Supreme Court. There are still states where it is AGAINST THE LAW for an atheist to hold public office.

    One of the many things I liked about Bernie was that I DIDN’T hear him talk about his faith. I never heard him say anything about how he belonged to this or that synagogue, how much god meant to him, etc. etc. Of course, he IS Jewish, and we tend to talk and think about religion differently than Christians. And, to give Hillary her due, she doesn’t beat you over the head with a religious schtick (pun intended), either. I think she mentions it about as much as she has to.  She might have her personal beliefs,  but I’m pretty confident that the government she runs will not be faith-based and  that the wall of separation between church and state will be respected. And that, I’m afraid, is about as much as we can ask for, given the current furor and frenzy that seems to sweeping the land.

  • Trump: Not My Voice!

    I’m only writing this because I feel obligated to address it, a metaphorical gun to my head, since I’ve been blogging about Republicans. Sigh. Trump’s Big Speech. The utter hubris was what really got to me. He comes off like a gimcrack Mussolini, with his finger-pointing and gesturing. He-and he alone-can fix what is broken with the American government. I won’t even begin to list the outright lies, obfuscations, and cherry-picked facts in his recitation; other sources have done that and are readily available. But that he, who has always had this attitude of “I’m better, I’m smarter, I’m richer, I’m SUPERIOR,” should DARE to say that HE is the voice of those suffering injustice is simply intolerable. Donald Trump is only speaking for those who feel themselves disenfranchised because it suits his purposes-for the moment. When that moment has passed, when they are no longer needed, I suspect they will be thrown to wolves. When in his past as a businessman has he ever shown this compassion and concern for the unemployed? Ask him where HE has HIS products made! (The answer will be China. It’s cheaper.) In his campaign, he has stayed in Trump facilities (thereby benefiting himself), sold Trump merchandise (thereby benefiting himself), and generally branded his name on everything possible. Forgive me if I now think his rebirth as the Voice of America is just another ploy. As far as I can tell, Trump is the same lying manipulative narcissistic sociopath he’s always been.

    I am looking forward to the DNC. I’m REALLY tired of blogging doom and gloom about Republicans. The Donald is responsible, btw, for a  monthly contribution to both the Hillary For President campaign AND the DSCC from me. Just my way of putting my money where my mouth is.

  • RNC: “LOCK HER UP!” : A WITCH HUNT

    Upon perusing my posts, I feel like I should perhaps change the name of this blog to something more appropriate. RepublicanWatch? I’ll report on something else soon. It’s just that they make themselves, well, such tempting fare. The RNC, for instance. So many possible topics, I wasn’t sure which one I would choose. Malania’s plagiarised speech? The defunct NeverTrump movement? The cringe-worthy “minority you can trust ” remark by the (laughably non-representative) Asian-Americans For Trump? I decided to address the tone of the convention. While conventions past have been raucous and  involved namecalling by nominees, this particular one has taken on overtures that once again evoke more ominous images, say from a KKK rally, a witch burning, or a Hitler rally. There have been remarks made by speakers that were overtly racist, stating that the white race had contributed more than any other to civilization (something I’m certain that everyone not Caucasian is DELIGHTED to know, as well as, oh, China and India)and anti-transgender , calling them “absurd” ( something I’m sure that Caitlyn Jenner, who reported how difficult it was to come out as Republican, was overjoyed to hear). But most disturbing was the vitriol directed towards Hillary Clinton. This included a linkage of Clinton with Lucifer and a mock trial of Clinton. Rather than focusing upon the Republican nominee-Trump, the RNC seemed to feel that it could unite itself by bashing Clinton. The slogan became not “Make America Great Again” but “Lock Her Up.” The party that fractured over Trump attempted to put a bandage of “we might not like him but we surely hate HER” over its divide. Whether or not that will be enough remains to be seen. But it was enough to get those listening good and riled and to inspire the already-crazed to even loonier tunes. (Example-Frank Gaffney, a right-wing broadcaster, was so convinced by Christie’s mock trial of Clinton that he declared on his show that the only out for her was by a preemptive pardon by President Obama. Remember, now: CLINTON HAS NOT EVEN BEEN CHARGED WITH ANY CRIMES.)

    Though I would like to be aghast at such behavior, I cannot be. Witch hunts have a long history in this country. I saw Klan marches as child in my home state. I’ve seen films of Adolf Hitler as he roused crowds with his words. This raising of a new demagogue-Trump- on his path with racist, homophobic, and hateful words is sinking to only too human depths. I hope that we prove ourselves better than these people have acted.

  • Pence

    Pence does not offer any consoling alternative to Trump. He is even is in some ways more unsettling, since he has well thought-out reasons for why he believes what he does. He’s a devout Evangelical Christian and a staunch Tea Party conservative who has been known to describe himself as “a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order.” As governor of Indiana, he was responsible for a 2012 anti-gay “religious freedom” bill (later amended) and  one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation. He has also attacked Planned Parenthood. His stance on immigration is definitely NIMBY. While he did decry Trump’s tweet on Muslims entering the country, he proposed as a congressman in 2006 that undocumented aliens be encouraged to self-deport and re-apply as guest-workers. As governor, he has opposed taking in immigrants. He’s liked by Paul Ryan and has ties to the Koch bros. Pence:Trump’s “man in the gray suit”.

    Lest you be tempted to mistake my words for admiration, let me make myself clear: Pence is fervently ANTI-everything I hold dear: anti-gay; anti-abortion; anti-feminist; anti-open immigration; anti-Liberal…..the only redeeming thing I’ve found is that he does have a healthy respect for the freedom of the press, unlike his running mate, Trump. Otherwise, he’s the kind of hardcore True Believer that I definitely don’t want  as potential POTUS, anymore than I wanted Ted Cruz. I don’t want anyone who is going to govern by faith, rather than reason. We’ve tried that before (with George W) and ended up with the mess we’re in today.

  • The Wall

    I read that Kansas Secretary of State and prominent anti-immigration activist Kris Kobach has successfully lobbied for language supporting Trump’s absurd Wall into the Republican platform.  “The border wall must cover the entirety of the southern border and must be sufficient to stop both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.”  Exactly how this wall is to be paid for was not addressed, though Trump has said that he will force Mexico to do so, both by threatening to seize money that people here send back to relatives in Mexico and by some unspecified more ominous means. Despite Dan Stein’s statement that Trump’s Wall is a “surrogate” for other border control measures, Trump himself has never disavowed that he intends building a physical wall, though  engineers, economists, and others have repeatedly said that it is impractical, ineffective, and costly. But reason has never stood in way of Trump’s fevered plans.

    Here’s a little something to help you contemplate Trump’s Republican  ‘Murica:

     

  • Pokemon No

    There just some places where one shouldn’t play Pokémon, namely Arlington,  the U. S. Holocaust Museum, and the Auschwitz  Memorial in Poland, all designated as Pokestops in the wildly popular game. Players have been asked to refrain from playing at each site and both the Holocaust Museum and the Auschwitz Memorial have requested that Niantic remove them from them from the game as Pokestops on the grounds that using sites  dedicated to victims of the Holocaust for gaming purposes is highly disrespectful.  Being Jewish, being human, I agree. Apparently the players weren’t content to play the game, which was bad enough, as it trivialized a place which was a death camp (in the case of Auschwitz).  They also had to take selfies while doing so and act in other inappropriate ways that were even more disruptive and disrespectful. So far Niantic hasn’t commented on their requests. I understand that churches are also usual Pokestops. ( I happen to live on street with 3 major churches and had a friend enthuse about each.) As an atheist, I don’t hold religion sacred. But many do. Should their churches start getting invaded by Pokémon players, they will be upset. I’m not a player and don’t know the mechanics of the game. Surely there is a way to play unobtrusively? I’m suggesting to Pokémon players that you be aware of your environment and pay heed, indeed, be courteous, analogous to keeping quiet in a library. This will go a long way towards improving the somewhat tarnished image of gamers.

    Addendum: On Pokestops and churches: Raising Christian paranoia to a new level, Trunews host Rick Wiles has been speculating both that Satan is targeting churches with “virtual, digital, cyber-demons” and that Islamic jihadists might somehow acquire an app that shows them where Christians are located. Snort! I wonder if he thinks emojis are demonic, too? And do jihadists really NEED an app for that?

  • Something Odd

    An extremely odd thing happened today. I have been expecting a delivery from RL (clothes). I walked out of my apt to take Miss P, my whippet, for her late afternoon backyard jaunt. When I returned, there was the box from RL sitting outside my door. No-one delivers on a Sunday; my landlord’s son had been in the garage next to my apt and had not seen anyone approach the door; we do not know how it got there. Sometimes packages for me get delivered to my landlord’s house by mistake, but he always notifies me about this. This is a mystery. So I take the box inside, where I discover that it has been opened! Now I’m really puzzled: why would anyone open a box that is clearly addressed to someone else? All the items I ordered were there, in their original packaging, though the jeans looked like they had been repacked. Maybe whoever examined everything didn’t like my taste in clothing? Or didn’t wear my size? At least they made the effort to deliver the clothes, albeit by incredible stealth. I wonder, though…should I be thanking an incredibly honest person or just an incredibly disappointed somewhat honest person? I suppose this will probably be one of those mysteries that I’ll ponder from time to time. (The clothes are wicked cool, by the way. All from Denim & Supply.)

  • Radical Gun Proposal

    I’m going to make a radical proposal which will probably make those reading this post howl about the Second Amendment. Fine. When Obama was elected, I heard “Obama’s coming to take your guns!” Now it’s “Hillary’s coming to take your guns!” Here what I propose: the government-the federal government-SHOULD confiscate every firearm belonging to anyone, outside of those weapons legally issued to those employed as policemen (and after the coverage of recent shooting by police officers I have my doubts about the wisdom of this) or the military. If you are not in the militia, you DON’T need a gun. Period. This is not the colonial era, when you had to hunt for food. Yes, I know that people still hunt. And they enjoy doing that. So I’m making an arbitrary moral judgment here. (This is my blog, so I can.) But I believe that in this day and age, when gun violence is so widespread, that owning a gun for even hunting should be forbidden. I live in a small town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. It’s bucolic. Yet yesterday a man with a gun drove down the interstate randomly shooting at people. A woman was killed. I don’t want to hear “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” any longer. That’s simply not the case. The likelihood of violence dramatically increases when a gun is present. Guns don’t kill people. People WITH GUNS kill people.

    On a personal note, I want to address the idea put forth by a friend of mine that society would be safer if every household were armed, i.e. had a gun. However, studies show that guns are not likely to be used in self-defense and instead have a higher chance of being stolen, used for suicide, or ending in some form of accidental mishap. That’s research. If every household were like my landlord, for instance: sober, knowledgeable about guns and gun safety, responsible, serious about his duties as a citizen, sane, etc,, then perhaps I might concede her a point. But more households than I care to think about resemble the one seven blocks away, wherein dwell folks who are regularly visited by the cops for various illicit activities or the one down the street belonging to the man who informed me that I’m burning in hell due to being queer and a Jew. Do I feel safer, knowing THESE people could have guns? Hell, no!

  • Trump’s Message: Being a Bigot is Acceptable

    Like many other Jews and others, I was disgusted by Trump’s blatantly anti-Semitic tweet directed somewhat mystifyingly at Clinton. But Trump’s attitude afterwards about the resulting furor that the tweet caused is even more disturbing. He has staunchly DEFENDED the offensive tweet, despite the damning knowledge coming to light that the imagery was lifted from a racist source. Rather than acknowledging that this was playing to the old canard about Jews and money, Trump continued to insist it was a sheriff’s badge and would not back down. Racists and anti-Semites, including David Duke of the KKK, praised the tweet and then embellished it. Still Trump saw no evil. Despite his oft-repeated statement that he will be the best friend that Israel ever had, it is clear that Jews are included along with Muslims in his hit list. So his message to Americans is this: it is okay to be a bigot, as long as you’re discriminating against a Muslim, Jew, or Mexican. Fuck anyone who’s not white and Christian.

    Addendum: I had a friend tell me that she hates for people to look at Trump and think he is the poster boy for Christianity. Here was my reply:

    While Trump might not be the poster boy for Christians, there is no denying that he favors Christianity. His campaign has established an Evangelical Advisory Board, which includes right-wing figures ranging from Michele Bachman to Focus On The Family’s James Dobson. He has not made any such committee for other religious groups, including Jews and the much maligned Muslims. He claims to be A Christian and assiduously courts the conservative Evangelicals, even to the point of being “born-again”. So, while I don’t want to tar all Christians with the same brush, (I know some fine people who are Christian), Trump is doing his utmost to tell people who AREN’T Christian (and white) that they are not welcome or wanted and that this is acceptable behavior. It would be nice to hear Christians pointing out that this is not Christian behavior! Some have and do. But a sizeable minority seem to agree that racism is justified, when directed at suitable others, i.e. heathens, be they Jews, Muslims, atheists, or other non-believers. (Or even the wrong color Christians or Christians from the wrong country.)

  • Trump’s Message: Being a Bigot is Acceptable

    Like many other Jews and others, I was disgusted by Trump’s blatantly anti-Semitic tweet directed somewhat mystifyingly at Clinton. But Trump’s attitude afterwards about the resulting furor that the tweet caused is even more disturbing. He has staunchly DEFENDED the offensive tweet, despite the damning knowledge coming to light that the imagery was lifted from a racist source. Rather than acknowledging that this was playing to the old canard about Jews and money, Trump continued to insist it was a sheriff’s badge and would not back down. Racists and anti-Semites, including David Duke of the KKK, praised the tweet and then embellished it. Still Trump saw no evil. Despite his oft-repeated statement that he will be the best friend that Israel ever had, it is clear that Jews are included along with Muslims in his hit list. So his message to Americans is this: it is okay to be a bigot, as long as you’re discriminating against a Muslim, Jew, or Mexican. Fuck anyone who’s not white and Christian.

    Addendum: I had a friend tell me that she hates for people to look at Trump and think he is the poster boy for Christianity. Here was my reply:

    While Trump might not be the poster boy for Christians, there is no denying that he favors Christianity. His campaign has established an Evangelical Advisory Board, which includes right-wing figures ranging from Michele Bachman to Focus On The Family’s James Dobson. He has not made any such committee for other religious groups, including Jews and the much maligned Muslims. He claims to be A Christian and assiduously courts the conservative Evangelicals, even to the point of being “born-again”. So, while I don’t want to tar all Christians with the same brush, (I know some fine people who are Christian), Trump is doing his utmost to tell people who AREN’T Christian (and white) that they are not welcome or wanted and that this is acceptable behavior. It would be nice to hear Christians pointing out that this is not Christian behavior! Some have and do. But a sizeable minority seem to agree that racism is justified, when directed at suitable others, i.e. heathens, be they Jews, Muslims, atheists, or other non-believers. (Or even the wrong color Christians or Christians from the wrong country.)