Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Mindful Of Matters...
This would have been my mother's 87th birthday. I am thinking of her, mindful of matters near and far, great and small.
The current conflagration in the Near East at the US Embassies in Egypt and Libya that have spread to even more countries, my curiousity led me to this entry on PBS.org:
Muslims believe that God had previously revealed Himself to the earlier prophets of the Jews and Christians, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims therefore accept the teachings of both the Jewish Torah and the Christian Gospels. They believe that Islam is the perfection of the religion revealed first to Abraham (who is considered the first Muslim) and later to other prophets. Muslims believe that Jews and Christians have strayed from God's true faith but hold them in higher esteem than pagans and unbelievers. They call Jews and Christians the "People of the Book" and allow them to practice their own religions. Muslims believe that Muhammad is the "seal of the prophecy," by which they mean that he is the last in the series of prophets God sent to mankind.
Poughkeepsie Journal: “Any way you dissect it, from a moral or religious standpoint, those protesters broke our commandments,” said Umar Ahmad, a longtime member of the Mid-Hudson Islamic Association located in the Town of Wappinger. “What happened in Libya is unforgivable.”
I am not a Muslim. I do have Muslim members of my family, as well as agnostic, Jehovah's Witness, nondenominational, etc. We respect one another. Proselytizing one another has never occurred in any conversations I've had with them. What counts most is the relationship; the familial bond.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow...one of the most famous soliloquies written by Shakespeare, spoken from the mouth of Macbeth, a fictional ruler grieving the loss of his wife, musing aloud the futility's of life, the emphasis on unimportant things with respect to the brevity of existence.
We have selective amnesia regarding John Donne's admonition and cautionary warning.
We are all involved in mankind by virtue of being a part of it. The oceans no longer separate us; our worldviews aren't dictated by our limited experiences where we immediately are.
I reject the notion any culture's sacred text - Buddhist, Christian, Hebrew, Hindu, Mormon, Muslim et al - is somehow in some bigoted comparison, worthy of desecration. I reject the notion of demonizing Agnostics or Atheists. I reject - as does the US Constitution - the idea of religious tests as a qualifier for elected office (though news pundits seem to count how many times the president uses the word "God" - and he does quite often - as if this is relevant). I reject the notion that an amateurish video of moribund, racist stereotypes falls under "free speech" and "our American values," unless those values now typify the classroom bully; the boot of empire stamped on the neck of the world. Freedom of speech does not give one the right to yell fire in a building not ablaze!
I am as diminished by the loss of diplomats abroad as I am military service members deployed, as I am the senseless loss of life in inner cities across the United States.
I reject the notion any culture's sacred text - Buddhist, Christian, Hebrew, Hindu, Mormon, Muslim et al - is somehow in some bigoted comparison, worthy of desecration. I reject the notion of demonizing Agnostics or Atheists. I reject - as does the US Constitution - the idea of religious tests as a qualifier for elected office (though news pundits seem to count how many times the president uses the word "God" - and he does quite often - as if this is relevant). I reject the notion that an amateurish video of moribund, racist stereotypes falls under "free speech" and "our American values," unless those values now typify the classroom bully; the boot of empire stamped on the neck of the world. Freedom of speech does not give one the right to yell fire in a building not ablaze!
I am as diminished by the loss of diplomats abroad as I am military service members deployed, as I am the senseless loss of life in inner cities across the United States.
I quote President Reagan, post the failed rescue attempt 1979 in Iran, Desert 1:
Simple, elegant, sober, reflective and quite presidential.
It is in times of triumph and tragedy our leaders are called upon to quell our fears; raise our hopes. Personal vendettas and assaults are the mark of petty minds, I am particularly diminished by candidates that would take death so lightly as to score political points.
Isaiah 11:6 ends: ...and a little child shall lead them. I end with this photo from Facebook, the future meek that will "inherit the earth." I wish mom could see it. I think it would make her smile, and speaks more volumes than the cleverest self-serving sound bite:
Happy birthday, mom.
"This is the time for us as a nation and a people to stand united and to pray."
Simple, elegant, sober, reflective and quite presidential.
It is in times of triumph and tragedy our leaders are called upon to quell our fears; raise our hopes. Personal vendettas and assaults are the mark of petty minds, I am particularly diminished by candidates that would take death so lightly as to score political points.
Isaiah 11:6 ends: ...and a little child shall lead them. I end with this photo from Facebook, the future meek that will "inherit the earth." I wish mom could see it. I think it would make her smile, and speaks more volumes than the cleverest self-serving sound bite:
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Sunday, September 02, 2012
Janus Speaks Utopia with Forked Tongue
© 2 September 2012, the Griot Poet
"We want our country back!"
The question is: back to when; to what?
Gil Scott-Heron rests in peace
Yet, his piece "B-Movie" might as well be prophesy,
Predicting a looking forward two-faced like the Roman Deity Janus: facing forward while looking back at least to last week (or, our own anus),
To a majority utopia existent only in your Amygdala fear-driven reptilian minds...
Descendants of migrants from Europe to Plymouth Rock and Ellis Island
Dependent on newer ones from Africa or Central America as servants until the PIE: performance, image and exposure, has to eventually be upturned in 2042 when you are no longer a numerical majority.
The White House, so named in 1901 because it was easier than “Executive Mansion”
Became a symbol of what you’d refer to as American Exceptionalism
And like fascism, cloaked it in a flag, and carrying a cross.
So, while you’re still culturally “the boss”
You're willing to put out obfuscations and outright lies,
Whacked-out conspiracy theories on falsified birth certificates, death panels, “he’s going to take away our guns,” “secret-Muslim-in-the-church-house-Resurrection-Sunday,” etcetera’s,
Voter ID cum Diebold voter purge cum 21st century poll taxes...
**********
In a February appearance on The Daily Show, Bruce Bartlett (former Reagan Economic Policy Advisor), said "Frankly one of our political parties is insane, and we all know which one it is.'
"They have descended from the realm of reasonableness that was the mark of conservatism…"
"They dream of anarchy, of ending government.''
Bartlett argues a new radical right in the Republican Party will oppose anything - even good conservative policy - if Democrats agree to it.
**********
Tell me: since when did obliterating the 8th commandment constitute a "family value?"
Or, running from your own policies because your opposite tries to reach consensus constitute reason and governance? Sounds like tyranny…
You rail against gays and lesbians, yet have them prominently in your Grand Old Party, for one (no, two): George W’s reelection campaign manager and Dick (Darth Vader) Cheney’s daughter and her companion.
Hell, Rush Limp-bah had Elton John perform at his fourth “traditional marriage” from-the-previous-train-wrecks wedding ceremony with notably his beau from the UK in tow.
(And Rush: we THANK YOU for practicing good birth control/safe sex and not procreating!)
Let’s not forget: Newt-the-scoot’s blood sister,
You blithely dog whistle at the tin edges of racial insurrection, yet think yourself a big tent because you have Condi Rice and Allen West? Keep ‘EM!
And when disturbed minds take your wit as holy writ resulting in a congresswoman’s recovery from a murderous attempt, or your pundit’s caustic rhetoric causes an abortion doctor’s assassination in a house of worship, you’re quick to quip: NOT ME!
If you have an argument, voter ID cum Diebold voter purge cum 21st century poll taxes is completely unnecessary.
The electorate in a representative democracy votes rationally, not like text-in adherents to American Idol.
No wonder you ride the train of “limited government,” by which you mean:
- Education
- Police protection
- EMS and Fire Departments
Or, the very bedrock of representative government
Because your avarice Mammon billionaire gods can afford that,
(And wonders why the rest of us can’t)
Kissing butt on Scrooge McDuck is the height of idolatry (and hypocrisy)
And idiocy to the “trickle-down” fantasy
You listen to lobbyists outnumbering you five-to-one senator or congress member
And you can’t remember
Any promise you made beyond the grace of their campaign donations
To “protect and defend The Constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic”
And have the “Audacity of Dopes”
To not see
That enemy
Is in your own
Reflection!
"We want our country back!"
The question is: back to when; to what?
Gil Scott-Heron rests in peace
Yet, his piece "B-Movie" might as well be prophesy,
Predicting a looking forward two-faced like the Roman Deity Janus: facing forward while looking back at least to last week (or, our own anus),
To a majority utopia existent only in your Amygdala fear-driven reptilian minds...
Descendants of migrants from Europe to Plymouth Rock and Ellis Island
Dependent on newer ones from Africa or Central America as servants until the PIE: performance, image and exposure, has to eventually be upturned in 2042 when you are no longer a numerical majority.
The White House, so named in 1901 because it was easier than “Executive Mansion”
Became a symbol of what you’d refer to as American Exceptionalism
And like fascism, cloaked it in a flag, and carrying a cross.
So, while you’re still culturally “the boss”
You're willing to put out obfuscations and outright lies,
Whacked-out conspiracy theories on falsified birth certificates, death panels, “he’s going to take away our guns,” “secret-Muslim-in-the-church-house-Resurrection-Sunday,” etcetera’s,
Voter ID cum Diebold voter purge cum 21st century poll taxes...
In a February appearance on The Daily Show, Bruce Bartlett (former Reagan Economic Policy Advisor), said "Frankly one of our political parties is insane, and we all know which one it is.'
"They have descended from the realm of reasonableness that was the mark of conservatism…"
"They dream of anarchy, of ending government.''
Bartlett argues a new radical right in the Republican Party will oppose anything - even good conservative policy - if Democrats agree to it.
Tell me: since when did obliterating the 8th commandment constitute a "family value?"
Or, running from your own policies because your opposite tries to reach consensus constitute reason and governance? Sounds like tyranny…
You rail against gays and lesbians, yet have them prominently in your Grand Old Party, for one (no, two): George W’s reelection campaign manager and Dick (Darth Vader) Cheney’s daughter and her companion.
Hell, Rush Limp-bah had Elton John perform at his fourth “traditional marriage” from-the-previous-train-wrecks wedding ceremony with notably his beau from the UK in tow.
(And Rush: we THANK YOU for practicing good birth control/safe sex and not procreating!)
Let’s not forget: Newt-the-scoot’s blood sister,
You blithely dog whistle at the tin edges of racial insurrection, yet think yourself a big tent because you have Condi Rice and Allen West? Keep ‘EM!
And when disturbed minds take your wit as holy writ resulting in a congresswoman’s recovery from a murderous attempt, or your pundit’s caustic rhetoric causes an abortion doctor’s assassination in a house of worship, you’re quick to quip: NOT ME!
If you have an argument, voter ID cum Diebold voter purge cum 21st century poll taxes is completely unnecessary.
The electorate in a representative democracy votes rationally, not like text-in adherents to American Idol.
No wonder you ride the train of “limited government,” by which you mean:
- Education
- Police protection
- EMS and Fire Departments
Or, the very bedrock of representative government
Because your avarice Mammon billionaire gods can afford that,
(And wonders why the rest of us can’t)
Kissing butt on Scrooge McDuck is the height of idolatry (and hypocrisy)
And idiocy to the “trickle-down” fantasy
You listen to lobbyists outnumbering you five-to-one senator or congress member
And you can’t remember
Any promise you made beyond the grace of their campaign donations
To “protect and defend The Constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic”
And have the “Audacity of Dopes”
To not see
That enemy
Is in your own
Reflection!
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