It’s been a long time since I’ve even attempted to blog. Yes, I’ve attempted a few times but nothing flowed. In fact my utter lack of ability to write even the simplest thing had me seriously considering just trashing my blogs all together but I managed to resist the temptations as mere whims. Well, that’s what I told myself anyway – that they were “mere whims” as opposed to what probably should be done.
Suffice it to say that 2011 is a year that held a lot of changes for me. Changes that brought further changes as a consequence. And after a mostly sleepless night I looked out upon the world through my nearly ever open cyber window at 4am and realized I am numb. Well and truly numb.
The world is mightily f—-ed up and as I buzzed through the latest additions to the f—edupness of the day my eyes suddenly flew open and I sat up straight as if I had just received a semi-minor electrical shock. Just when had I stopped caring?
I hadn’t even realized I didn’t care any more until that moment and for the life of me I don’t know where I misplaced my usual compulsive over abundance of “caring” – nor when it and I parted ways.
An X5 solar flare with a CME hurtling towards earth? Pffftttttt. Anemic at best to be sure (as far as X class flares goes) but I can still remember the days when any X class flare spun my neurons with excitement.
Innocent civilians dying by the hundreds? Yawn. What’s new? (Where did I put that humanity of mine? Hummm…. it must have been deposited thoughtlessly with my caring.)
Yet another assault on the Constitution? What? That old outdated thing? It would be noteworthy when and IF our political leaders and the government in general managed to protect and honor it. Insult and assault is one of those things that has devolved to normalcy.
All the talk about $5 and$6 gas in our near future? Isn’t that just so I think the $3.60 gas now is a bargain that I should be humbly grateful to Obama for? OK… I admit it… I’ve actually gotten used to the idea that $5 – $6 gas is in the near future and it really doesn’t shock me any more. And who needs to eat anyway?
Iran going nuclear? That’s all just a lie. Just ask them, they’ll tell you.
Israel being hung out to dry? That’s what happens when the US dances to the tune of the “World Body”. Let’s face it, Israel doesn’t have a lot of friends among the depots and sociopaths that wander the halls of corruption at the UN.
From Bob Dylan’s “Things Have Changed” :
People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed
I’ve been walking forty miles of bad road
If the Bible is right, the world will explode
I’ve been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
Some things are too hot to touch
The human mind can only stand so much
You can’t win with a losing hand
I am sympathetic to Arizona’s desire to staunch the myriad problems caused by a large population of illegal aliens, and the more Arizona is attacked over its new law (SB1070) the more sympathetic I become.
It’s a travesty that a state would come under attack for echoing a federal law that makes it a crime to be in this country illegally. It’s all the more a travesty when the federal government is attacking the state.
But wait! This is the country that has taken “Dumbing Down” to the level of official policy and law throughout all aspects and facets of life. Because the federal government cannot (or will not) enforce border security no state should be allowed to presume to do so.
I applaud Governor Jan Brewer. She is right… it’s no laughing matter.
How do we process the accusation of “sedition — almost” [my term] tossed out by Joe Klein April 18th?
“I did a little bit of research just before this show – it’s on this little napkin here. I looked up the definition of sedition which is conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of the state. And a lot of these statements, especially the ones coming from people like Glenn Beck and to a certain extent Sarah Palin, rub right up close to being seditious.”
I don’t know about anyone else but I, proud Tea Party Enfant, agree with Mr. Klein on the “rub right up close” bit. At least in a general – “rub right up close” kinda way. And, again, perhaps just me, but I find that particular turn of phrase somewhat – salacious. “Salacious Sedition“… it has a pleasingly concordant ring to it, especially in my symmetry loving, overly fond of alliteration, mind.
But back to my topic:
I’m new to the Tea Party movement, though I’ve been a staunch Libertarian for a couple of decades now. And, I admit, I have a wee bit of the rebellious Anarchist deep down in my soul that peaks out every now and again, usually when my government presumes to be able to disallow me something or otherwise infringes upon my Unalienable Right of my pursuit of happiness.
One of those “pursuits of happiness” I hold precious is my Right of Free Speech, and I tend to get right het up about any — and all — attempts at curbing that constitutionally guaranteed Right. Even speech I find infuriating in all its “wrong-headedness.” That said, I also have a well developed appreciation for that decades old Rushism – “words have meaning.”
Some of the rhetoric being tossed casually about does “rub right up close to being seditious” in my very non-expert opinion. But “rubbing right up close” is not the same thing as being seditious. And until itis seditious, it’s constitutionally guaranteed Free Speech.
To belabor the point: I always cringe internally when I hear or read the phrase “the world can support [insert any of various figures from 500,000 to 2 billion] people.” Turn that phrase around and it means we have X number of excess people for the world to be “healthy.” The reason I cringe internally is because I’ve long worried that one day some environmental nut-job is going to attempt to rid the earth of the “excess” 4 billion+ people.
Does the concern that there might be some environmental nut-job out there mean that we should demand, and legally enforce, that all speech on over population cease? Should we have banned Professor James Lovelock and his beliefs, protecting the fringe nut-jobs from his potentially dangerous beliefs? Let me be presumptuous and answer that: No.
Galileo was once viewed as a danger to the authorities of his day. Gandhi was once viewed as a danger to the authorities of his day. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was once viewed as a danger to the authorities of his day. I’m not saying that the Tea Party is equal to these great men of history. I’m saying that perspective can be nothing more than a reflection of the needs of the authorities, or those who feel compelled to protect the authorities.
But we, the Grand Collective We, are not here to serve the needs of the authorities, despite what they may think to the contrary. They are here to serve us, despite what they may think to the contrary.
And when the Grand Collective We are unhappy with their service, we are constitutionally protected in our right to passionately express our displeasure and disagreement. Even former First Lady, former Senator, current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton agrees with me…
Senator Hillary Clinton 2003: “I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration, somehow you’re not patriotic, and we should stand up and say, ‘WE ARE AMERICANS AND WE HAVE A RIGHT TO DEBATE AND DISAGREE WITH ANY ADMINISTRATION!’ “ [My thanks to Rush Limbaugh]
American politics can be “a bit raucous” at times, and always has been. Frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thomas Jefferson once said that lethargy was the forerunner of the death of public liberty. True when Senator Clinton spoke the above words back in 2003 and true today.
So, while I actually do agree with Mr. Klein’s general point, it’s a point we freedom loving, constitutionally protected, Americans live with. The fact that dissent is sometimes dangerous is nothing new. If we took the coward’s way out in an attempt to protect us from the potential of inflaming the nut-jobs we would just repeal the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
It was the “taking the coward’s way out” that our Founding Fathers specifically and purposely unambiguously protected against in the First Amendment. It is also probably not a casual happenstance that freedom of speech is within the First Amendment. They knew that free speech can be a dangerous thing and all too tempting a thing for a government [in the hazy future of all those years ago] to want to disallow.
Of course, there is always the Jaded Snark in me who is quietly wondering if this is simply a tactic change up because the “Racist, homophobic, misogynist, ignorant, hate-filled” tactic has been so roundly demonstrated as false. I pat that internal Jaded Snark within on the head and remind her, gently, that I too invoked [elsewhere on the net] the memory of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in my defense of the FBI’s raid on the Hutaree the day after it occurred, long before President Clinton made the public connection.
“By all means keep fighting, by all means, keep arguing,” he [President Clinton] said. “But remember, words have consequences as much as actions do, and what we advocate, commensurate with our position and responsibility, we have to take responsibility for. We owe that to Oklahoma City.”
Unlike some who stand in opposition to the current Democratic agenda and the direction President Obama is taking this country, I believe it’s a valid and natural connection… and reminder. But what do I know… I also believe Professor Lovelock’s statements should come with a “Nut-job disclaimer.”
