The Power of Euphemism
After Bush used his first-ever veto to stop research on stem cells, I was flipping channels and happened upon a C-SPAN show. That idiot who wrote "The Party of Death" was talking about his book that claims the Democratic party has that focus, given our interest in protecting the rights of women to choose abortion... our belief in the right to die... and our belief in the value of scientific research using embryonic tissue.
I flipped past it, but ended up coming back and seeing a different speaker. He was talking about "embryo research" and I realized we're now in a new game of euphemism with the lunatic right. I've been on many a conference call with environmental groups, arguing the pros and cons of playing this semantic game and I've come firmly down on the side of Yes, we need to play it.
So, now that "stem cell research" is being tossed aside, how about calling it the "Save Michael J. Fox research." As the beloved Republican child of Family Ties - a show with lots of hugs and learning - can't we all get behind saving him? If he weren't a multi-millionaire and been able to afford exotic brain surgery, he'd already be seriously disabled with his Parkinson's. The Republicans would want to hide him. He'd bring up too many emotions in his loyal fans. It would be too painful to watch him disintegrate, especially knowing we could have done something to stop it. We could have funded stem cell research, just like every other civilized, industrialized, GROWN UP COUNTRY.
But no, that's not where we are. We're in the crowd who wants to blow up the Middle East in hopes of bringing on Armageddon and the second coming of Christ. We're among those who think women and minorities need to go back where they belong - the kitchen and the plantation, respectively - so that the natural order of the world will be restored.
For those of us still thinking, it's time to put our heads together and practice our Anti-Orwell speak. "Save Michael J. Fox" research. "Care About Every Child Before Giving Birth" contraceptives. "Educate everyone for the benefit of all" schools. "Stop Killing People in the Middle East so Maybe They'll Stop Wanting to Kill Us" foreign policy.
It's a little wordy. Let's aim at phrases of three words, shall we? The pen is mightier than the sword. So let's get writing.
Festival Season in Oregon
In Corvallis, Oregon, there's a festival called DaVinci Days, where engineering feats are accomplished by dedicated people who create this machines that race. I missed the parade the night before, and the sand dune race. I got there today for the mud race and the river race. Here are scenes from before, during and after:
As they hit the mud.
Another contestant gets into it.
My favorite machine: Extreme Makeover.
Extreme Makeover racing, overtaking another
machine that floundered.
The cool hat brigade.
More machines waiting to race.
Ditto.
A good time was had by all.
Country Fair
Here's relief from my last post, which some have deemed "weird." Speaking of which, here are pictures from the Oregon Country Fair, my experience last weekend:
In Oregon, you don't have to be gay to dress up.
You just have to be creative.
Parade leaders. Yes, and Tigger too.
The Parade Dragon.
Me, advertising my friend Marjorie's business (hat), with Country Fair horns,
even though her biz is on the East Coast.
I admire men who wear their tutus and wings well.
Country Fair fashions that I'm too old for.
A treehouse atop a booth. A place I'd like to camp at night.
Hula hoop pros. You can't see how tall the woman on the right's hair is. Trust me.
Billy Guilfoyle performing for youngsters with a former Slug Queen.
They worship the chilluns.
Me, at the end of the day, sans hat, still bedeviled. Hot, But not that kind of hot.
Hope -- and Wayne - Float
Bwana, the world traveler, always up for adventure.It's almost a full moon. Maybe that's why Wayne is on my mind so much. It's nowhere near the anniversary of his murder, it's just that a mutual friend recently reported on the situation in New Orleans and stories from that city always make me think of him.
Sue said that the city is barely making it. If another hurricane hits, it will be finished for good. There will be no bringing it back. Every house in Uptown has a "for sale" sign on it, though her former employer - an optician - is doing surprisingly well. I guess everybody who's left lost their glasses.
Being the morbid person I am, I asked her if the cemeteries flooded. They're up at the end of Canal Street, by the 10 freeway. She'd mentioned everything from there to the river is unrecognizable, so she gave me the opening and I've been wanting to know. I've spent so much time taking the bus up Canal to the end of the line to Greenwood to visit Wayne's grave. The cemetery is like a city. It has streets and addresses. He's near the intersection of Magnolia and Pine - which I remember because his friend Mel used to joke that was appropriate. Pine box and all.
I met a man on my first visit to the grave. I'd finished my freakout at Wayne's mausoleum. I'd leaned across the top of the box, trying to send my energy through the cement to whatever was left of the body I once loved to hold and be held by. I sat and smoked a joint, then left a roach in the flower vase attached to the mausoleum's face. It was like the ancient Greeks, pouring some of the wine on the ground for the gods. I wanted him to share.
As I walked back down the lane, I ran into a man sweeping up around his wife's grave. We shared our stories. He showed me a picture of his wife, "Huggy," who'd recently died of cancer. I showed him the picture I carried of Wayne. He recognized him. It turns out he lived down the street from Wayne's mother. He promised me he'd take care of Wayne's grave and watch over it in case drunk vandals from the nearby bar scaled the fence (as they were wont to do) and broke it open to drag out his remains. I thanked him and wandered away, dazed by yet another horror I hadn't imagined possible.
Back in the present, Sue told me the cemeteries did flood. It makes me happy. Wayne loved to dance, and he'd like nothing better than to have his bones floating as his city was submerged. Someday I'll get back there to check on things, but it will probably be awhile. If Sue's prediction is right, it will be a time when the dead in the city vastly outnumber the living. In that case, it will be good to have a spirit guide I once loved. Okay, still do.
The Need to Stand Up
The Idiot in Charge, celebrating his birthday
while our men and women die in Iraq.I don't like being confrontational. I prefer to keep my brow un-furrowed. But I think part of the reason the right wing rhetoric has gotten so bad in recent years is that people like me (including me) have chosen to stay "above the fray" and not fight back.
I was disturbed on the celebration of our country's independence to get the following "joke" from a relative - a career veteran no less. Within minutes, I fired off a defensive email, listing all the things this administration has done to veterans... the fact that our commander-in-chief never served and couldn't be bothered to show up for his reserve duty... the fact that Dick Cheney got five or six deferments that kept him from serving... the fact that no one in the current administration ever served their country by military service... and the fact that Cheney's former company is raking in the dough through war profiteering - something that earlier presidents (I need to research which ones) have called treason.
I never got a response from said relative, but I hope I'm off his stupid conservative joke list. And I hope any other relatives reading this will at least push back to him, even if it's less pointedly than my approach.
Until we start fighting back, we'll never take our country back. It's now or never, folks. Just do it. Stand up for what's right. You know what that is.
Here ya go. Happy Fifth of July. Try not to puke:
"On a Saturday afternoon, in Washington, D.C., Senator John Kerry's campaign manager visited the Cardinal of the Catholic cathedral. He told the Cardinal that John Kerry would be attending the next day's sermon, and he asked if the Cardinal would kindly point out Kerry to the congregation and say a few words that would include calling Kerry a saint.
The Cardinal replied, "No, I don't really like the man, and there are issues of conflict with the Catholic Church over certain of Kerry's views."
Kerry's manager then said, "Look, I'll write a check here and now for a donation of $100,000 to your church, if you'll just tell the congregation you see Kerry as a saint."
The Cardinal thought about it and said, "Well, the church can use the money, so I'll work your request into tomorrow's sermon."
As Kerry's manager promised, Senator Kerry appeared for the Sunday sermon and seated himself prominently at the edge of the main aisle. And, during the sermon, as promised, the Cardinal pointed out that Senator Kerry was present. Then the Cardinal went on to explain to the congregation,
"While Senator Kerry's presence is probably an honor to some, he is not my favorite person. Some of his views are contrary to those of the church, and he tends to flip-flop on many other views. John Kerry is a petty, self absorbed hypocrite and a nit-wit. John Kerry is a liar, a cheat, and a thief. John Kerry is the worst example of a Catholic I've ever personally witnessed.
He turned on his buddies in Viet Nam. He wrote a book and portrayed himself in the best light when he was a traitor to his fellow servicemen. He has lied about his military record and had the gall to put himself in for a medal.
He married for money and is using it to lie to the American people. He also has a reputation for shirking his senatorial obligations both here, in Washington, and in Massachusetts. He simply isn't to be trusted." The Cardinal completed his view of Kerry with, 'But, when compared to Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Kerry is a saint.' "
Happy Fourth of July
The Flag Our Troops Are Fighting for this Independence Day
It's been weeks since I've blogged here. Thanks for still tuning in, if anybody's still out there. I've been writing and working on other projects, so this had to take a back seat.
It's also been a pretty depressing few weeks in American politics. The Supreme Court has issued rulings that protect gerrymandering across the country. The citizens of this fine land can now look forward to extended periods of administrative haggling in state legislatures any time one party gains control of both the state house and the Governor's mansion. It's about time the Dems started to play that kind of hardball and I know they will, I just lament the loss of time spent GOVERNING, you know running things like the schools, the roads, the police, taking care of the poor, and protecting their environment.
And when the Supremes laid down the law and finally tried to rein in our Imperial Lord and Master by outlawing his military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay, Dubya and his minions in Congress immediately said they'd find new ways around that decision. I guess we're moving towards a monarchy at a record pace.
Patrick Fitzgerald disappointed many of us letting scumbag Karl Rove off, but one can only hope there was a plea deal involved and we'll see a different kind of fruit from that labor.
Then there are murders and rapes committed by (hopefully only a few of ) our troops in Iraq. Nothing like raping a woman, killing her family and burning the body to win the hearts and minds of a people whose country we're occupying. We've lowered the bar on who we'll allow to enlist - and raised the age to 42! - so we're bound to get people who have a few problems. And now news reports admit that Bush made their jobs easier by
disbanding the CIA taskforce dedicated to finding Osama Bin Laden. I guess we've just quietly checked him off our list. Dead or alive? As Emily Litella would say, "never mind!"
So even though this is my favorite holiday, today I face it with a heavy heart. Coming from a military family, I always enjoyed the fireworks display in DC. I didn't mind that it was a celebration of war, since it was a war we fought for our independence. It was the one night a year my family went out together. We'd spread a blanket on the lawn by the Iwo Jima memorial in Arlington and watch as the sky lit up over the Washington Monument with fireworks. They'd reflect in the Potomac, encircling the boats anchored there with shine. It was a night that was always happy.
Now I think we're in a much tougher fight for our independence. Apathy and the busy-ness of our lives keeps most people from paying too much attention to what's going on. And so far that's led to the gradual stripping of our rights as Americans, the slow drip of freedom leaving our lives as we keep up the race in the hamster wheel to pay our bills and keep the oil companies fat with profits.
This is the way America ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper.
After Bush used his first-ever veto to stop research on stem cells, I was flipping channels and happened upon a C-SPAN show. That idiot who wrote "The Party of Death" was talking about his book that claims the Democratic party has that focus, given our interest in protecting the rights of women to choose abortion... our belief in the right to die... and our belief in the value of scientific research using embryonic tissue.
