A Year Later

Well, looking back on the past year is a bit revealing.

I voted for Change. Absolutely I did. I would argue that I voted more for Change than I did Barack Obama, really. Though I felt strongly about him as a candidate for President, I felt more strongly that quite literally ANYONE had the ability to be better than Bush. Of course, that changed to ALMOST anyone once McCain and Palin became the opposition, and so for certainty’s sake, the Obama/Biden ticket was my winner. I voted primarily for a leader that would take the threatened environment and our global warming situation (which has tragically become a politicized issue rather than a scientific one thanks to the right) seriously and help our nation return to the global stage with a modicum of respect in regard to the issue. In years past I had considered voting Green Party, but unfortunately the close calls of the previous Presidential elections made me uneasy to say the least. Obama was more or less endorsed by the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations, so I was comfortable with my decision there. In reading his books I developed a respect for the man as a person who grew up much like many of us. He wasn’t perfect, he wasn’t the model child or citizen America seems to want in office 24/7. He was human. His political life was one I saw as admirable: His record spoke volumes of a man who took special care to bring all sides to the table in hashing out solutions, a master in the fine art of compromise, which is an art I hold in high esteem. His campaign ads, while not entirely free of negativity, were FAR more informative than not only the opposition’s but than pretty much any other political ad I had ever seen. His use of the internet to reach the masses was (and still is) unparalleled. Yep, I was hopeful; not because of a campaign slogan or because I had “drunk the KoolAid (Steven…), but because I knew more about this guy than any other candidate for public office I had ever voted for, and I saw through the BS, of which there was an overabundance (Birthers, the Muslim claimers… Steven).

So after a year how do I feel?

Before I talk about disappointment too much, I’d like to say I’m still much happier than I would have been had we replaced Bush with a businessman/investment capitalist, a devoutly religious candidate, a global warming denier, a nationalist or an old person… Yes, an old person. I’m sorry if that offends my older readers or friends, but I tend to think that a younger mind in the White House right now will have a little more awareness of the issues important to me than somebody who fits the more traditional “fatherly” role of President.

On the other hand, I’d like to agree with comedian Bill Maher on at least two points: First, hate the Bush presidency as I did, his attitude was utterly lacking compassion or compromise, and therefore he got what he wanted. I realize that just a few sentences back I revealed my regard for compromise, but after watching the debates and the concessions I realize that in politics it’s “give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile.” Obama started his domestic agenda with a compromise on the table, rather than starting with the hardball and working TOWARD compromise from there. As a result, even the healthcare bill is watered down and little better a solution that what we currently have. “Medicare For All” would have been a great place and proposal to start with. Cries of “Socialism” and “Commie” and “Nazi” (see my previous diatribe on the absurd marriage of those concepts a week or two ago) be damned. Access to medical care is, now that we have medical care that is better than sticking a leech on a needy appendage, a basic human right. We have wealth nearly beyond measure in the US, yet our neediest go without medical care. Disgusting. President Obama, I need you to step up and make the health care proposal one that leaves absolutely NOONE without access to the best care possible. Take a page from the Bush playbook and just do what needs to be done. Piss somebody off. Legitimately (and ignore the idiots who believe that it’s their “God-given” right to see your school papers, that you are a closet Muslim, that you want to impose Communist rule and abolish our Republican Democracy and that you weren’t born in the US).

The other point upon which I’d like to agree with Bill on is that we need change NOW. When climatologists around the world say we are on the brink of irreversible climatic change and we need to curb emissions and clean up our act NOW, we shouldn’t be arguing about climate bills or “solutions” that propose to curb CO2 emissions over the course of the next 10-20 YEARS. This is ridiculous. President Obama, please demand that the change is swift and enacted immediately. Accept no weak bills. We cannot afford to let this issue be put off any longer. The consequences of inaction are far worse than those of passing real change and being wrong about our environmental impact (which, according to 95% of climatologists, we are NOT).

Off to pick up the kiddo at school. Stay tuned.

Am I Evil?

My friend John posted an article from Psychology Today (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/homo-consumericus/200908/atheists-are-the-most-mistrusted-group-they-are-evil-and-immoral) that sorta leaves me with a peculiar mix of emotions: I’m sad because I’m reminded how I feel as an Atheist in a community that throws a tremendous amount of credence to Judeo/Christian myths, and although I would never deign to cheapen the term most commonly associated with homosexual fear and self doubt, I feel sort of locked in a closet.

I’m glad, in a twisted way perhaps, that I can see the awareness being raised about folks like me, and that I can count myself (perhaps with some deeply unearned pride) among some of the greatest intellectual personalities of the last several hundred years. Me! Yes, I’m proof that even the beer-drinking, guitar-slinging, Mayor-of-Simpleton types can count themselves among some of the greatest humans in history, an elite group of courageous thinkers and brainiacs. I say, “good show.” Kickass.

I’m also, unfortunately not surprised. After all, the vast majority of Americans believe that there is a higher moral power, a being who created us all and will be there to judge us. In nearly every case (mine included, if I had chosen to keep my faith) these are beliefs that were instilled in us from birth. How, therefore, should I be able to expect anything less? The idea of someone not believing in an all-knowing power, invisible though it is, one that gives these people a sense of hope, purpose and morality, one they sincerely believe will make their after-death an experience far beyond the dreams of their living experience, is completely foreign. One may as well (especially in the case of the Catholics) profess a disbelief in food. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Yea, verily, the ranks of the faithful doth live on bread alone, and cannot understand how anyone could go without. Which begs the question (fodder for a future entry, perhaps, or for John to take and run with): If the religious take their daily bread for nourishment, what food best suits the nonbeliever? As for me, I think that bread is best served in its higher, noble, and liquid form, beer. It doesn’t spoil or mold as easily, acts as a thirst quencher as well, and in my case at least, leaves the imbiber with a happy state of open-mindedness, goodwill and love for whomever else is around.

But I digress.

I can understand the fear of the unknown. Truly. I remember feeling a certain disgust and mistrust of homosexuals growing up. The day I found out that a man I knew well as a jovial, decent and giving person was gay I realized my fears were completely unfounded and unfair. He, like me, was human. Different from me, but human. And for some I think the local atheist might be less of a boogeyman if they understood that atheists are people like me, and human. I don’t much care if you have a faith in some unseen being; that’s your choice to make. All I ask is that you treat me with the same respect.

As someone who chooses not to subscribe to Judeo/Christian morality, am I evil? A bad guy? If you saw me on the street, or at the local food bank, or helping my neighbors, would you think so? Would you even know? Do I LOOK evil? What does evil LOOK like?

Of course, things are a lot more complicated than that, and in some future post I will bare my feelings about the faithful demanding special treatment from society and government, their disdain for scientific fact and their desire to rewrite the Constitution as some pro-deity framework for some Christian nation.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers!
Chris

Obama = Hitler?

One of the things that’s been bugging me for the last 9 or so months is the lows to which a certain fringe in America will stoop to cast our President in an unflattering light. Since shortly prior to Election Day 2008 I’ve been witness to character attacks that are simply mind-boggling. I saw the linking of Obama to William Ayers (an extremely tenuous relationship at best), the endless calls for his Birth Certificate (“Not that, one Obami! THAT one!”), the insistence that he is a closet Muslim who is in league with Al-Quaeda. But by far, the ones that get me most riled are the ones that claim that Obama’s hero is Karl Marx and that his “rise to power” is somehow paralleled to Hitler and that therefore he will be a Nazi leader in America by the end of his term in office.

OK, first let me get this off my chest. I grew up with a guy (I’ll call him Keith to protect the innocent) whom I consider one of my closest friends. He and I had a lot in common; music, sense of humor, the same quaint pastoral life that kids have in rural New Hampshire. We disagreed, sure, but there was a bond there that, as we grew up together, only strengthened through understanding, love and respect. Now Keith never finished High School; he did eventually get his GED and he went on to be a knowledgeable and hard working mechanic. We stayed close, even grew closer actually, as we became adults and lived our lives. I did a stint in college (until full-time school, full-time work and a newspaper internship did me in) and decided my life’s ambition to be a newspaper journalist was not to be. I wo0rked hard in warehouses until my wife and I had children, at which point I became a full-time house husband and caregiver.

Recently, Keith and I had a falling out from which I doubt we can recover. After two previous awful personal attacks upon me, which were discussed and forgiven, this most recent attack became “3 strikes; you’re out.” Without getting into too much detail, suffice it to say that he knew I was an Obama supporter, and he had cast his lot with the aforementioned fringe. We had agreed previously to disagree and not talk about politics, but one day I received an email from him, asking about how, now that “Obami” was President, he could possibly see any good that could come out of it. I responded with a short note, reminding him politely that we had agreed not to discuss it, and would he like to rethink asking me about “Obami” again. He replied that he wanted my opinion. I gave it to him, politely, and with footnotes and resources where he could see a great many of his worries and claims refuted honestly and without bias.

His response stung. I had “drunk the Kool-Aid,” he said. I had been “indoctrinated.” “Obami” is a student of Karl Marx and a man who will prove to be as bad as Hitler.

OK.

So this is for all the Keiths out there who take Glenn Beck as gospel and get their news from Faux News and internet blogs like “Little Green Footballs.”

Go back to High School and retake history you fucking morons. When you get to the chapters concerning Communism and Fascism, take notes. Sort the ideologies into two columns. Find the similarities.

Oh? No similarities? Hmm. OK.

You see, Communism is an extreme ideology (actually its more of an economic system that a form of government, but let’s not get crazy here) on the LEFT side of the political spectrum. Fascism is a hideous ideology that is on the RIGHT side of the spectrum. Simply put, Obama can’t possibly be both a Fascist and a Communist, you idiots.

Now. The point I take most exception to by these uneducated boobs is that which claims Obama is a Fascist, a Hitler-in-training. This offends me not because I voted for the man and believe it to be completely false, but because it is a painful reminder of how quickly people will either 1. forget the terrible atrocities of Hitler and his political ambitions/party, or 2. use cheap comparisons to that monster to score political points and attempt to undermine the President and his job. Disgusting and vile on the basest level… Do these people really believe that Obama and his flaws (trumped up and otherwise) compare in ANY way to the man/thing that exterminated more than 6 million people on his whim? Really?

Anyway, here’s an academically accepted summary of fascism. Does this sound like Obama and his Administration to YOU?

14 POINTS OF FASCISM



1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism
From the prominent displays of flags and bunting to the ubiquitous lapel pins, the fervor to show patriotic nationalism, both on the part of the regime itself and of citizens caught up in its frenzy, was always obvious. Catchy slogans, pride in the military, and demands for unity were common themes in expressing this nationalism. It was usually coupled with a suspicion of things foreign that often bordered on xenophobia.

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights
The regimes themselves viewed human rights as of little value and a hindrance to realizing the objectives of the ruling elite. Through clever use of propaganda, the population was brought to accept these human rights abuses by marginalizing, even demonizing, those being targeted. When abuse was egregious, the tactic was to use secrecy, denial, and disinformation.

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause
The most significant common thread among these regimes was the use of scapegoating as a means to divert the people’s attention from other problems, to shift blame for failures, and to channel frustration in controlled directions. The methods of choice—relentless propaganda and disinformation—were usually effective. Often the regimes would incite “spontaneous” acts against the target scapegoats, usually communists, socialists, liberals, Jews, ethnic and racial minorities, traditional national enemies, members of other religions, secularists, homosexuals, and “terrorists.” Active opponents of these regimes were inevitably labeled as terrorists and dealt with accordingly.

4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism
Ruling elites always identified closely with the military and the industrial infrastructure that supported it. A disproportionate share of national resources was allocated to the military, even when domestic needs were acute. The military was seen as an expression of nationalism, and was used whenever possible to assert national goals, intimidate other nations, and increase the power and prestige of the ruling elite.

5. Rampant sexism
Beyond the simple fact that the political elite and the national culture were male-dominated, these regimes inevitably viewed women as second-class citizens. They were adamantly anti-abortion and also homophobic. These attitudes were usually codified in Draconian laws that enjoyed strong support by the orthodox religion of the country, thus lending the regime cover for its abuses.

6. A controlled mass media
Under some of the regimes, the mass media were under strict direct control and could be relied upon never to stray from the party line. Other regimes exercised more subtle power to ensure media orthodoxy. Methods included the control of licensing and access to resources, economic pressure, appeals to patriotism, and implied threats. The leaders of the mass media were often politically compatible with the power elite. The result was usually success in keeping the general public unaware of the regimes’ excesses.

7. Obsession with national security
Inevitably, a national security apparatus was under direct control of the ruling elite. It was usually an instrument of oppression, operating in secret and beyond any constraints. Its actions were justified under the rubric of protecting “national security,” and questioning its activities was portrayed as unpatriotic or even treasonous.

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together
Unlike communist regimes, the fascist and protofascist regimes were never proclaimed as godless by their opponents. In fact, most of the regimes attached themselves to the predominant religion of the country and chose to portray themselves as militant defenders of that religion. The fact that the ruling elite’s behavior was incompatible with the precepts of the religion was generally swept under the rug. Propaganda kept up the illusion that the ruling elites were defenders of the faith and opponents of the “godless.” A perception was manufactured that opposing the power elite was tantamount to an attack on religion.

9. Power of corporations protected
Although the personal life of ordinary citizens was under strict control, the ability of large corporations to operate in relative freedom was not compromised. The ruling elite saw the corporate structure as a way to not only ensure military production (in developed states), but also as an additional means of social control. Members of the economic elite were often pampered by the political elite to ensure a continued mutuality of interests, especially in the repression of “have-not” citizens.

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated
Since organized labor was seen as the one power center that could challenge the political hegemony of the ruling elite and its corporate allies, it was inevitably crushed or made powerless. The poor formed an underclass, viewed with suspicion or outright contempt. Under some regimes, being poor was considered akin to a vice.

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts
Intellectuals and the inherent freedom of ideas and expression associated with them were anathema to these regimes. Intellectual and academic freedom were considered subversive to national security and the patriotic ideal. Universities were tightly controlled; politically unreliable faculty harassed or eliminated. Unorthodox ideas or expressions of dissent were strongly attacked, silenced, or crushed. To these regimes, art and literature should serve the national interest or they had no right to exist.

12. Obsession with crime and punishment
Most of these regimes maintained Draconian systems of criminal justice with huge prison populations. The police were often glorified and had almost unchecked power, leading to rampant abuse. “Normal” and political crime were often merged into trumped-up criminal charges and sometimes used against political opponents of the regime. Fear, and hatred, of criminals or “traitors” was often promoted among the population as an excuse for more police power.

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption
Those in business circles and close to the power elite often used their position to enrich themselves. This corruption worked both ways; the power elite would receive financial gifts and property from the economic elite, who in turn would gain the benefit of government favoritism. Members of the power elite were in a position to obtain vast wealth from other sources as well: for example, by stealing national resources. With the national security apparatus under control and the media muzzled, this corruption was largely unconstrained and not well understood by the general population.

14. Fraudulent elections
Elections in the form of plebiscites or public opinion polls were usually bogus. When actual elections with candidates were held, they would usually be perverted by the power elite to get the desired result. Common methods included maintaining control of the election machinery, intimidating and disenfranchising opposition voters, destroying or disallowing legal votes, and, as a last resort, turning to a judiciary beholden to the power elite.

NOTE: The above 14 Points was written in 2004 by Dr. Laurence Britt, a political scientist. Dr. Britt studied the fascist regimes of: Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile).

Earworm Revisited

It’s been a long time since I posted anything here. Here’s a list of my favorite excuses:
1. I haven’t heard anything good lately
2. I’ve been too busy
3. I have kids
4. I have a life
5. I have a lack of interest
6. I have no clue.
7. The devil made me do it.
8. I’ve recently found that there is, in fact, no devil. Therefore, I am ashamed to say that I have no-one but myself to blame.
9. I took time off.
10. I had nothing reasonable to say.
11. Nobody reads this thing anyway.


So as it turns out, I’ve got a lot on my mind. I’ve succeeded in alienating a lot of people on Facebook with my opinions, which have in the last year graduated to the lofty status of Well-Informed Passions. I have no inherent desire to be confrontational or to piss people off. But I’ve come to some staggeringly powerful conclusions about myself and my community, both local and national, and I realize that I need to write. A LOT.

My dear friend John has helped me get my writing boots on recently, and although my projects with him have stalled due to my inconsistencies, I think this might prove to be a springboard for further, more detailed and less constrained creative prose as we go on.

A great deal of what goes on this page will be observations and musings political, philosophical, and otherwise. They may be ugly. I hope that will be the exception, not the rule. I hope to include pretty much anything that pops into my mind, including the happier end of my spectrum, music. I’ll post links and videos, pictures and lots of opinions and ramblings. I’m doing this for me, not you, although it’s a bonus if you like it.

For today, Columbus Day, I’ll leave you with these thoughts:

The term "pre-Columbian" is usually used to refer to the peoples and cultures of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus and his European successors. Columbus himself was responsible for the deaths of millions of Native Americans (estimates range between 1 and 3 million) in first 15 years of his colonization of the Caribbean[2][3], including entire peoples' such as the Taino[4] and the Arawak[5], and was the founder of the practice of slavery in the Americas.[6]

2. Zinn, Howard (2003). "1" (in English). A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present (Fifth Printing ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. pp. 7. ISBN 0060838655.
3. Churchill, Ward (December 1993) (in English). Indians Are Us?: Culture and Genocide in Native North America. Common Courage Press. http://www.mit.edu/~thistle/v9/9.11/1columbus.html. Retrieved 10-12-2009.
4. Rouse, Irving (July 28, 1993) (in English). The Tainos: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus (Paperback). Yale University Press. ISBN 0300056966.
5. Zinn, Howard (2003). "1" (in English). A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present (Fifth Printing ed.). Harper Perennial. pp. 5. ISBN 0060838655.
6. Zinn, Howard (2003). "1" (in English). A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present (Fifth Printing ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. pp. 4.

"Columbus' claim to fame isn't that he got there first, it's that he stayed."
-Historian Martin Dugard

Kinda Wierd, I know...

OK so I think that girl in the Progressive Insurance commercials is kinda cute... Just out of curiosity I looked her up on the 'net and found this picture:

Her name is Stephanie Courtney and apparently she's quite a comedienne, having graduated the Second City comedy troupe with Will Ferrel and others.

Anyway, I just think her transformation from real life to Progressive Lady is pretty fascinating...

I know. I'm wierd.

The Fixx

Last night the directive for the band's next 3 songs were announced... Very excited about the followup practices to solidify them...

Song #1 is "One Thing Leads to Another" by The Fixx, and I'm really psyched not only because of the challenge (a three-piece acoustic guitar based band playing synth-heavy 80's music... Wow), but because I absolutely ADORE The Fixx. I make no bones about my general abhorrence of '80's new wave and pop music, but The Fixx managed to make music that was challenging lyrically, texturally and harmonically, largely free of cliche and record company influence and fripperie. The rhythm section is equal parts driving rock and funk grooves, and the watery guitar textures provide some of the most memorable hooks of the decade.

This is pop music that puts the "grit" in integrity, for me a glaring reminder that all was NOT lost in the 1980's musically. Check out "The Fixx: Greatest Hits" for a perfect primer in intelligent songwriting for the decade of plastic.

Rockin' the Suburbs

I'm a Ben Folds fan. Not the hardcore, "I'll follow you everywhere and I have all of your recordings" type fan, but I don't think I've ever heard anything he's done that I didn't like. If that doesn't sound like a glowing review, then allow me to elaborate a little.

I first heard Ben Folds with his trio The Ben Folds Five (still trying to figure that one out), and I loved his punk approach to banging the piano with pounding drums and fuzzed out bass as an anchor; I loved his melodies and his insanely clever hooks. His sense of humor got to me right away with breakup songs that included lines like "Give me back my black t-shirt" and "give me my money back"... I also loved how he could switch off the bitterness and pave the way for tears with songs that moved melodically and harmonically into territory usually reserved for broadway soliloquy or million dollar ballads.

Rockin' the Suburbs is a solo album of his that displays the best of those strengths and plays to his diverstiy. 12 songs filled with characters outrageous to painfully mundane, from a girl who believes she can time-travel to a man needlessly let go from his job of 25 years, this collection of tunes can make me contemplate awful truths and laugh at them at the same time. Each character has a story, and each story is worthy of an emotional investment: The suburban punk who gets a record deal despite a bad attitude and lack of talent, the faithful girl screwed over again, the acid-popping Jesus freak whose Jesus-themed amusement park goes horribly awry... Odd and utterly likeable, this collection is one of my recent faves.

Disclaimer: Anybody listening to this because they heard a version of "Rockin' the Suburbs" on the tail end of the kids' movie "Over the Hedge," BEWARE: The actual version is laced with F-bombs and is most definitely NOT fit for most children's ears. This album begs a mature listener and is NOT for kids.

Boston, Mass

It's cleaning day in the Child Family Home (for Wayward, er, Musicians), and as is often the case my choice of music that has "widespread family appeal" has been narrowed down to a VERY small selection of tunes. Hmm. Tracy thinks the Clash is to obnoxious (that's the point, innit!?!?!?)... The Rush selection is barely tolerated, and the kids are clamouring for their usual fare: The "Cars" soundtrack and "Kung Fu Fighting," which I enjoy, but not after a day full of it (yesterday's drive into and out of Denver).

So lets make the best of the situation, shall we?

Todays selection is one of my favorite homages to the glory and guts of Rock n Roll, to my mind a MASTERPIECE of rock songcraft, hooks, and guitar drive, my beloved Del Fuego's major label debut "Boston, Mass." For a brief period in my life they were The SHIT. Just deep dirty (yet oddly clean of attitude and subject ala Sprinsteen) rock, they actually were the center of my favorite TV commercial EVER, the Lite Beer commercial which featured their music and a voiceover from their leader Dan Zanes proclaiming that they were just folk troubadors at heart: "Rock n Roll is just folk music, 'cuz it's music fer folks." Poetry and truth, lemme tell you.

This is rock music: Loud guitars, pounding drums, danceable grooves... The Del Fuegos wrote a 10-song love letter to Boston and Rock n Roll and it stirs me up to this day. AND, as an added bonus, it's one of the few groups Tracy and I can fall back on as a favorable listen, and I'd argue that it is our best choice; the Indigo Girls can get too righteous and political, the Fray can get too mellow and weepy, and Coldplay veers a little too close to "wierd" at times for Tracy's likeing. The Fuegos, though... Well, they're just fun. The songs don't demand anything, politically or cranially. But they are very persuasive: Sing along... Dance... Turn it up... Louder...

Great stuff.

Cheers!

Chris

Today... The Earworm Test

Today I've performed the Earworm Test on two (relatively) new songs. The test is simple: Set the iPod to repeat a song for 30 minutes while I go about the business of being a Dad and/or housecleaning dude. After that, if the song is not immediately memorable to me it probably won't make it into regular music rotation.

The test I performed today was on "Get On Your Boots" by U2, one of my stalwart faves, and "Sex on Fire" by the curious Kings of Leon.

I have to say that as much as I wanted U2 to be the hands down winner here, Kings of Leon took the prize. I've enjoyed the occasional Kiungs of Leon single here and there ("Molly's Chambers" is my favorite KoL tune currently), but U2 has always been a "go to" act for me, never a disappointment... Well, maybe with "Pop" and "Zooropa" a little bit...

Anyhow, Kings of Leon's "Sex on Fire" beat out the new U2. Who knew? The chorus hook is catchy and the sound is typical KoL guitar driven garage rock. Lovely stuff for the rockers out there, and hope for the future of Rock music as well.

Happy New Year... Funny!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Happy New Year!

Here's to Peace and Justice for all!

More earworms to come...