Musings of a closeted atheist

I've given a lot of thought to matters of faith lately. I still love the people I grew up with in my church and other people of faith I have known. Many were great examples of how to be a decent human being. I remember countless Sundays spent singing in the pew, and I still have my favorite hymns. This is who I am, and even if I could deny these influences, I wouldn't want to.

All of this makes it that much harder to tell my family that I no longer believe in a higher power. I think I started to lose my faith over 20 years ago for reasons I won't address here. I still believe in the basic decency of most people, and I think people form communities based on common interests and goals. I also think this basic decency is often perverted by others in the name of their "god". If I find anything holy, it is humanity, and more specifically, humanity when it is at its most noble and intelligent. That which I find evil is humanity at its most venal, hate-filled, and delusional. In this sense, Christopher Hitchens was a holier person than Mother Theresa, and Albert Einstein more holy than Pat Robertson. The remnants of my last trip to Taco Bell are more holy and pure than Rick Santorum, Michelle Bachmann, and the rest of the lunatic GOP field, including Huntsman.

To keep the peace, I don't share this with my family. It feels like I lie to them a little every day, even though matters of faith never come up in conversation. Still, there's this part of me that feels like telling people what this atheist with socialist tendencies really believes. I believe the rich should pay more taxes since they get more benefit from society. I believe the poor and working class should have a realistic chance at an affordable (or better yet, free) education and free health care. I believe the infrastructure that is in such a horrible state of disrepair should be a top priority, and that nation building should occur here. I hate war, and feel it should be the absolutely last option. I think our police forces should be demilitarized, and the TSA should be disbanded. I think government should assume adults are smart enough to know which substances they want to put in their bodies. That said, I think government should play an active role in the safety of food and drugs. Finally, I think what we are not doing for our veterans is perhaps our greatest national shame.

I just had to get all of this off my chest.

I'm sorry for the very long absence.

The last two and a half years have been... interesting, and they promise to stay that way for the foreseeable future. I still think about you, my blogging friends.

I've looked at America, and I truly don't recognize it anymore. I love the America I grew up in, where you didn't have to fear the Blackwater-ized cops, where you didn't get irradiated, sexually assaulted, or strip-searched as part and parcel of getting on an airplane, and where corporations didn't transparently own the electoral process. I miss the America that had a respect for the basic rights of people to peaceably assemble, say unpopular but nonviolent things without fearing that knock on the door, and where corporations who send jobs overseas didn't get rewarded with a $0 income tax bill. I miss the middle class. When America had one, it was great, and we experienced unmatched levels of prosperity. I miss having a world-class education system, which was largely responsible for the creation of the aforementioned middle class. In short, I see America, and I see very few signs worthy of optimism.

I'm very glad DADT got repealed, and that the PPACA was passed. As you know, that's Obamacare, but I can never remember the long version of the name. Still, I call it Obamacare with gratitude and pride. These are very good things, and yet, the main reason Obama will get my vote in November is because the GOP is too damned crazy. I know the President has wanted to do more, yet he has been stopped at every turn by a grossly obstructionist GOP House and a truly activist Supreme Court that overturned decades of precedent in the Citizens United case and others for the benefit of their corporate buddies. Even now, the GOP and right-wing media spread lies about Obamacare and what it means for seniors, and when you confront someone who is already inclined to believe the worst of Obama with the facts, it means nothing. Obamacare is not rationing, it isn't taking away the rights of seniors to choose their medical options, and it's not death panels. Obamacare has already saved lives as the provisions extending medical coverage of people until the age of 26 under their parents' insurance, and it will continue to do so as more provisions become active, such as basic medical exams and other important and routine things will be covered without a deductible in accordance with this law. I only hope the Supreme Court rules the whole thing is constitutional in accordance with decades of precedent, though the Roberts court has shown it feels far from beholden to the most noble parts of our past jurisprudence.

These small glimmers of hope notwithstanding, I open this year with a moment of silence in memory of America. I'm in my 30s, and now, I just hope I live long enough to see her return, because I think fixing this in 45 years might be an optimistic goal. I don't have children, but I constantly worry about what kind of nation we're leaving for the generations to come. What few answers I have, I don't like, and as I look to our north, I see Canada going down our same self-destructive path. William Butler Yeats said it best in "The Second Coming."

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Thank you, Dr. Benjamin.

I refer, of course, to Dr. Regina Benjamin, the woman who may and should become our nation's next Surgeon General. She is a truly remarkable woman and humanitarian who has touched the lives of many through her work in the small, poor community of Bayou la Batre, AL, and through other jobs she has held through the years, including her membership on the Board of Trustees for the American Medical Association. If you want to see her resume, you can visit her Wikipedia page. In short, the world needs far more people like her, and I would be proud to see her become this nation's next Surgeon General. I can think of no one better to shape this nation's medical policy, and with that comment, I include Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who rightfully declined his nomination. I must admit that I find it somewhat amusing that, should she be confirmed, we will have at least one high-ranking government official who knows how to work within the constraints of a budget. While President Obama had trouble pronouncing the name of the community where Dr. Benjamin has done so much good, it should be noted that even people from this area have a poor handle on where Bayou la Batre is. I had to consult Google Maps to find it, and I'm barely better off.

That was nice, mellow, a glowing report, and if I were a different blogger, I would have left it at that. Sadly, I love to raise a little bit of hell, and I'm having a fire sale on it. There are some fucking idiots out there who say that she's too large and would therefore have a negative impact on the battle against obesity. They say she's 25 pounds overweight. Big fucking deal!!! I wish I were ONLY 25 lbs. overweight. Will that make her any less of an excellent administrator? Will her size make her any less capable of understanding the plight of the uninsured and underinsured and the best ways to address their problems? For one, I know several women larger than Dr. Benjamin, but that's completely irrelevant. How did she become a large woman? Was it when she had to moonlight in emergency rooms and nursing homes just to fund her nonprofit medical clinic? Was it when she did a number of things to improve the lives of others? She's a fucking hero!!! She should be treated with respect, not condescension from those unworthy to lick her shoes.

Enjoy. I apologize in advance for the excessive cheesiness of the video.

A rebuke of the Sotomayor candidacy.

Naturally, I will go with the Ricci case, and I will preface it with an expression of my utter contempt for her colleagues who concurred with her in this decision. The laws of this land do, or should, grant and affirm the basic human right to an equality of opportunity. What it cannot and should not do is guarantee an equality of outcome. By that, I mean that I should have the same opportunity to have the same achievements as two remarkable people from my area, JaMarcus Russell and Dr. Regina Benjamin. I will write a post on the latter shortly. In this nation, I do and have had the same opportunity to achieve what they have and will do in the future. However, because I suck at anything remotely resembling a sport and I hold neither an M.D. or M.B.A. degree, both are about as likely as the Washington Generals beating the Harlem Globetrotters. My outcome is not equal to these individuals because I lack the qualifications to be an NFL quarterback or the next Surgeon General of the United States, and that is fair and just. That is what should happen in society. This is exactly what did NOT happen in Ricci vs. DeStefano, until it reached the highest court in the land.

Through his previous work, Frank Ricci had proven he was capable and qualified to be a firefighter, but at first, was denied a job based on his disability, dyslexia. He ultimately won that case through legal channels, but he also showed a deep flaw in the system in the process. Sadly, this would not be the first time he would be the victim of discrimination.

In Ricci vs. DeStefano, he was denied an equality of opportunity because of concerns unrelated to the outcome of the testing. Actual discrimination should not be an acceptable response to concerns about the perception of discrimination. Such actions fly in the face of what civil rights are all about, and as disgusted as I remain with the GOP, I am glad Senators of that party grilled the hell out of her on it. I have very little doubt the martyrs of the U.S. civil rights movement are rolling over in their graves over Sonia Sotomayor's highly questionable reasoning.

Mohandas Gandhi once famously said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." In that vein, if one wishes to see a nation, a society free of discrimination, one must not tolerate or defend discrimination. One can best address the horrible injustices of the past by not perpetuating those injustices against a new target. Changing the race of the victim and the beneficiary of racist policies is not "progress", as it is often called by those who benefit from it. It is merely the same ugly mess in more socially acceptable packaging.

The current laws against discrimination are, will continue to be, and should be enforced, and enforced equally to the protection of all. Anything more intrusive is simply indefensible and a violation of our highest principles, the belief that all men and women are created equal, with equal rights. Also, the Department of "Justice" should no longer be in the business of drawing district lines and setting the boundaries and locations of voting precincts in the South and other areas where problems may have occurred in the past. When I checked the newspaper this morning, the year was 2009, not 1965. The world has changed one hell of a lot since then. Alternately, the VRA should apply to every city, county, state, parrish, territory, or protectorate of the United States of America. I wonder how Detroit would feel about having to jump through the same hoops the South does long after such measures ceased to be necessary. It is long past time for Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to be abolished, as Section 2 has more than adequate protections and has the benefit of not being discriminatory against people because of the actions of their ancestors and those elected by their ancestors, although, for all I know, my ancestors could have easily voted AGAINST those who wrote the 1901 Constitution of the State of Alabama.

I have had the privilege of knowing several remarkable African-American individuals who have achieved great things in life, some of whom HATE the term "African-American" for reasons I understand very well. While I do not know if they have a greater capacity for learning than I do, or if they are "smarter" according to some IQ test, I am absolutely certain such metrics are worse than meaningless, because of one thing: they were willing to work harder and do so in a more intelligent manner at a younger age. Frank Ricci put out the greater effort and achieved a greater result on the promotion exam. He was wrongfully penalized, not because of his performance, but because of petty ideological reasons. That is damned wrong, and I find it horrifying that we will probably have a member of the Supreme Court of the United States of America who has shown such indifference to the basic right of equal protection under the law.

Instead of going with a video related to this post, I'm going to make myself happy and post some shit just for the hell of it. Enjoy.

Eulogy

Since it has now been three days since the political death of a star of the Republican Party, I find it fitting to now have a funeral. With every funeral comes one or more eulogies, of varying quality. In that vein, I will share my eulogy to Sarah Palin's career. Enjoy.

I knew Sarah Palin's career very well. Well, not at first, since she represented a tiny 3 EV state that is even more solid red than my beloved (PLEASE don't say "sweet home") Alabama. At first, I viewed her as an entertaining spectacle, and her career filled me with a great deal of amusement, none so great as when she pardoned a turkey (censored version) during last year's Thanksgiving. Then, gradually, I realized she had a serious chance to become the President of the United States, just one heartbeat behind a 72-year-old former POW, and while I remained amused by her, I that was tinged with a not insignificant amount of worry. As I saw the returns election night, that worry left, leaving a deep sense of satisfaction, relief, and joy. Still, I watched, waiting for her to inevitably put her foot in it again, and she never failed to give me a laugh and make thinking Republicans cringe. Finally, there came her bizarre feud and immaturity regarding a not very funny joke told by David Letterman, and despite Governor Sarah Palin giving an 18 minute press conference and three days to digest its contents, no one can quite figure out what the hell she was thinking, or even if she was thinking at all. Still, I'm going to miss watching her career, which is by now certainly an ex-parrot. Fare thee well, Caribou Barbie.

I will close by slightly modifying some of the lyrics to the song "Eulogy" by Tool.

"Standing above the crowd,
She had a voice that was strong and loud.
We'll miss her.
We'll miss her.

"Ranting and pointing her finger
At everything but her heart.
We'll miss her.
We'll miss her.
We're gonna miss her.
We're gonna miss her.

"No way to recall
What it was that you had said to me,
Like I care at all.

"But you were so loud.
You sure could yell.
You took a stand on every little thing
And so loud.

"She had alot to say.
She had alot of nothing to say.
She had alot to say.
She had alot of nothing to say.

"Come down.
get off your fuckin cross.
We need the fuckin space to nail the next fool martyr."

Who needs The Onion?

Once again, I would like to express my condolences to the supporters of Sarah Palin's career. For those who loved her incoherent rambling, her absence from the Alaska governor's mansion will mar an otherwise bleak existence. Fortunately, we will still have the memories, and I'd wager, a Fox News show where she can talk about moose, lipstick, and hockey moms to her heart's content with the occasional potshot at David Letterman just for spice. Or will she be in a courtroom near you? Apparently, Sarah Palin felt that she was a lame duck one day shy of the end of her 31st month in office in a position where she was not term-limited. Here in the Lower 48, we have a saying, "Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya." Now go put some lipstick on a pitbull and be for and against the Bridge to Nowhere.

The death of an American legend...

Namaste. In the last few weeks, we have lost several truly great Americans, people who have touched our lives and our hearts: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, David Carradine, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays, just to name a few. Each one of those was a devastating blow, made even moreso by the proximity of those deaths. However, I write today to mention, in mourning, the death of a true American legend, an icon the likes of which we rarely see. I refer, of course, to the train wreck that was Sarah Palin's career and the death of her relevance. While Governor of Alaska and candidate for Vice-President of the United States, her barely coherent rambling made us all laugh and provided ample fodder for late-night television comedians, such as David Letterman. Her various interviews never failed to elicit a heartfelt "What the FUCK?!" from those she would have as supporters. Now, with Alaska's government in ruins, Sarah Palin has finally taken her career off of life support, and with it, her relevance. It is in loving memory of her career that I share this video. Farewell, Caribou Princess. May your unwed teenage mother of a daughter find her Prince Charming, or at least, someone not as stupid as you and your husband.



And as an additional memorial to a once-promising career, enjoy.



In closing, a requiem for Sarah Palin's dream:

A reluctant defense of Michael Savage

Before I start, I must admit that I do agree with Michael Savage about one thing: His real last name is bad enough to warrant the use of such a cheesy pseudonym. However, I do find it more than a bit fitting that such an extremist jerk would have the last name "Weiner". And though I would protest most of his views with my dying breath, I wish him the best of luck in his libel suit against UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. He simply is not dangerous enough to warrant that level of sanction. As abhorrent and repugnant as he and his views are, he has never incited, planned, or committed any crimes. None have died or been harmed by or as a result of his words, beyond offended sensibilities, and that is insufficient cause to levy this type of sanction in a free society. I would go so far as to say the same about those Westboro Baptist freaks, though the case for banning them is stronger in that instance. Neither pose any actual danger to the UK, and if they do, the UK is lost anyway, without their input. Though, in a sense, I fear the United Kingdom have lost already, by sacrificing too many of their critical freedoms in the name of "security."

As virulent and nasty as Michael Savage is, he has never called for assassinations, murders, or other crimes, unlike Pat Robertson who is not on their blacklist. Unlike Al Sharpton, his words have not sparked riots that have left businesses in ruins and people dead. Unlike Fred Phelps and his merry band of freaks, he has never picketed, nor has he ever encouraged others to picket, funerals of heroes to further his malign agenda. He is a nasty, vile, and hate-filled individual, and he fills me with a deep loathing. However, given his overall history compared to the others on the UK blacklist, and given the UK's very selective enforcement of that statute, the UK is undeniably wrong in that instance. A free society can survive a person such as Michael Savage far better than it can survive such extreme intrusions and abridgments of free speech. I wish Mr. Weiner the best of luck in his libel suit against Home Secretary Smith, and given the UK's libel laws, I think he has a far better shot at it than he would here.

This song is dedicated to Mr. Weiner himself. I think he would LOVE this artist. Enjoy.

Cruel? Debatable. Unusual? Certainly.

And apart from my opposition to all forms of capital punishment, I have no problem with such an unusual sentence. I am, of course, referring to Lam Luong, who tossed four children, the oldest of whom was 3 years old, off the Dauphin Island Bridge. As I predicted, Circuit Judge Charles Graddick upheld the jury's recommendation of death for Lam Luong. While I feel it is wrong for the state to take the life of one in their custody, in this case, Mr. Luong may actually welcome it when his time comes. I say this, possibly in part, due to a highly unusual stipulation Judge Graddick added to the sentence of death. In fact, I cannot think of a case where this has been done... or where it has been more warranted. Judge Graddick ordered Mr. Luong to look at pictures of the children every day for the duration of his time as a guest of the state.

As I reflect on the case, on the news coverage at that time, on the extreme anguish on the faces of that mother and her family, I also find myself wiping away tears. I'm sorry he will have the release of death. I am sorry he will not suffer longer for what he did. I am sorry that, instead of the average of 11 years on death row for condemned prisoners, he will not be forced to see photos of his victims every day for the next five decades. But above all, I am so very sorry those children do not have the opportunity to grow up, have fun, argue and fight with each other as siblings do, and just generally be kids. I am so very sorry that their mother, instead of visiting them in their rooms and fussing at them about something insignificant but oh so important, must instead make a trip to a cemetery. I am so very sorry we will not get the opportunity to see what good those four children could have done in this world. This is what is so heartbreaking about this crime. I hope that she finds peace and some small measure of solace through her faith and her family, but she shouldn't have to. They should be alive today, but they're not.

I'm sorry. I started crying again. On that note, I will close with music befitting this post.

The ides of change and Tea Parties:

First, I would like to welcome Becky C. at Just a Girl in Short Shorts to my blog roll. I find her posts engaging and thought provoking. While I disagree with some of her politics, in many civil liberties issues, we have common ground.

Second, you may notice my Obama button is gone. That's simply because the election is over, and we need to move on with our lives. While I think Obama has done a much better job than his immediate predecessor did in his first 100 days, the bloom is off the rose, and I have some areas of concern. I'm concerned with the debt we are leaving the generations to come. That said, I also feel it reasonable to conclude things had deteriorated to a point where no good choices existed, merely varying degrees of bad. While it was not a decision on whether to attempt to save the Kobayashi Maru, the situation was, and will likely remain, quite dire.

Like anyone with a pulse and a brain, I noticed the Tea Party protests on April 15. I understand and agree with concerns about the debt we are leaving the generations to come. However, this is not a new concern for me. Currently, our national debt is roughly 70% of the GDP and growing, and much of the growth of that debt occurred under the Bush administration. Where were these Tea Partiers a year ago? Two? Six? Eight? Where was their outrage over our children being crushed with debt because of wars we should never have fought and cannot possibly win? No, instead, we saw signs saying to send Obama back to Kenya. For fuck's sake, President Obama was born in Hawaii, NOT Kenya or any other nation on another continent. Also, they're actively criticizing a President of the United States of America? Wasn't that considered "un-American" by these same arguments for birth control just a few short months ago? It is un-American to substitute bigotry and spin for the reasoned debate whose endangerment has endangered this very nation. Debate the issues. Talk in reasoned tones with those who disagree, and be willing to listen just as you hope others listen to you. This is how you learn and grow as an individual, and this is how you help restore this country. Partisanship is all well and good, as long as it is tempered with reason and an acknowledgment of the love your opponent has for this nation. I said "opponent" deliberately, for wherever you stand, those whose views contradict your own opposes you, though this does not make that person your enemy, and it is this distinction that has been lost over the years, in no small part due to Fox News (with a few notable exceptions) and other extremists on the airwaves and in our seats of government, all the way down to the smallest town hall.

To those who say to send Obama back to Kenya, I ask this: Why aren't you saying "Send McCain back to Panama?" Unlike Obama and Kenya, McCain was actually born in the Canal Zone, which is now part of Panama. Besides, he's old, and the warmth may be good for his aching joints and his addled brain. Oh, and to those who mistake President Obama for a Kenyan, I ask that you stop sucking the dicks of white supremacists. To all else, including the President of the Untied States of America (misspelling intentional), a man who has already helped restore the honor and image of this great land, I bid you good night.

As for the new logo, well, this video will show why. While I am not involved with Baylout, I am aware of their existence and respect their opinion and their actions on behalf of freedom.