another stupid person

This is why I hate stupid people.  It must be hard to be smarter than your brother, better looking than your father, and overlooked by everyone with morals, intelligence, and taste.  So Jeb Bush is trying to get in the limelight by admitting he’s an idiot.  If he doesn’t know whether the President of the United States is a socialist, then . . . he’s stupid.

I wanna be prez, too.

With the Republican Party in disarray – Senator Ensign’s parents paid his mistress and her husband $96,000 after he’d screwed and paid them; Governor Sanford’s hike on the Appalachian Trail makes him pariah on two continents; ex-Governor Palin hates quitters and is quitting her job at the same time (talk about self-loathing); Representative Boehner is . . . Representative Boehner; Governor Jindal hasn’t been seen or heard form publicly since he died like a quail after President Obama’s State of the Union speech in February; Michael Steele?; Senator McConnell is impotent politically because Senator Franken IS the 60th Democratic vote; and all the able elephants are keeping their heads down and their mouths closed – the son of 41 and the brother of 43 is trying to step into the void, and only managing to stick his foot in his mouth.

He’d be amusing, if he wasn’t so sad.  I hate stupid people.

I Hate Stupid People

I have a personality flaw.

No one is perfect, but I hold against dumb-ass people the fact that they are dumb asses. And while I’m certain you don’t fall into that category, let me elucidate my statement to be “crystal clear.”

Each of us is on this planet for a short span.  While here, we share this rock with numerous other life forms, some of the same genetic make-up as us, known commonly as the Family of Man, or the Human Race.  This isn’t good enough for some of us, though, so we divide ourselves into “races”, ethnic groups, types, nerds, jocks, rockers, slackers, Republicans, Democrats, governors, tyrants, victims, Americans, Spanish speakers, etc.  And as we troll the planet for resources, for affection, for a partner to walk the planet, we impact each other.

Let me repeat.  We impact each other.

Stupid people, then, are those who are unaware of the impact they have on their fellows.  In their determined foraging for their own pleasure (note the difference between  affection and pleasure) they maraud destructively over others, in complete oblivion or (worse) disregard for the well being of others.

Each of us is responsible to do what we can while we are here to make the world a better place for all of us.

Before those who disagree politically with me begin to argue, understand that I do not expect everyone to agree on what making  the world a better place means.  But I do expect that they are arguing in good faith , that they are applying the principles and privileges that they enjoy for themselves to each and every person on the Earth who has not transgressed against others.

When politicians or citizens have to twist into pretzels the language they are speaking to justify the ideas they are espousing, they are stupid.  When the beliefs a person holds are in direct contradiction to their actions and they are unable to realize this, or unwilling to acknowledge their own weakness, they are stupid.  When the laws they seek to enact vilify others for being members of the human race, they are stupid.  When bloggers pontificate about the shortcomings of others as if they don’t possess some of those same shortcomings, they are stupid.

Each of us is responsible to do what we can while we are here to make the world a better place for all of us.

That means speaking up when others are in pain.

That means knowing what you are talking about before you speak.

That means treating others the way you would like to be treated.

That means honestly addressing the problems which affect us all without tabulating how much you put in to make sure that’s how much you take out.

That means not being stupid.

Disrespectful to the People of Iran

Frederick Douglass said simply of the catalyst for change, “Agitate. Agitate. Agitate.”  The people of Iran have listened, and they have seen for themselves what agitation can do.  So has, in fact, Ayatollah Khamenei, who participated thirty years ago in the revolution in his country that ousted the American-friend Shah.  His simple disavowal today of the protest he has ordered violently disrupted as the visual and intellectual manipulation of Western governments and foreign media is “disrespectful to the people of Iran.”

He has forgotten, as have those in the minority political party in the United States, that crowing loudly the reality you wish to be true does not make it so.  Stepping up and taking action, as Neda and the thousands of Iranians both inside and outside the Islamic Republic of Iran have shown in the three weeks since the selection of President Ahmedinijad, is the way that change is fomented, that HOPE is made real.  President Obama has purposefully kept the United States out of Iranian affairs because our history of meddling (don’t misunderstand me: the United States interferes with other countries’ governments at our whim) must change also. Recently in his speech in Moscow, President Obama eulogized and then put to rest the Bush Doctrine:

Now let me be clear: America cannot and should not seek to impose any system of government on any other country, nor would we presume to choose which party or individual should run a country. And we haven’t always done what we should have on that front.”

To infiltrate, to incite, to select the Iranian leader from Washington would be “disrespectful to the people of Iran.”

A friend on (and off) of Facebook recently posted his hope that “the Iranian people aren’t throwing themselves on the sword for nothing.”  I echo his sentiments, as I repudiate the ridiculousness of the Supreme Leader’s machinations.  Let the re-vote begin soon.  That will be showing respect to the people of Iran.

Balancing Priorities

Public health insurance option.  Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.  Defense of Marriage Act.  The presidential selection in Iran.  Nuclear weapons being tested in North Korea.  The turnover of security in Iraq to Iraqis.  Withdrawal of United States’ troops from Iraq.  Deployment of United States’ troops to Afghanistan.  Global Warming.  Clean Energy.  Sonia Sotomayor.  The United States’ Supreme Court.   Being a present father to Sasha and Malia.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Pirates in the Ocean.  Pirates on Wall Street.  Main Street.  The housing and mortgages crises.  Michael Jackson’s death.  Sixty Democratic Senators obsessed with their own turf and not the people’s business.  Republicants in both houses with the same problem.  President Hugo Chavez.  The (first) military coup in (Latin America) Honduras (since the Cold War “ended”.) The Israeli occupation.  The Palestinian intifada.  Chinese ownership of American debt.  AIG. Swine Flu.  Importing and exporting but not traveling to Cuba.  Bo.  Vice President Joe Biden.  Vice President emeritus Richard Cheney.  Guantanamo Bay.  The war on terror, aka The Patriot Act.  Islamic fundamentalism.  Right to Life murder.  Unhappy liberals.  Gun control that doesn’t.  Campaign pledges.  24-hour “news” cycles.  Government transparency.  National security.  Leading the Democratic Party.  Cross-over dribble.  Quitting cigarettes.  Date night with Michelle.  Running General Motors.  Leading the free world.  Upholding American values.  What are the President’s priorities?

The last six months have been a whirlwind of activity, elation, disappointment, history, frustration, action, words, spirit, and of life.  It seems eons ago I stood with millions of Americans on the mall in Washington, D.C.  to personally witness the inauguration of President Barack Obama.  Simply typing the words, though, raises gooseflesh on my arms when I recollect the moment with gratitude, pride and hope for the better future of this country that my children will inherit.

I am of two minds about the first six months of his administration.

It seems perfect that when I turn on the television, click on to a website, check my twitter account, glance at a magazine cover, listen to the radio or download the weekly podcast from the President that Barack Obama is the face I see, the voice I hear, leading the country.  While I am amazed that we elected a black man to the presidency, I am not surprised to see him there – striding across the lawn at the white house, sparring with the white house press corps during press conferences, meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet in the East Room, boarding Marine One, leading by example instead of secret fiat – he is supposed to be there, handling the business of leading the country.

On the other hand, the arbitrary back and forth, the spin on both sides of the debates, seem absolutely ordinary and business as usual, and the CHANGE we BELIEVE in seems awfully far away.  The sixty democratic senators seem to think that they’re party affiliation and majority aren’t necessary for the President to enact an agenda to help the people of the United States.  Al Franken is joining the Senate proclaiming his allegiance to Minnesota rather than the Democratic agenda for the United States.  His provincial attitude is reflective of Republican Governor Mark Sanford’s denial of stimulus funds for his state because he was “against raising the federal deficit.”  Both men missed the point.  Their priorities are askew.

The President appears to be balancing his priorities pretty well.  Democratic legislators, though, appear uncomfortable with the national validation of their agenda, with having the support throughout the country (reflected in the number of elected officials) to enact a public option on health care, to close Guantanamo, to pass the stimulus bill, to get clean energy going, to get us out of Iraq more quickly, and the list goes on . . .

We (the Democratic majority and its constituents) need to get behind the President, and start balancing Our priorities.  Healthcare, Education, Equal Rights . . . stop letting the vocal minority frame the debate and distract from the purpose of government and governing . . . “to secure these rights . . . for the governed.”  There need to be more Bernie Madoffs going to jail for ripping people off and taking taxpayer monies . . . let’s start with Henry Paulson.  There needs to be a truth commission on torture and prosecutions from the first black Attorney General.  The guilty should be punished, and the general welfare of the country should be promoted.  I’m not about revenge.  That’s not a priority.  I am about justice and responsibility – that is.

Influencing Iran – Democracy Grows Up

Norm Coleman and Roland Burris have given the United States lessons in civics and procedure, if not in decorum and ethics.  Both these men have pursued through the courts the legal processes which exemplify the rule of law in a democratic State.  President Ahmedinijad has, in recent weeks, been rattling his saber about the interference of “Western Powers” in the internal politics of Iran.  His bluster is as ridiculous as his trademark smirk.  He should be more concerned, though, about the influence of our process on the population that voted Mir Hossein Moussavi as the next President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Though Coleman and Burris disputed their election/appointment to office, their protests wound their way through the courts, and were not forced or enforced at the end of bayonets.  There is a time in every democracy’s growth where the transition from enforcement to the rule of law becomes a necessity to retain the name, and engender the populace with the power of the ballot.  It is watching these processes in the United States, and their absolute dismissal in Iran, that has given Iranians both in their homeland and here, the courage to speak up, to speak out, to stand up and have their voices heard.

Raised Voices

The streets of Tehran have been quiet for the past two days . . . bullets from Basij semi-automatics, dictates from the Supreme Leader, saber rattling from the Iranian president to the President of the United States . . . all these are louder than the exhausted population of the Islamic Republic tonight. But they’re all whispers compared with the Iranian population of Los Angeles. They are saying what they compatriots can’t – “Death to Khameni!” They are cheering for democracy – “What do we want? Freedom for Iran!” Their voices are filling the intersection of Wilshire and Veteran with cries, chants, songs of life. “Neda is my daughter! Neda is my sister! Neda is my mother!” Signs flash her name, fingers flash a peace sign, as children hold their parents’ hands marching up and down the block in front of the Federal Building, and parents hold their parents’ hands – one, two, three generations engaged in a struggle to free their homeland from the grips of corruption, of oppression, of death. The streets of Tehran will soon be filled once again with mourning marchers, with protesters old and young, with human beings standing up for their rights. Until then, though, these mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, cousins and aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews and grandmothers and grandfathers and supporters and witnesses will be here standing up and speaking up for them.

Neda and Crispus – Faces of the Revolution

Neda Agha-Soltan

There are millions of Iranian women seizing the opportunity provided by the Iranian ruling party’s mistakes over the past few weeks. I tweeted a week ago that we are gazing through the looking glass at the violent upheavals that accompany a social realignment which encompasses human rights.
Two hundred and forty-four years ago, a black escaped slave was the first man to die in order to free his former masters from the economic and political oppression of the British king. One hundred and twenty hours ago, a twenty-six year old Iranian woman died on film in her effort to free her countrymen, whose interpretation of the Qur’an places women in subservience, from the yolk of oppression embodied in President Ahmedinijad and the Basij.
This confrontation of the oppressed on behalf of the oppressors speaks to the true moral conflict facing the world today. By battling oppression in Iran, Neda is freeing my daughter here in the United States. By battling oppression in 1775, Crispus Attucks freed Hillary Clinton to run for President.
President Obama has framed his comments about inalienable human rights like freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the responsibility of governments to protect the rights of the people. These are the ideals upon which the United States is based. The question becomes are these ideals truly human rights? Or are we once again exporting our version of democracy into another country?
I would argue that injustice defeated anywhere adds to a more just everywhere. That is the responsibility each of us carries within us. President Obama. Reynaldo Macias. Crispus Attucks. Neda Agha-Soltan. You.
Stand up and be counted.
Become the face of revolution.

Los Tehrangeles

Horns cut through the early morning sunlight as Iranian Americans exercise the freedoms of speech and assembly which are being brutally suppressed in their homeland. “if this was your family, you’d be here, too!” a young woman calls to cars passing by.
Maybe a hundred people, wrapped in American and Iranian flags, fingers held aloft in a peace gesture and accented with green, stand out here for the first of two rallies today, drawing the passive endorsement of passersby. They howl with the anguish of people watching from a distance, doing what they can to topple a dictatorship with words.
Though President Obama has kept the US officially mum, the citizens are making their support for freedom, for human rights, for democracy heard and felt around the world!

Why Iran is important

No one today was witness to the American Revolution. Much as we try to interpret the founding documents, we are all still guessing at the realities and pressures which forged The United States. But we must not be so consumed with ridiculous arrogance of our own glories that we are blind to others grasping at basic human freedoms and resposible or responsive government in our times.
Watching Tehran today is seeing Shays’ Rebellion or the Iron Angels or the Freedom Riders making their bid for equality, pulling a chair up to humanity’s common table to be served.
Don’t let the chance to stand witness pass you by.

say Thank You

I opposed (and still do) the invasion of Iraq.  I understand that the invasion of Afghanistan had a legitimate purpose, but I question the infusion of more soldiers at the present time.  I disagree with Dick’s philosophy that every answer to every foreign policy issue is the application of our military.  But when I see a man or woman in uniform, I say thank you.

My wife questioned me about this.  I am thankful that service men and women are, in Jack Nicholson’s words, “up on that wall.”  Someone definitely has to be.  And while my life’s path didn’t lead me to serve my country in uniform, I have a basic respect for those who do, from my childhood best friend who went on to serve in the Army Rangers; to the staff sergeant I shared a red eye flight with to witness President Obama’s inauguration; to the waitress at the restaurant near my school who just returned from an extended tour in Iraq; to the young soldier who just walked by me on the plane.  I don’t know any of them personally.  I have spoken to all of them, though.  I’ve said thank you.

There is, in my estimation, nothing more noble than to put one’s body, the only self that we know of on this planet, between harm and home.  Whether done for selfless or selfish reasons, the service (and therefore the sacrifice) is noble.

A short aside – when I was in sixth grade glee club, we sang the Marine Corps Hymn.  I toyed with going into the Marines just because the song was so cool,

“From the Halls of Montezuma

To the shores of Tripoli

We will fight our country’s ba-attles

On the air, on land and sea.

First we fight for right and freedom

and to keep our honor clean

We are proud to claim the ti-itle

Of the United States’ Marines.”

As Memorial Day passes, and we take the time to salute and honor the fallen, remember to take the time to thank those still standing.