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.

Angels and Demons

Pope Benedict is smoking something.  Part of the reason I left the Church after high school was I couldn’t reconcile the attitude that the pontiff displayed in his celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth yesterday.  And I look to the continued vitriol dripping from the purpose-driven pastor, and the legislation by the former special prosecutor, and the actions of my country in the United Nations, and I fear for humanity.

With all the threats to the human species: the destruction of the planet by technological deterioration; the destruction of the planet by military excess; the decimation of the ecosystem by apathy; the depopulation through greed, causing starvation, rampant disease, and the execution of millions which repeats each decade when a new oppressed group seizes weapons and power and takes out their grievances on their oppressors, the head of the Catholic Church decides that he needs to attack those whom the Almighty has blessed with sexuality.

With a smarmy, poorly-written play on words making homosexuality equal to deforestation, Benedict further rode down the path of intolerance, ignorance, hate and division.  Merry Christmas.  Had global warming been a greater issue fifty years ago, I’m certain that he would have equated saving the rainforest with keeping the races segregated; the same way the Vatican spoke so eloquently about helping persecuted Jews during World War II; and the Holy See spoke up during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, which saw Africa pillaged and Africans enslaved and scattered across the globe in a diaspora which still hasn’t been rectified.  Why does The Roman Catholic Church, THE institution of God’s love on planet earth, miss the larger points in favor of banning women from preaching the gospel, and forbidding priests to marry?

I believe in God.  And I believe in the possibility of people.  What I have trouble with, and this is where mega pastors who preach hate, from Farrakhan to Warren, catch hell is that they preach to the small mind, they pick and choose which words of God they want to listen to, they fail to grasp the message and instead cling to the syllables that were written by men just like them.

The Pope is preaching hate, no matter what language and no matter what context.  He is preaching division and intolerance.  The celebration of Jesus’ birth (“He’s the reason for the season,” as my aunt likes to say) is supposed to be a time of love, understanding, renewal, companionship, and awe at the miracles that each of us as an individual is, and who we have to thank for that gift.  It’s not about the toys we can accumulate, or the flat screens we can acquire.  And it’s definitely not about raising ourselves up by stepping on and keeping others down.  It’s about celebrating the angels, in ourselves and each other, not demonizing others.

Why do people forget that?

Jesus would stand with oppressed

California Attorney General Jerry Brown Asks Court To Overturn Prop 8

U.S. balks at decriminalizing homosexuality

Pope’s message angers lots of people

Romanticizing John McCain

In all the excitement of President-Elect Obama’s transition from candidate to forty-four, I’ve heard many television pundits and people on the street saying that, “McCain ran a good race,” and, “he gave a great concession speech.”

I strenuously disagree.  I’ve heard some give him credit for silencing the boos that erupted each time he mentioned President Elect Obama’s name during his speech.  But why did these people feel the need to boo?  Why did the supporters at the campaign rallies feel it was okay to call President Elect Obama a “terrorist” and worse?  The followers reflect the leaders, in this case.

In his concession speech, Senator McCain remarked that he recognized the “special significance that [Senator Obama’s election] has for African Americans. And for the special pride that must be theirs.”  Really?  Just black folks?  This marginalization of a watershed event in the history of the United States is exactly why his supporters felt it was okay to boo at the mention of the President Elect’s name – McCain set himself (and by extension, the nearly-exclusive white crowd in attendance) apart from that other United States, the one that Governor Palin alluded to as being outside “the real United States.”  He set himself, and the fight-the-good-fight people, apart and above the fray, not exactly impacted by an Obama presidency and its historic significance, or the changes it portends.

This marginalization is racist.  It’s xenophobic.  It is the same basis for Proposition 8 in California.  It engenders an opponent with negative aspects of “other.”  “Who is the real Barack Obama?”  “Protect Traditional Marriage.” Translation:  they’re not really a part of us.

Part of the reason that significantly more than half the country supported President-Elect Obama was his appeal to politics as a means of securing the rights of the citizenry, his desire to work toward a more perfect union, and his ability to listen to opposing points of view without demonizing the speakers.  Senator McCain continued until the stated end of his campaign to rationalize his prejudice, to incorporate in not-too-subtle language his support and worldview that separate can be equal – “[I understand] the special significance it has for African Americans.”

The election of Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. is a day of growth for the United States, for all Americans, including John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the “supporters” who booed at his concession speech and who screamed at their rallies.  As President-Elect Obama stated, “I [Am] Your President, Too,” whether you like it or not.  This is not a gloat.  It is a reality check.

And as we move into a post-Bush era, as the world regains respect for the United States, as both our allies and adversaries reevaluate their relationship with us, let us not romanticize the racism and xenophobia that has existed within our borders since their inception, and which currently wear the masks of McCain/Palin.  Let us address them.

I am a romantic, but that kind of bushlit makes me sick.

The Return of John McCain, but Which One?

The Hate that Hate Produced

Terrorists have struck again on American soil.  Seven years after 9/11, John McCain is running for president of these United States by saying he is a war hero and he is the defender of our national security.  He’s a liar, a pirate, and a thief.  Standing in front of millions of people on Friday night, the lies that he’s been telling and the hate that he’s been fomenting by word and deed finally came to fruition in another act of domestic terrorism.

Children in Dayton, Ohio were attacked Friday night with a chemical irritant while their parents were attending services.  They were attacked by supporters of John McCain, who said, “the greatest single threat to the United States is Muslim extremists.”  The attack was perpetrated because they were Muslim, and for no other reason, by a group of people supporting John McCain for president by producing hate films.  While John McCain stood at the podium, these children choked and gagged.  While he spouted the lies he’s been practicing against Senator Obama, children screamed and begged for their parents.  While he shook hands and strolled off into the night, they whimpered and pleaded to return to Syria and Iraq, a nation he is so proud of invading.  Are you kidding?

President Bill Clinton said in his speech at the Democratic National Convention, “the world has always been more impressed by the power of our example, than by the example of our power.”  The terrorists that did this followed John McCain’s example.  He has decided that his integrity is irrelevant to this campaign, and these hate mongers have none.

This is the man who wants to go into Russia over Georgia; who is reading the alphabet in the Russian Prime Minister’s eyes; who is still fighting the Vietnam War even though he sat it out; who is singing songs about bombing other countries;  who said Friday night while the attack was happening, “I’ve been a part of a war that American lost,” as if that were justification for invading Iraq, as if winning in Iraq will somehow re-write his own Vietnam experience; who spouts “the surge worked” and “victory in Iraq” as if the occupation is worth the lives lost or the money spent; whose primary example is “when you’re afraid, attack!”

John didn’t order the hit.  He didn’t place the nozzle against the window and pull the trigger.  He only stood by while the lies he has told, the policies he’s espoused, the friendships he’s fostered, bore strange fruit.  Whether he’s suffering from overreaching ambition (“I didn’t decide to run for president to start a national crusade for the political reforms I believed in or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism”) or just feeling the effects of his PTSD, John McCain has lost what honor he once earned and is assured of finding Osama Bin Laden in hell, because he’s earned a spot at the right hand.

I called him a liar, because he’s stopped telling the truth.  I called him a pirate, because he continues to take the work of others and claim it for his own.  I called him a thief because he’s stolen what the United States and the presidency is supposed to be and left a shell in its place.

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those, who, in times of moral crisis, remain neutral.” – Dante

This guy isn’t even neutral.  He’s working for the dark side.  I won’t hear one word from him or Steve Schmidt or Rick Davis about this attack, about his supporters, because whatever helps him win is okay.  That’s why he’s not said anything about the Michigan Republican Party using home foreclosures to keep Democratic voters off the voter registration lists, or any of the other crap that’s going on.  Unfettered ambition, or post-traumatic stress disorder – John McCain is a danger to himself, the United States and the world.

Cross posted at Will Rhodes Portmanteau on September 29, 2008.