Valuable quotes

"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow." ~~



"The minute you start talking about what you're going to do if you lose, you've already lost." ~~



Cree Prophecy - "When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money." ~~


Friday, August 13, 2010

A Country Gone Terribly Wrong

Jokes can be in such poor taste.

I was listening to the radio this morning and the DJ took a moment to remind us that tomorrow is Ramadan. He went on to explain that on that holy day Muslims must fast. They cannot eat or drink. And they can’t have sex. He joked that we should all watch out now because there will be “hungry, horny” Muslims running around everywhere. Cute. But he couldn’t stop there. After a measured beat, he chuckled, “They’ll be looking for something to bomb.”

Now, those few moments of tasteless radio are so wrong on so many levels that I hope the guy was marched right off the air into his boss’s office. But, could we have spiraled so far downward since 9/11 that his boss – and the majority of his listeners – would actually applaud his joke? I know the answer to this one, it was rhetorical.

It reminded me of how stomach-churning the recent brouhaha is over the “Ground Zero Mosque.” Who crafted the term “Ground Zero Mosque” anyway? It certainly hasn't escaped the more informed that the term was masterfully devised to fan the flames of hatred vigorously. Now, thanks to that bit of wordcraft, we have people running amok all over the country
vandalizing under-construction mosques.

And in some areas, bus ads in New York City implying that the World Trade Center was demolished to make room for a “Mega Mosque.” Dear Lord! Is there no limit to the lengths people will go to spread their hatred? But what's worse, is there no end to the nonsense people are willing to swallow to justify their hatreds? Apparently not. We can carry placards calling the president of the country a Nazi & show pictures of him in whiteface. We have politicians running for office advocating we pick up guns and kill those politicians we don't agree with.

We have Americans who will listen to tv shows such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and other spewing Fox malcontents with cultlike attention. These personalities who will get more facts wrong in the space of one hour than an average third grader can do over the course of his school year.

And they choose to embrace these lies because it fits into their racist way of thinking even tho' the truth openly is there to correct us all. Whether we are speaking of the Birthers, pictures of President Obama in whiteface or comparisons of the first black president to Hitler, many consider these elements of the tea party inherently racist because they are indicative of a new type of political discourse that first emerged during the last series of presidential campaigns.


Tea party leaders of course, reject charges of racism by insisting that their movement is inclusive of all races. Even though its membership is 99.9 percent white. No, those 'isolated racial incidents' such as calling civil rights hero John Lewis the n-word and spitting in his face probably did not happen (and if it did, why then it's only the actions of a marginal few). They are quick to assure us that 'We are not racist, but...' That 'but' is legends long. They contend that those who make such accusations are simply “playing the race card” for political means. Really? I don't see any of us putting up signs to accuse them of treason. Which we would be very justified in doing since they are acting treasonous.

Just to bring one up to speed on what treason is, aside from being illegal and coming with a very long prison time - 'Treason is any attempt to overthrow the government or impair the well-being of a state to which one owes allegiance; the crime of giving aid or comfort to those who wish to harm one's government". Sure sounds like both the tea party and the Republican party to me.

Why haven’t we learned anything since 1942? Then again, why should we have? We haven't really learned much about tolerance, morality, living and sharing anything since 1492 either, so why begin now?


Am I comfortable with the Muslim way of thinking or worshiping? Or treating their female followers? No, I'm not at all. But at the moment, I'm not too damn comfortable with the Christian white either. Why they feel it is totally alright for them to spread hatred and advocate white supremacy is beyond me and why they feel justified in their actions because of a terrorist attack which killed innocent Muslims as well? I just don't get it, sorry. But then again, hypocrisy has never been my strong suit either.

This country was founded on the belief that every citizen should be allowed to worship their creator as they see him. Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest or practice, and observe their beliefs.

Back in 1807, Thomas Jefferson said "among the inestimable of our blessings, also, is that ...of liberty to worship our Creator in the way we think most agreeable to His will". In a country with a state religion, freedom of religion is generally considered to mean that the government permits religious practices of other sects besides the state religion, and does not persecute, or allow persecution of believers in other faiths.

For a party who loves to remind us they want their country back and are given to quote the founding fathers at every opportunity, they seem to edit out that which doesn't support their hatred and prejudices. They are a party of obstructionists led by the likes of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Bachmann and a burgeoning Sharron Angle. They would burn cross on the White House lawn and call for a removal of most of the liberties of the Bill Of Rights except for those of course that serve their self interests.

Yes, they are right - the country is broken and needs fixing. But they are the ones responsible for breaking it so what would they suggest we do with them?

4 comments:

Bill Moffit said...

Thank you, Ginger, for another remarkable piece and sharing the timeless messages of fiscal responsibility and limited government from Americans from all locations and backgrounds, united in the Tea Party movement and a common hatred of spelling and grammar. :-)

My wife and I were treated to a cluster of them while shopping the other night and if the appearance of them with their signs wasn't so sad it would have been funny. Though many of the signs were and stuck with us for hours. Statements like "Thank You Fox News For Keeping Us Infromed!" and "Socalism not my cup of tea".
I think my favorite though was "Dump The Polititions in the oval office"!

Yes, I said to my wife, "Home Skool ruels!"

Ginger said...

@ dumbass liberals -
I could rest my case right on just your comments alone, but won't. This 'dumbass liberal' had their home depreciate not once, but twice due to Bush economics & inflated interest rates. We were forced to buy high & sell low & had no control over when we had to move. Don't tell me we don't work...speaking for my family alone, my husband worked about 14-16 hours a day with no overtime pay & no tax breaks. There were times he worked around the clock being on call to keep subway & commute systems running.

I think only the very stupidest would now say Bush did anything positive for this country. Even fellow Republicans acknowledge that he was a royal screw up this country didn't need.
For your perusal -

(RTTNews) - A new survey of 238 scholars by the Siena College Research Institute showed Franklin D. Roosevelt ranked as the top President in U.S. history.

The survey ranked all 43 Presidents, with Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson rounding out the top five.

The bottom five, meanwhile, included Andrew Johnson (rated the worst President), James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, Franklin Pierce and George W. Bush ranked second worst.

I wonder if the scholars with Siena College Research Institute can spell?

John said...

Good attempt Ginger- though there really is no real hope of using rational thought with people who hate. They allow their lives to be guided by it and their minds are closed tightly to discussion and reason about it.

Lately, we've seen a flood of hate crimes. A white supremacist walks into the Holocaust museum and guns down a kind black guard. Another man, an anti-abortion fanatic, murders a doctor who provided women with abortions for unwanted, and sometimes life-threatening pregnancies. The list goes on and on.

Internationally, in the media, and in our neighborhoods, hate and intolerance seem to spew forth from every corner, and there are numerous signs that it’s only getting worse.

Why? As a writer, university professor, and a teacher of young people, I write frequently about hatred and prejudice, trying to understand it. Despite humans’ ability to reach out and love others, there is a deep, irrational fear, as well as a desire in many of us, to make everyone look just like that face we see in our own mirror. The face that we grew up looking at. The face that is the "right" face.
And not just the face, but the emotions and belief systems, the politics and religion and gender orientation behind the face as well. If it's not ours, it's automatically wrong. Whether we admit it or not, we want everyone else to be just like us. To hell with diversity, which makes us uneasy and stirs us to rage, let’s just all be identical, interchangeable parts in a cookie-cutter world.

Here’s my belief: It’s time we looked beyond the face in the mirror and saw and accepted others. We would no more like others to look in their mirrors and expect us to change for them. Black, White, Straight, Gay, Pro-Life, Pro-Choice, Midgets and Mystics and Muslims: All should be accepted. All should be allowed to have the things we in this country are allowed to have according to the laws of the land and the Constitution.

Pat said...

I agree John, I think what disturbs me as much as the sheer viciousness of this mindless hatred is that there seem to be some TV programs that pass themselves off as news who almost seem to be inciting this type of hatred. I don't think I have to mention the network that carries them. They were quick to blame the doctor for his own death, the black man being shot at a Holocaust museum was ‘incidental’ and not a hate crime at all, just an unfortunate accident. Groups that fight to keep protection from teenage gays and transgender kids or even deny they exist. Sometimes I think the world we live in is getting uglier.

I think one thing we can do as journalists and bloggers is address this through our blog pieces. Show that tolerance and respect is a basic human right and who knows, maybe the next generation will be more tolerant.