Brave New World

It seems that, once again, America has become the land of possibilities. Anyone can succeed, no matter how great the odds. So long as they try.

Along with the tidal wave of change that came in on November 4, 2008, a setback was dealt to gay people all over the country. What a mixed message gays and lesbians recieved. We Shall Overcome, but not you people.

The most ironic thing in all this was Prop 8 in California. It turns out that Blacks and Hispanics, who turned out big time for Obama, voted overwhelmingly for Prop 8. Among Blacks it was 69%for the proposition that all men aren't created equal, and you people just aren't as equal as the rest of us. The oppressed, who you think would understand the power of predjudice, became the oppressor. Let's hope this is the not the Brave New World we will be living in.

Once I get past the four states that voted to keep gays as second or third class citizens, I start thinking of all the changes that will be taking place in Washington. The Contitution will be coming back into favor, the Supreme Court may be set right (by that I mean more moderates), and we may even get some of our civil liberties back. I still have to pinch myself to make sure it is all real.

Congratulations America, we have made it into a new era. There is still hope that we will be the dominant power on earth in the 21st century, just as we were in the 20th.

Finally, Crunch Time

So, here we are, just over two weeks from election day, and things are tightening up in the polls.  I have to admit that this presidential race has been way too long (twenty months).  I hope they don't start the next election cycle next year.  They need to keep it focused on the election year itself.

It has been an unusual race this time.  I think thanks to both McCain and Obama, the culture wars are on the sidelines.  Not much has been made of this in the media, and that is such a relief.  Especially when you consider the gay marriage votes coming up in California and Mass.  This leaves us free to focus more on the economy.  Or in McCain's case, anything from Bill Ayers to Joe the Plumber.  For all the talk about tactics versus strategy, McCain keeps changing his tactics with the wind (suspending his campaign, attack ads, Joe) without really having any strategy.  I only hope he maintains this lack of strategy until November 4th.

I watched John and Barack at the Al Smith Memorial Dinner in NYC last Thursday.  McCain was clearly the winner there, being both funny and touching.  When he started talking about Barack's place in history, etc. he had me tearing  up.  That is the classy John McCain I remember from years past.  The one who spoke from his heart and did what he really thought was right.  If that man had been visible during the debates, the race would be much tighter now.

Barack did a good job too, he just didn't knock it out of the park like McCain did.  And this was all in front of a group of Manhattan Democrats.  It was nice to see a different side of both of them.

If Senator Obama does win, to me anyway, it will be a sign that the country has turned a corner.  That the years of racism and division are going to be behind us, and that we can look to a brighter future where we can all work together to become one America again.

From Russia, With Love

So those dirty commies are at it again. But I thought Ronald Reagan saved us from all that? Didn't he tell someone they needed to tear down that wall. He was sooo forceful.

I can't believe even Bush did not see this coming. Putin is so clearly KGB 2.0 that he could play a commie in a comic book. As for the "President" of Russia, well he could play a nice business executive type, in a Nancy Drew mystery. Of course when Bush heard they invaded Georgia, he probably asked if Atlanta was burning.

Barack didn't handle this too well either. He needs to get a little more forceful when it comes to something this clear cut. He is just handing the whole Georgian thing over to McBush. It's nice to look all friendly and presidential with our allies, but you gotta kick some bad-guy butt sometimes too (at least verbally).

I hope Georgia makes it back in one piece. We need their pipelines and their fossil fuels (and their ports). I'm surprised Bush hasn't at least sent some ships into the Black Sea. I'm sure they would fit through the straits and the Sea of Marmara (some of them). We need to let the Russians know that they are being watched. Their arrogance cannot go unchecked. Now is a good time to actually use some cowboy diplomacy, not when you are attacking a small nation run by a two-bit dictator.

Enough ranting, I'm sure most Americans are as fed-up as I am. We all thought we were past the cold war, and now, here it is again. What other messes can Mr. Bush bring our way in his last few months in office. When I think of what the world was like eight years ago, and what a mess it is now, I could just spit (if it wasn't so messy). Lord have mercy on the Georgians and deliver us from this fool soon.

Becoming An Obama Nation

I know we haven't really talked much about the current political situation as regards the presidential race. I was for Hillary, and I am now switching over to Obama. It is not that I ever disliked him, it's just that there is so much covert racism in the country, that he steps out of the box with that burden tied to his leg.

I did enjoy watching him overseas this past week. He went toe-to-toe with world leaders and came out looking like a rock star. Not too bad for the junior senator from Illinois. Pissed McCain off to no end. He couldn't even get six people to come together to hear him speak at a German restaurant in Columbus. It is not that he is a bad guy, it is just that the independent John McCain we all loved died when he began running for president. He had to cater to his base, and that just turned me off right there. As John Stewart put it, he has gone over to the dark side.

I came up with a great idea for an ad from MoveOn.org. They could show the past eight years worth of political and international blunders from the Bush White House, then show the future with another Republican in the White House. Then call that twelve year period the McBush presidency. Then say, don't vote for more McBush, vote for a change in leadership, vote Obama. Someone has proably already thought of this and I just haven't been paying attention. I am trying to keep up.

I see the price of gas is staying below $4 a gallon this week. At least here in southeast Michigan. I hope this continues for a while. The whole country (and the world) could use a break right now. I know that China and India subsidize the price of gasoline in their countries, so the price of oil hasn't really hit the common folk there yet. But everywhere else in the world, it is getting increasingly more difficult to live. In Europe, the price of gasoline is twice what it is here. Not that that is new, but $9 a gallon for gas makes me feel like I'm getting a bargain over here. They do pay a lot more in tax per gallon than we do, but boy-oh-boy, that's a lot of money for a gallon of gas.

We have less than 100 days until the election and I'm sure it is going to be a roller coaster ride all the way.

The State of the Nation

I just can't believe that we have come to this. $4.25 for gallon of gas, groceries and even staple items up 20%, floods and wildfires everywhere. In 2000, before we elected King George II, could any of us have imagined the world we live in today?

Yes, I know the terrorists changed a lot of our world, but it was our blunder in Iraq, our taking our eye off the ball and away from the terrorists, that has lead to some of this mess (see high oil prices, food prices). Then there is global warming, which the Bush White House has only recently acknowledged as being real, that has caused other problems. Then, what is left of our dear old Constitution, after this president promised to preserve, protect and defend it. When will we get America back?

Worst housing slump since World War II!?!? Something even my parents could never have imagined in their lifetime. We thought that America was past all this, that things could only get better. Then we put a moron in the White House, and he brought in some less than talented cronies, and here we are, almost eight years later. What a mess.

They only good news I have seen lately is the marriage thing in California, and now maybe even Mass. will allow out of state folks to marry. That sounds like a nice summer vacation, drive to Boston, get married, visit New England. Of course I could just go across the river to Windsor and get married, but I guess I prefer an American license over a Canadian one.

I hope I didn't rant too long. Some days I just wake up and cannot believe the mess we are in. I keep looking for Alice in this crazy, upside-down world.

I think this photo may illustrate how we are all feeling lately, like we've been kissed by a bus.

On Getting On

No, this is not a picture of me. Not even twenty years ago. I just wanted to get everyone's attention. I hope it worked.

I was thinking (that happens every now and then) about this whole aging thing. It hit me when I turned forty, then really hit me when I turned fifty. Now that I have had so many friends and loved ones die of cancer and other diseases, it has knocked me for a loop. These people were all around my age. I always thought they would be around forever (just like me-I hope). Now I have to go on without them. It all leaves me feeling totally confused and kind of empty inside.

I see my parents, who are both turning 83 this year, talking about having to go to so many funerals all the time. Yet, they never seem to lose their enthusiasm for tomorrow. I don't know how they can look at a news story about what may happen in the next ten years, and not think that they may not be here then. I can only hope that I will be that way when I am their age. I know that worrying about tomorrow can become a full time job for some seniors, and I don't want to be one of them. Besides, it does absolutely no good to worry about it. We all need to plan for the future, but not obsess about our own mortality.

Now if I can only live by these words, not just say them. If I can just keep singing a song from the Rent soundtrack, No Day But Today. If I can stay focused on today, just getting through, maybe I will make it to a happy retirement (260 days and counting).

Here I Am Again

Let me reintroduce myself.  It has been a while since my last post.

How to make myself sound interesting, and not bitter. That is my first goal. It is a tough job, but I think I can do it.

I am a man born in the middle of the baby boom years, looking forward to retirement and all the peace and quiet that I hope it will bring. I don't have any illusions that it will really be the golden years, but I have hopes of days spent only doing things that I like to do. What a concept.

I also want to do more with my life. I find the greatest joy and fulfillment I get is when I do something for other people. Maybe it is the strong Lutheran upbringing that makes me want to give back to society. Maybe it is being a child of the sixties. That was an era when all right-thinking men and women wanted to do nothing but make the world a better place (and maybe get high).

I don't necessarily expect to do great things, but I would like to do good things (or good works as they are sometimes called). Now I just have to decide what these good things should be. If you have any ideas for me, feel free to post them in the comments section.

I can't save the world in a day, but I can sure try to do my little bit every day. Maybe I'll volunteer at a shelter or at the Salvation Army? Maybe I will work at the local community center??? Maybe I could even work on one of the presidential campaigns? So many choices.

Maybe I can decide all this tomorrow. That sounds like my best idea yet!

 

(I had to update from black text so this could be read with the new Blogger template)

No Words of Comfort

I have been feeling better of late, not as depressed as I had been in the past. Usually winter is the worst time of the year for me, but somehow I don't feel the gloom right now.

I do feel sad, however. Sad at the loss of two members of the same family in one week. Sad at two funerals I had to attend. Sad at the loss of one so talented as Heath Ledger, gone much too soon.

As I stood in the funeral home, I kept thinking, I wish I knew what to say. What words of comfort could I possibly give to anyone who has just lost her husband and her mother, his father and his grandmother... and to all the others who loved them? It is at times like this that we are most at a loss for words. Maybe it is because we cannot even fathom all that we are seeing.

What does is mean to see that body lying in the casket? Is that the person we knew and loved? Perhaps it is just the vessel that tied them to this place, and to us? How can we reach out and help others with things we can't even comprehend ourselves?

As I sat and listened to the words the preacher had to say, I tried my best to keep my emotions in check. Tried to show a comforting face to those around me, those in mourning. In the end, I think that's all we can offer them. Our presence, there, in that time and place. Perhaps the grieving take solace in the presence of all those who knew and loved the one they lost. Take comfort in knowing that they are not alone in this, no matter how empty they may feel inside.

The circle of life is all I can see right now. I see his son standing before us, looking so much like him. I see my friend living on through him. That is all I can comprehend. That is all I know that is real and understandable.