Idolatry and Invective: The President’s Power to Inspire Both

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English: In January 2009, President of the Uni...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What must it be like to have so many people put so much importance on your every decision? I am hard on the President, and will continue to be because as a citizen in a democracy it is my responsibility to be so. I have no intention of letting him get away with his pandering to plutocrats, war hawks, and those that would chip away at our civil liberties. Likewise I am grateful for the end of DADT, for his refusing to defend DOMA, and for his stated position on women’s reproductive choice. He is a politician like most others. He has his good moments, his bad moments, and some that are hard to define as one or the other. Which is why it surprises me that he is as polarizing a figure as he is.

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From Purple Mountain’s Majesty

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Looking west toward the Bitterroot Mountains o...

Looking west toward the Bitterroot Mountains over Missoula from Mount Sentinel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

When I was a kid we took two trips out west to visit family in Colorado. It was fun seeing cousins I normally wouldn’t, camping out under the stars, playing with all the WW2 era surplus army gear those cousins had. We visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Rocky Mountain National Park, The Casa Bonita in Denver (think Chuck E Cheese with a Southwest theme), and The Flying W Ranch (twice!) All of that was great, but paled in comparison to the journey itself. Continue reading →

The Other Side of the Glass

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English: A pair of high heeled shoe with 12cm ...

English: A pair of high heeled shoe with 12cm stiletto heels. Category:Shoes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The giant, posh office feels claustrophobic. Triple the normal occupancy and people bouncing off each other like balls in a lottery tumbler, chattering inanities and sipping champagne, this is not what Kendra signed on for. Top of her class she wanted to make a difference, then, unable to pay her loans on not-for-profit pay, she wanted to at least show off her skills. Instead she finds herself needing to play nice in this dog and pony show. Her years of education mean nothing, apparently, just how she looks in her little, black dress, and how sincere she can smile despite how much she despises the person she is speaking to. Continue reading →

That’s Not Water Trickling Down

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Official Portrait of President Ronald Reagan

Official Portrait of President Ronald Reagan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It has been thirty years since Americans elected a b-movie actor on the promise of economic prosperity. His plan, and by “his plan” I mean the plan of his handlers, was to sell the public on the idea that if you put more money in the hands of the wealthy it would eventually trickle down to the middle class and poor. So we embarked on a policy of reducing taxes on the wealthiest Americans, people who had already seen their taxes slowly lowered over the previous thirty years, with predictable results. Continue reading →

Optimism Hissed Through A Toothy Grin

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English: A homeless man in Paris Français : Un...

English: A homeless man in Paris Français :  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is something I read often on Facebook timelines: if you have food in your belly and a roof over your head you should be happy because you are doing better than half the world. There is so much wrong with this statement I do not know where to begin. I suppose I will start with those who post it, because it is almost always a person coming from a place of privilege who will almost certainly never have to worry about losing either of those things. Usually they get to enjoy so much more than those bare basics. Continue reading →

Fish Tank

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English: Great white shark at Isla Guadalupe, ...

English: Great white shark at Isla Guadalupe, Mexico, August 2006. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is Dale’s favorite part of the deal: the party afterward. It is not just the libations, music, and women in their best little, black dresses that he appreciates. No, all that is icing on the cake. He loves that all this celebration is happening because of him. He made this, and so many other negotiations in the past, work, and he gets to stand out of the crowd, beaming like the proverbial kid in a candy shop. Continue reading →

Heterosexism and Hypocrisy

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English: The Bisexual flag and Gay flag put to...

English: The Bisexual flag and Gay flag put together  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When the Supreme Court first started hearing arguments against California’s Proposition 8 and the ironically titled Defense of Marriage Act, I wrote that we could expect to see some vicious backlash among the homophobes of our country. They see their privilege coming to an end and that is something they cannot allow. They quake with fear at losing their sanctified place at the head of the table, of having to treat us like human beings. They rage against losing our very being as a punch line for their cruel humor and a reason to deny us basic human rights. This is why they will lash out every chance they can get to punish as many of us as they can for the sin of being ourselves. Continue reading →