Don't Get Me Started with Linda Sharp

Waking Up This Mourning

Round and round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows.

That's us.  That's the sick game we choose to continue to play with our country and the lives of those in it.  Gun Sight Roulette.

Will it be in another school?  At a much anticipated movie?  A concert where all are gathered to enjoy?  We never know, until the wheel stops, and then we do.

Last night, as many of us were getting ready for bed, or even in it already on the east coast, the wheel stopped.  This time on the sleepy town of Gilroy, famous for its yearly Garlic Festival.  In fact, it was within the fenced and secured area of the festival that it stopped.

Around 5:41PST, a gunman who had cut through the fencing to avoid security that included metal detectors and bag searches, began shooting at festival goers.  As is always the case, people initially thought it was firecrackers, some thought it was part of the band that was playing. 

Then they saw blood and began running for their lives.

This morning we wake up with a count of 3 innocent people dead, 12 injured - conditions varying from stable to critical.  And the piece of shit who did this sent to the void where he belongs.  Because the event is so heavily monitored and secured, there was a sizeable police presence on hand and they were able to stop him and his rampage in one minute.

Yet in that one minute, lives were stolen, lives were changed forever.

This is one of them.  Steven Romero, age 6.  LOOK. AT. HIM.

He is dead.  This angelic child, with his entire life ahead of him, is gone.  No more playing in the sprinkler.  No more kissing his mommy good night.  No more anticipation of buying school supplies.  No more movies, birthday parties, holidays.  No more dancing to silly music.  No first dates, no proms, no homecomings, no football games, no playing soccer, no learning to drive a car.

A month ago this precious child celebrated his birthday at Legoland - that is a picture from that happy day.  This morning his father, Alberto, sits vigil with his body. “There’s nothing I really can do besides try to be with him until I can put him in his resting spot, wherever that is. “My son had his whole life to live and he was only 6. That’s all I can say.”

Little Steven had gone to the festival with his mother and grandmother, both of them injured by the gunfire. 

Again, look at him. Sear his shining face into your soul.  He had just graduated Kindergarten two months ago and was eager for first grade to start in a couple weeks.  We own his death.   Just as we own the deaths of the 13 year old girl, and a young man in his 20s who died with Steven. 

It is time to accept that fact.  Every time a mass shooting takes place, we rend our garments, we change our profile pictures, we rant and rave and then ... NOTHING.  This year alone there have been 246 mass shootings, leaving 8,444 people dead.  It is only July.  Why do we think we will get out of 2019 alive?  And we accept that our politicians, the ones who could easily set the wheels in motion to begin implementing real gun control measures, offer us nothing but their impotent "thoughts and prayers."

News flash:  NO GOD IS GOING TO SAVE US.  All the praying in the world will not stop the next rain of bullets.  And thoughts are a piss poor shield in the face of the next automatic weapon.  If there is a god, perhaps he/she/it/they are waiting for us to do something to help ourselves.

The shooter, identified as Santino William Legan, 19, with a liking for white supremacy, misogyny, and a boatload of other heinous views, posted a picture of the festival shortly before his rampage.  What you see in it are happy people.  People tasting new things, buying new things, smiling, talking, harming no one.  This festival, around since 1979, raises money for charities and non-profit groups. 

A witness who came face to face with him asked him why he was doing this?  His answer?  "Because I'm really angry."

And really able to obtain weapons and ammo.  19 years old.  Not able to buy alcohol, but able to buy an AK-47 in Nevada.  Seriously, who the fuck are we as a nation?  Rhetorical question.  We are an absolute joke.

Yes, this time there were "good guys" (police) who stopped this "bad guy" before it could have gotten so much worse, but you know what could really stop a bad guy with a gun? 

Making sure he can't get the goddamned thing to begin with.

That's where we and our lawmakers come in - that is where we are all culpable in these deaths, and the one you may not have heard of in Brooklyn.  That one took place Saturday night at another festival, Old Timer's Day, taking place since 1963.  People were singing along with the band, enjoying the camaraderie and two men opened fire, killing one, wounding 11.  Then there are the others that took place in Chicago (9 killed, 39 wounded), Gresham (2 dead, 1 injured), Philadelphia (1 dead, 5 injured), Miami (a shooting outside a synagogue), and on and on... just this weekend.  Think about where you were, what you were doing, how exposed you were, how it could have been you, your child.

We act like there is literally nothing we can do but wait to see if the roulette wheel stops on our town, our grocery store, our movie theater, on US.  I am so done with being a pawn in a gamble I did not agree to.  I am not a chip laid down on the table.  My children are not coins put in the slot machine.  I am a human being, like little Steven, who deserves to be able to navigate my life, run errands, enjoy a concert, see the new Lion King without having to worry about if this is the day.

We all deserve so much more than that, but all continually settle for so much less.  Instead of storming the castle where the lawmakers hide, we accept watching them take lobbying dollars in the continued game of roulette.  Yesterday I wrote of Puerto Rico, how the streets filled for days on end as they demanded their demonstrably awful governor step down.  They wanted change, they demanded change, and they did relent until they got it.  He will be gone August 2.  That's an ISLAND.  Think of what we could do here.

And before someone gets their ass in a knot and starts clutching their beloved weapon like some effed up metal teddy bear, STOP.  I am not talking about taking all the guns away from people.  But if you truly are a responsible gun owner, then act like one and admit our laws and control measures are far too lax.

I was so hopeful last year when the children truly did lead us, shame us for our inaction.  The students of Parkland galvanized 1.2 million people who donated time, money, presence to attend the March For Our Lives in DC.  It was breathtaking and showed what is truly possible if we band together, refuse to be ignored, refuse to be pawns in the game our legislators carelessly play with our lives.  They are gambling addicts, addicted to the money from gun lobbyists, beholden to the millions funneled through the NRA. 

If you think for one second that you and your six year old actually matter to them?  That your town cannot be the next "I never thought it would happen HERE."?  Well, at this point you are an idiot, a rube, a willing participant.

Steven Romero was not.  He was a six year old child on the cusp of everything. And he now joins the other six year olds from Newtown who will never be more than a memory.  We cannot let more children, more mothers, fathers, grandmothers, friends, coworkers simply fade to black.  We must move past this new shock to fiery rage, an anger so palpable that our legislators fear us more than they love money, and not let that rage die down until we see the changes that must take place.

Round and round and round it goes...

It is long past time for Gun Sight Roulette to be pulled from the casino floor.

 

 

There Is No Bottom Till We Make One

Pearl clutching.  In the face of this Trump era which began when he first started trading in birtherism (still waiting for his Hawaii investigators and what they have found!), to when he rode his corpulent ass down the Trump Tower escalator to today when he tweets like a broken gumball machine - we have raised it to an artform.

Our WHAT?!?!? faces are in almost constant adornment.  Forget resting bitch face, we have resting shock face.

And each time, we swear he has hit bottom.  That his supporters will have hit their saturation point with his foulness.  That his GOP sycophants will have finally drawn their own line in the sand.  That eyes will finally be opened, they will see their emperor for the naked abomination he is.  And each time, we reach for our pearls, watch, wait, and come away incredulous.

JUST STOP.

There is no bottom with him, his acolytes, or the legislators who choose power over country.  No matter how low he goes, he will simply find a bigger backhoe and keep digging because no one is going to stop him.

Yes, when he called Mexicans rapists, that should have been it.

When he ridiculed John McCain's POW status, that should have shut him down, put him out.

When he mocked a disabled reporter, the revulsion towards him should have been sweeping.

When he fought with a Gold Star family, condemnation should have swift, lasting, and non-partisan.

When he embraced Putin and Kim Jong Un, disparaging our own nation in the process, it should have been over.

When he referred to countries with predominantly brown populaces as "shitholes", that should have earned him lasting rebuke, censure.

When he began calling the press "the enemy of the people", putting them in intentional danger, he should have been stopped.

When he encouraged the chant of "Send her back", the outcry should have put him on complete and total notice.

And yesterday when he attacked Congressman Elijah Cummings, a man whose legacy will shine long after everything Trump has covered in gold spray paint has crumbled; when he referred to Baltimore with the racist laden verbiage of "infested" - it truly should have been a last straw.

Yet here we are 24 hours later, and not a single Republican has rebuked him.  And his MAGA hatted dullard squad has taken to social media attacking both Baltimore and Cummings.  Like the frog in the pot of water, he has slowly, degree by degree, raised the temperature of his racism, his foulness, his attacks - his slackjawed followers unaware as the water around them, around this country has pushed towards the boil.

So stop reaching for your pearls.  It accomplishes nothing.  Knowing we are better gets us nowhere.  Reassuring our friends who are under attack does not stop the attacks.  And asking "Have you no sense of decency?" is rhetorical. He doesn't.  The GOP doesn't.  And his followers had none to begin with, they just felt unsafe allowing their hate to bloom in the sun.

Yesterday's Twitter attacks were vile.  Let's leave off the obvious line that can be drawn from Cummings going after Ivanka Trump's use of private email accounts for official business, and Kushner's Baltimore slumlord problems with nearly 200 violations.  Forget that it was Rep Cummings who said on TV this past week, "I’m begging the American people to pay attention to what is going on. Because if you want to have a democracy intact for your children and your children’s children and generations yet unborn, we have got to guard this moment."

Let's just look at the tweets.

Anytime he uses words like shithole or infested, he is referring to black and brown people.  And what he is doing is what despots like him have done through the ages, he is using language meant to dehumanize, desensitize, demean, write off.  This is not coincidence.  This is not an oops.  This is intentional, because this is who he is - an ignorant racist throwing rancid meat to his equally ignorant racist base.

If you don't understand or feel the import, the weight, the hit?  Enjoy your privilege, but open your goddamned eyes.  This hurt my heart yesterday.

“Donald Trump has tweeted more than 43,000 times. He’s insulted thousands of people… but when he tweets about infestation, it’s about black and brown people.” pic.twitter.com/PPVvL9VlUU

— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) July 27, 2019

Josh Campbell, a strong, intelligent, wise black man, fighting back tears on national television as his heart found its breaking point. He has lived a life of pain, discrimination, and prejudice that I, with my privileged white skin, cannot begin to fathom, but I can feel.  I can see.  I can hear.  His words, every passionate one, so very true. 

Every place in this country has its challenges, its poverty, its good areas and bad areas.  Hell, the highest rates of poverty happen to be in the reddest states, where Trump toadies are in charge of things.  States like Mississippi, Kentucky, Arizona, Georgia, Alabama.

So what about Mitch McConnell's Kentucky - home to the thickest part of the "White Ghetto" of Appalachia?  Drugs, crimes, extreme poverty - where's the attention, derision, and criticism, Donald?  Why would anyone want to live there?  Looks like the potential for rats - you know, infestations?  Oh, wait - sorry, my bad - WHITE people live there so it's not their fault, much less Mitch's.

How about Marco Rubio and that humid haven of Florida?  Their homeless population and poverty rates are legend, yet after scrolling through Dotard's timeline, I just cannot find him lambasting Rick Scott, Rubio, et al for why anyone would want to live there with drug cartels, tent cities, and well, let's be honest, the always white Florida Man.

I can pull picture after picture of truly horrid living conditions, crime, poverty, drug abuse, despair from city after city run by or represented in DC by GOPers.  There is no end to the hideous conditions endured by folks everywhere, yet somehow Trump doesn't focus his ire on them or their white leaders.

Curious.

Baltimore, like any place in this country, has its good and its bad.  There are people in that city, like in every other city simply trying to make it, to get by.  Some make good choices, some make bad choices, some are strangled by their circumstances, but keep trying.  Some take advantage and turn to crime.  Some pull their communities together and try to effect change.  Like every other place on the map.

Yet Baltimore is "infested".  Baltimore is in Trump's gun sights.  Baltimore because there are lots of black people there, and one of their elected leaders is a man named Elijah Cummings who is a threat to Trump's criminal existence.

Infested.

It's actually rich when you know that the restaurant at Trump Tower literally is infested with live mice.  That the White House is overrun with rats, mice, cockroaches - and I am not talking abut Kellyanne or Miller.

The Baltimore Sun came out fast and hot with an editorial that ended with these words: We would tell the most dishonest man to ever occupy the Oval Office, the mocker of war heroes, the gleeful grabber of women’s private parts, the serial bankrupter of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are “good people” among murderous neo-Nazis that he’s still not fooling most Americans into believing he’s even slightly competent in his current post. Or that he possesses a scintilla of integrity. Better to have some vermin living in your neighborhood than to be one.

If you still support him through all of this, congratulations, you ARE him.  If you get a tad uncomfortable with his tweets, his attacks, his racism, yet you stay?  You ARE him.  If you, yourself, are drowning in poverty yet you cheer as he targets people you hate?  You ARE him.  And you are fucking stupid to boot.  Your orange MESSiah actually finds people like you disgusting.  Your poverty, your clothes, your crooked teeth, your booger faced children, your dirt encrusted fingernails, your bulbous ass, your beer gut, your single wide, your everything.  DISGUSTING.  You are simply useful for now. Useful to keep him in power.  Useful to insulate him from what should be consequences of his behavior.  Useful to stroke his ego in arenas as you chant like the vacant eyed cult members you are.  You are not patriotic.  You are not decent.  You are not holy or Christian.  You are not lovers of this country.  You are foul.  You are the personification of hate.  You are immoral and ugly to your very core.  You are degenerates.  You are simply the shit that keeps this outhouse in business.

And to be very blunt, no matter how much better our hearts, our souls, our shock, and our humanity make us?  Our inaction speaks loudly and poorly of us, too.  We just watched as the US territory of Puerto Rico (citizens of this country since 1917) poured into the streets, finally moved to action by the corruption, criminality, bigotry, and hate espoused by their governor. In the face of his arrogance, ignorance, and air of untouchability, they made it clear that his days, his rhetoric, that HE would no longer be tolerated.  He will be gone August 2nd.

Trump's days should be equally numbered.  His attacks are escalating and personal, not just to Rep. Cummings, but to every black person in this country.  To every brown person.  To every LGBTQIA person.  To every person not identifying as a Christian.  To every person with a beating heart who understands that skin color is simply a cudgel used by racists to try to elevate themselves.  To every person who stares at the Oval and bemoans that this behavior is beneath the dignity of the office.

Sorry, but dignity left that office January 20, 2017.  What entered was a human backhoe.  A backhoe intent on digging deeper and deeper, opening up veins of putrid racism,  finding pools of seeping bigotry, widening cracks oozing white hot rage, hate, and danger - never reaching a bottom.

Because with reprobates like Trump, there simply is no bottom until we throw away the pearls, are galvanized by the shock and anger, and band together to create one.

Puerto Rico just showed us how.

Sartre Was Right, Hell Is Other People

While working out last week, I found Ferris Bueller's Day Off on one of my streaming subscriptions.  Aside from being a welcome throw back to my late teens, it is full of eminently quotable lines and lessons, even 33 years on.

Long before Robin Williams enlightened a group of prep school boys, Ferris was the King of Carpe Diem.  Yet while his joie de vivre and dedication to seizing the day was legendary, what rang most with me last week was this line:  Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

These days that line especially applies to our news.  So many stories, so many twists, so many revelations, so many true "breaking news" stories that would normally demand at least a full news cycle, literally fade within a day as a newer, shinier story replaces it.  One can easily be forgiven for important news falling through the cracks based on headline fatigue or "blink and you miss it."

This past week, drowned in the wake of the Mueller Report hearings that, in the absence of a big dance number, left most news outlets focusing on being bored and droning on "Mueller... Mueller...Mueller...?" (all apologies to Ferris), there were some serious boundaries being overstepped and reported on that should have left the populace outraged.

His name is Francisco Erwin Galicia, age 18.  He is a natural born citizen of this country - Dallas, Texas - , and a high school student in Edinburgh, Texas (just north of the now infamous border town of McAllen.  On June 27th, he was driving with his younger brother and three friends to Ranger College in North Texas for a soccer showcase.  Both brothers are defenders on their high school team and were hoping to show well enough to garner college attention towards planning their futures.

And to anyone scoffing at that?  It's not pipe dreamy.  I lost count of the number of college showcases Toby attended.  That is how recruiting typically starts.  You contact coaches at the schools in which you are interested, invite them to come watch you play at a showcase, and it goes from there.

On their drive north, about 50 miles from home, they were stopped at an CBP checkpoint and asked to verify their statuses.  Marlon, the younger brother and two of the friends could not and were taken into custody.  Francisco, however, immediately presented his Texas ID, Social Security card, and a wallet size form of his birth certificate.

Let's just pause on that part for a moment.  How many of you travel with your SS card or any form of your birth certificate?  Yeah, Me neither.  But then I have this sweet cloaking device called white skin.

Despite his documents, he, too, was taken into CBP custody, held at the checkpoint for a day, and then transferred to a holding facility in Pearsall where he would begin three weeks of detention.  Marlon and the friends were transferred there as well.  As it turns out, Marlon, 17 and undocumented, decided to voluntarily be deported so that he could call their mother and alert her to what had happened.

That's right, when detained and placed in the holding facility, Francisco assumed they would be allowed to call someone.  “I told them we had rights and asked to make a phone call. But they told us, ‘You don’t have rights to anything’.” 

Motherfuckers.  So you detain, incarcerate, and refuse them any contact with the outside world.  Great plan.  Just disappear them off the face of the earth.  Who's to miss them?  Surely, brown people have no feelings, no connections, no families that love them, would miss them.  Bastards.

Marlon - A MINOR - is now in the dangerous border city of Reynosa with his grandmother.

While Francisco's mother now knew that he was in custody somewhere, she heard nothing from him for weeks and weeks.  Mothers, put yourselves in that position.  You send your child off with love and well wishes for his soccer success and he just disappears.  Despite being a provable citizen - POOF - sucked into an intentionally dark immigration vortex.

For almost three weeks, Francisco was not allowed to bathe, brush his teeth, denied any communication with family or an attorney, and was crammed into a cell with 60 other men.  No where to sleep, and nutrition so inadequate he lost 26 pounds.  At one point, he became so desperate that he contemplated voluntarily self deporting to Mexico just to escape the torturous conditions.

And yes, all along, from beginning to end, he continued to explain he was a citizen.

Think about that, too.  Good old crafty Ferris might have stood his ground, but Cameron would have crumpled and been living in Tijuana overnight.  Francisco's strength is humbling.

It was not until his mother, Sanjuana, found an attorney, that she had any contact with him.  It had been 23 days.  Once his attorney, Claudia Galan, found the media spotlight to turn to his case - the Dallas Morning News - and the subsequent national attention it briefly garnered (again, paling in comparison to the impending Mueller hearings) was he finally released and reunited with his mom.

I repeat - ONE DAY AFTER THE SPOTLIGHT TURNED ON - he was released.  It should not  take media attention to get these shitheels to do the right thing.  But then, cockroaches don't like lights turned on them.

The one small glitch that should have been sorted out IMMEDIATELY was an old visa his mother had obtained for him as a tiny child when she worried about trying to obtain a passport for him to travel back and forth between the states and relatives in Mexico.  For that, yes, she lied on the form and stated he was born in Mexico. 

Again, an easily explained and ruled out piece of paper.  But no one listened to him.  Despite carrying multiple forms of ID and citizenship, they simply did not want to believe him because he is brown.

Yes, bigots, brown citizens DO exist.  Just like Muslim citizens, black citizens, Asian citizens, orange citizens named Melania - this great land of ours truly is a melting pot of many flavors, not just some white cheddar pot of 70s fondue.

Francisco is now suing the CBP and ICE.  Good.

Especially in light of the bullshit they tried to throw down this past Thursday.  In a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing this week, Brian Hastings, Chief of Law Enforcement at the U.S. Border Patrol, had the temerity to claim that at no time did Francisco claim he was a citizen.

Riiiiiiiiight, Brian.  This kid, wasting away, filthy, afraid, and actually smart enough to know his rights and carry his documents, never said a word about being born here. Sorry, Bubba, but we're not as stupid as you and your ilk obviously are.

This is the kind of abusive crap that continues to happen because we have ignorant thugs running ICE and CBP. 

Back in March, a 9 year old girl was held for 30 hours at a San Ysidro checkpoint.  Julia Isabel Amparo Medina crosses the border daily with her brother, as they live in Tijuana, but go to school in San Ysidro (as do thousands of US citizens who opt to live in Mexico and commute).  SHE IS A US CITIZEN. She always presents her passport.  As the line was long and they did not want to be late to school, they hopped out of the car they were in and got in the pedestrian line.  She presented her passport as did her brother.   He was eventually allowed to pass, although they tried to accuse him of smuggling drugs and sex trafficking, but guards kidnapped her for 30 hours.  A NINE YEAR OLD CHILD.

Alone, petrified, they threatened her, lied to her.  They accused her of lying about her identity, saying that her passport photo did not look like her.  “I was scared," Julia said. “I was sad because I didn’t have my mom or my brother. I was completely by myself.”

THIRTY HOURS. Look at your 9 year old citizen and imagine that scenario.  If you cannot feel in your bones how traumatizing that would be for him/her; if you cannot feel it in your gut how frightened you would be for them?  Well, more's the pity for your children because you don't have a fucking heart to begin with.

These were citizens.  With proper identification.  Now imagine what happens to those who don't carry their passport or birth certificate with them.  Hell, I don't.  Do you? Unless I am traveling, my passport stays in a drawer at home.  But then, there we are, back at that whole white cloaking device.  I imagine if you're white and have a MAGA hat on your disgusting head you get a CBP job offer.

These things are happening in our name.  Under our flag. 

Yesterday, in another hearing, Congressman Ted Lieu forced CBP officers to watch video of children who had been separated from their parents at the border finally being reunited.  It is gutwrenching.  Watch.

‘Do you know any 3-year-olds that are criminal or national security threats?’ — Rep. @tedlieu had Border Patrol officials watch powerful footage of what the separation policy is doing to real families pic.twitter.com/iEwXe4g7el

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) July 26, 2019

Brian Hastings, again in the hot seat, was asked by Lieu if he considered a three year old a national security threat to the United States?  His repeated, slimy answer?  This crew cut cocksplat answered, I DON'T KNOW.

These tiny children are being kidnapped, irreparable harm is done to them, they are finally released to their parents and are so emotionally traumatized they cannot connect, and no one is being held responsible.  Again, if your heart did not break watching this, you don't have one.  Turn in your human card and GTFO.

In his 1943 play, No Exit, Sartre wrote the oft quoted line, "Hell is other people."  While many take it to mean that what we do to one another is hell, and that is not wrong, we ARE other people's hell - just look at the border.  But a deeper look at the context and words around that sentence reveal he meant that in the end, Hell is other people SEEING us, who we are, what we do, what we have done.  No fire, no pitchforks, no lava lakes.  Just each other, watching.

We have been watching as Hell has been created and perpetrated by this demonic administration in which cruelty is the point.  A hell in which Trump sanctions it all, takes glee in it.  Ferris taught Cameron carpe diem, but Trump has taught his minions carpe brown person.  Seize them, kidnap them, demoralize them, torture them, abuse them, inflict emotional terror that cannot be undone in a young developing brain.  We have created a Hell. And it's not enough that we watch as innocent immigrants are thrown into a black hole with no hope - we now watch helpless as innocent citizens like Francisco and Julia get thrown into it.  As three year olds are not even afforded a simple, logical, "No, they are not a terrorist threat."

We are their hell.

But the world is watching, and that is OUR hell.  The world sees us.  Our inaction.  They see who we are, what we are doing.  And they are judging.  They are disgusted.  They are sickened.  And like all those being tortured in our name, they will not forget.  Ever.

Sartre was right, Hell IS other people.  I ask you - feel the flames yet?

Bueller?  Bueller?  Bueller?

I'll Take "She's Racist" For $200, Alex

They are everywhere.  I suppose we have always known this.  It's not like racism died in this country - no one with a brain ever thought that - it was simply pushed further into its sewery lair by society.

But when Trump oozed down his faux gold escalator, beginning what has been a nonstop litany of racial slurs, targeting, discrimination, and horrific Tweets - the sewer grate was pushed aside as racists everywhere vomited forth, yearning to spew their hatred, ignorance, and vile thoughts like human manure spreaders.

Daily we see these disgusting creatures further emboldened by Trump, caught yet again on someone's cell phone camera, calling 911 on people walking or standing while black, berating someone speaking Spanish in the grocery store, hurling their Tangerine Taint's new favorite "Go back where yo came from" at anyone with skin darker than their own.

It is sickening.  It is painful to watch, and I cannot imagine being the one directly in the line of these cretins' verbal fire.

The latest example of emboldened racism comes to us from Raleigh, North Carolina, courtesy of this gem, Nancy Goodman.  And of course she's a gem, a sparkly little diamond even.  After all, she's WHITE.  She must be better, purer, more worthy of consideration, right?

Well, at least in her world. 

Sorry, Granny Goodman, I have four words for you - YOU ARE HOT GARBAGE.

Last night, at the Bonefish Grill, Chanda Stewart, Lakesha Shaw, and another pal were enjoying dinner and their friendship.  Talking, laughing, having a good time.  Seems innocent enough, right?

Wait, not so fast!  Sheriff Nancy was on the case to shut them down for revelry while black.  Nancy took it upon herself to tell them they were rude and too loud.

"We’ve had people come to our table and say, 'Hey, you girls look like you’re having fun. We want to join you,' but never to come to my table and tell me I’m rude," said LaKesha.

Ms Shaw, I totally get it.  When I am out with friends or family, we routinely have people come by and comment exactly like that.  Waiters and waitresses joke about wanting to join us.  Total strangers buy us drinks.  We are fun, funny, and yes, upon occasion, stray into a decibel we need to pull back from immediately.

As the encounter appeared to be escalating, Chanda pulled out her cell phone to begin recording.

In the video, she tells Nancy, "We're paying for our food just like everyone else, and she told us that we are the rudest people."

Nancy, pulled out her camera and said "I've got real good friends who are black, and I love them."

Um, Nancy, no one said anything about color.  Until YOU DID.

Poor Nancy, realizing she had stepped in a pile of shit of her own making, then spat, "Why are you so stupid <insert racists' favorite N word>?"

Nancy then oozed out of the restaurant.

As for the ladies?  Sadly, although they know by now they shouldn't be, they are still shocked by the encounter.

"[I'm] still trying to wrap my head around it all," Stewart said. "It’s disheartening, it is. But this is the society that we’re living in right now."

"I don’t care how you feel like we should have been acting," Shaw said. "If I was standing on the table with three heads in a purple jumpsuit, nothing justifies you to come to my table and call me a stupid (racial slur)."

THIS.

Every goddamned word.

Nancy could have spoken to a manager.  Nancy could have politely asked them to be quieter.  Nancy could have just kept her gob shut and left.  But no, Nancy, emboldened by the Racist In Chief, went straight for the emotional jugular.

When the local news caught up with her at home, was she remorseful, had she reflected on her own behavior and feeling bad about what she had said?  Did she wish she could face the women and take it back?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

"I’m not going to say I’m sorry to them because they kept pushing at it," she said. "I would say it again to them. They are the rudest individuals I have ever seen."

I WOULD SAY IT AGAIN.  And THEY are the rudest individuals?  Hypocrite, party of one, your table is ready.

"I have many black friends, and I have never encountered three people that ugly in a bar," she said. "I wish those women well, and maybe there’s a lesson learned for them, too, that you don’t disrespect an elderly person."

Whoa, Nancy.  Back your scooter the fuck up.

Having black friends is the oldest racist defense in the book, and they are not your get out of jail free card when you act out.  Your age does not grant you some magical immunity.  Not having died yet is not some contest in which the prize is getting to hurl slurs at anyone in your path.  And it sure as shit does not acquit you from the consequences of your own actions.

Nancy, again not apologizing to the women, took to her Facebook page to apologize to her friends and family because the news had tracked her down and she was going to be outed as the racist garbage bin she is.  THAT is what she is sorry about.  Not about hurting other human beings.  She is just another racist who got caught being what she is.  She is only ashamed she got caught.

Racism is vile.  It just is.  The notion that your skin color makes you better?  I will never understand that if I live to be a thousand.  My skin is pale because I am the product of two other pale people who f**ked.  Nothing more glorious than that.  And again, I am sickened seeing it in action.  Watching others take glee in emotionally stabbing someone?  So ugly, so wrong.  But as these creatures keep outing themselves, I hope they continue to be caught on tape and have their disgusting faces shared everywhere.  It won't change them or the dumpster fire (Trumpster fire?) of their souls, but it may begin pushing them back into the sewer from which they crawled as they realize not even Trump can save them from wearing a scarlet R in their communities.  As they say, sunlight is a great disinfectant.  Plus, it lets us know who around us needs avoided like a plague infested rat.

As for Mrs. Goodman?  Here's a thought, Nancy - if you don't want to be all over social media, think twice and speak once, maybe sometimes don't speak at all.  Your whiteness is not some cloaking device that protects you from being filmed.  Your age obviously doesn't grant you wisdom enough to keep your piehole shut.  And your choice of slur pretty much insures your ugly ass will be spread around like butter on a hot Paula Dean biscuit.

What happened was YOUR choice.  You started it.  You ramped it up (and do not hide behind your anxiety - countless people deal with anxiety and are not racist assholes).  And you called them the N word.  And doubling down on the word on TV?  Well, you're just not too smart, are you? Enjoy your notoriety though.  You've earned it.

Oh, and as they say in your neck of the woods, Bless your heart.

Yesterday Was NOT American Idol

I watched both hearings yesterday.  I have read the Mueller Report.  My expectations going in were not for bombshell revelations, not for me, at least.  But then that's what happens when YOU HAVE READ THE REPORT.  You already know the extent of the depravity, subterfuge, and complete disdain for our rule of law practiced by Trump and his minions.  And that's just in the unredacted part.

No, my expectations had more to do with my fellow citizens who might deign to tune in and receive a Cliff's Notes version of main events. 

And that is exactly what was offered.  Yes and no answers.  Passages from the actual report being read into the record for the public, and for the confirmation from Bob Mueller that they were accurate.

As I was watching, one thing kept nagging at me - although this was the height of REALITY TV, as this shit actually happened, it clearly was not going to be flashy enough for our hooked-on-adrenaline populace.

There were no zombies (Although the sycophantic bootlickers come close).  There were no Real Housewives with pathetic catchphrases (Although, Who needs truth when you have power and Chardonnay? would be a good one).  People weren't naked (but we should be very afraid).  No one was hooking up on Love Island (despite the copious Trump asskissing in plain view).  A million dollars and a recording contract were not on the line (one could, however, clearly see who was auditioning for a bigger role in Trump's Playhouse).  Howie Mandel did not have a bevy of beauties with suitcases (hell, Jim Jordan couldn't even be bothered with a jacket again).   There were no dragons breathing fire (Pssst, GOP - screaming at a witness does not make you look like Drogon.  More like Hodor.  All apologies to Hodor.).  No one using the word "cocksucker" as a noun, a verb, an adjective - all in the same sentence. (Kudos to both sides for not going that far.) No rose ceremony or human soup in a hot tub. (There was alphabet soup as words with no meaning poured forth from maws like Nunes and Gaetz.)

Word Vomit GIF from Wordvomit GIFs

You know, all the things it takes to keep our interest, make us watch, invest in the outcome.

And that is just so very sad.

Instead of focusing on the plainly stated facts of obstruction and Russian interference in our elections which is active and ongoing; instead of paying attention to the measured, quiet, non flashy, non partisan tone of Mueller; instead of coming away incensed at what has been done to this country - the takeaway was "Meh.  He looked tired, confused."

JFC, are we really that addicted to scripted drama that real life is too boring for us to process?

Robert Mueller is a veteran, a Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient.  He has served this country for decades, and he has served it well and honorably.  He is 74 years old, of course he looks tired.  He doesn't spray tan, loop his hair into some cotton candy farce, or have a plastic surgeon on retainer.  He is dignified, thoughtful, knows his business, understands discretion, and was not there to sing a song and hope you called in a vote for him.

I am disgusted by the "He looked weak, couldn't hear" lines.  If you actually watch these hearings, the person at the desk fielding questions ALWAYS has trouble hearing from the assembly in front of them.  There are ALWAYS requests to have a question repeated.  And the person at the desk ALWAYS looks around trying to find who is speaking to them this time.  Because there are MANY and they do not go down some methodical line.

He had the two volumes of the report beside him for reference.  And he did reference them often to make sure he was being accurate and not led. He did not agree with something that was unclear or slanted.  He was not lured into offering his opinions, as his opinions are not germane.  He refused to speak to ongoing investigations, offer details on deliberations that rely on confidentiality because he understands what is at stake not just in this, but in every case that may go forward from here.

As for his age?  You suddenly hold Mueller to some arbitrary standard, when you literally see a mumbling, stumbling, illiterate orange dullard on TV daily and that's cool because he talks like you, thinks like you, entertains you?

But then, that's the whole crux of this response to Mueller's appearance yesterday.  He did not titillate, he did not make shit up, he was not contentious, he did not pepper his word salad with "great" bigly" yuge" or point his finger and squawk FAKE NEWS!  ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!

And that criticism applies to the left, not just the right.  There were just as many on the left decrying how boring it was (it was a Congressional hearing, not the Kardashians), how awful Mueller looked (again, he is 74, for Christ's sake), that he couldn't hear (my mother is in her 70s, wears a hearing aid, and is still sharp as a tack), that he seemed confused (point of fact, he only seemed "confused" in the face of the shit laden monologues of GOPers that had no real question anywhere in them).

It is disappointing.  It was not up to Mueller to make it flashy, catchy, mesmerizing - make you give a damn.  The facts of this case are flashy enough on their own, and you should give a damn.  They should be appalling to every citizen.  And every citizen should find them irrefutably damning to the scourge in the White House.

But go ahead, keep looking the other way.  Run your mouth about how Mueller was disappointing TV.  You know, the things that really matter.

Because at this rate, you are likely to get your wish for much more exciting television drama as Russia affects yet another election and you get to watch a new series called Dancing With The Czars.

Mueller Hearings: The GOP Is A 4chan Board

As were millions of eyes this morning, in the states and abroad, mine were up bright and early to watch the 6+ hours of questions and answers as Robert Mueller finally vocalized for the public.  The 400+ page report, 22 months in the investigation and making, ready to be provided to a populace who would rather see the movie than read the book.

My God we are dumb and lazy.  I do not excuse any side of the aisle in that descriptor.  The report is long. But because the report is long and no one has a magic wand or a game of Quiddich on the line, precious few have actually invested their time and energy in reading it.

I have found that inexcusable for months.  The details uncovered in the investigation clearly lay out the multiple and repeated attempts by the Outhouse-In-Chief to obstruct justice.  It details the attempts by his cohorts, cronies, and children to align themselves with Russia - forget the part that they all are as inept as Boris and Natasha in a Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon.  The point is the attempts were made.

Republicans have not read it.  Why would they?  They get their talking points from FOX News and Mitch McConnell, not from facts, data, and the FBI.  They live to parrot the "NO OBSTRUCTION! NO COLLUSION! tweets of Trump.  And as recently as yesterday, FBI Director Christopher Wray himself admitted to not having read it.  What the actual...?

I mean, I get it.  Why threaten the pollution up on Bullshit Mountain by plugging in a fan of clarity?  Cognitive dissonance is not something of which they are fond.  Having them face hard truths that collide with what they want to believe is painful for them.

Which is the operative word for what watching GOPers address Robert Mueller this morning absolutely was.  Painful.  And embarrassing. 

Painful because what we watched was the destruction of what has been their playbook for years.  The old saying which Jonathan Swift originally penned as “Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it.”  - subsequently attributable to Mark Twain with the funnier “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

For years now the Republicans have enjoyed the absolute silence of Robert Mueller and his team.  In the absence of leaks, briefings, and interviews, they were free to weave a narrative all their own.  FAKE NEWS!  WITCH HUNT!  NO COLLUSION!  NO OBSTRUCTION!  And when the report was given to Barr, Barr wrote his own summation of 448 pages that had little to do with the reality contained inside.  That was strategic as well - they know Trump's base are Trumper bumper sticker thinkers, that they were never going to download the report, much less buy a copy at Barnes and Noble.  So they have spent every day since the end of May when the report was released, concocting their own version, filling their base with lies, and circling the wagons so that no one can get near them with the truth.

And you know what?  You don't have to like the findings.  They can make you really angry.  Whatever.  But that does not make them NOT real.  You ignoring them?  That makes you a complete traitor to this country you proclaim to hold so dear.  It says that everything this country is supposed to stand FOR, you stand AGAINST.

But today, there Robert Mueller was to finally put paid to their fairy tales, obfuscation, and outright bullshit on behalf of Trump.  Today the truth had its shoes on and was ready to Usain Bolt their asses around the track.

Right out of the gate, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, asked the questions that left zero to interpretation:

NADLER: Director Mueller, the president has repeatedly claimed your report found there was no obstruction and completely and totally exonerated him. That is not what your report said, is it?

MUELLER: Correct, not what the report said.

NADLER: You wrote, “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are not able to reach that judgment.” Does that say there was no obstruction?

MUELLER: No.

NADLER: Your investigation found “multiple acts by the present that were capable of asserting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian interference and obstruction investigations.” Is that correct?

MUELLER: Correct.

NADLER: Can you explain what that finding means so the American people can understand?

MUELLER: The finding indicates that the president was not exonerated for the act he allegedly committed.

NADLER: In fact, you were talking about incidents in which the president sought to use this official power outside of usual channels to exert undue influence over your investigations. Is that right?

MUELLER: Correct.

That's it - right out of the gate - the two most cherished lies, the two deadest horses Trump keeps beating, were shown to be boldfaced lies by the 10,000+ Liar In Chief.

None of that stopped the Republicans, however, which is sad.  Once upon a time, party affiliation had to do with actual difference in policy, not bootlicking idolatry.  Once upon a time Republicans cared about what happened, not just about who made it happen.  And today made it crystal clear that they are willing to look past anything and everything to cling to the corpulent power teats of Trump.

Every GOPer who asked a question - wait, scratch that, "question" is being really generous.  What they did was offer up a five minute mashup of names they hate, scenarios they wish were true, and outright lies and hurl them, loudly, like an ALL CAPS 4chan comment board.  Mueller sat there throughout, and when given a chance to speak, had to ask what the question even was to begin with.

Jim Jordan, who is still convinced not wearing a jacket makes him some kind of tough guy cool, smirked, scowled, and demeaned Robert Mueller for refusing to answer certain questions because they pertain to ongoing investigations or reference confidential deliberations and information. If ever a throat needed a punch...

Then there was everyone's favorite drunk driver, Matt Gaetz.  Dripping condescension, refusing to hear the answers or explanation, just determined to put his Q Anon game piece on the board. 

Louie Gohmert Pyle made everyone's favorite Marine grunt look like a Mensa candidate as he blew his bare top.  His line was to weave a Grimm Fairy Tale of Trump as a lover of justice who was victim of mean people who "hated him."

And on and on it went.  Democrat question, Republican rant, Democrat question, Republican hissy fit - it was a tennis match between Serena Williams and squirrel shit in a blender.

And I just kept shaking my head.  I know the tactic.  I have two brothers, MAGAts both with whom I no longer have any connection, who truly believe that the louder they are, the redder they turn, the more they shout - the righter they are.  Well, I guess a part of that is correct, they are righter.

This afternoon in front of the Intelligence Committee was marginally better, yes, I will actually choke out that compliment to those GOPers.  At least they didn't beat their chests and throw their feces across the room.  It began with Chairman Adam Schiff, who laid down an opening for the ages.  I will provide both the video and a link to the transcript.  I urge you to watch and listen.

Devin Nunes, whose legacy will be that of a thin skinned little pissant who sued a make believe cow and his make believe mom on Twitter, used his opening to essentially hold up a skull and perform his own version of Hamlet.  He lamented this "hoax", this "witchhunt", moaned that this was the Dems "last gasp".  Yet as the minutes wore down and it came back to him for final comments, poor GOP Yorick had died, and Devin had literally nothing left to say, yielding his minutes back to Schiff.

This will indeed be a Tale of Two Hearings - not because there were two, but because there will be two versions splattered across the pundit-sphere.  The right will denigrate Mueller, a man whose Bronze Star boots they are not worthy to polish.  They will say he was evasive, tired, partisan.  Then there will be the left that points out what really showed throughout - Mueller was not ranting, he did not come with an agenda, when he answered, he answered forcefully, thoughtfully.  He refused to speculate, he would not speak out of his purview.  He would not violate investigations that are ongoing.  He would not corrupt the process, the integrity of it, or allow the people involved to be badmouthed.

That last one is important because try as the right might this morning, Mueller would not allow his people's work ethic, or his own to be tarnished.  One after another, Republicans tried to paint his team as highly partisan - laughable as Mueller himself is a Republican; they tried to point to some of them having donated to Hillary's campaign as evidence that the whole thing was a sham - as if Republicans on the team who donated to Trump were somehow sacrosanct.  In the end, Mueller shot them all down.

"We strove to hire those individuals that could do the job. I've been in this business for almost 25 years, and in those 25 years, I have not had occasion once to ask somebody about their political affiliation. It is not done. What I care about is the capability of the individual to do the job and do the job quickly and seriously and with integrity," Mr. Mueller said.

Sadly, lost in all the ranty, overtly obsequious, ALL CAPS SHOUTY tirades on which GOPers launched themselves, only one showed any concern at all for the conclusion that not only did Russia interfere with our 2016 election, but that they are still interfering "as we sit here."

Only one. The same number of lifeboats that held crew brave enough to turn around and save people in the Titanic sinking.

Because it is not in their best interests to have uncorrupted elections, just as it is not in their best interests to have districts that have not been gerrymandered like some topographical origami. 

I was a child when Nixon and Watergate went down.  But I know all about it.  About the corruption, the lying, the obstruction, yes.  But what I have always been most struck by are the Republicans, how they, when presented with incontrovertible evidence, cared not about protecting the criminal President, but about protecting the body politic, the integrity of our highest offices, protecting the Constitution they had sworn to serve. 

They were true patriots, true citizens, true believers in this country, her ideals, and the preservation of this grand experiment called America.

What we have now is a party that is the living embodiment of hate and ignorance. They have open disdain for science and the rule of law. They embrace conspiracy theories and those that disseminate them.

They are a 4chan board of losers, who if they had not lucked into their positions would be in their moms' basements making misspelled memes, attacking everyone with ALL CAPS, and shouting at her for more Pizza Rolls.

Today the truth laced up its shoes and started running.  By this afternoon, the lies had already been lapped several times. The truth is going to win this race. 

Hungering For Understanding

There is a very ugly stripe that runs through human beings, one especially prevalent these days.  If something isn't MY reality, then it isn't reality at all.  So why care?

It is born of privilege.  And we all have some varietal of it.  Some of us enjoy a meritage of all different kinds of privilege.

Privilege that you are not black so you don't worry about a simple traffic stop.

Privilege that you are not gay so discrimination is not a worry.

Privilege that you are not brown so you don't worry about being apprehended in an ICE raid.

Privilege that you are not trans so you don't think a thing of going to the bathroom in public.

Privilege that you did not bring your children to this country so why care at all about the ones in cages.

Privilege because you are not on food stamps, so why care about 3 million people on the verge of being thrown off.

I could go on and on.  As the saying goes, Not my circus, not my monkeys.

It's wrong headed, it's hardhearted.  And at some point, your circus is going to be targeted and your monkeys are going to be involved and you will be looking around for someone to care, to sympathize, to empathize.

The latest example of this mindset came across my desk this morning.  A set of dishes being sold by Macy's.

At first glance what do you see?  Nice, clean, simple plates with rings and words.  I won't even fault you for thinking, "Oh, cute. HA HA HA."

That would have been me not so many years ago.  But then, I had a small ass, a thin waist, believed all it took was Chew less, Move more!  So, HA HA HA - cute plates!

Gradually, however, my eyes were opened, my brain was enlightened.  I watched a dear friend starve herself yet still gain weight.  A lot of weight.  Her self control was not the problem, as so many who saw her would openly castigate.  Her body was out of control all on its own and needed surgical intervention for the tumors on her pituitary.  I listened to her, I learned from her.  I watched as my daughter, pursuing her Bachelor's in Psychology began focusing on eating disorders.   I listened to her, I absorbed the facts, the data, the research she shared.  And my cavalier, privileged attitude began adjusting.

Just because it wasn't my reality, didn't make it NOT reality.

The plates are problematic.  We live in a society where we literally put a higher premium on physicality than we do on humanity.  It drives all of our advertising.  It saturates the big screen.  We raise children who believe their worth is translated by their jeans size.  That being softer makes them less deserving of consideration, respect, opportunity.  Approximately 30 million people, OF ALL AGES, in the USA suffer from an eating disorder.  (Children, men, women, 13% of women over 50, 16% of transgender college students, 6% of minority men and women, 10% of military members, and on and on.)  That means roughly 10% of our population at any given time is battling disordered eating on some level.  And every 62 minutes, someone in this country dies because of it.

That is why the plates are ill conceived.

I asked my daughter, Kendall Sharp, now a grad student at Harvard, working towards her Master's in Public Health and ultimately her doctorate specializing in eating disorders, to weigh in (no pun intended). 

"These plates perpetuate the diet culture that is rampant in our society. Some mom is going to buy these plates because they think that it's funny, but it could have a real negative impact on anyone who comes into their kitchen. This is not just a "funny" set of plates, it is an example of the constant messaging surrounding thinness and dieting that heavily contribute to disordered eating and exercise behaviors."

She's not wrong.  I, myself, battled an eating disorder as a teenager.  Refusing to eat, demanding my body get smaller.  This went on right in front of my parents, yet they saw nothing, until the day I passed out.  I battled again after my third child was born, eating little, exercising compulsively, getting as low as 93 pounds.  I look at those plates and think of how bringing them into my home as a teen or seeing them as an adult would have done nothing but reinforce what was already tumbling through my brain.  That I would have literally used the rings on the plate to gauge how much I was eating, rate my success.

The plates were called out on Twitter by Alie Ward, a correspondent for CBS’s Innovation Nation and who has written for LA Weekly and The LA Times.  In her tweet she tagged Macy's and asked How can I get these plates from @Macys banned in all 50 states.

What poured forth was predictable.  40,000 likes, 5,000 comments.  So many people who immediately saw how the dishware was insensitive, problematic, and contributing to our culture where thin is in.  But for every person who got it, there were the equally predictable ones who chimed in with "Lighten up!" "How about this. Just don’t buy it?"  "That's funny. Does nobody have a sense of humor anymore?" and "Imagine being offended by this".

Basically, this is not my problem, so it's not a problem.

It was when star of The Good Place, Jameela Jamil, a champion of body positivity and someone who had an eating disorder as a teen, chimed in, retweeting and amplifying Alie's original and tagging Macy's with "F**k these plates, f**k these plates to hell" did something happen.

Now, Alie never dreamed this would be the response from Macy's but is thrilled to see that someone at the company got it, someone at Macy's immediately understood they had been tone deaf, and decided to do something about it.

And that's important. Because it does take a village.  A village in which we actually care about issues that may not affect us personally, but are real and affect others.  A village in which we seek to help, not harm.  A village in which being a dick is off the table and understanding fills the plate.

We all know someone who struggles.  We may be the one who struggles.  It may be our child, our spouse, our sibling, a co-worker.  With 10% of the population suffering, it would be naive to think we don't interact with someone every single day who is mired in an eating disorder - genetics, environmental factors, and personality traits all are factors that contribute.  And just because you have never had one does not mean you won't at some point.

Care.  Care about the world around you, about the people in it.  Care about those who don't look like you, don't come from where you come from.  Care because that is what decent people do.  Care because you don't have to hurt to know what it means to hurt.

Because if that point comes, if you find yourself targeted and afraid, if you begin to spiral and feel helpless, hopeless, when your circus and your monkeys are in peril, it sure would be nice to know that a buffet of empathy, understanding, support, and kindness are waiting from which to fill your plate.

Where Is Your Humanity?

Two weeks ago, reports began coming out of Yuma regarding a detention facility there.  As so much of the concentration-camps-at-the-border news had been focused on the Texas-Mexico border, it was a revelation to many to hear about another state involved in the horrific treatment of those they caged.

The news?  More children, more hunger, more filth, more neglect, more sexual abuse.

And then, like all the other reports, and the Epstein pedophilia revelations, it faded into the ever expanding black hole of the Trump racist tweet scandal-rally chant news.  I give them this much - they do know how to throw a good distraction, and we are always stupid enough to follow the next shiny thing.

Last night, however, more reports began emerging from Yuma.  And if you are not sickened; if you are not feeling pain in your heart; if you are the least bit bored with the stories, I have to ask:  Where is your humanity?

Highlighted was a 17 year old boy named Abner who had been held for 11 days late May to early June.

Before I go further, I want to say to anyone who immediately equates a 17 year old with brown skin as sinister, an MS-13 member, a drug mule, or a rapist - STOP.  Pull your head out of your goddamned ass, and look around you.  Millions of 17 year old boys - gangly, uncertain, hungry all the time, scared of the future yet trying hard to front bravado.  Maybe you have one in your own home.  Maybe you are an aunt or uncle.  Maybe one cuts your grass each week.

Abner, just like your 17 year old, is a human being.  The difference being yours won the birth lottery and was born here.  Abner was born in Guatemala.  He fled the extreme poverty and danger - and despite his treatment here, his thoughts are with his four sisters still in Guatemala who he would desperately love to rescue.

When he was taken into custody, he was thrown into a holding cell with far too many other boys of all ages.  Cramped, the stench inescapable.  In fact, for the first FORTY EIGHT HOURS, he was standing and awake as there was simply no space to lie down.  He finally began trying to sleep on a pile of garbage in the corner.  He was, like all these children, freezing.

"I had to stay almost two days like this, standing. I didn't sleep. And they didn't treat me well because I would ask for at least food or water or something to cover myself with and they would deny it."

Pause.  Put yourself in those conditions.  Actually, screw that.  Put YOUR CHILD in those conditions.  Heart hurting yet?  Anger rising at the thought of your precious cherub being treated thusly?

He was subjected to cruel taunts by guards, watched as they punched another 16 year old boy in the stomach.  This was always the response to innocent questions like "What time is it?" (He had no idea if it were day or night as the lights were always on.) and requests for food.

In the cell were smaller boys - 8, 9, 10 year olds - that the older boys took to protecting, caring for.  They let the smaller boys sleep on the floor, giving them the space, choosing to stand themselves.  When the little ones cried because of hunger, they would give them their food.

Angry yet?  Remember, we're playing make believe and the 8 year old covered in filth, freezing on a concrete floor, and relying on the generosity of older boys to stave off hunger IS YOUR CHILD.

Drinking water was available by cupping their filthy hands together under the faucet in their cell and using them as a cup. 

Makes you all warm inside to think about your little Chad or Brendon, hands covered in dirt, grime, excrement, weeks of filth and no soap, using their hands to try to stay hydrated, huh?  You'd be ok with that, right?

Let's get back to hunger.  A 17 year old boy?  An eating machine.  Abner and these children were fed minimally twice a day - roughly around 10am, then again around 5pm - that's it.  I don't give a shit how cool you think you are for jumping on the Intermittent Fasting Train in the burbs, these children are hungry.  Abner details that they decided to give their food to the smaller children because they figured they did not understand what was happening to them, and at least the older boys could handle the pangs better.

Boy, those MS-13 fellows are brutal, huh?  Caring for smaller kids, giving up some of the only food they see each 24 hours.

When he was finally processed on to Health and Human Services (a fucking joke of a title if ever there was one) - he was still detained, but able to kick a soccer ball around and make some friends.  Abner finally was reunited with his father in Chicago and is waiting to hear from his lawyer as to the next steps that will happen to him.  He would love to be granted asylum, but the emotional dye has been cast.  He is scared.  He will never forget what he endured.

Which is the case for all of these people being caged like animals.  They are treated worse than animals.  They are mocked, they are neglected, they are sexually assaulted, they are subjected to torture (sleep deprivation, hunger, dehydration, cruel treatment by guards) - all for the crime of trying to escape the realities of where they were born.  Realities we, as we meander the aisles of WalMart - carts and asses overflowing with Cheetos, Pepsi, Pop Tarts, buffalo wings, beer, ice cream, and privilege - will never begin to comprehend.

But I know, I know - there you go kneejerking the whole "Well, they shouldn't have brought their kids here" as defense for how they are being stolen by us and mistreated.

New flash, Bubba - being born here does not make us better.  It makes us lucky. That's it, that's all.  In terms of global horrors endured by countless people, this is called being born on third base.  I don't care if you live in a mansion or a single wide with a chemical toilet - you still have it better than these people.  They are trying to escape monstrous poverty.  They are trying to protect their daughters from being raped daily.  They are trying to protect their sons from being kidnapped and ending up in gangs and dead.  They are trying daily to escape the realities of dying.

In terms of immigration law and the varying views on it, it is fine to differ in how you think the borders should be handled.  We can debate all day whether crossing illegally should be more or less than the misdemeanor it is.  We can wax crapsodic till the cows come home about our divergent thoughts on the millions already here.  And those arguments are valid.  We should have those debates.  Because we don't have solid answers, plans, goals.

But what we should not differ on is how we treat those who come here.  And that is where the fork in the Humanity Road divides us.

There are those of us who see these conditions, read these stories, see the pictures of dead bodies in the Rio Grande, of children freezing and alone in cages - and our hearts physically hurt.  Calling us bleeding heart liberals is fine with us.  That means we see the humanity in people, we see ourselves in other people no matter their skin color, their accent, their country of origin.  Yes, my heart bleeds for all of these people.  I am proud to be a human being who knows they are no different than me; proud to be a human being who can easily envision my own children subjected to this treatment and know how it would feel;  proud to be a human being who is angrier than I have ever been to be represented by a government of fascists, bigots racists - all who are tickled at their power to treat other humans like garbage.

Then there are people like YOU.  If blood actually runs through your veins, it is cold indeed.  You are devoid of compassion.  You make sick jokes about the desperate and the dead.  You take joy in seeing cages of brown people, dirty, hungry, desperate.  You feel glee as these stories come out.  And you LOVE that your government reflects what is inside you - hate, greed, racism, sadism.

You profess to be followers of Jesus, but would cage him in a heartbeat were he to show up today.  And here's a thought.  You always preach about Him coming back, right?  You all seem to yearn for it.  What if He already has?  What if He is in one of those cages right now?  Hungry, hurting, filthy, demoralized? 

What's that?  Doesn't fit your narrative?

How convenient.

Whether He is here now or not, you are being judged.  Your cruelty, your complete disconnect from the Bible you hold so dear.  Your pathetic joy at "doing to the least of these" - hunger, fear, pain, discrimination, marginalization - yet you blow off the last part of "You did to me." 

Again, you can disagree with them coming here, but were you a true believer, a follower of the Word, a decent human being - you would be standing shoulder to shoulder with the rest of us - horrified at what is being done in your name.

Where is your humanity?

Rhetorical question, we all know you sold it for a cheap red hat and the chance to worship an orange outhouse who allows your black soul to shine.  Good luck with that. 

Because right now,  a scared 17 year old immigrant has shown more compassion, more decency, more kindness, more understanding of sacrificing and helping others than all of you rolled together.

Gives Demon Seed A New Meaning

I am not a fan of organized religion - anyone who has been around this blog for a while knows this. 

I am not about group think, and my personality is simply not cut out to be a supplicant to another human who claims to have God on speed dial.   I have been in it, and I ran from it.  I don't want it, I don't need it.  I live my life decently, helping others, caring, showing compassion because it feels right.  Not because I fear some man made story dispensed from a pulpit by someone always tagging a plea for more money onto the sermon.

That being said, I realize many people will not do without it in their lives.  To the end it provides community, a sense of peace, true support - go for it.  But when it seeks to oppress, brainwash, practice misogyny, bigotry, hate?  GTFO.  Handing the reins of your own agency over to someone who instills fear, foments phobias of all ilk, berates anyone who dares to question their divine doctrine? Not going to happen. 

I don't revere someone just because they are called Reverend.  I have no reason to immediately exalt someone monikered Pastor.  I do not automatically venerate some virgin Priest.  And DGMS on the ones who stand at the pulpit of an old sports arena, decked out in Saville Row's best, lights bouncing off their Patek Philippe whilst they preach about how much money they need to "serve the Lord".

Far too many are simply con men and women who realized how easy it is to milk the rubes through religion.  And they have been around FOREVER.  I see them, I see through them.  I do not need their version of pay to play orthodoxy.  Walking away from organized religion at the age of 18 was the best thing I have ever done for myself.  It freed my mind, my heart, my soul to live as a fully formed human being, thinking my own thoughts, communing with the divine on my own time, questioning everything, and truly seeing the humanity in people who are different from me.

Which makes it much easier to read stories like this and call absolute bullshit on the perpetrators.  It also saddens me to know how many people are so fearful of these mere mortals that they will do anything they are told because they believe the lie that the preacher holds the keys to their salvation.

Meet Rev. Dr. William Weaver, a pastor for 40 years at Linden Presbyterian Church in New Jersey.  Billy likes dick.  Which is fine. I do, too.  Difference being, I don't wear a collar, and lie, cheat, and threaten to get it.

William is facing a lawsuit now as parishioners who came to him for private counseling have come forward detailing his "treatment."

Instead of providing an ear, guidance, solace, and support, good old Bill would make them disrobe, lay down, place an "angel coin" (whatever the hell that is) on their foreheads, then proceed to suck the demons out of them through their semen.

That's right, forget the Exorcist and pea soup.  His exorcisms were spewing a whole other kind of demon seed.

One of the men in the lawsuit states William “lifted my head up and looked into my eyes, and said, ‘You don’t have to be afraid any more, I’m your protector now’.” Then for good measure, he kissed the man on the mouth.  You know, how all good, faithful, righteous religious leaders do in their private offices.

Once people began coming forward, church authorities began investigating and found “multiple acts of idolatry and sexual misconduct”.  Oh, and the investigation found his computer riddled with gay porn. 

Which. Is. Fine.

What is not fine is the hypocrisy and the abuse of power. 

Bill is a closeted, self loathing gay man who used his power and office and the fear of God he could put into people to indulge his own completely natural human urges on trusting, confused, frightened parishioners.  Which is sad because, while not all Presbyterian branches are open minded, in 2018 the governing body voted to affirm its stance that all are welcome.  They openly lamented "the ways that the policies and actions of the PC(USA) have caused gifted, faithful, LGBTQIA+ Christians to leave the Presbyterian church so that they could find a more welcoming place to serve, as they have been gifted and called by the Spirit.”

A church trial (oh, please) was set to start on January 25th.  Billy decided to leave the Presbytery the day before, moving into a gated community and renouncing the church's jurisdickion, sorry, jurisdiction, over him.  Kind of like abusive, rapey Catholic priests getting away with their crimes because their crimes are not taken to any real authority.

Based on that, the victims of his semen sermons went to secular authorities (read: police) and banded together to file a lawsuit.

This is the kind of thing that happens far too often within the walls of the "holy".  William is a criminal, an opportunist, a sexual grifter trading salvation for titillation.  And like pedophile priests he needs held accountable to the laws of society, not the fairy tales of the men in charge.

You know, you may be sitting here reading and vehemently shaking your head because YOUR church is not like this.  YOUR church is SO different.  And maybe yours is.  Maybe you have decent human beings as the figure heads.  Maybe no hate speech is preached from the pulpit.  Maybe you are not guilted into tithing when you cannot put food on your own table. Maybe you leave each service feeling uplifted, inspired, eyes open to the equality of all, the beauty of all. 

But if you have been reading this and find yourself feeling uncomfortable, you need to ask yourself WHY.  Ask yourself what you are willing to abdicate because your robed man or woman tells you to.  Ask yourself if what you hear preached sometimes rubs against your conscience, yet you stay anyway.  Ask yourself how much sway (read: fear) governs your daily life, especially your church life.

I have challenged people before to walk away from organized religion for one year.  Leave it behind.  Just go live.  As the decent person you are.  No doctrines being constantly preached at you.  No carrot of heaven, no threat of hell hanging over you.  Talk to God whenever you want.  Use the money you normally give your church to research local charities that have demonstrable need and demonstrable impact.  Make your own decisions, choices, meet new people, tear down the walls your religion may have built in your brain, in your heart.  Find out who you are without having to be told "who you are".

You do not need it.  And I suspect the notion of finding that out frightens people a lot.  You have it within you to make good decisions, not cheat on your spouse, not steal, lie, murder.  You know right from wrong.  Hate from love.  Fear from engagement.  That is all built into you already.  Decency is not something handed out only by a select few as you sit in a service.

No god sanctioned these people to have dominion over you.  They sanctioned themselves.  They are human beings, warts and all, not special conduits to the hereafter.  They are no better than you, no more holy than you, no more enlightened than you.

And far too many of them have realized they love the sounds of their own voices, the pressures they can bring to bear, the perks of the passed basket, and the near mystical reverence given them by those over who they hold immense influence.

Because when a preacher can make you believe he needs a new Gulfstream; when a minister can make you believe that an orange man who embodies the seven deadly sins is sent from above; when a pastor convinces you he is sucking the devil out your penis? 

You have sold your own soul to a con artist, a swindler, a hustler, a cheat.  And I do believe Jesus had very definite feelings about those people.

Rancid Food For Thought

The school lunchroom.  We all have memories of mystery meat, grey hamburgers, and feeling a reason to live when the calendar showed PIZZA - that rectangular wonder of the plastic tray.

We all also have memories of watching classmates worry about having enough money to buy even the most basic items offered, or hoping their account still had funds left in it because they were hungry.  Perhaps you were one of those children.

Even as a young child, I understood what I was seeing.  The fear, the embarrassment, the desperate looks as classmates would indulge in lunchboxes laden with sandwiches, Twinkies, a thermos full of Kool Aid.  The pained expressions as they just took a seat and drank milk slowly because a tiny carton was all they could afford.  I routinely shared what I had in my Holly Hobby padded lunchbox, even taking to sneaking extra food in at home for them.

I was 8 years old and those memories stay with me to this day.

It was not their fault.  They had zero control over their parents' finances.  Yet they paid the price in hunger pangs, mocking, and an inability to focus throughout the day. 

Fast forward 45 years and nothing has changed.  My own kids saw this dynamic play out during their school years.  In college they knew kids who showed up for any campus event simply because there might be free food.  Studies have shown that a full 20% of students at a four year college are food insecure.  Community college students?  A full 25%.

Younger children stats are equally heartbreaking - 1 in 6 children in this country live with hunger daily.  A full 12 million children - 17.9% - are in food insecure homes.  In the summer that number shoots up to 6 out of 7 children endure hunger because the free or reduced price school lunch they may receive vaporizes.  And before anyone starts with the oh-so-compassionate "Well, their parents shouldn't have had them." or "Well, their parents should get an extra job." - STOP.  Children cannot eat bootstraps.  And they sure as hell did not ask to be born (yet you demanded they were, you proud pro-lifer, you.)

While there are some children who are caught in homes where their parent or parents are irresponsible and neglectful, that is the exception, not the rule of poverty.  Most of these children DO have parents who kill themselves in two or three jobs to try to provide even the most basic of needs - a roof over their head, a couple pieces of clothing, and some food.  Those parents often going without themselves in order that their child receive a little bit more to eat.

As for the whole "They shouldn't have had the kids" mindset?  One, that fetus you screamed about being born is here and needs cared for, and two, who the hell are you to judge?  This notion so firmly rooted in the black souls and vile maws of people who think nothing bad can ever befall them.  How about you, with your three kids, two cars, and McMansion in the burbs?  What happens to you when you lose your job, cannot find another, and suddenly are selling a car, moving to an apartment, and having to wear sunglasses into your community food bank so no one sees you.  It happens.  Should we scoff at you, say you shouldn't have had those three kids?

NO.

More and more we see stories make national headlines when schools threaten their students and parents because of struggling to pay a lunch bill.  We see strangers step up and anonymously pay off an entire school district's roster of delinquent payments because there are decent souls who understand all of this - especially the part where IT IS NOT THE CHILD'S FAULT.

The most recent story to come up this past week, however, is about the ugliest tactic yet employed by a school district.

In Pennsylvania, the Wyoming West School District has sent letters to parents threatening their children will be removed from their homes.

"Your child has been sent to school every day without money and without breakfast and/or lunch. This is a failure to provide your child with proper nutrition and you can be sent to Dependency Court for neglecting your child's right to food," the July 9 letter reads.  "Please remit payment as soon as possible to avoid being reported to the proper authorities."

What in the actual hell?

Yes, the school district currently has roughly $20,000 in delinquent payments.  Which to be honest, spread out over the number of schools it oversees, breaks down to far smaller numbers.  But threatening a parent with having their child removed to foster care because they have $75.25 outstanding?

The letters were signed by Joseph Muth, director of federal programs for the Wyoming Valley West School District, an obviously stellar human being.

The callousness, the recklessness, the abject cruelty involved here is unforgivable.  This is the equivalent of feeding the already hungry parents a bowl of emotional ebola.

These are their children.  As if the parents don't already suffer enough struggling to take care of them, to have school authorities threaten to tear apart their families?  Look, many families may not have the resources of a lot of us, but they they do not exist in some emotionless vacuum.  They love their children as passionately as do I.  They lose sleep worrying about their children.  They are proud of their children, want the best for them, and are willing to do anything to protect them.  Flat out stating that they are bad parents, worthy of being reported to CPS to have them taken from them because of a small lunch balance?  Inexcusable.

They live with enough fear without insensitive pricks piling on.

Those who actually understand this and work within the system have been very vocal in their condemnations.

"Foster care is to be utilized only when absolutely needed — when a child has been abused, is in need or has suffered a tragedy," said Luzerne County Manager David Petri. "Our foster care system is NOT to be utilized to scare parents into paying school lunch bills."

And Joanne Van Saun, Luzerne County Children and Youth Services Executive Director, stated, "It’s a total misrepresentation, a gross misrepresentation of what our agency does.  It’s just not true. We do not remove children from families for unpaid bills."

After being publicly outed for this heinous act, the school district has planned to send a "softer" letter out to those parents.  Softer, huh?  What?  Just going to threaten them with their children being tarred and feathered out on the playground?  Put in stocks out by the school flagpole? 

This kind of crap is why hunger remains such an embarrassing thing for so many.  Because those with full bellies who never lay head to pillow with a growling stomach or worrying about how they will feed their children in the morning, have zero idea or interest in understanding the plight of those who do.

It reeks of privilege.  Anytime you carelessly write off the concerns or treatment of someone, it is because it does not touch you, so it must not be a real thing.  Not trans?  Why should you care about bathroom safety for THEM?  Not black?  Why let you heart beat faster when you get pulled over for speeding?  Not hungry?  Why concern yourself with the fact that so many are?  They are obviously doing something wrong to deserve to be hungry.

Quite frankly, school lunches should be free.  If we can constantly build new football cathedrals for high school students, we can certainly provide a hot meal for the kids.  To hell with Friday Night Lights.  How about Fare Over Football?  It all comes down to what people with privilege view as important for the tax dollars they have to spend.

I have no doubt that someone will again step forward to pay the $20,000.  And that will be wonderful.  But it will not fix the problem that 1 in 6 children go to school hungry every single day. 

Just some rancid food for thought as you sit down to your Sunday brunch and bottomless mimosa.

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It truly does take a village.  You may not be able to afford $20,000 to wipe a slate clean, but consider donating what you can to No Kid Hungry

In a country as prosperous as ours, 1 in 6 is shameful.