It's Been A Tough Few Weeks

What with the six deaths we've had circulating through the news of late: 4 entertainment icons and 2 republican political careers have been captivating the talking heads. The passings of Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett were sad, but not totally unexpected. Ed being 86 and Farrah's well-publicized bout with cancer were not stunners. David Carradine's rather mysterious and sudden death and Michael Jackson's apparent cardiac arrest were, on the other hand, noteworthy if for no other reason than they came as a complete surprise. The shenanigans of Senator John Ensign and Governor Sanford, while inexplicable in this day and age, are likely the final acts for these two idiots.

I call them idiots because anyone in the public eye, which has grown ever more pervasive in the age of cell phone cameras and Twitter who thinks that they can somehow manage to pull off these amazingly stupid affairs is, in fact, an idiot. They sicken me more for their hypocrisy than anything else. Both of these men were very vocal in their disdain for other politicos who did the very same things. They both claimed a moral superiority to others, and both used taxpayer money to fund their illicit activities. Both talked of family values while ignoring their own families. Sometimes, apologies just are not enough, and this is two of those times. There should be no grace period for their unconditional resignation and the forfeiture of their pensions and other government perks. They have abused the system, their constituents, and their families. They are a disgrace to their party and to the American political system. There is no excuse and there can be no acceptance of anything less than removal from office and all that goes with it.

I cannot fathom some of the comments I have heard regarding Michael Jackson. This may be a little controversial to some, but I find the praise from the black community disingenuous and misguided. I heard one mourner state that he, "did so much for the African-American community." Really? Let's see, you want as a symbol a man who bleached his skin to nearly white, had numerous nose jobs to look less like his brothers, who stood trial twice for alleged pedophilia, who married twice to white women, and who had a worldwide nickname of "Wacko Jacko"? What, in all of that, is a positive example of being an African-American? Where is any evidence that he did anything for the black community? He may have been born black, but he spent most of his life doing everything he could to not be seen as black. I just don't get it.

Jackson was known as much for his eccentricities as his talent, and that is a legacy that will not fade. Some have said that his talent will survive longer than his antics, but I doubt that. As I watched the various news reports, as much if not more of the coverage showed clips from his last trial, the baby-dangling event, and other weirdness as it did clips from his performances. I'm not sure that anyone will ever forget that side of his life, or that those images won't flash through the mind as one listens to his music. Maybe a couple of generations down the line, but certainly no time soon. Whatever led to his demise will forever be overshadowed by his larger than life life.

Carradine was a tragic figure to me. He never could (or perhaps would) break free from his wandering Chinese character. In virtually every movie he did, he was Grasshopper at one age or another. If you watch Kill Bill, you will see the aged character that he had personified many years earlier. The events that led to his death are unknown, but it appears to the casual observer as though he may have been accidentally killed during a sexual encounter. I just hope death came after he did. Otherwise, it would be truly tragic.

Poor Ed McMahon had become a parody of himself late in life, apparently broke and broken. His death was tragic because it didn't come with dignity or soon enough. It seems as though he lived longer that he thought he would, and paid dearly in the end for it. A giant of a man reduced to a shadow of himself. Truly sad.

Farrah Fawcett...there's really not much I can say about this one. I think she actually did more at the end of her life than she ever did leading up to it. She brought to us a cautionary tale of the ravages of fame, told partially in her own illness and that of her husband's and son's illness of drug addiction. She brought an awareness that her illness can strike anyone, irrespective of status or fortune, and that no matter how beautiful you may have been, in the end you are just flesh and bone.

Question of the Day.

If they ever build a George W. Bush Presidential Library, will they supply the crayons or will we have to bring our own?

Conspiracy Theory Free Zone Declared

As of this posting, this blog will be a Conspiracy Theory Free Zone. I have decided to cease all talk of the alleged involvement of our government in facilitating or perpetrating the 9-11 tragedy. I am declaring this for two reasons.

First, we will never know the truth. It's too horrific to make public, if it's true. I am quite certain that the country would survive, and perhaps even emerge a better nation regardless of the outcome of any investigation. We are, if nothing else, a resilient people who are quite capable of handling the truth. Still, the short term effects could have an enormous and disastrous impact. Confidence in all levels of government would be shaken to the core. The entire process would be called into question, and every subsequent move the politicians made would be scrutinized much more carefully. No that that would be a bad thing, but the Men Behind the Curtain would then have to stand naked in a harsh light, and they aren't about to do that.

Moreover, though, I believe the country would be rocked by a shared feeling of grief, a collective sense of loss that the country we have been so proud to be a part of could do something this terrifying. To understand that the War on Terror was here, not "over there" and that all of those who lost their lives did so because of one administration's greed and lust for power. That pain would take much longer to heal.

However, who do we see as the better man? The one who cowers in fear of the truth? Or the one who uses a gun to rob an old lady of her social security check? No, the man we admire is the one who stands up and takes responsibility for his actions and pistol whips the cowardly crook. We regain our national self respect by peering into the dark and turning on the light. If there were an honest investigation [honest being the operative word] I think we come out it with a transparent government that truly is what it was supposed to be: A government by, of, and for the people. A government that works for and is accountable to us.

I think you can see now why we can never know the truth. That's the thing about power; Once you've had it, you really don't want to give it up. It's as addictive as heroine and twice as hard to kick. Which is why we see so many "celebrities" like athletes, entertainers, and politicians sticking around longer than their usefulness. The politicians can never allow us to tell them what to do. Otherwise, how will they be able to continue to meddle in our lives? The puppets control the show and the hamsters sit mesmerized.

Which is the second reason why there will be no more talk of this in my blog. Since it can never happen, we will all just have to believe what we want to about it. Or not think about it all. I've already made my decision on it. I doubt that I have to tell you which side of this I'm on, especially if you heard Dick Cheney admit over the past week that both of the primary reasons they gave us for going into Iraq were lies, which to me is just a few words away from an outright admission. If they had to fabricate an enemy to justify a war, then they are quite capable and devious enough to do something that would ensure our support.

But we'll likely never know. But only because we're too afraid to find out. And that's just sad.

If anyone wants to continue the discussion, please email me at potterblog09@gmail.com and I will be happy to oblige.

Office of the Depatment of Utterly Moronic Behavior

We at D.U.M.B bring you this feature which will present articles and commentary regarding the continuing efforts of the politicians, scientists, and religious leaders [the Triad of Futility] to baffle us with their brilliance. There is a nearly endless stream of material available for this feature, what with the Triad constantly having to spin something on a daily basis. We here at the Office will do our best to keep you informed on as much idiocy and mayhem as possible. Your contributions are always welcome, too.

Futility comes in many forms. There’s the kind where you’ve examined all your options and there is only one remaining conclusion, which usually sucks. There’s the Big Picture Futility, which includes the inevitability of your own demise and your relative worth in an endless universe. Then there’s the Gnat In Your Ear futility, like when a city council enacts a law.

These are those stories.

A perfect example of this occurred in Huntington Beach, CA in 2008. It seems that there had been a citizen of that fine city who happened to be a naturist. He was neither lewd nor lascivious. He was just naked. In his house or puttering around the yard, the man posed no threat to anyone. But, neighbors complained that they didn’t want little Tyler and Emily to learn about the differences between boys and girls in this particular manner. So, they called the police. Repeatedly. Finally, out of frustration at being constantly harassed, the man moved out of the city. That was in 2006. Two years later, the Chief of Police convinced the city council to enact an ordinance banning nudity. Even though there had not been another such incident, and the locals weren’t wandering around the streets in all their naked glory, the city council passed the ordinance. It was now officially illegal to do what folks hadn’t been doing in the first place.

But, they didn’t stop there. In a move that can only be described as heterosexist, thongs were exempt. The Huntington Beach city council legally codified thongs, those “garments” that are comprised of a camel toe sock attached by anal floss coupled to a top that is essentially two nipple covers on a string, as perfectly acceptable. I guess that means that assless chaps are ok, too. But I doubt it.

Guantanamo Quagmire

We have dug ourselves a hole (well, more like an abyss, really) and I see only one way climb out of it. The "it" is Guantanamo and the question is, "How do we right this wrong?"

The President last week stated, in essence, that since we don't have any laws to cover what we've done, we have to continue to hold these people until we create the laws to justify our actions. We are holding them not because of what they have done, but what they might do, and without any real reason to believe that they might do what we think they might do other than their religious beliefs or political ideology.

It's called "Preventative Incarceration" and it is illegal, immoral, and unethical. It defies logic and common sense. Where we were once the world's compass on the questions of human rights, we find ourselves as a perpetrator of the very rights violations we used to condemn others for. They have been generalized as "enemy combatants", and while some may be, some may not. They are suspects in potential future crimes, but are not necessarily guilty of anything yet other than being Muslim and/or in the wrong place at the wrong time being of the wrong color. It's Minority Report without the benefit of technological clairvoyance.

The arguments I've heard are that we must prosecute them or declare them prisoners of war. Obvioulsy, the problem with those two scenarios is that in the first case they may not have committed any crimes on our soil and in the second there's been no declaration of war. Let's go back a second: If no crime has been committed here, are they still subject to American laws? If a crime is committed against an American in, say Italy, the Italian courts and laws are applicable, and the punishment is meted out according to the standards of the country where the crime was committed. Take the caning of the kid in Singapore some years back. We were outraged that the court there would hand down that sort of sentence, but it was well within its rights to do so and the kid got the caning. Similarly, if a person from another country commits a crime here, he is subject to our laws and punishments.

Of course, that whole argument depends upon crimes that have actually occured.

The other solution is to declare them prisoners of war, which is difficult to do since there is no war for them to be prisoners of. Yes, I know, if it is looks, walks, and sounds like a duck, it's a duck. It sure looks like a war, but there has been no congressional declaration to make it official, so it's not actually a war. It's a "military action" which is in and of itself is illegal, immoral, and unethical.

So, basically what we have is a bunch of potential criminals who have yet to commit any crime who are prisoners of a non-war. Damn difficult to prosecute that in either case.

The deflective issue is whether to keep them in Cuba or move them to a supermax prison here. I say it's a deflective issue beacuse it's what the fighting is all about but that ignores the real problem which is that no matter where they are, what we have done and apparently are willing to continue to do is illegal. And we're going to "create the legal framework" as we go. The unmitigated audacity of that philosophy is mind-boggling.

One sub-deflective issue that has been thrown around is that moving them here will cost the taxpayers to house them. Uh, we already are paying to keep them in Cuba, so what's the difference?

The other sub-deflective issue is that we don't want them here beacuse of who they are (or rather, who they might be). We have an empty supermax prison which is far more suitable than the plywood and chicken wire camp in Cuba. To my way of thinking, if we want to make sure they can't escape, a concrete fortress in the middle of nowhere is preferable to a rickety old army base surrounded by an ocean in a county that already has issues with us.

So, what's the answer? I think that we need to turn the whole mess over to the World Court and let them decide the outcome and live by whatever rulings they hand down. This cannot come down to a situation of the police policing the police wherein we get to make up the rules as we go along. The questions here are too far-reaching, and the implications to dire for us to handle this alone. The American government is complicit in these illegal acts, and must be held accountable. The rest of the world will judge us, rightfully so, on what we do next. And rather than sanctimoniously create laws to cover our tracks, we need to let the World Court decide what the appropriate course should be.

Afterall, continuing to do something wrong will never make it right. And based upon the legal foundations by which this country has operated for the past 233 years, there is no "legal framework" that we can develop that will justify or codify our actions.

The Best Part of the Day

Subconscious Alternate Reality State, or what I like to call Limboland. It’s the place your brain goes when you’re falling asleep, but not quite there. You know what I’m talking about. It’s that Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds multi-colored whirlwind of disjointed thoughts and images in combinations that your conscious self can’t even comprehend. Nightly I will hear my brain say, “Where in the hell did that come from?” after some wholly unfathomable series of flotsam collides and forms a hideous glimpse into the other possibilities of who I think I am. I then ask myself how my brain talks to me, which inevitably leads into the questions of our very existence, and then it’s a pot of coffee and another night writing blogs. Even as it sometimes terrifies me, I am fascinated by this other me that resides somewhere between what I think I know about who I am and what I think I don’t know about who I might also be. Of course, I am a Gemini, so these internal conflicts are nothing new to me. I’ve been at war with myself since my first two cognitive thoughts failed to agree on which one came first. Limboland is the playground where the other me gets to come out and play. It works hard all day, humming quietly along protecting me from my flawed conscious self, then cuts loose like a frat boy on meth just when the rest of me is trying to get some sleep. But, I laugh at it much more often than I cringe from it.
It is my favorite part of the day.

Bloated? Take a dump!

Bloated? Take a Dump.

Grab the forks ‘cuz we’re done. What the government needs to understand is that the hamsters are broke. The cash cow is dead. The piggy bank is empty. We have no more to give. We are barely scraping by as it is, and no amount of political blackmail is going to change that. And by government I mean everything from school boards to the President of the United States.
On Tuesday May 19, 2009 the hamsters of the State of California sent a very clear message to the Guvernator and the legislature by rejecting six initiatives that would ultimately raise taxes and fees. The Guv was particularly keen on the passage of these shell game initiatives, going so far as to tell us that if we failed him, several thousand firefighters would be cut. This as we enter into the fire season and as Santa Barbara burned. His bluff, assuming that it was a bluff (and it better have been) could not pull any more blood out of his turnips.
By a two-thirds majority, we rejected him and his proposals. The message sent to him and the legislature, though probably lost on them, is that we want them to cut spending instead of raising taxes and fees. We want them to do this without cutting the things that our taxes are supposed to pay for, like police and fire protection, education, and most social services. These are, of course, the government’s extortion tools and they are not likely to give them up.
Except they have to. What we want them to cut are the commissions, committees, bureaus, and departments for which there is no apparent reason to exist. They are in place to provide homes for nepotism and cronyism. And there are literally hundreds of them throughout the state and federal governments. It is the fat on the steak that needs to be trimmed, not the steak itself.
What we want them to examine here is the $12 BILLION annually that California gives to programs for illegal aliens. Whatever your state spends is no less problematic. IDEA: If you want to stem the tide of illegal immigration make it less attractive. I would love to receive some of the benefits that we are providing for people who have no legal entitlement to receive them. I have nothing against people from other places as long as they legally enter and do what is required to remain in the country.
I want the government to stop printing ballots in any language other than English. If you cannot read and/or write in this country’s language, then you have no right to vote, regardless of your immigration status.
I want politicians to cease holding children hostage to get school bonds passed or to raise taxes to fund programs that we are already paying for. If the program has become too expensive but is still necessary, then cut another one or combine it with another whose budget exceeds its expenses. I am immediately suspect when a political campaign uses kids to sell itself. It’s the McDonald’s Marketing Model: Bait the kids, hook the parents.
Here’s a question: If you have a budget shortfall, how are you getting paid? If my employer has a negative balance at the bank, I’m going to lose my job. How are these people still drawing a salary when there is no money to pay them? California has a huge deficit (econ 101 lesson: deficit is bad. It means you don’t have enough income to offset your expenses) and yet our government officials, whether elected or selected, are still cashing paychecks. As one of your employers, I’m severing your pay until and unless there is enough money in the budget to employ you.
Oh, if only I could.
One other threat the government likes to employ is job losses through layoffs or terminations. Uh, memo to the idiots: When you take away people’s incomes, you TAKE AWAY THEIR ABILITY TO PAY TAXES, thereby decreasing your income and widening your deficit. Additionally, when you raise taxes on goods and services, people are more likely to stop buying the goods or using the services, which has the exact same effect. You lose income rather than create it. How did we get so stupid?
The People, aka your employer, can no longer support you. We have nothing left to give. We are tapped out. You must find other solutions to your problems. And that cannot be at the expense, once again, of those things that our tax dollars are supposed to provide. It has to be by eliminating unnecessary government entities, self-serving political appointments, and services to illegal immigrants.
If you’re bloated, take a dump. Just don’t you dare do it on us. The hamsters have enough crap to deal with already. It’s your turn at the sacrificial altar.