Pageantry
July 5th, 2015 | 
Author: It’s rich.
I’ll grant you that.
The holy indignation.
It is intrinsically rewarding.
They say the supreme court made a law. Nope. They say removing the confederate flag from government houses is a violation of the first amendment. Nope. They say it’s injection of racism into a historical context of proud heritage. Complete crap.
The irony, it burns.
I’m a little disappointed though.
The sound of their heads exploding is not quite what I imagined.
I figured it would be louder.
But it’s like grapes imploding.
Sort of gassy.
I was hoping for some fire and brimstone moral turpitude kinda shit. Maybe some kind of widespread stigmata outbreak or a gang of vampire exorcists descending on unsuspecting heathens with fire hoses gushing holy water. The crackle of burning flesh and it’s lingering perfume.
But no.
More of the same narcissistic intellectually lazy binary crap about the sanctity of the institution of marriage and the ridiculous pride of an entire region of this country that lost a war a hundred and fifty years ago for the best reason I can possibly imagine. That stupid goddamn flag represents nothing more than the enslavement, subjugation, oppression, rape and murder of an entire people.
If you’re troubled by conundrums like how is preventing the confederate flag over state houses any different than forcing bakeries to make and sell cakes to gay and lesbian couples for their weddings, stop reading my shit now and stab yourself in the eye with a fork. If you’re a redneck teabilly male experiencing any pleasure at all listening to Fuckface von Clownstick rhapsodize bigoted about Mexicans, stop reading my shit now and vigorously scrub your taint with a brick of pumice until you weep out loud.
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
The whole republican field is pathetic.
Mittens is back in I hear.
An equal and opposite reaction.
What we are seeing is act three of our first black presidency.
Act one was denial.
Act two was a more vociferous denial.
They have lost their shame and are feeling fresh. They shrugged off that brief period when it wasn’t cool to be racist. None of the republican contenders are even trying. Not one of them can get out front and call Donald Trump a prick bastard for his racist rants. There is no decency in Smallville. They just can’t risk calling Trump a racist ass clown.
Act three.
It’s not worth it.
There are no heroes on this republican bench.
None.
Every single one is the worst possible example of what they say they stand for.
Work with me here because this makes it easy. You’ve got this woman who has been around forever and has serious gravity and experience. Sure, she’s compromised but she is regal and serene. So adept she probably meets with Satan once or twice a week. And then we have Bernie Sanders. Bernie knows the devil but so far has not danced with him. He has not danced with him. He is not perfect but we can see him. There is no mystery. He is consistent.
On the other hand, you have a barn door wide open. Zealots crashing out with the worst of intentions. All of them phony salesmen of halcyon days that never actually happened. They sell Norman Rockwell but you’ll end up with Ralph Steadman or even worse, Nagel. They just want you to believe them. Everyone of them will guarantee you an afterlife whether they believe in it or not. Before that, they swear you will prosper financially. They’re not kidding about that. Just vote for them one more time.
Just one more time.
They all believe in you.
Just one more chance.
It is the fourth of July. I live in the San Fernando Valley. I cleaned the shit out of my kitchen. I stood on my balcony last night and listened to the fireworks exploding all over and tried to imagine it as the same sound all the other people hear in all the other countries where we wage war everyday.
Drinks for my friends.
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Eloquent rant as always, Sir Michael.Couldn’t agree more except the part about the fireworks. I still love them, despite real reservations about the parallels to warfare and its unspeakable atrocities. Even those damaged firsthand by war might appreciate the artistry that fireworks displays have become…
Everything I’ve read from vets talking about the fireworks is how it simply stimulates their PTSD, and is yet another occasion to be miserable. There isn’t much artistry in that.
As a southerner, I cannot wait for the last of the Confederate “heritage” symbols to go.
I witnessed “whites only” water fountains and restrooms. I started 5th grade into a newly integrated class, in what had served as the ENTIRE school for black children. I am first hand witness to “Separate, but, Equal” being not equal. I remember a cross burning on a neighbors lawn.
I am weary of the heritage bullshit. So weary.
I am coming to see that the real rogues and radicals are those that seeks to use the environment for gain, stop regulations of guns and focus the wealth to a small minority. The true conservatives are those that want to use wealth to empower the middle class, use the government to protect our environment and it’s people. A true conservative philosophy is one that emphasises the root of the word. To “conserve” resources that can be shared for the greater good. To “conserve” and protect the freedoms and right of the all citizens. The true radicals are the tea party, the Koch’s and the corporate raiders and the “fuck all the socialists” Republicans. Through strewed and calculated smear campaigns, the conversation has been painted so the true conservatives (those that beleive in regulations and socialized programs that benefit the majority) are the radical fringe that threatens America. Hillary is a true moderate Republican. Bernie Saunders is the only true “conservative” in this race. The “Republican” candidates that Douglass so elequently writes about, are in fact appealing to the radicals that seek to destroy the economy, the environment, the rights of all citizens (all races and sexual orientation) and create a government impotent to protect and empower the majority. Radicals dressed as conservatives.The “progressives” are not the radical element. There is nothing radical about protecting the earth, the people and the rights of the majority. There is nothing radical about wanting the majority to make a living wage and share in the massive wealth that our conservative system generates. These are fundementally conservative ideals.
Very well said.
It is a very sad commentary that the republican candidates for President are willing to sell their souls to get the votes of religious extremists and racists. They shouldn’t want those votes. By pandering to these people, the republicans have given them a loud voice in our government, a voice that is totally disproportionate to their actual numbers.
They should ignore these people. No, they should tell them, loud and clear, “We are not going to put up with your hate. We do not represent you. You need to change. The rest of the country has changed and now it’s your turn.”
No one is willing to say that, of course, because then all the haters will find another candidate to reinforce their beliefs. There is no integrity, no morality, no “truth, justice, and the American way” in our politics and our politicians. There is only, “Get the votes”, no matter how distasteful the people casting those votes are.
A candidate worthy of the Presidency would say, “I know you are fearful of all the changes in our country, but it’s going to be ok.” Then that candidate would be a leader, a statesman, a man worthy of being the President. Once in office, that candidate would base his policies on helping to guide people forward. It can be done. There are some that will never see the light, but their number gets smaller each day. They should be ignored. The people who may be willing to join the rest of us are the ones that need to be found. They need to be educated so they know change isn’t necessarily bad. The republicans are keeping them in the dark right now. Fear is in the dark.
This is “pie in the sky” thinking. This is what I thought was happening when President Obama was elected. I have been wrong a lot in my life, but never more so than I was about that. I’m not an optimist at all. I am practical. When I’m at work, I know what needs to be done and I do it. That’s what I thought in 2008. We know there are problems: the economy, jobs, racism, sexism, poverty, lack of opportunity. We know the problems. We know what has to be done. Why can’t we just do it?
It is so fucking ridiculous that a bunch of men set forth to do the very opposite of what we need done. For politics. For their own ambitions. For money. For hate. These are our leaders? Yeah, they are. And they have led us backwards. People today don’t know how bad things were before the Civil Rights Act. That’s why we keep hearing older people saying, “I was there when we were segregated”. “I was there when things were separate and NOT equal”. “I was there when people weren’t allowed to vote”. “I was there when…”. Fill in the blanks.
People today don’t know, and I don’t know how much they even care. They don’t know our real history. They know all the stories of courage and bravery that are celebrated on TV. They light fireworks to celebrate our independence. I wonder how many of them know what they are actually celebrating. Light a firecracker. It’s the Fourth of July. It’s a day off work. They don’t know.
Do they know the horrors of the Civil War? We were taught about the war in school, but the bloody details were kept from us. I think those details need to be taught. How many people would want to fly the confederate flag when they learn what it truly represents? How many people would want to fly that flag when they learn that hundreds of thousands of Americans killed each other in the most terrible of ways? Or when they learn about the horrors of the POW camps?
People need to know the real history. Because, as we know, those who don’t know it are doomed to repeat it. There was no glory to be celebrated in the Civil War. Maybe if people understood that they would be tearing the flags down themselves. Maybe not. Maybe we’re, “too far gone”. I’m afraid that’s just where the republicans want us to be.
Who is “Mittens?”
Mitt Romney. Were you outside the country when he was on the campaign circuit before? >;-)
Just when I think you can’t get any more AMAZING and AWESOME, here you come and prove me wrong again … Keep up the great work … and thanks for all you do …
Most of the contenders on the Right have books to sell, and money to accrue via PACs while they can. The most grasping, mincing, cynical, sorry lot. I am surprised Sister Grifter hasn’t gotten on for one last ride.
I won’t even get into that asshat, Trump. He is a national embarrassment.
Liberals. Never happy unless they are puffed up with sanctimonious, self-righteous indignation. Wave your fist, weep, wail piteously, call on Obama to save you from the evil conservative who wants a smaller Fed, less taxation, and more personal freedom.
Tell me, if you please, whom do you blame for the 70 injured and nine dead in Chicago last weekend? No confederate flags were flying, no whites fired a single shot. Strictest gun laws in the US and a die hard democrat in the Mayor’s office Who’s to blame?
Don’t tell me. Let me guess: an old, rich, white elitist who makes a fortune just by existing ? No, wait, that would be Hillary Clinton.
Must be Bush’s fault.
I want to thank you for the insipid and predictably straw man response. It begs the question, what does the chronic gun violence in Chicago have to do with an archaic symbol of oppression, hate, murder, rape and bigotry flying from a house of the people in South Carolina genius? It further begs the question, what the fuck are you talking about with the rest of this bullshit? EVERY TIME conservatives are in power, the fed expands, taxes go up on those least able to afford them, and attacks on personal freedoms multiply. CONSISTENTLY AND DEMONSTRABLY. You’re completely full of shit dude, congratulations.
Reminds me of when I first moved to the South… the culture shock.
All the confederate monuments – even in the smallest towns – of their various traitors, the museums dedicated to those soldiers rebelling against the U.S. government’s declaration of ending the atrocity of slavery, and those confederate battlefield historical markers every-damned-where (http://thomaslegion.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/fort_forrest.jpg.w180h177.jpg), most of them telling how many confederate soldiers died at that location.
WTF? You lost, remember?
Southern pride, they said. And besides, we make some great biscuits!
Pride?
Of the lower educational quality?
Of the lower salaries?
Of the rampant racism?
Of the statistics of unwed teenage mothers?
Of the ‘good ol’ boys’ network that substitutes for an actual government?
The winters do tend to be milder here, but I refuse to credit a state that has now ‘outlawed’ climate change.
They do make a damn fine biscuit, Mr. Douglass. If I find anything else they can do better, I’ll let you know.
After all, I’ve only been in these parts for 35 years. They still consider me a Damn Yankee.
You did it again. Netted out the options. I believe that Hillary is the Executive. Bernie may be Joe. Hillary knows where all the bodies are buried and what each vote she needs has a spot they need. She can get things done. I kind of think she is like Lyndon in that way. But she won’t get flummoxed into a war. Should she decide that is the best way, she will certainly send in forces. She has the potential to be very, very good. A Scorpio with squares to Leo, she will dance with the devil and then show him the door once she had her way. We could use someone who can clean up after a bunch o guys and then get things turned around her way. I think she is the one to do it.
I’ll take that drink now.