The Free World

First, the set up.

Driving to work today my car radio locked itself on the AM band (don’t get me started, I am getting a new one next month). And I got to listen to this blow hole talk about how great America is, how we are the leaders of the free world and how we have so many rights and freedoms in this country, that if people don’t like it they can just leave. The blowhole in his next segment went on to talk about the dangers of a black President, said that their fried chicken and watermelon would ruin the White House and that they would never get the smell out, this blow hole also talked of the dangers of allowing the homosexual agenda to be pushed upon us, we are endangering our marriages and our children if we believe that the homosexual agenda is harmless, yet we are the leader of the free world.

Now, for my soapbox

Citizenship in America is not easy, to quote a movie, America is advanced citizenship and you have to want it. When is America going to get it, free speech is about more than being able to stand up and say whatever you desire, free speech is the ability to acknowledge someone is standing in the middle of room advocating at the top of their lungs what you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours, that is the freedom of speech. Freedom is taken for granted in this country; freedom is taken to mean freedom for those who agree with you, a moral standard, and a belief system shoved down everyone’s throats, while we pretend to have a freedom of religion. What happened to the ability to change the channel if you find something offense, why do we need it regulated, censored, or banned, pick up the remote and change the damn channel, it isn’t that hard. Moreover, what exactly is it about that homosexual agenda that scares the hell out of you, why you are so insecure in your beliefs, and in your marriage that you think the two boys in a loving relationship down the block will ruin it for you is beyond me, and if you can figure that out, well then you are a smarter person than I am. Let ask our allies such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, or the Czech Republic, Hungary, Uruguay, Slovenia, Spain, and Norway how they feel about same sex unions, those countries all have some form of legalized same sex union, and none of them have been stricken from the face of the earth, married couples did not cease to love each other or be married because two people of the same sex are also in a committed union together. America professing to be the leader of the free world is a crock of shit. Before we can profess ourselves to be the leaders of the free world we need to establish what freedom is, not a one sided “I am free to inflict my views upon you”, but an open debate, an open world where two people can stand openly in a room and profess their beliefs openly, and have the person standing next to them respect their right to be able to do it, that is freedom. Let us see that taught in classrooms, defend that, then we can stand up and sing about being the land of the free. The problem with so many people in our society, especially our leader is not that they do not get it, but that they can’t sell it. We have many issues facing our society, a failing economy, a falling foreign policy, a failed war, and what we need are serious people who get it to take charge and work together to solve the problems facing our nation. Most politicians are not the least bit interested in what our problems really are, they are interested in making you afraid of it, and telling you who is to blame for it, that is how elections are won. Senator Obama was right when he talked about apathetic voters who cling to their guns and bibles because that’s all they feel they have. Republicans have gotten really good at that game, you don’t need to debate issues, you just need to talk about family, values, character, and scare people that the other side is coming to take that away next. We have real problems facing this country and it is time for serious people to step up and help pull this country back up, and for blow holes like the moron on the morning radio, it’s past time that your fifteen minutes are up.

Thank you and good night.

The political reality

As I watch the current race for the Whitehouse, I find myself, shocked, appalled, and even disgusted by what is going on, even as a major in political studies, I am finding this current situation to be stupid. When is America and American voters going to get their heads out of their asses and pay attention? When can we have a campaign that is about issues, ideas, policy, not about the petty bullshit that a tabloid media and the intellectually lacking people who thrive on it push down our throats? Senator Clinton is still in the Democratic race for the nomination, despite trailing in money, pledged delegates, popular vote, and loosing super delegates by the day, and no mathematically possibly way to catch up. Her claim is that she, not Senator Obama can win in November, well Senator Clinton after the hatchet job you, your husband, and your daughter (who yes, you have pimped out on the campaign trail) have done, no wonder he is going to have a tough fight in November. Senator Clinton has had the nerve to say shame on Barrack Obama, well senator, SHAME ON YOU. You have made this race not about issues, but about Race, Gender, who can where a flag pin and call themselves a patriot, and who can sell out their friends the quickest. Do I agree with what Senator Obama’s former pastor has said, NO, I do not, but I also don’t think that you can judge Obama based upon it. I have friends who are racist, I have friends who have done some really stupid and wrong things, but they are still my friends, they know I do not always approve of what they say or do, and I most certainly do not always think the way they do. This race has accused Senator Obama of being a Muslim because of his name, hinting he may be a terrorist agent trying to infiltrate the government. Others will not even listen because he is black. Well people, NONE OF IT FUCKING MATTERS. It’s not about if your black or white, male or female, Christian or Muslim, Wealthy or Poor, what matters is what the next person to hold the Presidential Office will do to fix what has gone so terribly wrong over the last 8 years, what they next President will do to ensure a safe future. Everyone seems to want to know that, but it’s not the policy speeches that get attention, it’s not the ideas that get debates, it’s the tabloid garbage that is discussed around the water cooler so to speak. Senator Obama was correct when he spoke of American voters. People have become apathetic , and they cling to whatever they can that makes them feel safe and comfortable, guns, religion, “family values”, whatever it may be, and anything that comes along and challenges that apathetic security blanket is attacked, no attention is paid that the grass may be greener on the other side, and that the world could be a better place, we have all become to disinterested to care, to scared to dare to find out. Hopefully, some day we can have campaigns that focus on issues, and not what a candidate had for breakfast, or what an old friend of relative did, but unfortunately that day is not today, and by November millions upon millions will spent destroying the records and reputations of both candidates. Imagine what a campaign would look like if those millions got spent educating voters on issues, and ideas, that is real politics.

Clothes

Ya know, unlike many gay men, I hate shopping for clothes, mainly because I usually end up wanting to bitch slap the sales associate. I know I am overweight, but that is no reason for someone to be rude when I am looking for clothes. I was in an Aeropostal a couple weeks ago looking for some clothes for my nephew, and the sales associate walked up and actually told me that she didn’t think they would carry anything in my size, didn’t ask if I was shopping for myself or a gift. And I have had the satually looking for mStyself. I work in a job that requires me to dress in a professional manner (IE Shirt and Tie) I was looking for ties at a Macy’s and the look I got from the pencil thin sales associate just screamed his disdain for overweight people in his department. Now I know I am overweight, I know part of it is my own fault, but I am also 6’2” at no time in my life, even as a child have I been the pencil thin skin and bones type. Now I admit I could lose some weight but I am never, not in a million years going to be a size 25, or a size 16 neck on a dress shirt, unfortunately most of what I can find in my size is t-shirts about big dogs and shit. People wonder why people have self-esteem issues, why people had low self-image, and why people do dangerous and drastic measures to lose weight. It is just stupid how judgmental society can be. And it extends outside of the dressing room. It extends into dating; People will take one look at you and keep walking. You could be the nicest guy on earth, but if your too short, weight to much, you get passed over, it don’t matter if the hot guy at the end of the bar is a complete dick who will treat you like shit, that’s what it seems like most people are looking for. But then again when you turn on TV and all the guys have nice tans, six packs abs, bulging pecks, and the fat guys are the one who are either the comedy relief or the fat evil slob. And it’s the same for girls also; all the women have nice tans and big jugs. It’s no wonder people have the ingrained ideas about people, they are spoon fed from grammar school that the beautiful succeed and those who aren’t get left behind.

An American Education

I saw it when I was in High School, and I see it again now that my nephew is in High School. Teacher who only teach the politically correct, tell what we did right and leave out the rest. I have flipped through my old HS textbook on history and my nephews, nowhere in either book is the American internment of Japanese Americans during World War 2 mentioned, but there is plenty of time spent damning the Nazis for imprisoning the Jews. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to justify the actions of Nazi Germany, but how can we condemn others when we did some of the same things we damn them for. You also won’t find mention that during the slave trade, African tribal leader sold their own people into slavery, again the slave trade was wrong, but let be honest about, white Europeans where not the only ones with blood on their hands. Another thing that just burns my ass is teachers who ask open-ended opinion questions, then mark you down because your opinion doesn’t jive with theirs. What’s said is this is getting worse, I am seeing it more and more in my classes in college, its almost as if there is a war to eradicate independent thought, and to just accept whatever the instructor spoon feeds the class.

Ok educational rant over, now I’m going to share a thought from my Political Philosophy Class.

Why is that we live in one of the wealthiest nations in the world, yet have over half our citizens liven below the poverty line? Why is it that our country has one of the finest educational systems in world, yet we have one of the highest illiterate rates and lowest test scores in the world? Why is that we have the finest doctors, and medical advances, in the world, yet thousand die each year from diseases and medical conditions that we know how to treat and prevent? What is the answer to all of these, money, money is what divides us, money separates the rich and the poor, without money to get into the schools you don’t get the quality education, without money for the doctors you don’t get the treatment reserved for the rich.