No Log Cabin Endorsement for W

It's official.  The Log Cabin Republicans will not endorse president Bush for reelection.  The partisan side of me says, "congratulations for coming to your senses."  But the cynical side of me says, "well that announcement ought to raise Bush's poll numbers even higher."

In other queer news, a second Washington state superior court judge has ruled the Washington state DOMA unconstitutional.  With such dissent in the rank and file of the judiciary, it's been predicted that the case will bypass the court of appeals and go directly to the Washington state supreme court. 

What do I think of this?  I'm personally probably meant to be single, but I certainly think that expanding civil rights is always a better idea than expanding discrimination and bigotry, especially in the constitution.

 

Vile Rumor?

Okay, this rumor comes third-hand.  But only third-hand.  No further afield than that.  Last week, one of my writer colleagues shocked me nearly senseless with this story.  Her brother was formerly in the secret service: he has now transferred to another government position.  He was on duty guarding Vice President Cheney on September 11, 2001.  It was his understanding and belief that Vice President Cheney gave the order to shoot down Flight 93, the airliner that crashed in Pennsylvania, and that the flight was indeed shot down intentionally by the U.S. military. 

So, I've done a little checking around on the internet since then.  This rumor has been around ever since 9/11.  It has the ring of truth because of two things: 1) the flight crashed in a very sparsely populated area.  2) The vice president discussed downing the planes with the president, that the president had made the decision to shoot down hijacked planes, but that it had never come to that. 

Afterwards, the decision to reinforce the story of heroic passengers battling the terrorists for control of the plane was made in order to spare the nation the added emotional crisis of having one of the hijacked planes downed by friendly fire.  This does not diminish the actions of the passengers trying to regain control of the aircraft, they showed valor and courage in the face of a suicidal enemy.  Clearly, this attempt was made--the cockpit voice recorder and several cell phone calls from passengers on the flight make this clear.

This rumor has the ring of truth to me.  If true, I understand the decision to not only shoot down the plane, but also to keep the truth from the nation.  And to disclose the truth now only begs the question: what else have we been lied to about?

Successful Surgery

President Clinton (he's still my president, no matter what anybody says) has survived his bypass surgery and is now in recovery.  I wish him a quick, safe and sure convalescence.  All my love, best wishes and yes, even prayers, (which I don't do very often at all) are with you, my Captain.

Screen Name Service

Screen Name Service is a shared function of AOL, Netscape and Compuserve.  For more information about creating a screen name, please click HERE.  Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

mea culpa

Okay, I think I have it figured out.  My apologies to those who have met with resistance trying to post comments to my blog.  It appears that what I've been doing after posting my entry, is closing my browser window instead of logging off AOL first.  Please do me a favor and try this experiment: I will now save this entry and log off of AOL.  Would you please try posting a comment to this entry and see if it works?  That way we can hopefully rule out any other reason why people who wish to comment have met with no success.  Thanks mucho!  Have a great Labor Day everyone!

Death of Civility

The invective, the vitriol, the sheer passionate hatred that seems to be simmering like steam from a pressure cooker under the politics of this election season, has it always been this way, or is it worse now than it has ever been?

All of the genocide in the 20th Century began with words, with propaganda that first disenfranchised a section of the population, and ultimately cast them as evil parasites that threatened the supporting pillars of civilization.  It's easier to send someone to the gas chamber when you think they're less than human.  Rob them of their dignity and rights, then send them off to the camps.

We live in an Orwellian nightmare where politicians speak in elaborate codewords and phrases, and leave it to the faithful to decrypt.  Hypocrisy is policy: double-speak, disinformation and propaganda, the old tools with which we fought communism, are now freely employed against Americans.  If we're not with you, we're traitors, unAmerican.  I'm a uniter, not a divider, and if you don't unite with me, then, well, you're unAmerican.  And of course, anyone who chafes at being demonized is going to react.  And so the cycle turns.

For a moving and persuasive comparison/contrast of the DNC and RNC keynote speakers, see Andrew Sullivan's blog.  Scroll down the page to the Zell Miller entries.

Labels

A label:  a word or short phrase descriptive of a larger, more voluminous substance.  "Homosexual" and "Gay" are labels.  But they do not describe the same substance.  They are not interchangeable.  They are not synonymous.  Now we have a Virginia congressman, a Republican, forced to resign over allegations that he, a 63 year old married man, solicited another man for sex over a phone dating service.  The newspaper accounts call that "gay."  It's not.  It's homosexual.  There's a big difference.  A homosexual tries to have it both ways: he wants the good life that comes from toeing the line, social conformity, and paying lip service to "family values" and "character."  Appearances are the only things that matter.  His private life is not only private, it's duplicitous--a lie, a profound example of extreme hypocrisy. 

However, this is learned behavior.  And the teacher is fear.  The effect of living a double-life is so damaging, so soul-crushing, that I do pity the man.  He was a naval officer for years--who survived during an era when Reagan's witch hunt through the military ruined many a career.  So I understand, but cannot condone.  I pity him for his pain.  But it is a pain he chose.  Granted, society would not have provided him with the good life he sought if he had told the truth.  But what's the price?  Vilified by everyone.  Truth and honesty still mean something in this world.