Radical Solidarity

I finally had to do it: I turned off NPR.

Don't get me wrong, I still love the BBC, Fresh Air, the interviews, the odd and quirky coverage of things that I might not otherwise notice. I just can't handle the news anymore. Not any news. Specifically, I can't handle hearing any more about the vacancy on the Supreme Court, and the one, only, over-riding, over-arching issue of our day: abortion.

Abortion is a real sore spot with me. I will say up front that I am morally opposed to abortion, but legally supportive of women being able to make that decision themselves. Until I see or hear evidence that convinces me that outlawing it is practical, constitutionally defensible, and supported by a large majority of Americans, I support the "rare, but legal and safe" goal. Neither the "pro-life" movement, nor the "pro-choice" movement has ever made an argument that convinced me of their position. In the absence of any "proof," my default choice is to not muck around with someone else's life.

So here's my bitch: To hear people on talk radio, television and the web tell it, abortion is the be-all-end-all issue in American jurrisprudence, politics, public life. Abortion is terribly important to people that care about it, and that's perfectly fine, but the fact of the matter is, abortion is just one issue in a much bigger picture. The specific right to choose to have an abortion (or denying others that right) is not the issue people should be worried about, and focusing on that specific issue is just allowing the Americans to be divided and conquered faster.

The President has been persuing the power for his agents to investigate anyone, to any degree, in complete secrecy, with no judicial oversight. He has already won the right to hold people incomunicado, denying all rights to due process or council. That means that the FBI could investigate you, the President could have you locked away, and no one would know why. The courts have been supporting not only that power, but the power of government to seize your property and give it to other private parties "for the public good." That Soviet-like power to strip human rights, property rights, legal rights in the name of national or public good, makes all other issues trivial.

People at both political extremes care about abortion in a deep and genuine way, but the fact is, the preservation of the rights underlying the Roe decision are much more important than the decision itself ever was. To put it another way, the question isn't whether or not abortion is right, but whether or not we still believe in personal privacy, personal property, and a fair and open legal process when individual freedom collides with collective good. Infringement on reproductive rights may be a symptom, but it's not the disease. Sooner or later, that disease will errode the whole body, no matter what it adds after "pro-."

Both "liberals" and "conservatives" stand to lose their fundamental rights. Liberals will lose the right to choose what to do with their own bodies, conservatives will lose the right to choose what to do with their property, and both will lose their privacy. It won't be "can you or can't you pray in school," but whether or not the government decides from your med and psych records, that you need to be "educated" in some special way; or even, perhaps, whether or not your employer can use those records to hire, fire, or promote you. It won't be "can my land be developed," but who will get to develope it and reap the rewards. It will be the right to life, liberty and the persuit of happiness on your terms, or a life of servitude and consumerism on the terms of whichever big money interests control the party that happens to be in power. If they can take the rights of your opponents, they can take your rights too.

But hey, that's fine. The right wing Christians will scream about the "right to life," and their opponents will scream about the "right to choose," and neither group will end up with either right.

Strange Relationship

Every morning, as soon as I get to work I check to see what fires are burning in our groups request system, check my email (work mail folder first, then general mail, then my personal mail), check a couple of friend's blogs, and the discussion forum of the page I write hockey for. I usually do all this while eating a bagel, drinking coffee, and sometimes listening to some music.

Some of my online friends are pretty easy and straightforward to get along with. DanO sends me jokes and teases me about my love of ducks. The Kid always wants to know when I can do lunch, or sends me updates on his wife and their new baby. My sister forwards me those funny questionnaires where you fill in personal info like favorite color of car that you saw in your home town when you were 5. Lots of idle chatter, but it distracts from the monotony of the day.

Other online relationships aren't as easy. Some push me to re-think some of my assumptions about other people and life. My friend that is dealing with work issues (or, sometimes, the lack-of-work issues), who points out that at least I have full time employment, even if some days are better than others. My friend that is a lesbian feminist, who writes things on an almost daily basis that make me wonder if we aren't all more alike than I thought. My friend that is a peace activist, who challenges not only my notion of what is just, but of what is practical. Hockey fans that write some pretty, uh, energetic messages about my hockey writing. (I'm still not sure it's safe for me to visit Edmonton, Alberta, but that's another rant.)

It's really odd, trying to manage the "virtual relationships" with people I see in the "real" world. Sometimes I back off from arguing a point because I still want to be friends when I see someone face to face, other times, knowing that person in "real life" gives me the confidence to disagree with them online. In either case, I say, or don't say, what I say, because I care about the person on the other end. (Ok, in all fairness, the guy from Edmonton that called me a "typical stupid American" can go screw - I still think he's an ass.)

I'm not sure this is good for my writing. As Carrie Newcomer said (and this is a bad paraphrase of her more eloquent words), The fear of wondering who will read something, and what they will think or say makes you self-edit. And I do. A lot. I worry about hurting people's feelings, about offending people's sensibilities (or lack thereof), or about sharing just little too much. Aging has had the really bad affect of making me concerned with what other people think of me.

I know more about some of my virtual friends than I do about my "real life" friends. Or maybe I should say, I know exactly everything they want me to know, and that's all they know of me. Sometimes I think people hide things, but sometimes I think they are telling me what's important to them. Maybe more so than people I see in person. It's too bad we can't all define ourselves on our own terms in "real" life...

Operation iTunes Overload.

Is it possible I have too much music? My questionable taste is a forgone conclusion, that's for sure. I am loading everything I have on CD into iTunes so I can, if I want, hear it on my iPod. That's right, I'm loading all of it, one disc at a time. Which raises some interesting questions:

1. Was "The Doors" really a good enough movie to have gotten me to buy two Doors albums? I hope I bought those used. Maybe I can sell them back?

2. Why do I have all these obscure things on CD, but am missing "Are You Experienced?," and "Sgt. Pepper's?" Shouldn't I have replaced my vinyl copies of those by now?

3. If I play Slayer's "South of Heaven" and then Andrea Bocelli's "Ave Maria," will they offset each other and keep my karma balanced?

4. Will my L7 and Liz Phair be offended if I load them next to my Ice-T?

5. I think I can make a whole playlist just of songs about women with large asses. "Fat Bottom Girls" by Queen, "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-lot, "Big Bottom" by Spinal Tap... How many bands are there with fat butt obsessions?!?

I'm starting a list. A list of things I thought I had, wish I had, should have, but don't, and I'm going to start taking it to the used CD store with me. iTunes is still hungry, and it needs to be fed...

Drafting a Dodger

Sometimes someone says something so asinine that I can't let it go:

"Young Americans (and their parents) need to be told that they have a duty to shoulder the burden of military service when our nation is at war, and that doing so is essential for the preservation of freedom and democracy at home and abroad."

This bit of (cough) wisdom, is courtesy of Phillip Carter, a lawyer and Army Reserve officer, and was part of an op-ed piece he wrote in the NY Times. He goes on to compare the war in Iraq to the Civil War and WWII, and to assert that George Bush should use the "bully pulpit" to exhort Americas youth into enlisting.

Bullshit.

First of all, I flatly reject the notion that the accident of my birth obligates me to give my life for any cause, under any flag. My life is mine to give, and should only be God's to take. I expect, and respect, that others feel the same.

But to put a very fine point on it, to compare this current President and his pet war to Abraham Lincoln and the war to preserve the Union, or even more so, the battle against fascist Europe and Imperialist Japan, is an insult. It is an insult to intelligence, decency, honesty, and the dead of those wars.

Lincoln's stance against slavery and the southern culture that relied on it, as well as his belief in maintaining the Union, led to the most horrific US war, one which still tests the bonds of our national unity. However you view it, it was a clear watershed in our country's history. Likewise, WWII was a watershed in world history. We know now that Hitler and the fascists of Europe, as well as the Imperial Japanese, were committing some of the worst crimes ever, as well as threatening the stability, perhaps the freedom, of the world. In both wars, a President could, and did, clearly state his goals, the reasons for war were clear, and the public understood the threat to themselves and others, and the public chose to serve in large numbers.

Which brings us to George and his pet war in Iraq. Bush has presented various possible reasons for going to war, such as the phantom WMD's, the phantom link to the 9-11-2001 attacks, or his own phantom principals, but there has been no proof of the former two, and quite a bit of counter proof to the last. The moving target of this war's justification makes it hard to believe that there is anything but personal vendetta behind this war.

But beyond that, Bush isn't a credible person to ask anyone to sacrifice. He dodged a trip to Vietnam by using daddy's political connections, and even had a sketchy service record stateside. He later slandered John McCain, a decorated war hero, then John Kerry, also a decorated war hero. Whether you like McCain or Kerry is irrelevant: they went, he didn't, they served, he slandered them. Even now, his administration has failed to provide what safety it can for service people, by rushing to war without simple things, like sufficient numbers of armored vehicles. Even now, it is becoming apparent that Karl Rove, the most sinister figure in all of American politics, used his power in the White House to expose a CIA officer as retaliation against her husband, a career public servant. Why? Because they disagreed with Bush.

So I ask: what loyalty do I owe this President? What magic power obligates any of us to risk or lose our lives for his cause? When his first priority has been to insulate himself against sacrifice, even truth, what right does he have to ask for sacrifice from others?

If the administration leading this country can't state, prove, and stick to a justification for war, the young people of this country have absolutely zero obligation to give their lives in its pursuit. Were I still a young man, or already the parent of a young person, I would be insulted and horrified by the assertion that I or my child should die, for a war that has not been properly justified, for a leader who did everything he could to avoid similar service in his own youth.

Judith Miller Goes to Jail by the NYTimes

"History is very seldom kind enough to provide the ideal venue for a principled stand."
NYTimes editorial, Judith Miller Goes to Jail, from 7-7-05

If you don't know who Judith Miller is, you should find out. She just went to jail, in what is probably a vain, but certainly courageous, attempt to preserve your freedom. Shame on this country for being so indifferent.

"The lights are as bright as the day is dim..."

Today is as sucky as yesterday was righteous. Woke up to an overcast full of painful memories, born from bad dreams about old friends and fears about the future, and a literal overcast that prompted me to sleep in instead of getting up early and biking to work. It says we're blessed with "memory, reason and skill," but some mornings, I'm not sure memory is a blessing.

The items on my to do list multiply like proverbial rabbits, and, of course, everyone wants everything yesterday, and I feel guilty for putting off the patient people that I know I can get away with putting off. And yet, I'm not very motivated to do anything about it.

I'm replacing old friends with new ones, but some days, it's not the same. You miss the buddy that you could say anything at all too (and had to hear anything and everything from). You miss the folks you grew up with, or some stupid, familiar thing that's gone. You wouldn't trade your new life for your old one, but sometimes you wouldn't mind visiting for a while. Maybe they could build a theme park out of nostalgia?

Yup, it's a sucky, grey, overcast, nostalgic, kind of day, and it's good for nothing.

A Much Needed Holiday Weekend

I made the most of the long weekend, trying to catch up on some summer fun while there is any summer left.

Went to an ordination ceremony on Saturday morning, to see a young woman from our congregation "officially" become a priest. I say "officially" because if you had been around her even the little bit I have, you'd know that this was a rubber stamping of something that was already there. Seeing her, and the other 4 women that were ordained that day made me think. I wondered, not for the first time, if having more women in leadership roles won't help correct some problems in society. Gender doesn't equal correctness (of course), but my limited experience has taught me that women are less likely to thump their chests and send their children out to die. (He says hopefully.)

Also, being in a cathedral, any cathedral, is damn cool.

Saturday afternoon, I watched the replay of the start of the Tour de France. Lance Armstrong is probably my biggest personal hero. Flawed and human guy takes on challenges of his background, then cancer, and finally the toughest sporting event there is, and thumps all of them, setting sports records and providing hope to millions. I may cry if he really retires this year. I can't imagine summer without him. Stage 1 went to Dave Zabriskie, a rider from Utah that very few people knew/know anything about. He's a talented young man, and his win, plus his next two days in the yellow jersey, bode well for American cycling.

Saturday night, we went to see the Yankees play. Ok, I went to see the Yankees play. Most of the people there would tell you it was a Tigers game, but anyone who saw the 9th inning knows it was a Yankees game. LullaBell, a Detroit native, was slightly cheered by getting to see Derek Jeter, who she has a not-so-secret crush on.

Sunday morning, I got in a mountain bike ride with the Eye Guy, one of my best friends from church, and a another member of the congregation. The ride was great, the company was great, and it only made us a little late to church. We're going to see if we can make an early Sunday ride a regular thing.

Sunday church service was presided over by the new priest we just saw get ordained, and an older female priest who's a regular part of our lives (and who gave a poignant sermon on social justice). You should know by now how I felt about that. :-)

Monday, I rode my bike over to Eye Guy's house to help him trim tree branches. I got lots of funny looks biking along with a 7' (and that's collapsed!) tree pruner under one arm. Visions of jousting fellow cyclists, or fighting dragon-like cars came to mind, but I resisted the urge to spear anything. We trimmed trees, tipped a couple of beers, and chatted about the state of our lives, church, and the world in general.

In between all the rest, squeezed in watching Hitch (way better than expected) and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (visually neat, but not as good as I'd hoped), and, of course, watched Tour coverage... sometimes twice a day.

Monday night, made dinner with LulaBell, and I rather enjoyed the rain and thunder we got, even though it meant cooking inside.

This morning, put the rack on my bike, and rode to my office (about 45 minutes, almost all up hill, with about 40 lbs of stuff). Got rained on a little, but it's clearing up now, and it's mostly downhill on the way home. Waiting for me is a cookout with more of my best friends from church, and a cold six pack of ESB. Call it a little carry over from the weekend...