The Promised Land

And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?

Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop.

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

This speech was delivered the night before his assassination. The power of it was, and remains, incredible. Each time I’ve heard it, I feel a thrill in my heart – and a terrible chill down my spine. As others have wondered, I too wonder if he didn’t know or have some inkling of what was to come.

Perhaps he knew – not that he would die very soon – but that his power, the power of his words and his actions, the power and strength of the movement as a whole, was becoming too great for those who opposed equality, and so – eventually – they would find a way and he was reconciled to that.

Perhaps he was simply at peace with death, because death could not hurt him; it could only unite him with the Lord he served.

And so I’m happy, tonight.
I’m not worried about anything.
I’m not fearing any man!
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!

 

When Silence is Betrayal

On April 4, 1967, one year before his death, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke out against the war in Vietnam.

One of his reasons for speaking out was the horrible irony of a nation that segregated whites and blacks at home, but integrated them when it came to killing:

Perhaps the more tragic recognition of reality took place when it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and to die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population. We were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem. So we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools. So we watch them in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor village, but we realize that they would never live on the same block in Detroit. I could not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of the poor.  [my emphasis]

His speech, entitled “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” remains one of his least known speeches, though it is gaining more visibility as the war in Iraq drags on, especially now that it’s been added to YouTube.

 

 

Honor the Man, Fulfill The Dream

I was lucky enough to grow up in a family that believed in equality for all people long before it was socially acceptable.

My grandmother treated everyone as equals far before it was the right thing in the eyes of society or the law. In fact, in her early years, that was considered the wrong thing to do, even the “un-Christian” thing, because segregation and oppression of other races was “God’s will” for the white “superior” race.

My mother was thirteen when Dr. King stood at the Lincoln Memorial and told the world about his dream, almost eighteen when he was killed in April 1968. She listened to his words, felt their impact all the way to her soul as a result of her mother’s example, and over the years has tried with every fiber of her being to help that dream become reality.

Some people grew up with pictures of Jesus or the saints or a president in their living rooms; we had Dr. King.

I had memorized Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech by the time I was nine. (And trust me, you ain’t seen nothing till you’ve seen a skinny little white girl from the rural farm country of WhiteBread Center, PA giving Dr. King’s speech to an attentive audience of dogs and younger siblings. Complete with Dr. King’s dramatic oration.)

Today, I believe we are striving ever closer to the day when that dream is a reality. But it is not here, and it won’t be until each of us plays our part.

We must teach and inform and – most importantly – act on our belief that each and everyone of us is an equal member of the human race regardless of our color, our gender, our orientation, our ethnic background, our religious persuasions, our nationalities, or any of the millions of other ways in which every human being is different from every other.

The dream can be reality, but only when all of the people in all of the lands all over this earth learn one thing: there is no “us and them.”

There is only “we.”

 

Friday Anti-War Song

Free the Dove
– Written by Karie Hillery & Charles Lamont
– Performed by Karie Hillery

See the stars
As they light a path around the moon
They shine above
The light of love
Free the dove

See the sun
Blazin’ a bright trail across the sky
It warms the earth
A new day’s birth
Darkness past
Peace will last
A world of love
Free the dove

We must save what nature made
A peaceful place where living things run free
Dreams, realities… it’s up to you and me

So reach inside
And then reach for another’s hand
You’ll have enough
So share the love
Free the dove

Can you see the hope
Shining in the eyes of every child?
Build for them a world at peace
A place to dream
Air to breathe
Enough to eat
A world of love
Free the dove

We can dream
If we believe then they’ll come true
It’s up to us
So share the love
Free the dove

It’s up to us
So share your love
Free the dove

From New Songs for Peace

Huckabee Wants a Christian Constitution

Remember that stuff we learned in classes like Civics and American History and Principles of Democracy? Well, some of us learned. Obviously, considering El Pollo Loco is still the President, some of us slept through them.

But I digress….

We learned that the founders, having the examples of the Old World right there in front of their faces, believed in a government invested and run by its people. A government without a state-sponsored religion, that allowed any of its citizens – well, the white and male ones — to hold any office regardless of their private religious beliefs and practices.

Thomas Jefferson is spinning in his grave after hearing Mike Huckabee talk to a Michigan audience yesterday.

From Raw Story: [and yes, there's video -- Jenn]

“I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution,” Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. “But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that’s what we need to do — to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view.” [my emphasis]

Say what??

Shortly after this aired, small rumbles were heard coming from the ground near Monticello.

You know what we call this, Mike Huckabee, when someone takes a perfectly good Constitution — one that’s lasted 230 years or so — and changes it to “God’s standards”? We call that a “theocracy.” We also tend to call it “complete and utter bullshit spewed from the mouth of a madman.” (Well, most of us do. The Christianist nuts who support you call it something else, I’m sure.)

Let me give you a few examples of countries in which “God’s standards” reign (or reigned) supreme: The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, The Islamic Republic of Iran

But wait … there’s more! Saudi Arabia? Oligarchy for the wealthy, theocracy for everyone else. Iraq used to be a dictatorship, but we went and brought them “freedom,” so now it’s a …. fucking mess. Democracy, theocracy, and thuggery.

Back in what’s often called the “Dark Ages”, there were Christian-based governments all over Europe. Britain, France, Spain, etc. Know what came of that? Lots of rich priests, religious wars, and a whole lot of Inquisition.

Here at home, the Massachusetts colony, founded by people — fundamentalists, as a matter of fact — who sought relief from the religious persecution they faced in Britain only to turn around and make religious persecution the heart and soul of their laws.

Roger Williams, he man who founded Providence, Rhode Island was expelled from the Massachusetts Puritan colony in 1636 for dissent. ¹

Rhode Island, the colony founded by Williams, was the first colony to truly embrace religious freedom was established in 1647 and became a destination for those persecuted for their beliefs. Just five years later, it would become the first colony to abolish slavery.²

The Salem “witches” weren’t the only ones killed by the religious fervor of our Pilgrim ancestors. Four Quakers were killed by the colony, including a woman named Mary Dyer, for “repeatedly defying a law banning Quakers from the territory.” ³

In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville, had this to say about his tour of the United States and the idea of separation of church and state.

“I found that they [clergymen, including several Roman Catholic priests] differed upon matters of detail alone, and that they all attributed the peaceful dominion of religion in their country mainly to the separation of church and state. I do not hesitate to affirm that during my stay in America I did not meet a single individual, of the clergy or the laity, who was not of the same opinion on this point.“⁴

Now, lest anyone think I’m completely against all forms of religion – no. Do I hate Christians? No. In fact, a great many people I love and care about are Christians. However, I am against the government enshrining the principles of any one religion, regardless of its name.

I do not want a Christian-based, nor an Islamic-based, nor a Hindu-based, nor a Wiccan-based government. I want a government that keeps its nose out of religious affairs except when those practices and doctrines are in direct conflict with the law (ie: no sacrificing of infants, no dancing naked on Main Street, etc.) and/or presents a danger to those outside the religion (ie: Christianist militia-types planning attacks).

Truth be told, if you want to kill all your followers with poisoned koolaid, the government and the ATF should stay out of it. A few less crazies cannot be a bad thing.

I would also like the various religions to keep their noses out of government. I don’t want the Mike Huckabees of the world telling me what I can and cannot do based on what their particular sky god says. If you believe abortion is wrong, don’t have one. If you think premarital sex – or sex in general – is wrong, don’t do it. If you think homosexuality is wrong, don’t have gay sex. If you think the use of birth control is wrong, stop using it.

When it comes to morality, the only person your gods or goddesses should be able to control is yourself.
But, most of all, stop telling the rest of us how to behave.

And now, a few words from one of our Founders, before he begins tunneling to the center of the earth:

“[If] the nature of… government [were] a subordination of the civil to the ecclesiastical power, I [would] consider it as desperate for long years to come. Their steady habits [will] exclude the advances of information, and they [will] seem exactly where they [have always been]. And there [the] clergy will always keep them if they can. [They] will follow the bark of liberty only by the help of a tow-rope.” –Thomas Jefferson to Pierrepont Edwards, July 1801. ⁵

“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.” –Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, 1813. ME 14:21 ⁵

“I have been just reading the new constitution of Spain. One of its fundamental bases is expressed in these words: ‘The Roman Catholic religion, the only true one, is, and always shall be, that of the Spanish nation. The government protects it by wise and just laws, and prohibits the exercise of any other whatever.’ Now I wish this presented to those who question what [a bookseller] may sell or we may buy, with a request to strike out the words, ‘Roman Catholic,’ and to insert the denomination of their own religion. This would ascertain the code of dogmas which each wishes should domineer over the opinions of all others, and be taken, like the Spanish religion, under the ‘protection of wise and just laws.’ It would show to what they wish to reduce the liberty for which one generation has sacrificed life and happiness. It would present our boasted freedom of religion as a thing of theory only, and not of practice, as what would be a poor exchange for the theoretic thraldom, but practical freedom of Europe.” –Thomas Jefferson to N. G. Dufief, 1814. ME 14:128 ⁵

“Whenever… preachers, instead of a lesson in religion, put [their congregation] off with a discourse on the Copernican system, on chemical affinities, on the construction of government, or the characters or conduct of those administering it, it is a breach of contract, depriving their audience of the kind of service for which they are salaried, and giving them, instead of it, what they did not want, or, if wanted, would rather seek from better sources in that particular art of science.” –Thomas Jefferson to P. H. Wendover, 1815. ME 14:281 ⁵

- – - – -

1. Wikipedia

2. Wikipedia

3. Women’s History

4. Democracy in America,1835, Book One Part 3 Chapter 17, Section 6. “Principal Causes Which Render Religion Powerful in America.” via Wikipedia

5. Thomas Jefferson on Politics and Government

Requiem for a Blogger

How is it possible to cry for a man you only met through the blog post he asked to be published in the event of his death?

I’m dead. That sucks, at least for me and my family and friends. But all the tears in the world aren’t going to bring me back, so I would prefer that people remember the good things about me rather than mourning my loss. (If it turns out a specific number of tears will, in fact, bring me back to life, then by all means, break out the onions.) I had a pretty good life, as I noted above. Sure, all things being equal I would have preferred to have more time, but I have no business complaining with all the good fortune I’ve enjoyed in my life.

I’d never heard of Andy Olmsted or his alter-ego G’Kar until yesterday afternoon when a friend sent a link to his final words on Obsidian Wings, posted by hilzoy.

Since then, in those spare moments between my tasks here in the real world, I’ve been reading that final post over and over as well as the comments, following links to and from others who knew him — or didn’t and simply wanted to honor a good man, a good soldier, a good husband, son, and brother. I’ve cried over my keyboard at almost regular intervals.

“The flame also reminds us that life is precious. As each flame is unique; when it goes out, it’s gone forever. There will never be another quite like it.”
Ambassador Delenn, Babylon 5

I write this in part, admittedly, because I would like to think that there’s at least a little something out there to remember me by. Granted, this site will eventually vanish, being ephemeral in a very real sense of the word, but at least for a time it can serve as a tiny record of my contributions to the world. But on a larger scale, for those who knew me well enough to be saddened by my death, especially for those who haven’t known anyone else lost to this war, perhaps my death can serve as a small reminder of the costs of war. Regardless of the merits of this war, or of any war, I think that many of us in America have forgotten that war means death and suffering in wholesale lots. A decision that for most of us in America was academic, whether or not to go to war in Iraq, had very real consequences for hundreds of thousands of people. Yet I was as guilty as anyone of minimizing those very real consequences in lieu of a cold discussion of theoretical merits of war and peace. Now I’m facing some very real consequences of that decision; who says life doesn’t have a sense of humor?

Such a bright light is gone, and the world is certainly a darker place.

There are no words to express the sorrow I feel for his family. May there be some peace and comfort in the thousands of blog posts honoring his memory and from the loving words of those who knew him in this ephemeral space we call the blogosphere.

Ave atque vale, Major Olmsted. May you rest in peace.

Walk Within You

If I be the first of us to die,
Let grief not blacken long your sky.
Be bold yet modest in your grieving.
There is a change but not a leaving.
For just as death is part of life,
The dead live on forever in the living.
And all the gathered riches of our journey,
The moments shared, the mysteries explored,
The steady layering of intimacy stored,
The things that made us laugh or weep or sing,
The joy of sunlit snow or first unfurling of the spring,
The wordless language of look and touch,
The knowing,
Each giving and each taking,
These are not flowers that fade,
Nor trees that fall and crumble,
Nor are they stone,
For even stone cannot the wind and rain withstand
And mighty mountain peaks in time reduce to sand.
What we were, we are.
What we had, we have.
A conjoined past imperishably present.
So when you walk the woods where once we walked together
And scan in vain the dappled bank beside you for my shadow,
Or pause where we always did upon the hill to gaze across the land,
And spotting something, reach by habit for my hand,
And finding none, feel sorrow start to steal upon you,
Be still.
Clear your eyes.
Breathe.
Listen for my footfall in your heart.
I am not gone but merely walk within you.

~ Nicholas Evans
From “The Smokejumper”

Iowa

Obama wins with 37.58%. Edwards and Clinton are in a near-tie with 29.75% and 29.47%, respectively. Of course, pundits large and small are calling this a huge defeat for Clinton (Huge? No. Stinging? Yes.) and declaring Edwards is DOA and I’m sure we’ll get a full round of spin and counterspin and counter-clockwise spin about the meaning of it all.

Whoop-dee-doo.

Here’s a few of my opinions. (Hey, if you listen to and/or read everyone else’s, you should have to read mine as well.)

Number one: Going third tonight does not mean HRC is going to pull out. I know the pundits would like her to cover her face with shame and go gently into that goodnight, but the pundits are morons. Pretty much all it means is that her advisors are pretty ignorant.

One of the things that comes with living here is that Hillary’s Senate district is right across the border, and yes, they love her up there. I’ve talked to a variety of people who’ve met her at campaign events as well as during district tours, and they tell me she’s far warmer, more charming, and more intelligent than what you see on TV.

Start listening to yourself, Hillary, and pay attention to people outside the Beltway. In other words: stop triangulating, and start using your heart along with your brains. Meditate on this question: what did we like about Bill? At the height of the impeachment trial, he was getting approval ratings in the 60s. Why?

Because we liked the fact that he understood our problems, he felt our pain, he hurt alongside us. And we liked him because he gave us hope. Hope that we could be better people, a better nation. Hope that we could have – and our kids could have – a better future.

Give me some damn hope!

Number two: Winning doesn’t guarantee Obama anything, except that he’ll be spoken of as the “Democratic front-runner” for the next few weeks until the Feb. super-primary. Bill Clinton garnered a sick and sad 3% - three percent – in the 1992 Iowa caucus.

Being first doesn’t make Obama any more interesting to me than he was a week ago. You want change? Then be the change. You don’t get to run your mouth about how you’d do everything differently from the current Moron-in-Chief and every other candidate if you can’t A) show up for Senate votes and B) do more than hit “Present”.

If you wanna talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk. Obama, you’re failing miserably when it comes to doing anything that resembles standing up for what you believe.

Number three: Edwards isn’t automatically out because he finished at a rounded-up 30%. Once again: Bill Clinton got only 3% in his first Iowa caucus. Edwards isn’t out of this by a long shot, though we’ll see what happens – again – come the super-primary on Feb 5th. One advantage – as always – is his wife and another is his absolute drive to bring an end to the two Americas where the haves have all the advantages, and the have-nots are left to the tender mercies of Big Insurance, Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Brother, etc.

Johh, start making waves. Crib from the ‘92 Clinton campaign. You’ve got some great ideas, good policy positions, and the brains to make it work. Find a way to make what you’re saying be heard, and don’t let the pundits and the talking heads get away with fluffing you.

Number four: The only candidate who spoke passionately about standing up for the rule of law and for the Constitution and a return of the law- and treaty-abiding America that could hold her head up as a beacon of hope and justice to the rest of the world – and actually stood up to defend our civil liberties – pulled out of the race tonight. And no, I’m not talking about Biden, though he pulled out as well.

Chris Dodd stood up to the telecommunications industry, to Harry Reid and the rest of the spineless Dems, and to a White House that continues to lie to the American people and treats this country like their private banana republic.

He deserves a hell of a lot more than a round of applause and a thank you, but that’s all I’ve got.

Number five: Richardson hasn’t got a chance in hell unless a random lightning strike takes out the rest of the field, and even then it would be close. But, with the most foreign-policy and diplomatic experience of any candidate and with a well-earned reputation that precedes him around the world, he deserves to be the next Secretary of State. Period.

Number six: In the end – as has been said in many ways by many others at many different blogs – the worst of ours is still better than the best of theirs, and I’ll vote for whoever becomes the nominee. Solely because another four years of Republican rule would further destroy this country economically, morally, and politically. It would be an ignoble end to the grand experiment our Founders set in motion.

“A Republic, if you can keep it,” said Benjamin Franklin to a woman who asked him what kind of government they’d given us at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. 220 years later, we realize just how easy it was to lose. If we’re to salvage it and restore it to its former glory, we need to start earning it once again, and any of the current crop would be a step in the right direction.

The problem is, we need to take more than a few steps to save it, and I’m not sure which of the current candidates is most able to do what will need to be done. They all have good points, but also negatives that make me wonder just how much change we’ll actually see from them. After all, we see just how much “change” came from electing Democrats last time. (Yes, there are some bright lights, and yes, they’re better than the Rubber-Stamp 109th Congress. Marginally.)

In the end, no matter which one we choose, merely having a Democratic president is going to put our country on the right footing to restore our Constitution and restore our global reputation.

I’d just like that Democrat to be someone I could wholeheartedly endorse.

Oh, and PS: The Huckster won for the Republicans. Heh. How they reap what they sow. I’m going to start printing bumperstickers: “Fuck Huck.”

What do you think? Red lettering on black background or black lettering on a white background? What about red and blue on white?

50 Things You Didn’t Know About Me

I don’t usually bother with these, mostly because some of them are too personal, and I’m still clinging to a few shreds of my pseudonymity. But what the heck, I thought when I saw it in my inbox. “It would make a totally fun blogworm for somebody.”

And then I realized, “Hey! I am somebody!”

So, I hereby tag:

Strategerie of The Little Pink Clubhouse

proudprogressive of Some Notes on Living

WhyMommy of Toddler Planet.

Here’s da rules, such as they are: [UPDATED: 1/1/07] I just realized I hadn’t made the “how” of this terribly clear. So, here’s the updated rules. 1) Post this quiz with your answers on your blog. You don’t have to do all the questions, but you must do at least 30 of them. 2) Tag three (or more) other bloggers. 3) Link back to the blogger who tagged you. 4) Post the rules with the quiz. That’s it, and you can post in sections, do one question at a time, or do the whole thing at once.

Here goes….