Mixing good & evil

I don't know about others, but I was raised to believe that profanation was when someone mixed something that was good with something that was evil.  The good never alleviated the evil;  the evil always subjugate the good. 

In a 06/19/15 NY Times op-ed piece, Ben Jones, who was in The Dukes of Hazzard before serving in the US House of Representatives as a Georgia Democrat & is now chief of heritage operations for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, notes, "To those 70 million of us whose ancestors fought for the South, it (the Confederate flag) is a symbol of family members who fought for what they thought was right in their time, and whose valor became legendary in military history." 

When I wrote in an earlier blog posting about heritage & tradition serving as a filmy gauze over the lens of history, this statement was the sort of thing is what I had in mind.  The Confederate flag is a symbol of ancestors who  "fought for what they thought was right in their time."  Being in the relatively distant past can't wash away the stain that "what they thought was right in their time" was having the United States be fully open to any state welcoming slavery.  

The War Between the States was fought over state's rights - true.  But southerners artfully forget the specific right being contested - to expand slavery into any new state coming into the Union.  

The unfiltered truth is that the South was in the constitutional right - slavery should, under the Constitution, be a state issue.  Congress tried to maintain a balance between slave & free states, hoping to not only keep a balance of power between the two but also to help avoid other territories becoming another Bloody Kansas. 

The South was in the technical right, it should have been up to each territory. But the possibility of unlimited expansion of slavery into new states was  doomed because Americans considered our country a Christian nation & slavery is flat-out morally wrong.

The South had only itself to blame for the complete abolition of slavery.  State by state seceded, then fought against the Union it once helped form, and lost.  

FACT:  The South didn't fight because slavery might be banned within existing borders.  Read Lincoln's 1st Inaugural for his feelings on the issue.  It was fought because southern leaders - and profiteers, in the North & in Europe - wanted unlimited growth.   

When people like Ted Cruz say things like, "But I also understand those who want to remember the sacrifices of their ancestors and the traditions of their states, not the racial oppression, but the historical traditions," they profane the issue.  The ancestors died for the right to expand slavery throughout the United States.  Racial oppression was the very bedrock of their cause.  

Look no further than the Confederacy's own Vice President Alexander Stephens, who proclaimed in his cause-defining Cornerstone Speech:
The prevailing ideas entertained by him (Thomas Jefferson) and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically....

Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the "storm came and the wind blew."Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.  


Good people who love the Confederate flag need to realize that the defeated battle flag has always been profaned, representing for some a heritage of suppression & others honored traditions based 4-square on a dishonorable heritage.  That's the unfiltered truth.  If you question it, reread Alexander Stephens' comments.

I was taught that people who profane truth by mixing it with evil can't go to heaven because they can't separate the one from the other - they are forever muddled together & the evil will always subjugate the good.  The same is true with the Confederate flag & always has been - we can't separate the good messages from the evil ones & the evil will always subjugate the good. 

Heritage Tradition History

Senator Ted Cruz, speaking on 06/20/15 ~ "I also understand those who want to remember the sacrifices of their ancestors and the traditions of their states, not the racial oppression, but the historical traditions, and I think often this issue is used as a wedge to try to divide people.”

For me, The Wall Street Journal self-identified the problem I have with the current GOP better than any far-left politico or pundit could have.  And Ted Cruz, in this one sentence, captures the whole irretrievably convoluted dynamics of our nation's Southern Culture & the Confederate flag.  It's about historical traditions, not racial oppression.  Sen. Cruz - I don't know what you're talking about, since it's all in broad generalizations, but the reality is that racial oppression was the #1 historical tradition differentiating the Old South from the rest of America & most of the world.  Every fiber of the southern culture so many glorify & hold dear to their hearts was rooted in racial oppression.  

Heritage & tradition are soft words, a layer of gauze thrown over the lens of history, heightening the attractiveness of the subject.  One of the great goods coming out of this present teachable moment is downright earth shaking  - getting those who love the southern culture around the Confederate flag to be more explicit about what they so fervently honor.  

Personally, I believe that soft layer of gauze - distorting what people really believe from what they find acceptable - is thrown over the minds & hearts of many, maybe most, who love the southern culture represented by the Confederate flag. Maybe this tragic moment will help them reconcile their affection for the flag, the heritage & traditions it represents to them, and its actual history.

We shall see.

WSJ self-identifies the problem

 

Just as I thanked Gov. Charlie Baker for putting my problems with the current GOP in a handy nutshell, Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal also earns my gratitude by its revealing a core problem eating away at  America ~ the insistence of a mega demographic on flat-out denying whatever they want to deny, in spite of what's staring them in the face.  Hey, if it doesn't agree with their view, it isn't real.  WSJ caught that better than I ever could.  

TEXT
It is inevitable that when nine black men and women are shot to death inside their church by a 21-year-old white man in Charleston, S.C., the issue of race in America will be raised.

It does not matter that the alleged killer, Dylann Roof, brings to mind the mentally troubled young men who committed horrific mass murders of innocents inside buildings in Newtown, Conn.; Aurora, Colo.; or Virginia Tech. Nor does it matter that individuals are murdered every day in less noted acts of hatred or rage that leave survivors bereft beyond understanding. 

A white man murdering black people in the South forces bad memories to the surface, and so it surely was appropriate for President Obama to note this in his remarks Thursday. Specifically, Mr. Obama recalled the September 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., that killed four black girls.

The President quoted at some length Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s remarks on the bombing: “They say to each of us, black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we must be concerned not merely with [about] who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American Dream.”

Amid the horror of Charleston, it is also important to note that the U.S., notably the South, has moved forward to replace the system that enabled racist killings like those in the Birmingham church.

Back then and before, the institutions of government—police, courts, organized segregation—often worked to protect perpetrators of racially motivated violence, rather than their victims. 

The universal condemnation of the murders at the Emanuel AME Church and Dylann Roof’s quick capture by the combined efforts of local, state and federal police is a world away from what President Obama recalled as “a dark part of our history.” Today the system and philosophy of institutionalized racism identified by Dr. King no longer exists. 

What causes young men such as Dylann Roof to erupt in homicidal rage, whatever their motivation, is a problem that defies explanation beyond the reality that evil still stalks humanity. It is no small solace that in committing such an act today, he stands alone.


Where to start?  

The entire second paragraph is a crafty dodge away from the racial motive for the killings.  "It does not matter that..."  is used to introduce two paragraphs that flagrantly side step the blatant racism behind the slaughter.  If it does not matter, if they are not trying to make a specific point, why bring it up all.  In an editorial, every word matters.  And these words just don't fit in, unless their message is, Don't look over here, look over here.

It's the second mention in that paragraph that seriously does matter - "Nor does it matter that individuals are murdered every day in less noted acts of hatred or rage that leave survivors bereft beyond understanding. "  That is about as clear an example of what's called a "dog whistle" as I've seen anywhere in print.  Take the tragedy out of its context & put it into the context of black crime.  I'm sort of surprised they didn't include "in Chicago."  Because that's what it refers to.  It is a truly...  I can't even come up with a word for how reprehensible that sentence is.  

Then there is, "Amid the horror of Charleston, it is also important to note that the U.S., notably the South, has moved forward to replace the system that enabled racist killings like those in the Birmingham church."   Where have these people been over the past few years?  Eric Garner & Freddie Gray are just two situations where African-American men died where officials seemed to feel - literally, in the case of Freddie Gray - they'd caused their own deaths.  A policeman was indicted in the death of Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C. - but would he have been without video showing him shooting the unarmed man multiple times in the back?  Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice - where has the WSJ editorial board been over the past few years that it could write, "Back then and before, the institutions of government—police, courts, organized segregation—often worked to protect perpetrators of racially motivated violence, rather than their victims," as if those days are long gone?

But no sentence deserves more attention than, "Today the system and philosophy of institutionalized racism identified by Dr. King no longer exists. " Wow...  Am torn between admiration for the carefully crafted wording & shame for the writer who composed it.  The sentence, as written, is 100% accurate.  There is no arguing that the system & philosophy of institutionalized racism identified by Dr. King no longer exists.  Notice it doesn't say institutionalized racism doesn't exist.  The one identified by Dr. King no longer does.  That sentence is cold, calculated & spectacularly effective in doing what it's writer set out to do.  And that disgusts me to the point of being embarrassed I ever called myself a conservative.  

WSJ's editorial came out on the same day as Jon Stewart delivered his in a  blistering monologue.  It's because of Jon's comments that I'm not repeating the closing paragraph of the WSJ editorial.  The sorry mess does deserve it, even to critique.  Instead, I'll give Jon the last word - And we’re going to keep pretending like, “I don’t get it. What happened? This one guy lost his mind.” But we are steeped in that culture in this country and we refuse to recognize it, and I cannot believe how hard people are working to discount it. 

Thank you, Jon

While so many struggled with what to say & conservatives seemed at best tongue-tied or in denial, Jon Stewart responded to the Charleston tragedy for us all.  

 

TEXT
I honestly have nothing other than just sadness once again that we have to peer into the abyss of the depraved violence that we do to each other and the nexus of a just gaping racial wound that will not heal, yet we pretend doesn’t exist. And I’m confident, though, that by acknowledging it, by staring into that and seeing it for what it is, we still won’t do jack s—. Yeah. That’s us.

And that’s the part that blows my mind. I don’t want to get into the political argument of the guns and things. But what blows my mind is the disparity of response between when we think people that are foreign are going to kill us, and us killing ourselves.

If this had been what we thought was Islamic terrorism, it would fit into our — we invaded two countries and spent trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives and now fly unmanned death machines over five or six different countries, all to keep Americans safe. We got to do whatever we can. We’ll torture people. We gotta do whatever we can to keep Americans safe.

Nine people shot in a church. What about that? “Hey, what are you gonna do? Crazy is as crazy is, right?” That’s the part that I cannot, for the life of me, wrap my head around, and you know it. You know that it’s going to go down the same path. “This is a terrible tragedy.” They’re already using the nuanced language of lack of effort for this. This is a terrorist attack. This is a violent attack on the Emanuel Church in South Carolina, which is a symbol for the black community. It has stood in that part of Charleston for 100 and some years and has been attacked viciously many times, as many black churches have.

I heard someone on the news say “Tragedy has visited this church.” This wasn’t a tornado. This was a racist. This was a guy with a Rhodesia badge on his sweater. You know, so the idea that — you know, I hate to even use this pun, but this one is black and white. There’s no nuance here.

And we’re going to keep pretending like, “I don’t get it. What happened? This one guy lost his mind.” But we are steeped in that culture in this country and we refuse to recognize it, and I cannot believe how hard people are working to discount it. In South Carolina, the roads that black people drive on are named for Confederate generals who fought to keep black people from being able to drive freely on that road. That’s insanity. That’s racial wallpaper. That’s — that’s — you can’t allow that, you know.

Nine people were shot in a black church by a white guy who hated them, who wanted to start some kind of civil war. The Confederate flag flies over South Carolina, and the roads are named for Confederate generals, and the white guy’s the one who feels like his country is being taken away from him. We’re bringing it on ourselves. And that’s the thing. Al-Qaeda, all those guys, ISIS, they’re not s— compared to the damage that we can apparently do to ourselves on a regular basis.

So our guest tonight is an incredible person who suffered unspeakable violence by extremists, and her perseverance and determination through that to continue on is an incredible inspiration. And to be quite honest with you, I don’t think there’s anyone else in the world I would rather talk to tonight than Malala. So that’s what we’re going to do. And sorry about no jokes.

Despicable

My thanks to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker for putting in a nutshell the WHY behind my current contempt for my former political party.  Nothing underscores why I find the current GOP so utterly despicable as the response of its politicians & cheerleading pundits as Wednesday's tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina, where a gunman killed 9 parishioners attending a prayer meeting in an historic African-American church.  And so far, no one - not even Lindsey Graham - has captured my sense of disgust as well as Gov. Baker. 

America & the world was aghast on Thursday when S.C. Governor Nikki Haley ordered the Stars & Stripes and the state's palmetto flags lower - but the Stars & Bars remained flying high & proud on state house grounds.

When a local radio station asked Gov. Baker if he still stood by his position that states should have the right to fly the Confederate flag, he responded, "“My view on stuff like this is that South Carolinians can make their own call...  I do believe that the reason that flag still hangs there is, you know, what I would call sort of ‘tradition’ or something like that.” 

Over at Fox News, Steve Doucy was stunned that anyone could describe it as hate crime, when it clearly reflected "hostility toward Christians."  On the same channel, "America's Mayor" Rudy Guiliani pointed out, "We have no idea what’s in his mind.  Maybe he hates Christian churches or maybe he hates black churches or he’s gonna go find another one. Who knows.”  How did GOP leaders& media spin the story?  Not as an attack on individuals, but one directed at religious liberty, spurred by religious animosity.  

As for Gov. Baker, how did his take on the flag set with Bay Staters?  Not well.  By day's end, he did his best to walk back his comments.  This is the best he could do?  
I certainly apologize. I did hear from friends of mine who said, ‘Jesus, Charlie, you know, what were you thinking?'  The last time I checked this is one nation under God and we’re big believers in equality and liberty and every day we should strive to be better at it.  That does not speak to that.

It took friends calling him up to realize the cluelessness of what he'd said?  Seriously?  His p.r. staff didn't set him down & read him the riot act?  He missed the editorials ripping him for jaw-dropping insensitivity?  

Going on to point out that he “ran … to represent 100 percent of the people of Massachusetts... I’ve continued to reach out since I took office” suggests he thinks the outrage over his comments divides along racial lines.  How could he so totally miss that this issue has struck deep into the hearts of people everywhere, all over the world?  Yet, he did.  

MassLive.com summed it up beautifully:

During his misguided analysis of the Confederate flag issue, Baker alluded to "sort of tradition or something like that.'' He's right. The Southern tradition is about more than slavery, but the flag represents that ugly aspect of its history to many blacks and, for that matter, to many whites.

Flying the flag is not only a slap in the face to those people, it ignores history. The Civil War was won by the North, not the South.

Yet many Southerners cling to a "tradition'' that caused scars which remain to this day. At a time racial tension is especially fragile, defending the display of the flag used to denote a attempted break from the United States is incredibly insensitive, but it would be insensitive even in the best of times.

Sigh....  Back when I was a proud member of the Republican Party,  the GOP had a reputation for intelligence.  Those days are gone.  In his comments walking back the day's earlier debacle, Gov. Baker said, "I am cognizant of the fact that literally millions of Americans died over what it represents in the Civil War."  Millions. The mind boggles.

Again, Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, summarizing why I so utterly despise so many in the political party I once revered.  Its political & thought leaders are spectacularly narrow minded, bending events to what their restricted world view allows them to process;  cursed with the compassion of...  I can't think of anything low enough;  and just flat-out dumb.  



other examples of GOP intransigence:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-charleston-shooting-1434669812
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2015/06/19
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/jeb-bush-doesnt-know-charleston-shooters-motive
http://www.salon.com/2015/06
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/18/why-the-gop-hates-talking-about-hate-conservatives-don-t-want-to-confront-racism-in-charleston-shooting.html
http://www.wopular.com/gop%E2%80%99s-staggering-charleston-cowardice-why-are-so-many-republicans-so-scared-admitting-truth

If not him, then who?

Converted Catholic Jeb Bush remains "a little skeptical" about giving credence to Pope Francis (expected to issue a papal encyclical urging action) on climate change.  Jeb! told folks at a New Hampshire town hall meeting that he thinks the pope is an "extraordinary leader" & "really cool," but felt that "religion ought to be about making us better as a people and less about things that end up getting into the political realm."

 

Um....  Other than the fact that the GOP doesn't accept that over 90% of the global scientific community believes that climate change is caused, at least in some part, by human activity, I don't see how such a dire phenomenon is political.  Meteorological - absolutely.  But political?  Interesting...

Wait!  Maybe he's referring to fellow presidential hopefuls Marco Rubio & Ted Cruz, both of whom flat-out deny humans have any connection to California's drought or the deadly swarms of tornadoes that hit the South & MidWest.  Yeah, then I guess it's political.  But that's their problem, not Pope Francis'.

Two points about Pope Francis that cry out to be made.  First, he's POPE. He's supposed to be God's steward of all creatures great & small, of all things wonderful - like the Grand Canyon & the Great Barrier Reef, the highest Himalayas & the Mariana Trench.  

Second - before entering the priesthood, Jorge Bergoglio received training in & worked as a chemist.  In his native Argentina, Pope Francis' lowly class status put a university education outside his reach, but that didn't diminish his passion for science. 

American political leaders - heck, let's make that world political leaders - raise your hands if you have a previous career in the sciences.  Thought not.  

So, back to my point - when it comes to having an opinion on climate change (and when you're pope, that opinion is no bull), who better than Pope Francis?

Angel on my shoulder

Last night's cast party was everything I'd hoped it would be.  With several unforeseeable bonuses.

Because John is kind enough to stand in for me taking an older friend out to Saturday night dinner ~and~ we currently only have the one car, our stout-hearted & true Concorde, he dropped me off at the cast party house just before 6:00 p.m.  A long 4+ hours before the cast party.  The time flew!

The Mom of the House was in the cast, so she wasn't there.  Ditto the oldest daughter, who also had a dance recital that very afternoon, so her dad was ferrying her between that event & the play, which she also was in.  That left the three youngest - pre-schooler, rising 2nd grader & 7th grader - at home, with me.  The oldest was in charge of his younger sisters, but it turned out that the youngest hung out with me.  It was bliss!  '

It started when she came into the house, dejected over something that had happened on the swing set, where the older had pulled age rank.  I knew all about that.  I sat next to the little one.  "I am the youngest in my family, too.  My brothers are 10 & 14 years older than I am, my sister is 8 years older."  For the rest of the time I was there, a sidekick helped me out, scooping out seeds from peppers, helping get stuff out of the way by putting whatever we could in a big bag, tidying up as we went along.  Nirvana!

But the best was yet to come.  After my young earth angel was off to bed, her 12-year old brother came into the large kitchen.  He such fun to talk with, with lots of interesting things to share.  I'd forgotten to bring a book to keep from getting bored - here I was, anything but!

Best of all, the party was being held downstairs, in the den which lead out to a large backyard.  I love putting on cast parties in this house, but hadn't seen that twist coming - my leg problems make going up & down stairs a challenge.  And I had a lot of food, a lot of heavy food.  

But I've gotten organized.  All the food was laid out on the immense granite island in understandable order.  Turns out the lad loves all things cooking & was eager to help. He - then his dad, when he got home - trucked all the dishes downstairs.  Best of all, the young man had it all attractively laid out, the chips & dips on this table, the salads & deviled eggs on that, beverages over there, wine over here, the entrees on the flipped surface poker table.  

The only time I had to go downstairs was to join the party, which I am proud to say I was organized enough to be able to do!

Over & over, that young lad reminded my of my brother, Ian.  Ian was four years older than me & the - I was delighted to discover in my mid-50s - the only sibling who was anything like me.  And who died at eleven.  He & my young friend were similar in quite a few ways.  Ian loved to cook, loved people, loved to help.  

From the moment I agreed to do last night's cast party, it was on track to be a fun experience for me as well as for the people who came.  And it was, from first to last.  Just didn't realize that one very important reason it would turn out that way would be because there was an angel on my shoulder.  

Thanks, Ian - the help made all the difference between being exhausted & in pain and having a blast.  Glad you recruited such a fine fellow, someone just enough older than you when we last saw each other to not seriously freak me out with the serendipity.  So blessed to have you as my first guardian angel.  Tell Cheryl & Geneva & Hedy that I say "Hi!"