And Away We Go

And Away We Go

So I've finally reached this juncture. I am ready to cyber-expose my thoughts, opinions, musings, ramblings, meanderings...
about U.S. politics - for now. Who knows what twists and turns this will take. Time will tell I guess. Maybe I'll even learn to spell - gee, this really IS exciting.

Let me start by saying that I love this country. I'm embarrassed, dismayed and deeply frustrated by the current neo-con President and his misguided, myopic policies, but I DO believe in America. I believe we have the knowledge, capability, and wherewithall to be a positive and generous force - a credit to humanity. Unfortunately, we need to climb out of the crater of divisiveness we currently find ourselves in, gather our collective strength, and start to re-construct our national identity before we can begin to start reaching our full potential as a people, and a nation. We need to create a better, stronger, more tolerant America. I do NOT, however, believe we can begin this process until the neo-cons have been defeated - purged - actually.

I am adopted and have no real evidence of who I am...was...you know what I mean (especially all you adoptees out there, but that's another post), ANYWAY - - -
one of the only things I know with absolute certainty is that I was born in this country. I am an American. Maybe that's why I have become so increasingly angry with the mess I feel this country is in, and why I have come to believe in the importance of educating one's self as to the intricate processes of our democracy, as well as in our ability to differentiate between viable journalism, and what is merely opinionated rhetoric posing under the guise of journalism. Education is our only hope of elevating and legitimizing our politial process and demanding better from our elected officials.

I can not say I will always be as calm or even keeled as I've been thus far. (For those of you who think I sound hyper or semi-unglued now - - - fasten your seat belts. This is no place for the indecisive.) My Brooklyn will soon start to show, as my friends say. Yes, I'm from Brooklyn, New York - you got a problem with that? ;-)

I want to hear from EVERYONE. I invite all opinions and points of view, and, for now anyway, have but one simple rule:

It's O.K. with me if you want to criticize an idea, an opinion, a concept, a belief, a group, a politician, an organization, a public figure, a theory, a political party, etc. - after all, that's what America is all about. It's part of what makes us the envy of so many countries around the world. The one thing I ask is that no name calling or direct critisism of an individual (a private citizen, you know, a fellow blogger) be engaged in. I guess an example would be, if you disagree with me or anyone else who posts, you can criticize an OPINION, i.e., "that is a stupid thing to say", but you can NOT say "you are stupid." You get the picture.

Well, I guess I'll have to start gathering my thoughts, which for me means going through all the coctail napkins, matchbook covers, small scraps of paper, pads, WORD files and the like (which luckily my husband routinely collects and saves for me) and begin a somewhat coherent stream of consciousness.

Just to start things off, I am going to cut & paste a piece I wrote the day after the '04 election below. This will give you some idea of where I'm generally coming from.

Thanks for joining in. Let's have some fun and learn some things, which for me is one and the same.

LFG

The Mourning After - SUSPENDED DISBELIEF

By L.F. Gerace - 11/3/04

This morning I am an American by geographic demarcation only. Disillusioned, disenfranchised, disappointed, and filled with dread...dreadful.

I can’t quite bring myself to accept the ill conceived notion that an egocentric, empty, megalomaniac, paranoid, uninspired – (by anything other than conceit…hard headedness? - not grasping the enormity - or not caring?)… uninformed, glory alleluia seeking preacher-politician who through an untimely collision of time, space and politics - - -

could possibly find himself with even the slightest majority - - - of people who are afraid because the “W” administration created a culture, an ambiance of fear throughout the campaign. Instead of controlled, cautious capability, like maybe an attitude of “Hey, I know 911 was fucked up, but we’re truly getting our shit together to ensure the safety of the American People as we realize that is the intrinsic and primary objective of government,” we got - invading Iraq was "the right thing to do” even in the face of so much evidence to the contrary. No visible shadow of a doubt - just a NO REMOURSE / STAY THE COURSE mentality, without vision, afterthought or conscience. How could this Texas sized asshole possibly have been elected to another four years of eternity?

Karl Rove’s entire dog and pony show was a fantastically persuasive ad campaign for a defective product - - - apparently shit CAN be shined……I stand corrected.

I give the GOP strategists and the handlers full credit – they REALLY pulled one off.
One scintillating piece of strategy was taking gay marriage, and turning it into a campaign “issue” – (you were right Joey). The President did not have the congressional support to pass a constitutional amendment (to the relief of all thinking, sane and rational Americans – minority that we are), but a good many ballots, Ohio included, contained “gay marriage” initiatives - - - brilliant!!!

This “issue” will soon fade away, and the war, the intelligence situation, stem cell research, the environment, the deficit, homeland security, among many other things, will rage on - - -not to mention the “healing of a divided nation…” It is sickeningly apparent to me that this President would have a problem tackling a divided sandwich - - - (hold the pretzels please). I would say “W” is out of his depth, but I don’t feel very complimentary this morning.

Let me stop beating around the bush (ugh!!)…
I am not comfortable with the direction of the current neo-con course. I have no problem with Republicans – they’re the guys for smaller government, fiscal responsibility, and reasonably responsible foreign policy decisions, right? My discomfort and disdain lie in the “my way or the highway” “inner- sanctumness” of this administration.

I can’t help but feel that we are at cultural and spiritual odds in America. It truly does, on this otherwise perfect fall day, feel to me that the “us vs. them” undercurrent has us all swimming against the tide. I’m feeling feel very outside of the apparent “heartland” of the nation – maybe somewhere around the left elbow. Are my views really that way out? Could I be a ……. LIBERAL?!! (further kudos to the Rovian PR machine, which has succeeded in demonizing that word). I’ll try to figure it out once the sting of the “hard right to the body” we have just endured begins to subside. Right now I’m queasily trying to grasp the fact that this “beyond the periphery of the right” winger, who actually doesn’t satisfy the agenda of the left OR right, awoke this morning STILL president of the United States…of America!!

It’s painfully difficult to believe that enough of us garden variety, middle of the road Democrats, with all of our enthusiastic “re-defeat Bush” mobilization couldn’t get it done, especially since all we had to do was beat “W” for Christ sake. Every time the man opens his mouth he confirms what an embarrassment he is to our country. (When you’re forced to agree with the French, you know you’re in trouble) The world (other than Poland and Russia apparently) agrees that our President is a self righteous myopic fool, (hey, I guess that makes “W” a uniter after all), but a majority of the American people (this time) actually re-elected him – it’s a head shaker at best. Even one of the most staunch conservatives I know (don’t worry Joey, your secret’s safe with me) felt obliged NOT to vote for “W” – the first time he has EVER voted “blue” in his life…and people say this President doesn’t inspire…
I think the best question I posed to my conservative husband during the campaign was, “based on what you’ve seen so far, which candidate do you believe will do the least amount of harm during the next four years?” (Instead of taking the oath of office in January, “W” should take the Oath of Hippocrates).

It is absolutely depressing to be a democrat today, especially considering the seats lost in the house and senate, and the Supreme Court situation. This result is unfathomable – this country has truly missed the boat. We defeated the closest thing we had to a “real deal.” Sen. Kerry - Pandering? Certainly! But not much more so than the President, who in the closing days of the campaign, when he felt he had not made the hoped for inroads with the Evangelicals, advised a reporter that he was for civil unions (figuring he would shift his focus to the “undecided”). When advised that this was not in sync with his platform, he replied in his best “dumb as a stump” manner – “Well, that’s what I stand for.” Come on people!! Politics has the “swim in shit rule” – you can’t swim in a river of it and not come out covered to some degree.

I hope the DNC devotes the next few years to strategy and distortion, because it seems to me that is what is needed to win the “god, gays, and guns” majority of this country. For the record I would like to say that I truly believed that John Kerry was the statesman, critical thinker, public servant, patriot--- LEADER this country needed to ever have any hope of working toward a middle ground. Not a miracle worker, just a man who would consider the implications of his actions and thoughtfully process ALL information, and seek ALL possibilities, as opposed to the “speeding through a dark tunnel because we KNOW it’s the right thing to do, knee-jerk neo-con, blow ‘em up because we can, YEEHAW, talking horses ass, flip a coin and ask Jesus” process currently in place.

Well, there’s always the possibility of a good scandal – one that appeals to the reptilian part of our brains I mean – as that other one about invading Iraq because they were directly responsible for 911 wasn’t enough. If one doesn’t emerge, maybe we can hire some of the
mind-fuck specialists who got Bush re-elected to invent one for us.