January 29, 2017

Don't need a weatherman tonight...let's keep on fighting...

The future is uncertain, but tonight America stood up to authoritarianism...

January 26, 2017

What we are up against...

Growing up in the rural south and having lived in some fairly diverse places in my adult life has afforded me the benefit of making friends across all cultural and political backgrounds. I readily admit that I'm a Facebook junkie and I am a rabid college football fan and frequent a site dedicated to my favorite college team that also has a pretty broad sports discussion board. Here's what I've noticed going back to before the election but even more so since the inauguration.

1). There is nothing that Donald Trump will say or do that will offend or turn his most ardent supporters. The true believers will twist themselves into pretzels to go out of their way in support of him. "Pussy grabbing" didn't matter to them, it was brushed off as no big deal. Every move he's making since becoming president is viewed through the lens of their Obama hatred. They aren't appalled at the executive orders, they are applauding them.

2). They have nothing but disdain, disgust, and a total misunderstanding for the Women's marches. They see this as the "typical know it all liberal" railing against what they disapprove of. SJW's who are viewed as hypocrites and elitist.

3). Attacking Trump only emboldens them. They will stand up to any real or imagined assault on their "Dear Leader" because they view themselves as possessing a more reasoned and, in many cases, "Christian" view of the world.

We will not change these people. The true believers will always be so. That doesn't mean that we give up our opposition to tyranny. We press on and make our case to the great mass of our country who are not as politically in tune and who will listen to reason when it is presented. We must fight for our values, because it is clear the right would like nothing more than to roll back any and every progressive accomplishment from the last 70 years. We have a long road ahead of us. I don't think this fight will be easy but I do think that if we can focus our energy on clear goals of opposition and start by making changes in our local communities, we can succeed.

For me, I don't go to my sports board as much anymore. I just can't handle seeing so much hatred and bigotry spewed as if it's Gods Word because they speak it from the right. Likewise, I've started unfollowing feeds of "friends" who post the most vile and hateful Trump posts on FB. I've felt as demoralized as many of you have. We are watching the active dismantling of our country. Now is the time for action. Let us work together to find ways to build an opposition that cannot be denied.

January 24, 2017

Trump did have one accomplishment this weekend!

No other man, in the history of the United States, has been rejected by as many women in a single day! Good for you donnie!

(Not my own, just thought I'd share the lol in case anyone needed it today!)

January 24, 2017

Watched "Jackie" tonight...

So, our immediate family is blessed to have a voting SAG member that receives DVD movies "for consideration" for awards, many of which are still in theaters. It's become a family tradition to pass movies back and forth and provide our own commentary on what we thought prior to the SAG awards....unfortunately, we've grown so much that most of the movies are still within the family circulation after the SAG voting is done, but, regardless, I love this time of year because my wife and I get the chance to watch a ton of movies for free that are currently in circulation (as an aside, music/musical lovers should check out "La La Land". It's a treat!)

Tonight, we finally got a chance to watch "Jackie", a movie that both my wife and I had been waiting anxiously to watch. So, after the kids were in bed, we settled down with a glass of wine and watched the movie.


First, let me say, if you aren't prepared for a highly emotional film, don't watch. The movie begins with ominous music in the credits and the first fifteen minutes are enough to ratchet up the emotional strain. My wife grabbed my hand in a vice grip and didn't let go until the end and she cried throughout most of the film.

Natalie Portman is, frankly, amazing in her portrayal of Jackie Kennedy. She not only nails the scenes of the White House tour practically mimicking Jackie note for note, she passes far beyond that to tap into the raw emotions that Mrs Kennedy must have surely experienced during that time. She eloquently portrays the public versus private dichotomy of the former First Lady.

I applaud the film for not shying away from little details which might seem unseemly, like the fact that Jackie smoked or the boorishness displayed by the Johnson people on Air Force One as it traveled from Dallas to Washington.

Overall, this was a difficult film to watch, mainly because of the subject matter. However, I think the positives outweigh any negatives of the film. Portman truly does bring to life the public and private persona of Jacqueline Kennedy: debutant, wife, mother, strong independent woman...and makes her believable onscreen. I applaud the mixing of historic footage and film, which I thought worked seamlessly.

The film is not without its flaws, but it is a beautiful testament to the will and character of an amazing woman.

January 23, 2017

So Richard Spencer doesn't want to be called a Nazi...

Poor Richard Spencer is tired of us "anti-fascists", apparently that's a bad thing, picking on him by calling him a Nazi.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/neo-nazi-richard-spencer-doesnt-want-you-to-call-him-a-nazi-its-a-historical-term/

January 21, 2017

The Obama Years...

January 20, 2017

No Retreat....No Surrender...

January 20, 2017

If you need a musical diversion...(aka An Otis Redding kind of night)

I've spent the evening listening to "Otis Redding at Whisky A Go Go: The complete recordings" a boxed set my wife gave me for Christmas. It's amazing and it has given me great comfort this evening.

Here's a taste:

Hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

January 16, 2017

The courage of John Lewis

Most of us know John Lewis from his bravery displayed at Selma, an act which was ultimately a watershed moment in the fight for Civil Rights. Yet, this courage of John Lewis was not born overnight. It had been cultivated for years and its outspokenness was something that had not come naturally for the young John Lewis, a quiet man by nature. It's fierceness had been forged in the fight for equal rights at lunch tables in Nashville years earlier. It was that story which was eloquently highlighted in the book "The Children", a book I would highly suggest.

One story from that time, which Lewis told in his own autobiography, I think captures the heart of the struggle for civil rights, and I hope will provide a bit of inspiration to all of us as we face whatever uncertainty we have before us in the coming administration. The following conversation took place in regards to a debate amongst those in the Nashville movement about increasing protests despite the Intel reports of increased violence facing them. Will Campbell, mentioned by name here, was a mentor and personal friend of mine. For those unfamiliar, he was the sole white minister at the founding of the SCLC and had been escort to the integration of Little Rock Schools....as an aside, one day I'll get around to writing a diary on the complex man that was Will Campbell. But this day, he was the veteran mentor to the young protesters, concerned what increased violence would bring to the cause in Nashville. These are John Lewis' words:

The next morning there were fewer than a hundred of us gathered in the pews at First Baptist as we listened to Will Campbell, the white minister I'd first met at Highlander, warn us of the danger waiting for us downtown. Campbell, who had been run out of Oxford, Mississippi [as a chaplain for the University] a couple of years earlier for playing Ping-Pong with a black janitor, had come to Tennessee to work with the religious community. He was also a member of of the Nashville Council of Churches, as well as one of the few white members of the NCLC. He'd been to a few of our meetings, supported us completely, and had come down this morning to tell us he'd heard from some of Nashville's white community leaders that the police did indeed intend to make arrests that day. He said there might be violence as well, attacks from onlookers.

I listened to the debate that night. I considered everything that was said. And I heard nothing fundamental enough to shift the sureness I felt inside about what we were doing. I did not have a shred of doubt about what our next step should be. "We're gonna march," I said, when Will Campbell asked my opinion.

He turned away and went on with the discussion. Someone else asked what I thought about something that was said, and my answer was the same. "We're gonna march," I said, as simply and softly as before. At that point, Campbell lost his temper with me.

"John," he said, "you're agreeing with everything everyone in this room is saying. But all you say is, 'We're gonna march.' There's very apt to be some serious violence if there's another demonstration," he continued. "You agree with that, and still you say, 'We're gonna march." What it comes down to," he went on, "is that this is just a matter of pride with you. This is about your own stubbornness, your own sin."

The room was absolutely silent. Everyone turned to me. I looked straight at Will. "Okay," I said. "I'm a sinner." The room remained still. "But," I added, "we're gonna march." And that was that.

We on the left have disagreements, some self inflicted and some inflicted from the outside. Debate and discourse is always needed, but let it not irrevocably separate us. We are at a point where unity against the oncoming threat of a Trump administration outweighs any petty debates we may have with each other. Now is the time to March...and may John Lewis be our inspiration.

January 13, 2017

The responsibility of being White, Male, Straight, and Liberal

Late on election night, as polls closed and the inevitable occurred, my wife and I sat on our couch, embraced in a sadness that I know many of you experienced as well. We sat there in silence, each of us overwhelmed by the reality that was transpiring in front of us. My immediate thought was "What do we tell our kids in the morning?" My daughter, 14 at the time, had been experiencing bullying at school because she was the "new girl" and had been taunted constantly for being herself. She was the new kid from RI, although she was born in LA because she came from RI she was stuck with that, and she was different. She was called a "lesbian" because she stood up for another girl who was being bullied. She was called unmentionable names because she sat at a lunch table with another freshman, a star basketball player who happens to be black but also happens to be just as much bullied as she is because they attend a predominantly white private school. I thought of my 7 year old son who had cheered when Hillary won the Nick Kids election, thinking that she had won the presidency.

As we sat there in stunned tears, I looked to my wife and said: "The sad thing is: we have nothing to worry about. We're white professionals and we will be safe from any on coming persecution." I said that, not with any sense of self importance, but, rather, a sense of overwhelming guilt over what I fear will come from a Trump presidency. After I had said that to my wife, I immediately said "What we have to worry about are those in our life that will be affected by this." I thought of our gay friends, friends who happen to be Muslim, and on and on. But I sat there shaken by the irony that I was fearing for everyone we knew who would be affected or potentially affected by a Trump presidency, all the while our own lives would likely go on untouched, at least in the present.

That moment made me think hard about who I am, what I believe and what I could do going forward to ensure that, at least in my own daily surroundings, I was being a representative for those I knew and loved who would certainly be attacked in the new administration. I looked back to my own personal history. My grandfather's grandfather had been a Methodist minister and abolitionist who helped ferry runaway slaves from TN to other ministers in KY on their way to freedom. My grandfather, a sharecropper as a young man, worked beside other workers who happened to be white and black and Hispanic and when the work was done they were all welcome at my grandmothers table, and anyone who questioned that met the wrath of my grandmother. I was told about how when my grandfather opened a country store in rural TN in the 1950's he got resistance from some people because he didn't segregate his store. My uncle told me about the night several of the local "hooded men" showed up to pressure my grandfather and he called them out by name while holding his loaded double barreled shotgun.

I could ramble on about my own history, but I'm sure that would be boring at best and pandering at worst.

My point, after all of the grief and angst over election night had passed, we woke up the next day, and we sat our kids down and told them what had transpired. We told them that no matter what, we had to fight for what was right and what was fair, even in the face of bullies. I don't know if that was the best way to answer their concerns but that was ours.

So, here we are facing an inauguration of a man that we despise, I think we can all agree on that. What now?

I think that my personal situation gives me a bit of power that I think needs to be used and must be used in the fight going forward. We white, straight, male liberals must speak out against the Trump minions every chance we get. We have to. The opposition will take notice when we fight for the voices of our friends in ways they otherwise would not. Now, they will bully us and they will threaten us but, at the end of the day, we must help provide a voice for our LGBT/POC/women/Immigrant/Muslim compatriots. Right or wrong our voices will have impact and we must provide support and help to shine a light on all resistance to the storm that is coming. In no way am I suggesting that my voice should carry more weight than someone who doesn't happen to fit into my particular ethnic/religious/sexual background, I'm merely saying that pasty boring straight white guy liberals like myself cannot be silent and we must stand arm in arm with all of our brothers and sisters on the left because dark days are upon us. Let us face this fight together.