Multiple Musings

I have been rolling something around in my mind for about a week or so, that I just can’t seem to shake. It’s creepy how it keeps popping into my head at the most inopportune times. The question is:

Is Rush Limbaugh….gay?

Now before you think this is some Rush bashing, give me a minute. It all started with the big deal he made about some guy who was center court during this whole basketball shindig that’s going on right now that I am not paying any attention to that, when the game ended, sat down, head to knees and cried. Rush said he was embarrassed by this display. One caller said – I played college ball and I have to say, it’s an emotional time. You have put all this time and energy and effort into this team, with these guys and it’s over. Hey, I did the same thing in high school, it’s the end of an era.

Rush’s comeback was – does this guy have a pro future?

The caller said – I think so.

Rush then blustered on and on about how it wasn’t over and “be a man!” go to the locker room, go somewhere private and express yourself emotionally.

Hum.

Displays of emotion are “embarrassing” to him? Is that weird? I mean, this is a very scary time for boys and men. There is this ridiculous expectation to be almost robotic in their approach to life, not getting excited, happy, joyful, sad, angry, resentful. I suppose one must consider the source. Rush couldn’t have been any kind of an athlete and he couldn’t possibly know the camaraderie that exists on an elite team, how the hours of practice, the hours of co-ordination amongst players to deliver perfect plays, to develop trust and respect, all of this cannot be done without some kind of emotional investment. Getting “pumped up” before a game is crucial. Putting your “heart” into the game. There are so many phrases that are used when referencing sports that reveal the depth of emotion one must invest in order to be the best. Think of all the things a kid has to sacrifice if he has his eye on going pro. This all starts in elementary school, so parties and hanging out with your friends is severely limited. Many of the athletes who want to make a serious run for a scholarship have to keep their grades up and go beyond expectation. Have the heart of a champion, learning how to deal with loses, bad calls, unfair advantages, trash talking, injuries, etc. all entail having a deep emotional investment in something that you are working for years to attain. Usually these guys in high school work with the same group of guys for four years. They depend on each other. They “bond” as a unit and usually develop friendships. Isn’t it natural that when something is over, in essence something has died, you enter a grieving process? Regardless of whether you are male or female? You cannot spend ever single day with the same group of people for four years towards the same goal and not have some kind of emotional upset when that connection ends. I would find it odd if my sons didn’t get upset. I find that the ones that get sad are the ones that invested the most. Embarassing? God no! Proud! I am proud of any man that has the fortitude to express a sadness from loss any day.

So there’s the whole “crying is weak” thing.

And then, he does an incredibly accurate depiction of an effeminate liberal. A little…too accurate. He does it every opportunity he gets, this lisping silliness, which I find kind of strange.

So again, I wonder, is he gay? It has been my experience that only the guys who aren’t all that sure of their sexuality are the most homophobic. I think he needs to come out. Come out, Rush, don’t be afraid. We won’t laugh when you cry.

And now, again, with the references to WWII and this war’s activities.

Sheesh.

This time it was about Gitmo Bay. At a republican convention of sorts in an I or O state, I can’t remember which, the question was asked “what are your feelings about the situation in Guantanamo Bay?”

Feelings? What are these things “feelings” of which you speak?

No. They didn’t say that. But the guy did say “feelings” like “huh? Whut?”

And the interviewer guy said “There are close to five hundred people, some who have been held for over four years without any charges. What do you think should be done?”
Republican guy: “Well, what should be done with terrorists? I mean, what do you do with the people that if released will walk amongst you and blow up themselves and as many of us as they can get? You keep’em there until the end of hostilities.”

Interviewer: “that could be a long time.”

Redneck: “well, what about all those German fighter pilots they captured during WWII? Were they supposed to get a trial? There’s a war going on. This is what you do to prisoners of war. You hold them so they can’t do anything to you. And if they have information, you get it from them.”

Oh wow. Where oh where to begin with this!

1. These are people who were not on “missions” captured during “military” operations. These are people who were driving taxis in Egypt, traveling to Pakistan for weddings, shop-owners in Turkey. These were people that had similar names to people on lists that are considered to be bad. There is NO parallel between these people and captured fighter pilots. No charges have been brought against ANY of them. If there’s something there, let’s get to it, if not LET THEM OUT! OMG!
2. If these guys are prisoners of war they would be protected under international laws, the ones that we signed on to. However, we being somewhat elevated ABOVE the law feel that we should be able to hold anyone at any time for as long as we want because, well, we’re the biggest, we’re the strongest and no one can tell us otherwise. So, we call them enemy combatants to sidestep all those pesky regulations. It’s what we do.
3. You cannot chastise others for doing things that you are doing. We can no longer judge anyone in regards to human rights, to anything because we have seriously lost our way in regards to being the example by which others should pattern.

This is the natural segway into immigration, don’t you think? Ha. Probably not, but that’s where we’re going.
I have strong feelings on this subject, surprisingly, being an immigrant myself. I am nauseated by this sentiment of go back the way you came in and the criminalization of an entire group of people. I have always found it despicable when others demonize people as a whole instead of seeing the individual and all of his or her possible attributes and contributions to our society.

But that’s not what I want to address. I want to address the absolute anti-Christian portion of this new legislation, added in by the purportedly most fundamentalist on the right. Everything about the anti-good Samaritan action to make illegal the act of helping illegal immigrants grates against my beliefs and values. It sickens me to the core, if truth be told. Doesn’t this go against everything we as individual Americans stand for? Helping those in need? Don’t those guys who put water out in the desert just make your heart sing with joy at the thoughtfulness and kindness of the human spirit to complete strangers? These guys do this of their own accord, never to get a thank you or a pat on the back. It’s a need fulfilled. And soon, if caught, a punishable offense. Who are we? It makes me want to make it a summer vacation to go and find paths of illegal immigrants to hand them a freakin’ granola bar, a bed roll, and a gallon of water. Seriously, I cannot fathom those who scream about abortion, right to life, family values and morality thinking that this is an acceptable idea. This holier than thou “there are legal ways into this country. You are a criminal if you entered illegally.” Oh! Blah blah blah! You self righteous hypocrite! Stop focusing on those that are trying to better their lives, who are escaping abject poverty (wasn’t NAFTA supposed to raise the standard of living which in turn would curb the flow of immigrants? Well, that was a roaring success obviously.), who come into this country and work their asses off for dollars a day, doing things we don’t want to do, for less than minimum wage, who get fake social security cards that will never be of benefit to them personally but fill the national coffers. Stop focusing on these guys and focus on the real threat. The people with money funding the guys who fly planes into buildings! I personally don’t think that there has been a Hispanic tie to 911, even though I am sure someone somewhere is desperately trying to find one. Give the people here, who have been here for years, who’s kids are going to college and contributing to our society – give them citizenship. Not for 1000 dollars. Not for 6000 dollars. No criminal check. No mandatory civic understanding or ability to speak English (God! How incredibly racist can you get). Just give it to them. They’ve earned it. It’s not like we have to make any changes, we just have to stop pretending that they aren’t there. Remove the “ghost” existence they live. They don’t want anything handed to them. They just want the same rights as any other citizen. We are so good at the “ignore and it’s not there” mentality that it has become an American affliction.

And don’t you dare tell me that I can’t go and give water, food, shelter, compassion and care to someone in need, you greedy self-righteous bastards. I am the good Samaritan as is the majority of the citizens of this country.

This whole “guest worker” program is crap too. Talk about having your cake and eating it too. If you want to work here, go back, pay up to six thousands bucks, have criminal checks and if you’re lucky you get a temporary menial job. Gee thanks. The usual understanding is that people will cheer and accept something that is BETTER than what they already have. Let’s stop adding insult to injury. There is going to be a huge political backlash on this issue. The Hispanic community voted in droves for republicans in 2000 and 2004, but now they will know who has the track record when it comes to equal and human rights issues. This was a tremendous political faux pas.

The thing is, I do not feel that “haha!” feeling I have gotten over the past five years when this administration and its minions stepped in the dog poo. Because as I watched them track it all over the country’s carpeting, when I watched with horror as they repeated stepped in the dookie and step onto foreign soil and soil their carpets, I repeatedly saw people making the “dog poo smell” face and even witnessed people point and say – hey! You have poop on your shoe. And over and over and over again I saw them look people square in the eyes and say – no. not me. Him. Not him? Her. Not her? Shut up. You’re a loon. You’re crazy. Your wife is a CIA operative. Good job Brownie. WMDs. Toxins ok! Clear cut. Drill. War. Climate Change Theory at best. Conglomerates and Corporate corruption. Tax breaks. – over and over. As the trail of poo leads directly to the shoe of Rove. Cheney. Rice. Bush. Frist. Libby. On and on. Each and every one of them is able to dismiss the reality that there is crap firmly adhered to the bottom of his or her shoe that we can physically see as they walk away, that leaves imprints that if CSI came and did test they would discover that YES! That poo came from that shoe! Absolutely! No doubt! Forensics don’t lie.

And every time, they walk away unscathed. Unhindered. Unobstructed to continue to drive our country into a hole that possibly we will never be able to get out of.

My smugness has diminished. I watch all this with a weary, skeptical eye. Because if some joker can ban all abortions including those needed due to rape or incest, then anything can happen. The only shining and brilliant light in all this is the beautiful and brilliant light of those protestors. Those that for possibly their entire lives have been afraid to speak out for fear of retribution. For fear of deportation. Who are so busy working their three jobs to get involved. Hundreds of thousands of people coming out, walking out of jobs and schools and homes to say – No. This country has taken us for granted for long enough. I am not a criminal. I am not lazy. I have never been to an emergency room. We are learning English but we will speak Spanish at home and in our community and you cannot stop us. We have rights as human beings. Stop labeling us and treat us with the same dignity and respect that every other human being on this planet deserves. That’s what’s missing. Because if you subbed in “human being” for all the other labels, you would see the ludicrousness of this entire mess. Guest “human being” program. “Human being” reform. And the central question here is – does this just apply to those south of the border?

Last night on the news I heard this police officer, obviously frustrated by the thousands of students marching and not following instructions, shout out to a group “why don’t you get back into school and get an ed-u-ca-tion!?”

What can be more educational? What can be more of a learning experience? I remember my first protest. There is nothing more exhilarating than going out and risking everything to speak out for what you believe in. These guys didn’t know what was going to happen when they started marching. They didn’t know what would happen when they tried to leave the schools in their organized “walkout”. “Risking everything” is not an overstatement. You have no idea, until you have been involved in a demonstration how people will respond to you, including the police. It takes incredible strength of character and will to go and put yourself out there for what you believe. Especially when you are being demonized and deemed criminals by the right and the most powerful in this country. I think they are all rock stars. Rock on Latinos I am behind you all the way!

And finally. Boycott Prada. Boycott Versace. Boycott Red Lobster. Boycott Canada. The seal hunt is a disgusting barbarous display of human greed that leaves harp seal pups choking on their own blood for up to an hour and a half only to be skinned alive. The 365,000 quota doesn’t even include the ones that manage to drag themselves to the waters edge and escape. There is no excuse for this. It has to end. Please write to Red Lobster. They import Canada’s seafood. Cut the funding and the seal hunt will end. They have a program in place to compensate the off-season fishing guys for NOT killing these little guys. These are mammals. Innocent, days old mammals. Contact national news outlets – CBS, NBC and ABC, as well as MSNBC and CNN – ask them to cover the hunt. Contact Prada and Versace and tell them to stop using seal skin – for crying out loud. Diminish demand on this product. Go to Harpseals.org and HSUS.org to see what else you can do for these little guys.

END THE HUNT!!!!