Blue Sky-ing

Ye olde blog content hasn’t been flowing too freely of late for a myriad of reasons. Firstly, there has been a lot going on. Secondly, there has been a great deal to chew on, what with the flatlands yanking what should be a basic human right from women (in this blogger’s opinion) and the President of the United States being caught in a lie (and not for the first time) with respects to Katrina and its levees. The list goes on and on and since we are gravely prone to distraction, what little focus I could muster was put towards keeping up with developing a passable chess game and assembling parcels of play-lists for B3.

(Side note: I am still soliciting suggestions for what songs to play B3. Send me an email or Skype/IM me or just reply to whatever relevant entry with the preface of “B3 play-list suggestion”)

With so much to write about and comparatively little time, it is difficult to know where to begin. Seeing as the Nebraska abortion ban is in the fore-brain and several of my blogging compatriots have commented extensively on it, I will only give it quick rumination here. DCeiver and others have hashed out an extremely rational and calculated reaction and plan of action in response to the ruling. It is worth the time spent to read the entry and the following thread. While I completely agree that keeping the issue out of the courts and taking aim at dethroning the conservative establishment that brought this fell state into legal ruling at the elected level, I don’t think it likely or realistic in any honest estimate of the future.

This reflects my complete lack of faith (pardon the pun) in the rationality of the middle states to see past their ideologies (be they evangelical, neo-conservative, anti-liberal or just plain stupid). This jaded-ness stems partially from the electoral dividing line in the last election, i.e. blue states vs. Jesus-land. Basically, it’s the correct way to go about it, but given that the decline of Western Civilization is ever more manifest, it would be nearly futile from an expenditure of energy standpoint. Briefly, here’s why: The baseline of education and awareness of people in the United States of America is, for the most part, a joke. In a country where well over 40% of the electorate are sure to fairly sure that the Rapture will happen in their lifetime (nods to Sam Harris), fact is nearly irrelevant. Blame the decline of America’s educational system. Thank the Reagan years. IOKIYAR my ass!

So, after venting a bit there, I continued to read my fellow bloggers takes on the abortion sitch, natch. This uncovered a rather clever and logical point of reason that would be very hard to argue against. Over at TSOTU, el Checkypantz makes a brilliant point regarding the dichotomy of states rights vs. federal law. If you don’t follow the link, Pantz simply states that the religious conservatives cannot have their cake and eat it too. If you get a law on a moral issue (abortion) passed in a state on the premise of it being a state right and federal law has no jurisdiction, it leaves the door wide open for other such “moral issue” legislation to be brought to bare. Namely gay marriage.

So, blue sky-ing into the future and heaven forbid, say abortion is illegal in forty-six of fifty states. The same justification that allowed abortion to be banned at the state level potentially, state rulings providing, allows gay marriage to be fully legal. Without projecting how many states it would be legal in (blue states from ’04?), those giving their unwanted child up for adoption or state agencies no doubt burdened, because that’s the only option, have a much broader field from which to select adoptive parents! It is idealistic, unlikely and containing bullshit at its base, but philosophically it makes the best of a really bad situation.

So, using the Checkypantz logic and the DCeiver tactics, what should really be happening is pro-abortion activists and organizations should be teaming up, immediately, with the Equal Rights Campaign to flank the religious right and sympathetically aligned conservative base do everything they can to push the gay marriage initiative as far as they can within the bounds of the law and no desist from it until abortion ceases to be threatened. Mind you, all the while others should be fighting tooth and nail to protect a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body.

Robertson & American Empire

We may have a new candidate for douche bag of the week. Maybe, depending on how I feel by the end of this entry, we’ll have a douche bag of the month!

Here is a guy famous for some pretty top-notch comedy in the world of public discourse. With winners like suggesting that the State Department be blown up with a nuclear device and saying that feminism encourages women to "kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." You knew the guy was bound to have another ripe zinger further down the line. Yesterday, he hit us with it!

This man of god, founder of the Christian Coalition, has called for our US government to facilitate the assassination of Hugo Chavez. This sounds mighty un-Christian to me. Granted that Chavez is a bit of a blow-hard ass, but to pop a cap in him seems a bit steep. Furthermore, the basis for the statement, a fear of Robertson’s that Venezuela may become "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism" is so rife with fallacies that I am not sure I can list them all here.

First, this country doesn’t need or want another Joseph McCarthy. Communism is a non-issue. People saw that it failed in Russia and they see how miserable people in Cuba are. (I’m am not going to touch China.) Communism is the least of our worries. For all intents and purposes, it is a red herring. And, Pat’s memory for history seems a bit foggy. Back in the 80’s, the Reagan Administration supported the Mujuhadin, a.k.a. Islamic fundamentalists, a.k.a. al Queda, to fight the Russian Communists. Thanks Ronnie! Islam has no love of Communism. It can be reasonably argued (unlike most of what Massah Robertson says) that Islam and Communism are completely incompatible. The annoying and sad thing is that lots of people believe Pat is truly doing the Lord’s work, is a good American and bummed that his Presidential bid failed.

The more unnerving thing is that the U.S., to a large degree, is where it is for thinking just like Mr. Robertson. It is because of America’s meddling nature that Islamists hate us and Hugo Chavez has ample fuel to spout off about how bad we are. We have supported regimes that oppress their peoples (remember Vietnam? How about Saudi Arabia?) We have stuck our nose where it did not belong because we want to protect our interests. Someone notable (please, if you know, tell me who, specifically) said that this, our current state of affairs, i.e. Iraq, Afghanistan, world enmity, is the price of empire. Is it worth it?

In the afore linked article, Patsy gets to the heart of it all in saying "You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop." Its all about the oil.

As long as we are fat, secure and happy, who cares who we have to kill? Tens of thousands of Iraqis? No problem! So what if the environment is completely screwed. I’ve go my Hummer H2, my plasma screen, a well oiled semi-automatic with armor piercing bullets and more food in my fridge than 3/4 of the world sees in month. So what if our cars are screwing up the environment and creating rising tides that are displacing 20,000 island residents of Bangladesh? Just gimme the oil! We’ve got what we want. Nothing else matters.

I think Agent Smith hit the nail on the head.

Where is American self reliance? Where is Yankee ingenuity and a can do attitude? Where is the American Dream and the notion of sacrificing for the cause? Have we become an empire by default? Is this the fate of every republic? Lastly, communism clearly wasn’t sustainable. Can we follow the signs and determine if a democracy is sustainable?

Sorry for the drama. So, yeah. Pat Robertson is definitely douche bag of the month.