Tuesday, June 14, 2005
MJ
Finanlly...the wepon of mass distraction is OVER! Menaing of course the trial. During this time, though my freinds who are latin will no longer be able to drive each other around without getting stopped by the police...thanks to everyone glued to Court TV who ended up caring less about such things
Monday, June 06, 2005
Its a Gas
There are times I go to the gas station and the last thing I want to do is talk politics. As I looked at the price...something hit my mind. An image. Of gas prices skyrocketing. Yes. There seems to be a new disaster special on FX. Guaranteed to continue to make you frightened of you own shadow. It was on my mind when this older man showed up.
"Excuse me are you proud of that sticker?" this older man said. He was wearing those sunglasses I see all the time. The ones that darken your vision from all sides because the ozone layer is so weak nowadays.
Knowing that I am in Oro Valley I am certain this is going to be a confrontation. I live in an area where the people are convinced that GWB is doing right by them. They are not, however, the upper 5 % of our country. They watch MSNBC and Fox News and are convinced that Kerry was and still is evil. They are not getting what they want and do not care.
I respond with "I am convinced we are going toward a facist society. Have a nice day."
And I leave him in the dust.
"Excuse me are you proud of that sticker?" this older man said. He was wearing those sunglasses I see all the time. The ones that darken your vision from all sides because the ozone layer is so weak nowadays.
Knowing that I am in Oro Valley I am certain this is going to be a confrontation. I live in an area where the people are convinced that GWB is doing right by them. They are not, however, the upper 5 % of our country. They watch MSNBC and Fox News and are convinced that Kerry was and still is evil. They are not getting what they want and do not care.
I respond with "I am convinced we are going toward a facist society. Have a nice day."
And I leave him in the dust.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Belief in exsitence of Satan: Stupid?
This is a response to this column in NYpress (Dated June 1)
There are some people in Tucson that I come across in progressive circles that are certain that I would be a better progressive if I dropped my belief in God. That belief is a weakness to them. Of course they get their information about Jesus, God and the Devil from television and someone trying really hard to sell an idea of easy belief in their workplace. So, its no surprise to me that many times the foundation of Christianity is attacked instead of bad theology. Suddenly its Jesus, the belief in God and the Devil that becomes the problem instead of another gospel that is preached. I wonder if Matt ever took the time to read God's Politics?
More on this later. I am going to church.
There are some people in Tucson that I come across in progressive circles that are certain that I would be a better progressive if I dropped my belief in God. That belief is a weakness to them. Of course they get their information about Jesus, God and the Devil from television and someone trying really hard to sell an idea of easy belief in their workplace. So, its no surprise to me that many times the foundation of Christianity is attacked instead of bad theology. Suddenly its Jesus, the belief in God and the Devil that becomes the problem instead of another gospel that is preached. I wonder if Matt ever took the time to read God's Politics?
More on this later. I am going to church.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
My Recent History
I was at the donor check-in desk at the Red Cross. I was watching CNN. The president was about to give a press conference on the war. Of course, he mentioned the Weapons of Mass Destruction. But he also mentioned something that if true, I would have held back from the public. "Besides, Saddam tried to kill my father." This was repeated 3 times by CNN. And then it disappeared. Seemingly forever.
What happened between those months? The war I watched. Shock and Awe. And then the statues of Saddam getting taken down. Even one one statue of Saddam's gonads being blown off by explosives. And the "Mission Accomplished" farce. I really did believe it was all going to be over and we would hear no more about it. But we did.
Soon it was near the end of the summer 2003. I got a call from someone inviting me to the Sun City Democratic Club. I went. There was a woman that was a guest speaker. She talked about Dennis Kucinich. There were some ideas I really liked and a few I disagreed with. What caught my attention was the part about the Patriot act. Press censorship. Just like what I saw with CNN that day before the war started. Democracy was fading.
I thought that getting involved would be my last chance to have my voice heard. I worked, then for the Kucinich campaign. I canvassed in the inner parts of town as I saw more and more Bush stickers show up in Oro Valley itself. I volunteered even to be a delegate for Kucinich if he got enough votes in the presidential preference election. Of course, Kerry's momentum was continues to build at that point. For the most part, our job was done.
I did make many friends during that time. I will introduce you to all of them as we go on. But soon we went to do other things, like protests, crowding around to see Amy Goodman, various fun fests. Things like that.
After that, Jeff Chimene became a canidate for congress pushing a progressive vision. I worked on his campaign. We did cell phone banking from Steve's house on the weekends. We really wanted to give our congressman the business. Jim Kolbe...ugh...Republican and in the closet gay. I will rant some other time. Not to mention the one I will call weasel-boy trying to get the nod for going up against him. Weasel-boy demanded twice that Jeff drop out. Then Eck (Pima Dem Chair) pratically endorses him before the primary. Does he get the Primary? No, and neither does Jeff. It went to a woman with name reconition. But I do forget her name. Ah well.
So, I got my marching orders from the weekend Kerry canvassers. Angry conservatives threatened to call the police for my subversive tatics. Just for walking for Kerry. That is how divided it was...And still is.
Near the end, I got involved in the Stop 200 campaign. I wasn't trusted by the leadership. After all why would a gringo like me what to preserve the rights of Latinos? Of course no one ever asked. I wore my feet out on November 2nd helping those communities get out and vote. Of course, Phoneix always has a bigger say in what is going on so the facist Prop 200 passed by a very wide margin.
So then end of the election brings me to where I am now. I am on the Democratic State committee (that means involvement in my state legislative district as well as a precient committeeman in my precient). I am involved on the state and local level with the Progressive Democrats of America. I continue to be involved with the Sun City Vistoso Democratic club (being the youngest member at 39). I am a subscriber to Sojourners magazine (which is closest to my political convictions as I may get to an organization). Yes, I get e-mails from everyone and have my own mailbox just for political action.
These last two posts are, of course, just a digest.
What happened between those months? The war I watched. Shock and Awe. And then the statues of Saddam getting taken down. Even one one statue of Saddam's gonads being blown off by explosives. And the "Mission Accomplished" farce. I really did believe it was all going to be over and we would hear no more about it. But we did.
Soon it was near the end of the summer 2003. I got a call from someone inviting me to the Sun City Democratic Club. I went. There was a woman that was a guest speaker. She talked about Dennis Kucinich. There were some ideas I really liked and a few I disagreed with. What caught my attention was the part about the Patriot act. Press censorship. Just like what I saw with CNN that day before the war started. Democracy was fading.
I thought that getting involved would be my last chance to have my voice heard. I worked, then for the Kucinich campaign. I canvassed in the inner parts of town as I saw more and more Bush stickers show up in Oro Valley itself. I volunteered even to be a delegate for Kucinich if he got enough votes in the presidential preference election. Of course, Kerry's momentum was continues to build at that point. For the most part, our job was done.
I did make many friends during that time. I will introduce you to all of them as we go on. But soon we went to do other things, like protests, crowding around to see Amy Goodman, various fun fests. Things like that.
After that, Jeff Chimene became a canidate for congress pushing a progressive vision. I worked on his campaign. We did cell phone banking from Steve's house on the weekends. We really wanted to give our congressman the business. Jim Kolbe...ugh...Republican and in the closet gay. I will rant some other time. Not to mention the one I will call weasel-boy trying to get the nod for going up against him. Weasel-boy demanded twice that Jeff drop out. Then Eck (Pima Dem Chair) pratically endorses him before the primary. Does he get the Primary? No, and neither does Jeff. It went to a woman with name reconition. But I do forget her name. Ah well.
So, I got my marching orders from the weekend Kerry canvassers. Angry conservatives threatened to call the police for my subversive tatics. Just for walking for Kerry. That is how divided it was...And still is.
Near the end, I got involved in the Stop 200 campaign. I wasn't trusted by the leadership. After all why would a gringo like me what to preserve the rights of Latinos? Of course no one ever asked. I wore my feet out on November 2nd helping those communities get out and vote. Of course, Phoneix always has a bigger say in what is going on so the facist Prop 200 passed by a very wide margin.
So then end of the election brings me to where I am now. I am on the Democratic State committee (that means involvement in my state legislative district as well as a precient committeeman in my precient). I am involved on the state and local level with the Progressive Democrats of America. I continue to be involved with the Sun City Vistoso Democratic club (being the youngest member at 39). I am a subscriber to Sojourners magazine (which is closest to my political convictions as I may get to an organization). Yes, I get e-mails from everyone and have my own mailbox just for political action.
These last two posts are, of course, just a digest.
