America, Land of the Offended

Alright, it takes a lot to offend me.  I’ve been called pretty much every name in the book and I can take the abuse mostly because I don’t LOOK to be offended.  Somehow, many other people do the opposite and are offended at the slightest hint at anything that can be remotely considered an insult.  Ugh.

It’s gotten so bad that I really don’t know what to say to anyone.  Everything needs to be qualified these days, especially since every subgroup of the population has found some sort of identity in what makes them unique, whether it be blacks, whites, gays, anti-gays, christians, etc.  I don’t know, I’ve always had a “live and let live” attitude toward most people, so long as you don’t “live” in my face and do your “living” in the privacy of your home.  No one cares about your ethnicity nor your lifestyle, religious beliefs, etc, etc, etc, unless you try to ram it down our throats.  But that’s another discussion for a different day.

Back to the Land of the Offended.  OK, let’s start with a hypothetical, but very real example.  I have a friend who’s Jewish.  If I refer to him/her as “a Jew”, is that considered offensive?  I take it, it IS, but I couldn’t for the life of me explain WHY.  Somehow, “they’re Jewish” vs. “he’s a Jew” walk some fine offensive scale and one tips the scale while the other doesn’t.

Another example is saying someone’s black.  Apparently the Political Correctness Committee has decided on this whole “African American” label, which is just absurd.  Of all the black people I know, none of them is from Africa, nor have they ever been there.  I’m proposing we then use the term: “AMERICAN African American” to denote those people who are really just Americans, but have the same color skin as those people from Africa who then may have migrated to the United States.  Yeah, silly idea, right?

You can’t even say “you’re gay” anymore, without pissing someone off.  Of course, gays, like all subgroups that have identified themselves as a separate group from the rest of the population, have taken their knocks and undue abuse.  Unfortunately that just comes with the territory, like the fat kid in school getting verbally/physically abused; it sucks, but the world ain’t gonna change and I don’t know what to do about it (and if you’re going to complain about my view, then YOU offer a solution).

I like to joke around, but it seems like everyone these days takes everything so freaking seriously that no one can see humour in anything and they just look to be offended.  Virtually anything you say can be taken the wrong way and very few people actually consider your intended message before taking on the defensive view.  Sure some jokes go way too far and certainly sometimes you say something unintentionally offensive, but jeez, can’t people approach things as adults and address the issue?

So, I’ll plod on and continue to joke around knowing that sooner or later someone will get upset and I’ll do the damage control as needed.  That said, I hope all you homos have a great Xmas.

Yes, that was a joke, except the Xmas part, which I hope offended someone.  Please let me know, although I’m SURE you will.

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)

I mean no disrespect to any veterans, but I don’t get this VFW stuff.  I mean, aren’t ALL American wars foreign, except the Civil War (of which I doubt there are any living veterans)?  Can someone explain this to me, because I just don’t get it.  And, please, fellow Americans who loved to find new ways to be offended, don’t get pissed off by this VFW post… get it? “VFW Post”!!!  Damn, I truly am funny as hell.

Christmas Shopping and Must Have Products

America today is in bad shape; our economy sucks and our values have gotten so twisted.  I still can’t get over the Walmart employee getting crushed in a mad Black Friday rush of shoppers and I realized that I share virtually NOTHING with the mentality of this mob.

Sure, I’m a self-proclaimed cheap ass and I like saving money and sending in rebates and all that, but if I sit here and try to think of a single “must have” item, I can’t.  There is NO DVD that I absolutely must own, there is NO movie that I HAVE to see, there is NO product I have to buy…and so on.  It’s very strange for me, being a former collector of, well, STUFF, to have attained this position.  As a kid, I got caught up in all that marketing, which is probably why I despise marketing so much today.  I was told which toys were fun in all the commercials and I cluelessly added them to my christmas list.  When it turned out that the toys sucked, I didn’t seem to care (although I did notice), because there was always another toy being pushed on TV.

That all changed when I shut off my TV, canceled cable and stopped reading newspapers and listening to the radio.  I consciously shut out any media outlet as much as I reasonably could and now I find that I’m somewhat immune to advertising.  I’m trying to keep my kids from that same barrage I was subjected to, but it’s not easy.  It’s OK, to some extent, but you do need a constant awareness and need to limit the impact.  Look at virtually every kid you see; all their toys and accessories are licensed characters: Disney, Dora, Thomas the Tank Engine, Spongebob, Elmo, etc…ad infinitum.

Funny enough, parents don’t even notice what they’re paying for, nor the negative impact it’s having on the child.  Case in point: at toy stores, the ‘blank’ play ball sells for $3.49 and the exact same ball with Dora’s oversized head on it sells for $4.99, as do all the Disney balls.  So, cheap ass me buys the cheaper ball (after all, it’s just a ball) and to make it cooler, we break out the permanent markers and decorate it ourselves.  Score one point against Disney and score one point for independence.

The only time I’ve seen TV recently was during the NBA finals and the Presidential debates, etc prior to the election.  To be honest, I was appalled at not only the obviousness with which the ads pushed products, but I laughed hysterically at the lists of side effects mentioned for virtually every pharmaceutical product advertised, especially ironic for the ‘erectile dysfunction’ pills (sure you want a stiffy, but would you die for one?).

I don’t know, maybe it’s a lost cause.  We all ask for a ‘kleenex’ instead of a tissue, we ‘xerox’ things, and we ‘google’ search terms, so we’ve already been programmed.  It’s not all bad, but it is scary how it creeps up on you.  For now all I can do is limit the damage to my family without impacting our enjoyment of life.  It does require an acute awareness, but I’ve developed much of it.

For the record, my iPod* is not one, my cell phone is not an iPhone* and my christmas list is empty.  I have everything I need (until something breaks) since I bought it all when I was told to by my TV.  Now I’m just enjoying them for a change instead of clamoring for the next ‘thing’.

Homework: shut off your media (TV, radio, newspapers/magazines) for a week and figure out who you are, or if there’s any part left of who you are.  Report back.

*For the record, I will admit I do want both of these, simply because they’re excellent products.

Black Friday has a body count.

Alright, now we’re all thankful we aren’t employed by Walmart, right?  That poor 34 year old guy who got trampled to death in a Black Friday rush is pretty sad commentary on our mixed up society.  I’m all for a bargain, but jeez, can’t they come up with a better system (like handing out numbered tickets for your place in line) than let a bunch of lunatics break down the door?

Since The Who concert back in 1979, we’ve known that insane crowds of people racing to get one up on the guy standing next to them is just a recipe for disaster.  I stopped going to concerts, not only because bands suck now, but also because of the lunacy involved in getting a close look.  I still remember those Van Halen shows where the crowd would literally smash themselves against the barriers and your chest was only saved from being crushed by pressing your arms against the guy in front of you while waiting for the human tide to ebb.  The same happens with these shoppers, only it’s probably worse since the prize has a dollar value.  And, at least some of the concert-going crowd can claim they were on drugs.

I sincerely hope that Walmart gets sued bigtime (after all, it was their carrot) AND the entire group of people that were anywhere near that door are charged with involuntary manslaughter.  It’d only be right.  Someone has to control these people and maybe they’ve got enough video footage to do so.

I also heard that a pregnant woman miscarried in the rush. “Two with one stone” comes to mind, in the same way Sheryl Crow meant it.  It’s truly horrifying.

Black Friday has never been blacker and the scariest part is that it’s probably only the beginning.  Our human race is so ready to stampede over whoever/whatever is in their way that I wonder if we’ve gone back to the caveman days.

I’m so glad I do my shopping online.

More on Prop 8 and Less Government

Continuing from yesterday’s post, I’m very divided on this issue of Prop 8 (gay marriage ban), or more accurately the outcome of the vote that passed Prop 8.  To reiterate, I’m all for ANYone partnering with ANYone, as long as they’re not my kids (for now).  Whether it’s a union called ‘marriage’ or whatever, it’s fine by me among consenting adults.

That said, the people voted to pass Prop 8 and ban gay marriage.  Now the Libertarian in me says, ‘that’s OK’, because it was put to a vote and the people want to ban gay marriage.  So now I’m in a bind; I’m very much AGAINST Prop 8, but I have to concede that since the voters of that stupid state of California have spoken, I really can’t say much else.

Sure I disagree with the outcome, but I also disagreed with BOTH Bush elections, but I had to accept the outcome and move on until the next election.  This is what voting is all about and, if I choose to participate in this democratic system, I have to accept the choice of the people.

Many arguments come out of this, like “What if people voted to prevent Jews from eating in restaurants?”, or “What if voters decided to teach only WHITE children in school?”….blah, blah, blah and these are good points.  However, if the majority feel this way, then things MUST be that way, however right or wrong you may think it is, right?  What about Megan’s Law?  Isn’t that some form of discrimination?  Sure as hell, I wanna know if some child molester is living near my kid and, yeah, his/her rights have been compromised, but for some reason no one’s protesting for them.  I mean, can’t one make the argument that even criminals should have privacy rights?  Same as when terrorists are caught based on some surveillance now allowed under Nixon…I mean Bush, but there, too, rights have been removed, but apparently it’s OK.

Our country’s flawed in many ways, but it’s still the greatest country on the planet.  I do think that the people of CA have spoken and if that isn’t acceptable, then what is acceptable?  Let the Government decide?  Someone has to decide what becomes a law and if it’s put to the people, then that’s democracy in action.  Blame your ill-informed neighbors or blame yourself for not supporting your cause before the election.  As much as I whine about the stupidity of the people of this country, I also think that 

Protesting the voice of the people is the silliest thing to do right now.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but my feeling on protests is that no one, repeat NO ONE who doesn’t already agree with you is going to listen.  People believe what they want and all a protest is doing is getting a bunch of like-minded people to attract other like-minded people.  Things generally change for financial or political reasons; rarely, if ever, do things change when the opposition stops in their tracks and suddenly realizes they’ve been misinformed and then change their view.  It’s not gonna happen.

I’m not saying to throw down your gauntlet and give up all hope for freedom.  I am saying to get involved and get others involved in creating a better world.  Voting is your chance to speak, to elect like-minded representatives and to help pass laws that preserve freedom, protect our lives and homes and protect our right to privacy and protect our right to spend our lives how we want and with whom we choose.  

So, all Californian voters take note: when Prop 8 comes up on the next ballot, please vote NO.  This is a compassionate vote to allow others (who may be different from you) the same rights and freedoms you share in this country.  And everyone should remember the words of Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984):

…They came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up.

I have NO idea whatsoever what my original point was, but isn’t it pretty damn impressive that I can include some famous quotes here?

Prop 8 (Gay Marriage Ban) Passes…

Prop 8, for those of you living under rocks, was a recent ballot proposition in California to amend the state Constitution to ban same-sex (I’ll call it “gay”, cuz it’s just clearer) marriage.  Basically, if you’re FOR gay marriage, you’d vote NO.  Understood?  Fine, but it goes much deeper.

Apparently for the California State Constitution, a simple majority of votes is enough to pass the amendment.  The people voted and by a slim margin, Prop 8 passed.  That is, NO gay marriage in California.  Way to go, guys, now the Constitution is a vehicle for discrimination AND the religious nuts had their say…. so much for Church and State being separate.

I’m not really sure how to interpret this whole issue or the outcome.  Simply stated, I’m all for any two, three or however many people that find love and security or whatever in one other’s lives to have the right to be together, live together or whatever.  If two women want to be together as a couple, fine by me (please send me video!!), and same for two men (I’ll pass on this video).  Really, I believe that two adults of whatever persuasion should have the same hospital visitation rights, tax breaks, health benefits, etc… as you or me or your neighbor and our respective spouses.  Jeez, what’s the problem?

Leave out sheep and/or children and definitely MY kids and I think that ‘consenting adults’ are big enough to make their own decisions about who they want to partner with, and they should reap the same ‘rewards’ the totally failed and ridiculous institution of marriage offers.  Sure, I AM a married person, but it’s a pathetically arcane institution and, in its present state, is a complete failure and it’s only going to get worse and worse, but that’s another entry.

So, Prop 8′s passing created a lot of heated debates and angry protests, as well it ought.  I mean, this whole idea of gay marriage is throwing a HUGE wrench inside the institution of marriage and, well, the dinosaurs aren’t just stepping aside.  The religious right are coming out in full force against gay marriage and, for now, have a small victory.

HOWEVER, the world is changing.  We have a black (or black-African or Black-American or American-African or whatever it’s called today) President, we’ll probably end up with a female Secretary of State (the lovely (ugh) Hillary Clinton) and it’s only a matter of time before there’s even more “allowable” diversity in America, so it’s just a matter of time before the pendulum swings the other way (no pun intended).  Life is too short to fight for something that’s bound to happen very soon, anyway, simply because the world IS changing.

So pack up your protest signs and spread love everywhere you can.  Let the religious freaks do their campaigning and let them develop ulcers; after all, they’re MUCH more worried than you about the outcome.  Just sit back and wait patiently and before you know it, some day soon we’ll all wake up in the proper century.

Wow…President Obama…woW

Well, we did it.  We’ve elected the first black President and I couldn’t be happier.  Not that I care that Obama is black, but I’m thrilled that it never even crossed my mind that he’s black; Obama stood strong on his merits and won the election because he deserved it.  Once again I am proud to be an American and am not embarrassed by our Commander in Chief.

If you look real close, you can see my little green 'X'

I guess I’m most impressed with his character, but it is incredible to me that he never played the race card.  With all these morons out there like Al Sharpton, along with every other minority group out there whose members CONSTANTLY remind you that they’re part of a minority group, it was refreshing to have a guy just offer his views and then let the words resonate until enough people heard them to create the movement that got him elected.

McCain’s concession speech was to be commended and it was welcoming that he shushed those losers who were booing Obama.  Sure I was upset back in 2000 when Bush was elected and I was downright pissed off in 2004, but in both cases I just accepted Bush as our President and I sucked it up for four years.  Now I get my revenge in the form of an excellent orator, a qualified politician (an oxymoron, yes?) and a man who is best qualified to right this country.  Sure it’ll be tough, but Obama’s our best hope.  And thank goodness Mrs. Palin didn’t speak; it only would have ruined the kindness exhibited by McCain.  In retrospect, had McCain acted like he did during his concession speech, he may have convinced more voters that he was, in fact, a human being.

Obama’s acceptance speech was awesome.  I don’t even know why, but I kept tearing up every now and then and I can only believe it was because his victory is just that bittersweet, when I think of how far we’ve come from our country’s stained history.  The absence of ‘whooping it up’ and ‘playing to the crowd’ by Obama was noticeable and was very indicative that Obama’s for real and winning this election is only a door being opened; the real work starts in a couple months.  I’ll say it again: I hope no one tries to assassinate him.

Well, this election was historical and the country is, finally, ready for some positive changes.  Quite possibly in my lifetime I’ll also get to see the first woman President (my daughter?) and I’m sure there are many other ‘firsts’ that will come along that will be welcome changes in this greatest of countries.  My secret wish is for a candidate whose last name is “President” to become President, so everyone has to call him “President President”.  That would be totally sick sick.

It’s been a while, but I’m glad to be proud of our leader; that hasn’t happened in quite a few years.