DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN ON GROUNDHOG DAY

In 2008 after Obama won the election and the Democrats won both houses of Congress, Democrats were on FB gloating as if it would last forever, rubbing it in to foes and saying that we should all "come together" behind their candidate, knowing what they really meant was "fall in line."

Well, no one did any such thing and the right unleashed a torrent of resistance, ignorance and bigotry like I had never seen.

Now it's 2016 and the reverse has happened, Republicans are gloating on FB as if this will last forever and the GOP calls for unity and coming together behind Trump. And liberals are protesting, charging racism and misogyny and vowing to fight and resist a President who hasn't taken office yet. Sound familiar?

The terrible thing about being an independent is that you can never claim any kind of victory because what you want are real choices, real leaders and a people who have a collective voice and an objective for a better nation for all and not just those who believe as they do.

In 2011, I wrote a blog that contained a line the has come to be prophetic in this recent election but it only shows that I was feeling just a little of what drove this cycle. I was worried that the Democrats were blowing it by investing heavily in symbolic and emotional manipulation and not enough in, you know, results. And today, I am just as worried that the GOP will believe that we want their failed policies because America voted for a circus clown to let them know how much we hate them all.

And that line from the 2011 blog was: "America will be great again when we are."

I still believe that.

INTERVIEW WITH BLACK LIVES MATTER AND ALL LIVES MATTER

This not a war of semantics but one of philosophy and ideals. Three words cut to the heart of the continuing problem of race in America.


I wanted to get to the bottom of all the anger about Black Lives Matter v. All Lives Matter and so I just asked them to both sit down so we could talk. We met at a Coffee Bean in Beverly Hills.


ME: Good to see both of you. Let's get to it. Why all the drama over which saying is the best?

BLM: It's not which is the best, it's which one is true.

ALM:  See what I mean. He's saying all lives don't matter.

ME: I think he's saying neither saying is true.

ALM: That's crazy. Of course All Lives Matter and so do black ones but as a subset of--

BLM: We are not a subset of you. That's your problem, you think everything begins and ends with you and if anyone contests it, you want to kill them.

ALM: Whoa! No one said anything about killing. Calm down now.

ME: He's got a point, we're just talking. Maybe caffeine was not a good idea.

BLM: Why is it that every time black folks do anything, here come white people to make a copy of it, add some sprinkles and then try to say they invented it? We can't have nothing, not our music, our style, our swag and it seems now we can't even have our suffering, you want that, too.

ALM: A lot of black people believe in All Lives Matter, you know.

ME: Yes, I see many of them saying it as a unifying thing.

BLM: They are lost, unable to intellectually understand this simple concept because we, all of us have been conditioned to devalue black lives and weaken self-determination. We say: "Black is beautiful!" You say "Everyone is beautiful!" We say: "Black Power!" You say: "Power to the people!" We say: "We want the funk!" You say: "Play that funky music white boy!" But in every instance, you say nothing until we say it first, only proving that your goal is to steal or undermine our efforts.

ALM: Black people are not the only ones dying. All of us are suffering out there. All Lives Matter is a rallying cry for unity not a negation of your movement.

ME: But it's like when programs are created to help blacks because of historic oppression and then one day it says "minority" and the whole thing is diluted.

ALM: This is useless. Cops kill more white people than black.

BLM: Not per capita and the media should be showing all the deaths by cop not just the black ones. Maybe then white people will not believe that somehow black people are behaving in some strange negro manner to get themselves killed.

ME: We gotta wrap this up, guys.

ALM: He just wants to keep people separate. I want to bring folks together. All Lives Matter wants everyone to be protected against violence and not always have one group out there fighting without benefit to everyone that suffers. How is that wrong? 

BLM: Events in real life prove that Black Lives do not matter, so then all lives by definition cannot matter unless you feel that black people are not in possession of humanity that is deserving of love and protection. This is the lie inherent in All Lives Matter. They don't believe it and they are lying so that law enforcement can continue to protect the chosen people. Black Lives Matter is a hopeful statement we want to be true and once it is, All Lives Matter can be said without it sounding fucking stupid.

ME: Well, okay them. See you guys out there


Copyright 2016

LILITH FOR PRESIDENT

As we are looking at our first female President, let us consider one of the greatest women in history, Adam's first wife.

Every elected female leader of a nation has been called unlikeable, untrustworthy, dishonest and polarizing. Margaret Thatcher, The Iron Lady, had the highest negatives of any Prime Minister in England's history but when asked what they admired about her, it was these same qualities that people associated with the strength, resilience and capability necessary to do the job.

Not hard to see this for what it is: Our society has always been male-dominated and so we worship male traits and consider them at once desirable but repellant when associated with a woman.

As we all know, Eve was not Adam's first wife. It was Lilith, a strong-willed and intelligent woman who did not like the deal. Lilith was not made from a rib but made in the same process as Adam. This was a mistake because she brought to the table a countering presence which belied her second-class status but supported her equal origins. The result was, God told her to get the hell out of paradise then made Eve from a lesser cut of humanity.

The legend is that Lilith, upset at her treatment associated with Evil and became a demon, which tempted and plagued women for ages. Lilith lured women into relationships with other women which was abhorrent to God and man.

This is a good spin but I see another story. Lilith was the first feminist, a defiant voice against authority and for humanity and equality.

This is why she should be President.

A Lilith presidency would see an end to income inequality, the silly war on terror and drugs and a return to intellect as the leading quality of society. We could get over all of the problems we have with relationships and I'm betting all these ratchet reality shows come to and end, starting with The Bachelor.

Of course, Lilith is a myth and you can't have a myth as President, although Donald Trump does seem a bit like that three headed dog Hercules killed. Still, it is something to think about as we enter yet another rigged election cycle. Let's think of Lilith as a vote for reason and remember you can only be thrown out of paradise once.


Copyright 2016