12:01

12:01

At 12:01 P.M. on January 20, 2017 an authoritarian ruler was sworn in as the President of the United States. David Duke and the members of the KKK rejoiced, White Supremacists celebrated, and NRA members fired rounds of bullets into the air. They believe that America has finally returned to the days of “white’s only” drinking fountains, African Americans in the back of the bus, gay men castrated and nailed to fence posts, and lesbian women raped. Shot glasses in the Wild West were filled with a concoction of white lightening. This was to assure that white only corn silks floated in the powerful white man’s brew. Then shouts of jubilation were heard across America’s South-land.

However, there were other noticeable events that received little or no attention from the mainstream media. A seismic activity shook the Lincoln Memorial and forms of condensed moisture rolled down the Washington Monument like teardrops. The words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. echoed across America, but Americans were too busy to listen.

 “We will not be satisfied until ‘justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.’” The words of Dr. King continued, “We cannot turn back,” which in present political terminology means we will not allow Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and a cabinet filled with bigots, to turn back the pages of American history.

Other important events occurred but were not noticed by the media. From the clay hills of Alabama, Jeff Sessions’ white drummers in the “Heart of Dixie” were not allowed to march across the Selma Alabama Bridge. The crossroads of Indiana were jammed with buses filled with gay boys and lesbian girls escaping the institutions of Conversion Therapy. Suburban Texans shouted at Ted Cruz quoting an unforgotten text from his holy book, “When the blind lead the blind, they all fall in the ditch together.”

At 12:01 I silenced the TV because I could watch the moment when America’s democracy was raped, and “they who know not what they do,” cheered. I sat at my desk and reread;

Neal Gabler’s “Farewell America.”

*********

         “Surrounded by darkness,

the only sound

was

      the beating of my heart.”

*********

Then I lay bleeding on the floor,

With Poe’s Raven quoting,

“NEVERMORE!”

  

  

A HOMOPHOBIC NATION

THE DEVASTATION OF A HOMOPHOBIC

 UNITED NATION

I lived most of my life in the southern part of America, and like most gays I had difficulty accepting my sexual orientation. The Southern United States is a basket filled with social injustices with homosexuality being just one. Still today living in the homophobic Southern Bible Belt is a challenge for any LGBT person, but with the 2016 presidential election it has become even a greater challenge. It is a shame that millions of Americans who desire to be free have been forced to leave a country where freedom is supposed to be the cornerstone of the government.

The United States is faced with a situation in which Christians have declared social warfare against the gay lifestyle. It is not unusual for Christians to be militant, but it is unusual for Christians to promote an unnecessary social battle against a lifestyle that does no harm to anyone. It is a lifestyle that does not use force to recruit members, and it is a lifestyle that does not advocate the over throw of its adversaries. Plus, it is a lifestyle that desires a peaceful solution to the conflict.

On the other hand, Christians who have made homosexuality the greatest of all sins are not willing to settle for a peaceful solution.  They are using every means possible for a complete extermination of the gay lifestyle. They lost the battle against slavery and the battle that denied women the right to vote, and in every social aspect of history they have been proven to be wrong.  But yet they have a selfish determination to win this battle against America’s gay citizens. They have elected a leader, who in order to get their vote, had to promise to appoint Supreme Court Justices who would overturn the Marriage Equality Act.  Thus, when all else failed they turned to the government to pass laws that will force the Christian lifestyle on a free society. 

In spite of all the negative rhetoric, social diversity has been accepted in most of America’s public schools. Millions of students have learned to get along with each other. White students have become friends with black students and they together have welcomed Latino students into the social realm of American society.  Straight boys have become friends with gay boys, and transgender students have been elected to the court of the High Schools Home Coming King and Queen. Bisexual students have been elected as Student Council Presidents and even in the heart of Dixie, in the Southern Bible Belt, progress has been made.

Yet, on the other hand, Republicans have refused to accept the progress of the Obama administration.  So white Republicans defiantly marched to the polls and elected a Caucasian, bigot, racist, sexist, and homophobe, to be the leader of the free world. In so doing they turned the clock back at least fifty years in America’s race relations. Memberships in the KKK have increased ten-fold. White Supremacists have proudly marched in the streets displaying the Confederate flag, and American Nazis have hailed the new leader as the Hitler of the United States. The Republican Christian Church has attempted to commit genocide against all LGBT American citizens.

When I think of what this will do to the thousands of little gay boys and lesbian girls living in a homophobic nation, I shudder. I never dreamed that one day a bigot would occupy the oval office, with a VP homophobe side-kick, surrounded by a cabinet filled with narrow-minded, intolerant, fanatics, who would attempt to destroy the social progress made in America.   

With anti-racism reaching an all time high many people have been hurt, but those who have been hurt the most are children. Thousands of innocent children have suffered because of the color of their skin, their ethnic origin, or their sexual orientation. I have heard many Christians speak of concerns about the fetus of the unborn child, but I have never heard a Christian speak about the fetus of a gay child who will suffer in a homophobic nation whose chief oppressors will be those who call themselves Christians.

     

THE ERA OF POLITICAL IGNORANCE

THE ERA OF POLITICAL IGNORANCE

There are several factors at work in the process that created the era of political ignorance in America. But the greatest of all is the professionalism by which Fox News reports lies in a way that millions of Americans believe them.

It is common knowledge that Fox News is a supporter of the Rich Man’s Party and the Rich Man’s Party is determined to control America’s political system regardless of the cost. The political ignorance by which average working-class Americans support the Rich Man’s Party is a classic example of the effective use of brainwashing.

From the very beginning Fox News and the leadership in the Republican Party were determined that the administration of America’s first black president would be a failure. They sent out a memo to all Republicans in Congress requesting that they vote against any proposals made by President Obama.

One of the President’s main objectives was to provide medical insurance for 20 million uninsured Americans. Adults and children were suffering and dying needlessly because they could not afford proper health insurance. After many long hours of hard work President Obama persuaded the majority of the democrats in the Congress to pass the bill entitled, “The Affordable Care Act.”

The bill provided universal health care to all Americans. The Affordable Care Act, which later became known as Obamacare, proved that President Obama has a genuine concern for people in need. He is a compassionate president with a kind heart. Anyone would have thought that a man of this character would have received all manner of praise, but instead he got just the opposite. Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the leadership of the Republican Party, immediately began calling him the devil. Amazingly millions of Americans joined in, and Obama’s approval ratings reached an all time low. Even Republican Christians referred to the President as the devil, and the name calling did not stop there. Fox News and the Republican Party led a movement to persuade thousands of Americans to call the president’s wife and children disrespectful names.  Fox News had successfully ushered in the era of political ignorance into the United States.

The Obama administration saved America and the world from an economic depression. It was no surprise that Fox News and the   Republican Party denied the facts because the recession was started by   economic decisions made in a Republican administration. The denial of facts concerning the economic recession proved that the era of political ignorance had reached an all time high.

In spite of Fox News and the Republicans fighting him every step of the way, President Obama’s accomplishments have been many. One of his greatest accomplishments has been putting Americans back to work.  He did this by improving America’s relations with the nations of the world, and therefore opening up trade opportunities which provided a market for American made products.  

He opened diplomatic relations with Vietnam, which has a growing population of 94 million people. Vietnam is the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia. The working-class in Vietnam are being paid the highest wages ever paid in the history of their country. Therefore, higher wages means a greater demand for products and many of these products are American made. If given the opportunity Vietnam will continue to be a valuable trading partner with United States, and if not with the US, then with China. As expected, Fox News and the Republicans criticized this relationship which once again proved the era of political ignorance had developed well into the advanced stages.

President Obama reestablished relations with Cuba. Cuba has a growing population of over 11 million people. Millions of wealthy Cubans have been waiting for over 50 years to purchase a new American-made automobile. Plus, there is an open market to sell millions of other American products just 90 miles off the southern tip of Florida. Fox News and the leadership of the Republican Party criticized this movement just like they have criticized all of the economic improvements accomplished by President Obama.

The fact is that for the last 8 years America has been guided by a very compassionate, capable, and intelligent President. I do not have to say it, because history will say it for me, Obama has been one of America’s best presidents. To those Americans who are still denying the facts, it is hoped that soon you will realize that to judge a man by the color of his skin is a wrong decision. Such decisions have continued to place America in the era of political ignorance.