Category Archives: first amendment
Passages and Peace
The dear lady that passed on in our building left behind some wonderful gifts–we were apparently like-minded, but she had barriers up and wouldn’t let people in. I knew that she had been hurt to put up those boundaries, so I gave her that space to feel protected. It’s a loss, however, as I have learned she had a B.S. degree and loved to read the same kinds of books I love to read.
One of those books, The Birth House by Ami McKay, had me reading it all weekend. It’s rare that I read a book through, but since I have an interest in midwifery, I had to find out “what happened next” in the book. As one of the commenters on the Powell’s website said, I would have liked a little more complexity to the main characters. There’s something that’s nagging at me but I can’t bring it up to the front of my brain right now–
In the book, the main character, Dora Rare, eventually marries a man who is a conscientious objector. Archer is the son of a wealthy widow and his objecting to the war brings scorn from a group of the women, who give him a white feather to show the world he’s a *coward*. (the book goes on to portray him as a drunk who forces himself upon Dora–another issue with the book is that there are no men who are main characters who are good guys–this bothers me greatly.)
I had forgotten about the custom of pinning white feathers on men during the wars…
…and then I thought of how the white feather was used. I think that would be a powerful statement–putting a white feather on one’s clothing to show the world that you were objecting to war. More powerful, perhaps, than the peace sign?
And as is stated in the book, the wearing of the feather brings about such controversy. Why?
Why is it so difficult to live in peace? From my parents’ generation (WWII) to my generation (Vietnam) to my children’s generation (Iraq, Afghanistan)…none of us have known a time without war. Living in such times makes it so much harder to even grasp what a world would be without war…to actually know peace…
Why should one feel guilty or a coward for wanting peace?
I used to think that way before my own metamorphosis, but came to see how badly the conscientious objectors were treated–how the youth of the Vietnam era went to Canada and were told by their parents that they would turn them over to authorities if they tried to come back home. It took courage to leave anyway. Or how they were beaten, hosed down with water, arrested, etc. I now see standing up against war as an act of courage.
Even now, it takes courage to speak out against war. You’re viewed as unpatriotic.
And with every holiday being tied to the military, it gets harder and harder for those advocating peace to speak out.
And one never hears about the Quakers, the Church of the Brethren, or the Amish–the religions who do not believe in war….it’s only the religions who somehow have managed to link Good Christians with the military that are promoted.
And the question that they cannot answer is: Who would Jesus bomb?
Getting money out of elections
Center for Media and Democracy has joined with others in “Money Out, Voters In” effort. I was a little more heartened after this election, because it would appear that the billionaires spent a lot of $$$ for nothing...
…more here on dark money–up 400%.
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In related news, protests against Romney and the vulture capitalists sending jobs overseas. The story was written pre-election, but still needs to be told. People just want to be able to work–to earn their own pay and take care of themselves and their families.
It’s utter cruelty to send jobs overseas and then complain when those that lost their jobs go on food stamps.
…but we’re not racists…
<sigh> Riots protests at Mississippi over Obama’s re-election. Remind me again of what the perimeters are of a riot? Because I don’t recall the pepper-sprayed “Occupy” protestors lighting things on fire.
Big Bird breathes sigh of relief…
Congratulations, President Obama. Big Bird lives on…:)
I know better, but I was listening to the rightwing radio last night and they were painting a dim picture of Obama’s win. I turned it off and went to bed to read…thinking we were going to get Bush III…
Indiana voted in Mike do-nothing Pence for Governor, and now has a super majority in the legislature…<sigh>
…well, at least I am spared Richard my-sperm-is-a-gift-from-God Mourdock…
The news on the reaction in the Middle East. I hope this means a peaceful movement in Israel is underway….
DN! has this up on the elections. Elizabeth Warren is animated after her win. Thank God.
Unfortunately, the GMO lobby won and Californians defeated the measure requiring GMO labeling. Shit.
O”Reilly had a nice take on why Obama won–because people want “stuff” and Obama was going to give it to them…
Well, now…Romney has the gov’t pay $77,000 for the care and housing of his horse…has money in offshore accounts and John McCain has so many houses he can’t even remember how many he has…all because they don’t pay their fair share of taxes…now who feels entitled?
Is it entitlement when one wants to eat? Have a roof over their head? Get medical care? I’m confused.
They went on to talk about the shift away from the standard–now women and minorities are getting their voices heard. The boys of the old school are threatened…and it will probably get uglier before it’s all done.
To my sisters who were the power behind getting President Obama re-elected: Thank you. We can move mountains when we focus on what’s important to us and fight for it.
I want to say, though, that women have been characterized as of “one mind”–that any woman who manages to get before a microphone speaks for all women. They don’t.
This is one of the reasons that the middle-of-the-road women backed away from the Feminist Movement–they were treated as if they spoke for all women. Women who wanted to stay home with their children were characterized as dull twits who lacked ambition. Women who didn’t believe in abortion but believed in equality were marginalized, also.
And the 70s Feminists who fought against alimony because it…well, I’m not really sure why they were fighting against alimony…but as this quote by Barbara Seaman, amongst others, puts it quite well–this is something that I lost out on when I divorced. I also got less than half of the assets (with a mortgage to pay off) and my ex got away with only paying one-fifth ($20,000) of his income to support his three children. Although I had stayed home for eleven years, the judge did not allow for that, and had instead computed the amount of support as if I had a job!! Yes, I had a lousy lawyer–whose partner still smirks at me to this day whenever I have to trudge back to the place I grew up in…I’ve always wondered what that smirk means….
Anyway, I hope that with the election that women and minorities will do their homework, and support thoughtful politicians who approach the legislative process with the “Do unto others…” mindset…it would make life so much easier and just might bring about Peace…
Native American Heritage Month
From Turtle Talk--a guest post by Bridget Mary McCormick.
Turtle Talk also has a link up to an obit of Betty Binns Fletcher–a woman to admire.
In the article, she stated that she had a hard time getting hired as an attorney after graduation because of the prejudice in law firms. Yeah, well, I wish I could say that it has changed, but it’s still there…at least if you’re an assistant. I took paralegal courses and got A’s. However, when I and a couple of classmates went to look for a job afterward…nothing. There were several attorney’s assistants taking the course–all of them blond and in their twenties and high school graduates. The classmates that couldn’t get a job? In our forties. And two of us had Bachelor of Arts degrees. You can draw your own conclusions.
Also on the blog is this link to a case of a non-Indian mother who gave birth to a child of a Cherokee father, who did not assert his parental rights…at first…but after finding out the child was to be adopted, he filed a case to block it. It’s ridiculous that this dragged out for two years while the child was becoming attached to the adoptive parents–the father had indicated he did not want her to be adopted by strangers at four months of age–at that point, he should have been custody of the child. This would have made her life so much more easier than to drag it out.
The father was not abusive, according to the document (I only read to page 26), and other than his initial reluctance, he stepped up and that should have been considered a positive for this little girl. I mean, the details are scant about the people involved in the case, but something that leaped out at me was the implication that it was a negative against the father because the father was going to be aided by his parents in caring for the child–the Native Americans raise children differently than Europeans–the entire tribe looks after the little ones. At least, that is the traditional way…not sure if they still adhere to this, but it wouldn’t be abnormal for the father’s parents to help raise the little girl. What is seen as a negative by white folks (assuming that the professionals involved were white folks) is seen as positive by the Native American culture. Lastly, there is the elephant in the room of whether the adoptive parents were Christian and the Native American father practiced traditional tribal spirituality. The Mormons used this angle to kidnap Native American children from their parents and adopt them legally.
Expanding the Debate
DN! has again allowed ALL presidential candidates a forum to express their reasons for wanting to be president. I couldn’t listen to the entire debate, as I’m out of time, but this is what I’ve listened to:
Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein’s arrest should send chills down one’s spine. It is absolutely stunning that a person with a legitimate claim as a candidate for political office is arrested for trying to assert the right to debate. And being handcuffed to a chair for eight hours??
As she said, this would not have happened if the League of Women Voters were still running the debates.
To shut them out is weak, in my opinion. If you’re a strong candidate, allowing others in is not going to phase you. What are they afraid of? Legitimizing the Green Party? or Justice Party?
Having to actually answer questions that many Americans want answered?
I would say all of the above. A robust debate helps the marketplace of ideas, but informed voters tend to start asking questions that most politicians would rather not answer.
On to the debate–
Dr. Stein and President Obama touch on keeping jobs here, giving tax breaks to those companies that keep or create jobs here. In the place I grew up in, they were giving tax breaks out the wazoo to companies, at the peril of schools, which suddenly lost the tax base to keep schools running with adequate teaching staff, supplies, etc. And what did these companies do when the mood struck? Left for Mexico, China, etc. Personally, I think when a company gets tax breaks like this, and then packs up and leaves, they should be made to pay back every last cent they took away in tax relief… plus interest.
Eagle 