On the Polanski arrest…

A bitch is still illish, but on the re-bound.

Lawd, this bubonic-ebola plague is a whopper!

Anyhoo, I’m playing catch up so…

Cough.

On the Polanski arrest…

Roman Polanski is a brilliant director.

Roman Polanski is a philanthropist and a mentor and blah, blah and blah.

Fuck it.

Roman Polanski is a fugitive from American justice, people.

He’s not the Dalai Lama,…he’s just a human being who fled the United States of America because he found out that our judicial system was about to take another bite out of his ass over his confessed rape of a 13 year old girl (and can we PUHlease cease with the “rape” vs. “real rape” bullshit…must we go there? I think NOT!).

Everything he has done…every donation he has made…every humanitarian action he has indulged in since he fled this country has been on justice’s dime.

Shit, this system will go straight to hell if rich people can just flee…do charity work and then get a pass.

It’s not as if Polanski was facing the death penalty…or life. He would have been done and out…if he had not fled.

If Roman Polanski was getting fucked over by the legal system…and he very may have been…then he’s in good company. Thousands of Americans share that experience…right up to the point where they went to jail and he went to France.

Now, this bitch has about had enough of listening to celebrities speaking out over the miscarriage of justice handed to the then 44 year old Polanski for his having raped a 13-year-old girl.

If there has been a delay…if this has “dragged on”…if it feels as if this case has no end then one need only look to Mr. Polanski for the cause of that shit.

And, in the name of all those who are currently wrapped up in the American prison system, Mr. Polanski ain’t the poster child for justice denied.

He’s more an example of how the privileged get over…

...while the poor get jail.

A bitch has the plague!

Sob.

Seriously, this shit has got to be bubonic ebola or something like it.

Blink.

Anyhoo, this bitch has taken far too many pharmaceuticals to be trusted online.

Toodles ‘til my fever breaks…

Regarding the Belleville bus attack incident…

Several readers have asked for my thoughts on the recent beating of a student on a school bus in Belleville Illinois. Contrary to popular belief, this bitch does research the shit I post about and it has taken me a while to research this incident.

What we know is that a student was attacked and horribly beaten on a school bus. He is white and the students caught on tape beating him are black.

A bitch admits that if the roles were reversed I’d assume that this assault was racially motivated.

Catch that knee before you hurt somebody!

I can’t speak for everyone, but the reason I come to conclusions like that is because of the history of racial violence in my community and the nation at large. One of the ramifications of society’s history of bigots attacking people is that incidents where the attacker and victim come from separate racial background are often not being given the benefit of the doubt. That’s not always accurate, but then again that's why a bitch researches the shit I post about rather than just run with my assumptions.

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

My heart goes out to this young student and his family.

I’ve been the victim of bullies. As a matter of fact, I was assaulted on a school bus when I was a wee bitch and never rode the bus to school again. I know the fear, the embarrassment and the trauma associated with being a victim…just as I know the empowerment of being a survivor. As Belleville deals with this incident and the media attention the video capturing it has stirred up, my thoughts are with the victim and my hope is that he swiftly heals mentally and physically.

When I read that white supremacist groups are planning a rally to demand a civil rights investigation into this incident I was a wee bit surprised. White supremacist groups don’t usually acknowledge that a person’s civil rights can be violated by a racially motivated beating…and, even though officials are now saying that this incident does not appear to be racially motivated, it struck me as odd for ig'nant racists to take this moment to seek justice through a mechanism they’ve spent a lot of time denouncing.

But these groups are nothing if not illogical.

My second thoughts were of the victim and his family having to deal with this shit. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to deal with the assault, the media attention, the investigation and now a bunch of ig’nant thugs bent on making you a martyr to their fucked up from the floor up cause.

So I read this article about the family’s response on STLtoday.com with some interest.

STLtoday.com article link warning – The St. Louis Post Dispatch articles come with comments and many of them are the very definition of racist. Read the comment section with caution…lest your blood pressure rise.

The article features a statement the family issued through their lawyer.

"(The victim's and his family) wish to make it clear that they do not support or condone any individuals or organizations which have used this unfortunate incident to promote racial bigotry and hatred."

The article went on to report… "the statement also thanked the high school, school district and area residents who have expressed support.”

I’ll add my support from across the river and my promise to continue to work to address violence in our communities and schools.

Hold on just one hot damn minute…

A bitch is feeling illish and full to bursting with bitchitude.

Shall we?

A certain Anonymous…and aren’t they always Anonymous…left a comment to an older autism post and tried to make the case that state funded programs for people with developmental disabilities are examples of socialism and folks trying to get something for nothing (a bitch suspects Anonymous defines socialism as people trying to get something for nothing and the Missouri Department of Mental Health as a liberal tool of our vast left wing socialist conspiracy).

Anonymous things…well, umm…puts forth the sorta-thought that private non-governmental charities are the American way to address the needs of Americans with special needs.

Pause…check blood pressure…continue.

Long time readers know that a bitch’s older brother is autistic. He’s 39…aphasic, profoundly autistic and lives in a group home managed by the same organization that ran his school and provided therapy and treatment throughout his childhood. My family has experience with autism before it was well known and in the media. We also have a strong working knowledge of what the world of mental health was like 100 years ago…hell, 40 years ago…how individuals with special needs were treated when private charities and state mental institutions were the only option…and exactly what went into getting from there to here.

When a bitch sees a swarm of flies hovering over a large brown mound, smells a ripe stank and can observe a bull in the room I call that stankified large brown mound bullshit.

And the argument that local, state and federal governmental involvement in mental health is a bad thing is absolute steaming bullshit on a block of delusional ice.

Before?

Shit.

"Before" was not that long ago. Before was a world of institutions and degradation, abuse and neglect, horrific experimentation and forced sterilizations.

Decency?

Sorely lacking.

Human dignity?

Missing in action.

Before was a time when individuals with special needs were warehoused…isolated…drugged and tucked into cells.

Before was a time when treatment was defined as anything that shut the individual down, physically and mentally.

When my brother was born 39 years ago things were changing…but they had yet to all be changed. My parents were advised to institutionalize my brother. Doctors and pastors told my mother that my brother’s autism was her fault, that he would never know her or love her or express emotions or speak or have friends or contribute to the community in a meaningful way.

In short, my mother was pitched the lie.

And, although I have a lot of issues with her, I am thankful every second of every minute of every day that she identified that bullshit for what it was and became a champion warrior for her son.

My mother and parents like her went to war…because private charities weren’t getting it done.

They went to war because organizations and charities need guidelines and oversight…or abuse happens. There must be ramifications for their actions…or neglect happens. There must be goals and expectations…or nothing happens. And there is no…not one…other body capable or empowered to handle that shit other than government. As much as I bitch about DMH, this bitch will be the loudest voice to declare that DMH is needed. What they need is more funding, not to be replaced by some private here today and maybe tomorrow charity with funding today and maybe tomorrow and oversight granted by a bunch of priests and a Boy, won’t this charity work for the wretched look grand on my resume! Board of Directors.

My mother and others like her went to war because children with developmental disabilities grow up into adults with developmental disabilities and they have rights from birth.

And they went to war because their loved ones can contribute…they could learn, hold jobs, have friends, and give back to the community.

People with developmental disabilities have value, damn it.

They deserve our very best…not what the market will bear, what some asshole looking for a tax deduction will fund, what society feels or has decided it can afford to grant.

Lawd, give me strength.

My nightmare is for my brother’s life, liberty and happiness to be subject to a community that values a new football stadium over new schools.

If that’s what folks are talking about when they preach about family values and against our government then this bitch suggests those folks take a moment to catch their breath…a whole lot of bitchitude is heading their way.

History is littered with the stories of the oft abused victims of “charity”…and that will NOT be my brother’s biography.

Got that Anonymous?

Or did I lose you when I mentioned decency and human dignity?

You craven ass motherfucker…

Pondering the faces in the crowd…

Happy last day of summer!

What?

A bitch adores autumn!

I love the crisp air…the trees sporting their glorious fashion-forward colors…and, of course, the return of NHL hockey.

Yay!

Anyhoo…

I’ve been pondering Glenn Beck.

Yeah, I know…he’s insulting, annoying and suffering from the late stages of assholia.

He’s also everywhere…damn near unavoidable…more over-exposed than Beyonce was when she sang every damn song during the Oscars (wince).

The media may feel that President Obama is everywhere all at once, but this bitch thinks Beck’s exposure beats Obama’s by a mile…and that’s saying something.

Now, a bitch has certainly enjoyed ranting about Beck on this blog in the past.

‘Twas just too easy to let thy knee fly…even though Lawd knows that plays right into Beck’s principal hustle of say something rancid, get a shocked and disgusted response and then sit back and film a series of shows centered around how everyone hates on you so you must be doing something right.

Sigh.

Anyhoo, I woke up this morning with a new perspective. A few weeks ago I watched A Face in the Crowd with Brother Rob Thurman (fantabulous movie, by the way…a bitch gives it 4 ½ Afros out of 5 on the bitchitude movie scale).

Sorta-spoiler alert.

It occurred to me that Lonesome Rhodes is Beck and Beck is Lonesome Rhodes…a face in the crowd who is revealed to be an opportunistic parasite-based creature that has been elevated to unimaginable multi-media power because he appeals to the public’s longing for a return of oft cited yet rarely described good ol’ boy small town values. The people behind his show see him for the rancid knave that he is but they continue to fuel his rise with their writing and producing talent because they’re success is tied to his success.

A Face in the Crowd boasts a fantabulous performance by Andy Griffith that changed this bitch’s opinion of his acting talent…big time!

The movie was also made in 1957.

1957!

Waaaaaay back in the day, people…and Hollywood had already caught onto the cycle of powerful media personalities who offer commentary on social issues heavily laced with the kind of “aw shucks” and “I’m just an average American like you” bullshit that appeals to a population that prefers to idealize the mythical past mostly because they feel out of touch with the present and fearful of the future. A Face in the Crowd differs from Citizen Kane in that Lonesome Rhodes’ character rises to the top on the hustle alone, rather than inherited money. His power comes from his ability to appeal to his audience…and that appeal gets him fame and money and more power and more fame and then more money and then even more power until…well, I don’t wanna fuck it up for you if you have yet to see the film yet.

Anyhoo, a lot has changed since 1957 but the hustle sure as shit hasn’t.

I’ve witnessed the rise of many a Lonesome Rhodes-esque individual in my lifetime. It seems that our modern rapid-fire multi-platform media culture was designed for that kind of character. A few years ago what’s his name…Lawd, I had to Google the motherfucker ‘cause I couldn’t remember…mercy…umm, Bill O’Reilly was the shit. And then Lou Dobbs was being talked about as the second coming…until he started going off script and people realized that he was just another social conservative dressed up to look like Barry Goldwater.

Limbaugh is holding strong in the game with his radio-based revival of Morton Downey Jr.’s trash television formula…complete with tobacco products and loyal disciples.

These figures change out every now and then but the hustle stays the same just as the desire of some to consume the product remains constant.

The Lonesome Rhodes of the moment, whoever he or she may be (I’ve often thought Sarah Palin’s made for television persona is a lot of Aimee Semple McPherson with healthy portions of Anita Bryant tossed in), rants and raves…puts forth the lie that only their supporters/listeners/viewers are hard working, tax paying, law abiding, community supporting Americans…then layers on a lot of well produced speculation and cool camera angles (Lonesome had that nifty sound machine and a studio decorated to look like the country)…and those folks who want the believe that the rarely defined but oft cited “traditional America” is under attack find comfort in hearing that the rarely defined but oft cited traditional American is under attack over and over and over again.

This bitch doesn’t expect the cycle to be broken anytime soon…

…even though I do suspect that the Lonesome Rhodes-based defense of traditional America hustle may be the only tradition these hustlers will ever defend.

Blink.

Blues Fan Fest featuring this bitch and C-Money!

Yesterday a bitch and C-Money went to the St. Louis Blues Fan Festitude, followed by a pre-season game against the Dallas Stars. Fan Festitude was fantabulous…unfortunately the Blues lost to those darn Stars.

Shit.

Anyhoo…Fan Fest!

We put on our new Blues jerseys (C-Money sporting her T.J. Oshie jersey and this bitch giving props to my favorite Swede in skates, Patrik Berglund) and set forth to get our fan on.

Scott Trade Center was packed with fans…lots of folks running about trying to score autographs and such. C-Money was on a quest to get a picture and some one-on-one time with T. J. Oshie, so we quickly identified the best opportunity for that (the picture area, not to be confused with the autograph areas because there were no pictures allowed at the autograph sections and no autographs allowed at the picture station and…Lawd, have mercy!).

Blink.

We scored Bernie Federko’s autograph at an autograph station…even though I really just wanted to say hey to Bernie (a bitch is old enough to remember when the Hall of Famer announcer laced up and took the ice as a beloved Blue).

And then we got in line for pictures.

C-Money was thrilled to learn that T.J. Oshie was one of the players enduring the photo hour along with a certain Erik Johnson of the bad taste in hats Johnsons. So we waited and chatted with other fans and waited some more and then the line began to move and we got closer and closer and oh, my gods we were next up…

…only to find Erik Johnson, not Mr. Oshie, the next Blue up in the que.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, ‘cause he’s cool as hell.

But that didn’t prevent us from a moment of audible disappointment (wince) that I feel kind of bad for (my bad, Erik...love ya like cold fried chicken at 3 o'clock in the morning!). I wasn’t even disappointed for myself so much as for C-Money who is kind of fated to never get a picture with Oshie because she wants one so damn bad.

Anyhoo, we recovered and we took our picture with the charming and tall as hell Erik Johnson then went on our way.

For C-Money, the quest for Oshie shall continue.

In the meantime, C-Money and this bitch’s picture with Erik J. is on the Blues website under Fan Fest!

Fantabulous.

Go Blues!

A bitch’s coffee maker has died…

Ugh.

The only thing worse than getting up for a 6am flight…

…is having the coffee maker chose that occasion to die.

Sob.

Oh, the humanity!

A bitch stumbled into the kitchen…filled up the coffee thing with coffee…filled up the other thing with water…and it the button.

***cue crickets***

No delightful sound of coffee being made.

No sense of anticipation as the scent fills the air.

Nothing.

Khan!

Pause…collect thyself…continue.

Suffice it to say this bitch is going to be slightly incoherent until my ass can score some java at the airport.

Toodles until tomorrow…

But we can do worse with Tyler Perry…

Let’s jump right on in!

Tyler Perry of the Madea creating and performing Tyler Perrys has a new movie out…featuring Madea. I Can Do Bad All By Myself is his latest offering (wince).

Full disclosure – a bitch can’t stand Madea.

The only thing I dislike more than Madea’s shuffle and jive antics is the fact that lots and lots and lots of people keep paying to see that predictable as hell and ig’nant with it bullshit.

I secretly hope that Perry’s box office is actually the result of the same 500 people going to watch his movies over and over again…but something tells me that there is an audience for Madea and it is loyal as hell (wince again).

But hey, there was an audience for Amos and Andy too…

…that don’t make it right.

Cough.

Tyler Perry has a franchise with Madea…he has a formula...a recipe, if you will.

Some ingredients for a Tyler Perry Madea film include...

1 cup one dimensional cheating and evil with it devilishly bad black man
2 cups black woman gone wrong
3 gallons Live and Let God
1 cup unappreciated hard working blue collar black man looking for a “good woman”
2 cups chil’ren acting out because they aren’t being raised in the church
2 or 3 famous black people/singers

Mix any three ingredients or all that shit up first and then toss Madea’s ass up in the bowl, stir and bake and serve up to the masses.

Ta da – you’ve got yourself a guaranteed to get shit reviews but make lots and lots of money film!

Ugh.

Now, a bitch isn’t trying to piss in Tyler Perry’s flavorless Corn Flakes.

He has a hustle and that ain’t my damn problem.

What is my problem is that Mr. Perry has been tapped to adapt and direct the film version of Ntozake Shange’s 1975 play “For Colored Girls who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf".

Pause…wait for the screaming to quiet down to intermittent sobs…continue.

Although he's no masterful director, my specific issue is with Perry adapting For Colored Girls.

I’ve done nothing in this life to deserve having the man behind Madea fucking up For Colored Girls and I have little doubt that he will fuck it up.

Hell, I’m hoping for a miracle here, because For Colored Girls deserves the very best or nothing at all.

That’s right, I said it – there is no need to bring just any version or a man’s version or the version y’all could get bankrolled of For Colored Girls to the screen!

Have we learned nothing from Beloved?!?

Merciful heavens.

There are so many people who have no idea what For Colored Girls is…who have never seen it performed, never witnessed it’s power or experienced it’s beauty.

Those folks deserve better or nothing.

And a bitch can’t help but wonder who the hell decided that Mr. Perry was the right person to do the job.

I’m pretty sure that money is behind the reason why a woman wasn’t given the nod to direct it (and behind Perry’s selection of black celebrities with more name recognition that talent to star in it)…but that don’t make that shit right.

And I’m betting that Mr. Perry’s ego is behind his getting to adapt For Colored Girls.

Shudder.

Well, this bitch can do without Tyler Perry’s take on a womanist classic.

I can do bad all by my damn self.

Blink.

Announcing Bitchitude 101 classes & Home Training installation with maintenance…

Shall we?

A bitch has noticed a…well, a certain increase in inappropriate public displays of anger amongst the masses.

Blink.

Some folks have indulged in verbal malfunctions during joint sessions of Congress involving the crass braying-esque screaming of accusations towards the President of the United States...willfully demonstrating a lack of home training usually found at certain movie theatres this bitch tries to avoid going to because everyone and their mother knows the regulars like to talk back to the screen too damn much. Note - this behavior can also be found at pre-schools 'cause toddlers are just beginning to get their home training on.

Other folks have all but cried out for a correction-based intervention by taking to the stage during an award show and babbling on about how one pop stars video was better than the award winner's video.

Lawd, have mercy.

Now that shit is more intense than a classic home training fail. ‘Tis more along the lines of a public declaration that the individual involved has lost his damn mind and needs professional help (wince)...stat.

This outbreak of home training deficiency got this bitch thinking.

These people could all use a semester of Bitchitude 101.

Blink.

Yep, these people are crying out...loud as a motherfucker...for lessons in the proper ways to manifest anger.

And damn it I’m not the right angry black bitch to show them the path to glory.

Wink.

So, a bitch is now offering one-on-one bitchitude training sessions.

For an unreasonable fee, this bitch will counsel those suffering from Home Training Deficiency Syndrome on how to appropriately share their anger.

Pause…consider…continue.

If the individual completely lacks home training…we're talking about home training levels below 100 here...umm, well a bitch will have to charge an installation fee and then there’s a monthly maintenance fee for that shit too.

But it’s totally worth it…big time!

The whole world will thank them for getting help...trust a bitch on that.

Pause...fluff Afro...continue.

Plus, it’ll help finance a bitch’s dream trip to Sweden to see the St. Louis Blues play ice hockey and then pitch my Absolut Bitchitude idea to the vodka gods.

Blink.

Hold please…

A bitch is finishing up a post…

...and the fine art of bitchitude cannot be rushed!

By request, remembrance…

For Charles, who is remembering a brother killed at the World Trade Center.

And for Margaret, who remembers a son fallen in the war that followed.

Hold your memories close…clutch them fiercely to you…for they are a most precious gift.

Let tears fall if they threaten.

Let laughter ring out, should it tremble in your throat.

Let it all be as it is today…real, raw and true…your personal remembrance of one who was and is still loved.

And may those memories be a comfort to you today and the days that follow.

“In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despite, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.” Aeschylus

Pondering pacing for a marathon not a sprint...

Well, that was quite a speech!

A bitch watched the whole thing…twice. And I’ve settled on the analysis that President Obama hit a solid forehand and the ball is now in our court…well, our court with Congress as our doubles partner…and Congress has a tendency to fuck up at net, so we may need to poach.

Cough.

Yes, I also witnessed a certain Representative from South Carolina’s public display of no home training.

Pause…consider…continue.

Actually, I’m rethinking whether it was the result of his having had no home training or if he’s just been hanging out with so many town hall ruffians that he thinks shouting out inaccurate statements is how people communicate.

I feel uncomfortable blaming his parents for that shit…for all we know, the Congressman in question was impossible to train.

Blink.

But odds are his verbal malfunction was the result of a combination of inadequate home training and hanging out with knaves. Either way, he single-handedly took what little life there was in the Republican response and killed that shit dead…so dead that the press can’t be bothered to reference the bland as hell and totally lacking in ideas response from Rep. Boustany (a surgeon and now the most boring Republican in America, replacing the not quite as boring but equally lacking in ideas other than the word “No!” Gov. Jindal from Louisiana too…a state that used to produce politicians with some spice).

Mercy.

Anyhoo, now it’s time to get to work.

I don’t think the President changed any Republican minds…but when folks show up with props and choreography (not nearly as well rehearsed as that ink stained thumb bitness from back in the day, but c’mon now) ‘tis doubtful that they are in attendance to listen to a damn thing other than for the pre-determined cue words that are supposed to trigger them to raise their prop-based legislation over their heads and wave it ‘cause they just don’t care.

But I do think President Obama reset the issue and challenged those Democrats who were holding out for fear of moving in any direction.

As I said, now it is time to get to work…time for we the people to let Congress know what we want (health care reform!) and when we want it (NOW!) …because Lawd knows the anti-reformists have had their say.

They call it a struggle for a reason.

And this race is a marathon, y’all…

…so we need to stop pacing ourselves for a sprint.

***logs off to fluff Afro and then get back to work***

Pre-Presidential address preparedness…

President Obama is going to speak to a joint session of Congress tonight at 7pm CST about health care reform.

This bitch, having been raised right (wink), shall watch this address as I have watched Presidential addresses since I was a wee bitch when my parents told me that wise people get their information directly from the source…and that listening to the President and agreeing with the President are two different things.

Cough.

This speech is the very definition of a big fucking deal.

The nation is divided…some on key policy issues and others about crazy ass bullshit.

Pause…consider…continue.

Yep, a list of needed things is in order!

The munchables…
Chips…because crunching is good for my nerves.
A tangy queso-esque dip…because flavor is a joy!
Chocolate…because it works in celebration and to sooth the ravaged soul.

The beverages…
Water…to hydrate.
Vodka…’cause.
Grape cran…’cause once again.
Ginger ale…to add to vodka cran and make Sharktastic Sparkling Yummification if celebration of the public option is warranted (please, oh please…MERCY!)

The tools of bitchitude…
A bitch’s TiVo has died.

I know…I got emotional over it too…but a new one has not arrived yet and this bitch is going to have to watch the telly knowing that I can’t pause or rewind (sob!).

Anyhoo, I’ll need the TiVo lacking telly and Ms. Sister Girl Macbook…and my personal pack of sorta-beagles…oh, and my couch-based area.

The lay of the land…
The partisans have been weighing in from jump, but a bitch overheard something this weekend that I think speaks to an under-covered factor impacting health care reform. I read an article about parents who intended to keep their chil’ren out of school rather than expose them to President Obama’s back-to-school message of staying in school and working hard. The thoughts of one father caught my attention – he said that America is the greatest nation in the world and he didn’t want his son to hear that there was something flawed about this nation.

Blink.

I couldn’t stop thinking about that shit and the more I thought of it the more it bothered me.

Could it be that some folks are resisting reform because they feel that embracing reform somehow tarnishes our national image?

Are there really folks out there who think that not acknowledging the fact that our health care system is failing is patriotic...that admitting that we have to fix something is admitting a weakness and that admitting a weakness is wrong?

Because, if that’s the case, then that shit is beyond fucked up!

But a bitch is beginning to think that may be the case for a lot of people…folks who have somehow become so married to their definition of American greatness that they can’t admit that we have a problem and work towards making America better.

This has happened before…in almost every social struggle this nation has faced. When segregation laws were struck down, the crowds gathered to angrily support the status quo…to resist change and frame it as socialist/communist/proposed by heathens and un-American…to intimidate policy makers and politicians…and ultimately to violently resist that change in their communities.

They too felt that reform was un-patriotic…

…and they were wrong.

One cannot fix a problem one does not acknowledge.

And walking around ignoring a fucked up thing is the opposite of great.

Sigh.

Anyhoo, a bitch will be thinking of that father and his fear that his son will know that America is not in a permanent state of perfection tonight…

…as I listen to the President make the case for health care reform once again.

The problem with back pedaling …

A bitch hopes that everyone had a safe and fun Labor Day holiday!

Let’s jump right on in, shall we?

This bitch woke up pondering the problem with back pedaling (many thanks to Jen...a living example of the power of a good education...for editorial assistance). Specifically, my ass is pondering the challenge currently facing those folks who publicly stated that President Obama’s speech to school chil’ren was unprecedented (it isn’t), that his homework asking students to write down how they can help the President was also without precedent (tisn’t) and that the content of the speech would be laced with subliminal socialist messages that would invade fragile young minds and convert them in 18 minutes with such intense zombified loyalty that parents would never be able to reach them again.

Blink.

Ahem.

For public figures like Jim Greer, Florida’s GOP Chair, the back pedaling is both professional and personal. Greer has now said that the speech isn’t what he assumed it would be…and Lawd knows why he assumed it would be anything other than what it turned out to be (a bitch can only wonder if Mr. Greer’s fragile juvenile mind hadn’t already been high-jacked by those overt as hell fear mongering insults to the historical events surrounding the Revolution and the beverage of tea…blink).

Greer had said that the President of the United States was trying to "indoctrinate America's children to his socialist agenda."

Greer now says that he regrets nothing about that statement…but, having actually read the speech in question, will now let his own chil’ren watch the speech.

Pause…consider…continue.

A bitch has got to wonder how that shit went down in the Greer house…

…because it sounded like absolute bullshit up in my couch-based area.

I mean how do you go from telling your chil’ren that the President of the United States is so dangerous that Daddy won’t let you listen to him for 18 minutes to saying “Oh, umm…well that’s not what I thought it was going to be…so, umm…cool, listen to this dude ‘cause he’s right about this one thing, but once he stops talking about staying in school you go back to hating his Muslim-communist-socialist-Cylon-Nazi-WrongOnEverythingButStayingInSchool ass, you hear.”

Blink.

After this past week of "Keep that thing away from our children!!!!"-based madness, Mr. Greer has emerged as the poster pol for why we need chil’ren to stay in school and learn how to fucking think!

Regular parents who don’t have the history of not making a lick of sense that Mr. Greer does face their own back pedaling problem.

They told their kids that they weren’t going to let them listen to the President’s speech because he’s a socialist and his speech is going to be chock full of socialist propaganda.

But now that the speech has been revealed, parents must decide whether to hold firm and let their wee one’s think that staying in school and working hard is socialist propaganda and good loyal Americans must do the opposite (wince) or to greet this latest inconvenient truth with a shrug, say something along the lines of “My bad, no day off for you...get your ass on the bus!” and endure the withering glares from their chil’ren who will once again think mom or dad is out of their fucking mind.

This freakish incident of conservative over-reaction followed by absolute statements based on misplaced and tragically flawed assumptions presents a lesson plan all it’s own.

Shark-Fu's homework for the wee chil'ren...
Go home and write down why one mustn’t let thy knee fly without evidence lest one brand your own ass as an ig’nant fear-inspired fool.

Oh, and add to that the definitions for "socialist" and "communist" so that y’all can explain to Mommy and Daddy what those two things mean during the family dinner hour!

Wince.

Happy Labor Day!

A tip of the Afro to our Canadian neighbors for originating the Labor Day holiday...

...and to all the women and men who organized and remain organized despite the forces aligned against them.

Labor Day is more than the unofficial end of summer. It is an opportunity to reflect on what used to be, honor those workers who fought for change and commit to the issues currently on the table.

Like a tree that's standing by the water, we shall not be moved!

Friday! Better yet, Friday before a three day holiday weekend!

A bitch is exhausted, but a three-day holiday weekend should go a long way toward addressing that shit.

Yay for Labor Day!

Shall we?

This bitch is pondering parenting.

Blink.

I’m not a parent. I don’t play one on t.v. and I’ve never step-parented. But I do have a lot of friends and family who are parents. One of the things that become clear when observing parents is that they have a lot of influence over their chil’ren. As a matter of fact, parents are key influencers…even though it may appear that their chil’ren don’t listen to a damn thing they say.

When a parent takes a stand, their kids take note and attach a lot of weight to whatever it is that parent took a stand on.

So, when parents decided to protest the President of the United States addressing their children as the school year begins they weren’t just sending a message of extreme dislike and illogical distrust to the Obama administration…they weren’t ticking off another to-do on their Ways to Roadblock Health Care Reform list…and they weren’t simply manifesting the particular fear they feel toward anything associated with this President.

When they indulged in this latest public display of fear-based distrust they were teaching their children a lesson.

Now, I’m not one of those folks who are going to poo poo the lesson these parents are teaching. Fantastical fear of the persuasive powers of a liberal President (note - some of us are shocked that he’s still getting branded a liberal after all that moderate behavior) is just one in a long line of fucked up shit some adults pass on to their kids.

I mention this sad happening…that public school districts would decline to air an address to students by the President of the United States of America because folks over-analyzed his prepared remarks and think he’s trying to get his cult on and steal the fragile little minds of their youngins…only because it is a public display of something that mostly happens behind closed doors.

‘Tis a public display of how one generation passes on to a younger generation fear, hatred and ig’nance dressed up as parental concern.

Go ahead and let the knee fly…a bitch hopes some of y’all kick yourselves in the head and knock some sense loose.

Since the election of this nation’s first President of color, Anonymouses have peppered a bitch’s blog with proclamations that racism is over…that bigotry died last November…that this election was a huge culture changing ig’nance curing happening that has rendered my explorations of social injustice un-necessary and dated.

And since the election of this nation’s first President of color, a bitch has witnessed a sharp rise in racist Anonymouses who cling to the language of hate even as they demonstrate its foundation of fear in every comment they make. I have watched the outrageous and ideologically impossible charges made against President Obama…listened to the fantastical conspiracy theories that have been floated…and winced as the mob sank their teeth into the tried and false accusations of communism and socialism that scar my country’s history every time the status quo is challenged.

Then we have this latest “Oh my Gawd, I can’t have this black liberal President talking to my children!!” bullshit.

Sigh.

Here we are facing real challenges and pondering real questions while more than one group of parents is teaching their chil’ren that the President of the United States is a member of The Borg and they mustn’t eat any candy from him lest it be Soylent Green…plus he was born on Mars and is probably a Cylon…oh, and he’s got a death list with Grandma and Paw Paw and the family dog on it too!

These people are the greatest influencers in their children’s lives.

They have the strongest impact on what those kids think.

So, don’t try to tell this bitch that change is easy or that one election changed everything so now everything is fine.

Change is hard and hard won.

My country’s history…and that’s right, this is my motherfucking country too…is riddled with case after case after case of violent resistance to change.

And you can bet your ass those folks from back in the day learned to think that way from…wait for it…their parents.

Ugh.

Behold, yet another example that we are not post-racial...we are not post-bullshit...and we've got miles and miles to go before we get close to being post-ig'nant!

***logs off to prepare list of Labor Day preparedness that will include an exploration of the violent resistance to change in and involving America's labor force***

A tip of the Afro to Robert from Rolla…

A bitch has been dealing with an amazing amount of comments bent on generating a state of defensive distractitude and forcing the masses to take our eyes off the ball.

Most of them also contain some manner of rancidity and thus are not posted. Thou shalt not turn this bitch’s blog into a platform for hate!

And still others are so very off topic that a bitch doesn’t post them because hey, if I take the time to post about a thing the least a comment maker can do is generate an intellectually lazy and constitutionally inaccurate response to that specific shit.

The rest I let publish and rely upon you, the readers, to address or not address.

Anyhoo, I just finished going through my comments…and published the few out of many (I suspect 25 were from the same knavish troll…who dislikes spell check as much as she/he dislikes a bitch) that managed to disagree but not offend (okay, I published one that offended me…but that was only to explain that a bitch is tired of that bullshit…fuck it – my blog, my rules, my right to bend them!).

Cough.

I clicked on the next message in my in-box and found what has got to be one of the nicest compliment-based emails I have ever read.

A certain Robert from Rolla here in Missouri wanted me to know that he appreciated my post about Senator Bond’s curious version of a town hall meeting minus the town.

Robert is a conservative…he has serious concerns about the lack of details surrounding health care reform...but he is even more concerned that his Republican Senator held an invitation only “pep rally for his friends and family.”

Robert has been reading a bitch’s blog for several years…not because he agrees with me, but because he wants to make sure he understands what some of us really believe before he disagrees or agrees with anything.

Nice!

Robert from Rolla is on Medicare…and he likes it (gasp).

Robert from Rolla is uncertain about the cost and thus the benefits of health care reform…and he doesn’t like that.

Robert from Rolla represents millions of Americans who have good questions and valid concerns…who deserve to be listened to by their Congresspeople and by those of us who are activists…and who are ‘bout to give up on getting answers ‘cause they know damned well no one heard their questions in the first place.

As Robert pointed out to me, it’s kind of hard to hear from the people when you set up an event and don’t invite the people…or when you set up other events and don’t show up...or when people create chaos so that no one can hear a damned thing from anyone.

I thank Robert from Rolla for allowing me to share his frustrations and for sending a bitch an email that reminded me that there are people out there who can think for themselves, disagree without looking at talking points and quoting pundits and who are as tired of this theatrical bullshit as I am.

A tip of the Afro to you, Robert…even though we’re of a different mind on lots of things.

And let a bitch know how your campaign to be heard goes…

Pondering the difference in Missouri town halls…

Shall we?

A lot has been made of the theatre and drama surrounding health care forums in Missouri. A bitch experienced that shit first hand during the Hillsboro town hall forum…interesting costumes, not everyone knew their lines (folks really need to decide whether their gonna accuse the president of being a Nazi tyrant or a scary black socialist, ‘cause that black Nazi Muslim socialist tyrant mess I witnessed makes a body’s Afro hurt)…and a several attendees asked Senator McCaskill if she planed to vote on a House bill (for the love of basic civics!).

Anyhoo, I came across this piece over at Stltoday.com and it got a bitch thinking…

Where the fuck has Senator Bond been?

***cue singing crickets***

Hello darkness, my old friend,
Ive come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

As a Missourian I’ve asked that question a lot over the years. The best way to tell that it’s an election year is the sudden appearance of Senator Bond…kind of like cicada but on a different schedule…because otherwise a bitch could forget what the hell he looks like, he’s so not visible. ‘Tis a brilliant technique…out of sight truly equals out of mind here.

But damn it to hell if I wasn’t curious about his location now that my state has gotten into the town hall scene.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

Hell, I understand that Bond has announced that he’s stepping down and, according to former Governor Palin, lame duck politicians are worthless lumps of dough-ish flesh incapable of wiping their own ass.

But this issue is soooooo huge…and those folks keeping Lipton in bitness have been stalking Republicans along with Democrats in most states…so mayhap a bitch should follow the chants of ideologically impossible charges to see if they take me to Senator Bond’s office.

And the chorus said… "Think again, Shark Fu!”

And a bitch replied… “You’ve got that right, chil’ren!”

‘Cause Senator Bond isn’t a target of those who adore tea or of those who should be protesting outside of his door demanding to have a word with his still-able-to-vote-and-thus-still-required-to-listen-to-constituents ass.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.

According to the Stltoday.com story…
“Bond appeared before an invitation-only crowd of 100 people in Kansas City for a subdued health care discussion with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Their message: There's no need for a wholesale overhaul of the U.S. health care system.”

Mmmhmm, just yesterday...the same day Senator McCaskill appeared in front of whoever showed up and took a seat.

Blink.

Well, okay then.

Senator Mccaskill braved the masses…has done so across the state…has tried to listen to those in the crowd with real question and concerns, for and against reform, over the loud as hell We Don’t Want No Coverage Let the Healthcare System Burn! attendees.

How exactly is an invitation only forum with only 100 attendants and a couple of Republican homeboys democracy in action?

Did those invited ask Senator Bond about tort reform and then refuse to let him answer?

Did any of Senator Bond's courtiers demand to know why he has not called for an investigation into the birth of the president?

Did they eat pâté and chuckle over the antics of their loyal mob?

Ummm, crickets?

Fools said I, you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

Mayhap Senator Bond is being assumed to be all good simply because he’s a Republican…

…or mayhap those tea baggers are full of shit and don’t really want every member of the Missouri delegation to declare themselves, just certain members…

…or perhaps this is another case of the aristocracy within the Republican Party enjoying the chaos produced by the labor of their loyalists even as they resist having to mingle with the filthy minions.

***cicada and crickets together in harmony***

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisperd in the sounds of silence.

Blink.