CRUEL, SHAMEFUL, DISGUSTING
Just some of the words that come to mind when thinking, even for a second, of this gay marriage ban. To see the President of the United States propose codifying discrimination...well, I expect nothing less of this president, but a little more of the office. But, really, it's like a dozen of these things a week.
Inasmuch as much of what Bush does is about devaluation and deformation of language, John Scalzi has a very good point on this blog about the marriage bigots.
Look, none of this is okay. None of this should be considered business as usual. Not the war in Iraq, not the attacks on civil liberties, not the proposal to build a wall at our borders. The descent into fascism is just a few steps away. What do you think things were like in any fascist state a few years before the boot came down? The only difference here, and right now, is our creature comforts.
Jeff
posted by JeffV @ 7:21 PM
12 comments
12 Comments:
Go to www.africanprince.blogspot.com
John "the bastard" Howard is doing something similar in Australia.
He and George must have had a great heart to heart when John was recently over in the USA getting the celebrity treatment.
He's come back all pro Nuclear Energy - strange it should be so sudden - and claims the issue should be debated. However, he won't let on where they are going to put these Nuclear Power Stations if the proposal proves viable.
I have a feeling this is to placate the Repeblican Right (who hate him like everyone else finally) and to take people's eyes off the new regulation to lock down electronic content, which is also being proposed at this time but getting less coverage.
jeff: Good points all. It just keeps going down and down -- a whole new vision of Hell. This gay marriage ban is so obviously a political ploy -- as Paul points out and just the worst pandering to ignorance. Can we take two more with George?
Jeff Ford
We need to be careful, because there are those who are already touting Brother Jebb to be the next in line . . .
martyh
Yes, unbelievable even from him, I thought. But he didn't get his way though, did he?
There was an incredibly scary programme on the TV the other night about the Patrick Henry College in Washington which aims to supply the next generation political high-flyers to the White House. They believe that geological strata was put down by the biblical flood...and as for same sex marriages...well I think they were pretty much against that also.
Seems to me that the US is not one country any more, but two.
It's weird, but before Bush I thought we'd made so much progress as a country- and it's sliding faster and faster downhill.
I don't know what to think anymore.
I used to think our country was making good progress before Bush came into power, too, but obviously it wasn't anything real or rooted in our social structures yet because lots of people were and are more than willing to allow what he and his people are doing to continue. Many complain, few actual do anything beyond complaining. And since the media is no longer trustworthy, even the attempts by those who do go beyond complaint and publicly demonstrate en masse are summarily silenced. Jeff's right in saying that fascism is only a few steps away. If you speak to people from other countries, they all see this happening. It's the general populace of America that is living in a haze and are okay with that too.
The thing that fascinates me about about the current regime and its home and overseas adventures is wondering now and then how much worse it can get then realising "Oh, it's this worse now...". Fascination as appalled dismay, like watching a freeway pile-up in slow motion. Illegal war? Check. Torture? Check. "Black sites"? Check. Imprisoment without trial? Check. Illegal wiretaps? Check. Naked hatred and bigotry as an acceptable mode of public discourse? Check.
I put this quote from the sainted Hunter S Thompson on my blog recently but it's worth repeating here (hell, it's worth printing on t-shirts and spraying on the sides of buildings...):
"We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the whole world, a nation of bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully. We are not just Whores for power and oil, but killer whores with hate and fear in our hearts. We are human scum, and that is how history will judge us.
"No redeeming social value. Just whores. Get out of our way, or we’ll kill you. Who does vote for these dishonest shitheads? Who among us can be happy and proud of having all this innocent blood on our hands? Who are these swine? These flag-sucking half-wits who get fleeced and fooled by stupid little rich kids like George Bush?
"They are the same ones who wanted to have Muhammad Ali locked up for refusing to kill gooks. They speak for all that is cruel and stupid and vicious in the American character. They are the racists and hate mongers among us; they are the Ku Klux Klan. I piss down the throats of these Nazis.
"And I am too old to worry about whether they like it or not. Fuck them."
Amen to that.
John:
I totally agree. Great quote, too.
I think we've already become a fascist state, but when you say that most people go, "No way."
It is tough to sleep at night knowing that we're murdering civilians in Iraq and torturing people all over the fucking place.
JeffV
And don't forget shooting people trying to cross in from Mexico just trying to find enough work to feed their families.
Ths thing is- I want to do something to stop this. But what? I can bitch on my blog, maybe even pull it into a short story- but the blind are going to stay blind.
I could leave the country- haul up and go. But that would be escaping the problem, not helping solve it.
Jon Snow on the excellent Channel 4 News in the UK grilled some coloured Christian advocate of banning gay marriages on UK TV this week. He hit him by asking why he thought it was okay to discriminate against one group and not others - if they ban gay marriage should they perhaps ban inter-racial marriage? If you can discriminate against gays then is it okay to discriminate against coloured people, immigrants, women?
He had no good answers for those. Then when he went off on a prepared bit about protecting the sanctity of marriage Jon remarked that if he was serious about protecting marriage he shouldn't be stopping people who love one another marrying and perhaps ought to be banning divorce is marriage is indeed sacred. A lot of spluttering but no real answers because, of course, there is no real answer to that (especially since many marriages are civil and not religious ceremonies).
I does make you wonder why these folks can't figure that out though? I found it quite easy even as a teenager to know that if I decided it was okay to discriminate against one group then it made a mockery of believing on not discriminating against others. Since my foks raised me never, ever to judge someone by their religion, skin or nationality I couldn't see how anyone could square those values with discriminating against gay folks. Especially disgusting coming from Christians who are supposed to embrace their brothers in a spirit of love. Or do they forget Jesus actively went among the groups shunned by the religious authorities of the day like lepers and prostitutes? Guessing a person like that would embrace all groups, including gay folks - perhaps they aren't as committed to the teachings of Jesus as they like to think they are...
Sorry, rant over, Jeff! These folks just flip a switch with me - they expect their religious views and rights to be protected while trampling over other folk's views and rights... Love the Hunter quote - if only we still had Hunter and Bill Hicks to savage these folks...
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