Proposition 8 and Gaza

NY couple splint butterfly’s
broken wing, find it a ride to
Florida, where it now thrives.

All’s well on the eye front. One fixed, one to go next month. As I was being prepped for the surgery a very little, very elderly lady, who had obviously just finished with her surgery, said “it’s really easy.” She was right. I love her for it.

I started to read Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer, a book about Mormons, especially the surprisingly large number of Mormons who still practice polygamy, including some right here in Windy City (who have recently moved across the border from Canada). I was stopped when I came across the following sentence: “Uncle Rulon likes to remind his followers of Brigham’s warning that for those who commit unspeakable sins as homosexuality, or having sexual intercourse with a member of the African race, ‘the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so.’”

Uncle Rulon was the 92 year-old absolute ruler of a large contingent of Polygamist Mormons living on the Colorado/Utah border. As the Polygamist Mormons have been an embarrassment to what is now the more mainstream Mormon Church, and are not recognized by the mainstream church, we cannot take Uncle Rulon’s position as that of the contemporary Mormon Church. However, one wonders why the Mormon Church was willing to invest 25 million dollars in California to pass the notorious Proposition 8? Just what is the Mormon Church’s position on homosexuality these days? And of course it has only been in recent years they agreed that Africans (and African-Americans) had souls. I should think this action in California will ultimately become as big an embarrassment to them as the polygamists (maybe on the contrary, it might actually increase their ranks, as there seem to be so many kindred souls about). Anyway, I believe it was a mistake. As far as gay marriage goes, although I have little respect for James Carville, I think he hit the right note when asked what he thought about gay marriage and replied, “I was against it, until I found out I didn’t have to have one.” Whatever happened to “live and let live?”

If you might think that ruining the lives and happiness of 18,000 married couples in California is undesirable, mean, and hateful, consider what the Israelis are doing to the million and a half Palestinians they have trapped in the Gaza strip. Now, not only have they cut off their electicity and power, they have even blockaded and stopped them from even receiving humanitarian aid from the UN. From the UN! I gather that no one is much interested in this as I can find very little in the way of objections to it, and no action of any kind to help the Palestinians. Perhaps this is because the Israelis have also established a news blackout so no reporters have been allowed into Gaza to report on this genocidal moment. And this is happening at the very moment when Olmert is finally telling the truth about the necessity for Israel to give up territory, including part of Jerusalem, for peace. As he is on the way out, he can now speak honestly for a change. It seems no one is listening. When it comes to Israel, morality and law do not seem to apply.

Motor-mouth Sarah Palin was caught on videotape pardoning a Thanksgiving turkey, and at the very moment she was speaking a mile a minute, they were killing turkeys right behind her. Once her mouth gets going it seems she is oblivious to all else. When women do stupid things and get criticized for it, it is not sexism. And women do stupid things at times, just as men do. Why should they be exempt?

I confess I am one of those Progressive Obama supporters who is not too pleased over some of his cabinet and other selections. I’m not really bothered that so many of them might have formerly worked in the Clinton administration (where else would he find so much experience and talent), but I am bothered by the hawks (or at least former hawks). I want out of Iraq. I want diplomacy with Iran and Russia, I want a massive reduction in the national defense budget, and an end to “empire.” Most of all, I want Bush/Cheney, et al, held responsible for their crimes against our nation and humanity.


Do not be frightened
of the blackness of the night,
it hides the full moon.

Morialekafa

TILT:
In our supermarket today a single mango was $3.29. A single sweet potato was $1.29. A single artichoke was $2.00. A single t-bone steak was $12.95.