isany1listening

Ah, the Holidays…..They are here in full force. I spent yesterday venturing out to the mall to get Christmas gifts. Now I know what you are going to say: It is the Saturday before Christmas, of course the stores are packed and you have to expect a certain amount of annoyance to accompany your shopping experience. And you are right to advise me of that. But still, I can not help but say what I need to say: I hate the Holidays. The long lines, the picked over merchandise in stores, the crowds and the screaming kids. It makes for the most awful of events. Parents, if you kids are not well behaved and don’t want to be dragged from store to store, do us all a favor and leave them home. Get a babysitter. My biggest complaint this year is the myriad of screaming kids everywhere! Look if your son or daughter is prone to throwing temper tantrums, they really should not leave the house. I am of the school that children should be seen and not heard, and if I ever did in public what I have seen done, my parents would give me a good spanking. And they would be right! So please, please, please, I am begging you, leave your ill-mannered monsters at home.

Sorry that could not be helped. And no I don’t have kids, but I am smart enough to know that I should not reproduce the monstrosity that is me. But there are children that I do like and there are plenty of well behaved kids out there. And they can go shopping, but the constantly scremaing ones, I am not a fan of.

Okay, I have harped on that long enough. The Holidays. The commercialism, all of the fake happy people, all of the happy happy people, it is all too much for this lonely heart to bear. This year it seems even more unbearable than previous. When you are single, or just plain lonely, this time of year sucks. And the happy people of the world do not make it any better. It makes it that much worse. Yes, we can take comfort in our families who are obligated to love us anyway, but sleeping alone this time of year, is just awful. Now I am trying to find the real Christmas spirit, I really am. And I do love being around my family and seeing the holiday cheer spread around, but those moments when I am fighting the crowds and the nights when I am alone, it is terrible. And loneliness seems to cut even more this time of year. That is all I wanted to say. I feel for all of us out there who are going through the same things. I guess we can take comfort in the fact that in our lonlieness, we are not alone, because there are many of us out there, admittedly or not, who feel the same way.

So before I go and put a fake smile on my face, and pretend that I am in the holiday spirit, I just wanted to let out one last sigh, and say to all of the unhappy and miserable people out there: it is okay to not be happy this time of year. Take your misery and hug and hold it dear. Then put on the smile, be merry, and complain about it to anyone who will listen. Meeting of the Unhappy People Club and the People who Hate the Holidays Club adjourned.

Happy Holidays!

It was only a matter of time.  At least that is what I believe.  It was only a matter of time before the Kennedy legacy resurrected itself once again.  This time the resurrection comes from the last living member of the JFK branch: Caroline Kennedy.  After years of living a very private life, Caroline Kennedy is now ready to enter the realm of politics by way of Hillary Clinton’s vacant Senate seat in New York.  This is not news today, at least not for those of us who have not been living under a rock for the past few days or so.

Now the critics have come out and have said she is inexperienced, has no political chops, and would be a poor choice because she is simply not qualified.  To all those naysayers out there I will reiterate my title: But she’s a Kennedy!  Ah, that name still brings a moment of wonder and amazement, even for me.  And to sweeten the pot, she is the Kennedy—daughter of our beloved JFK.  Please don’t misunderstand, I am not mocking the dead, nor the Kennedy legacy.  I wouldn’t say I was praising it either, but being Irish, I can’t help myself on both accounts.

I think people underestimate the sway that the Kennedy name still holds in politics.  Then again maybe they don’t, because let’s be honest, if she wasn’t a Kennedy, she would not be considered.  She would not be news.  And let’s face it, the fact that her father was JFK only makes her all the more appealing on that wonderous level, and I would go further and say, it makes her magical.  Our hopes of reviving the JFK legacy were tragically dashed with the untimely death of  JFK Jr., but perhaps it can recaptured with the rise of Caroline, a most unlikely source.  I am just saying.

After all this time, what would make Caroline want to enter the political arena and follow in the footsteps of many of her family members?  Perhaps it is President-elect Obama who has given hope back to Americans.  Perhaps it is the illness of her beloved uncle who is the last of the clan to carry the big torch of the family in politics.  We may never know.  But whatever her reasons, and despite her inexperience and maybe even though she may not be the most qualified candidate for the job, don’t underestimate the power of the Kennedys.  Even after all this time.  How many of us were ecstatic when they endorsed Obama and anointed him the next JFK?  Come on, you can admit you were one of them.  The name carries the weight and the star quality even today.  And the fact that she is the little girl of JFK gives her all the more star power, political clout and appeal.  She may be the right person.  She may be the wrong person.  But she is a Kennedy and that alone is enough to take her to the top.  Mark my words…Hillary you now have competition in 2016 in your next bid for President, and it is serious competition because Americans, whether they admit it or not, would love to see another Kennedy in the White House before another Clinton, especially one that is the child of our beloved JFK.  I am just saying…

Over the weekend, at a press conference in Bhagdad, Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zeidi hurled his two shoes at President George Bush.  He was arrested, criticized by some, and hailed a hero by others.  In my opinion, George W. could have been the victim of a lot worst.   Zeidi yelled at the President that he was a dog.  Again, worst things could have been said, and done.

I have read a lot of articles and comments by people on this story in the past 24 hours.  Some have argued that Zeidi would have been killed for his actions under Sadam.  This very well may be the case, but no one can deny the disasterous state that Iraq is in.  And it is not a surprise that someone finally expressed a differing opinion to Bush himself in front of the media.

Perhaps those who have said this is another example of us being greeted as liberators is true.  Ironically of course.  But can you blame the Iraqis for being a little more than pissed at the current situation that they are living in?  Sectarian violence, civilians being murdered, basic utilities operating discontinuously, the list goes on.  Should they be a grateful nation?  The problem with Iraq is that Bush acted before he thought, which again is no surprise to anyone in the world at this point, but people cannot ignore that his thoughtless actions have brought serious consequences.  The worst of which is not hurling shoes.

The actions of Zeidi are a manifestation of the frustration of what this unnecessary war has brought to the doorstep of Iraq.  It is symbolic of what people not only there, but all over the world feel for Bush and how he went about to destroy a nation.  This of course is not something new and I am no genius to make this case.  But I was amused that this happened and wanted to comment on it.  Like I said in an earlier post, we reap what we sow, and Bush has reaped a lot and should sow a lot worse than hurling shoes.  Again, just my two cents worth.

I have been wanting to write this post for a long time.  With the political news slightly dragging this week, I thought it might be a perfect time.  Let me begin by saying that I am a student of literature and philosophy.  And I love mythology and I love epics.  I even love Greek tragedy.  What this says about me, I still have yet to figure out, but I digress…

One of my favorite pieces of work from the Ancient Greeks is Homer’s epic poem “The Iliad”.  It is the story of the Trojan war up until the burial of Hektor, the Trojan hero.  If anyone saw the awful movie “Troy” you may be vaguely familiar with the characters, not necessarily the events as told by Homer in the poem.  It is also the story of the Greek, or Achaian warrior, Achilleus, who I have to admit is one of my favorite figures in literature.  His ability to stand up to Agamemnon, who dishonors him in front of the army, and tries to stand for the honor code among warriors is incredible. 

Who among today’s soldiers would ever question a figure of authority, especially in a time of war?  Today, soldiers are taught to follow orders or they will die.  You do not question authority.  I am not arguing that there is not some need for this, of course there is.  In a time of war and in the military, there needs to be rules of order, and these rules need to be followed in order to maintain security.  But I have to say, there must also be a time to question, and room for someone to speak up when there is wrong being done.  The past eight years under Bush are evidence enough for that. 

See my point about Achilleus, and don’t get me wrong, there are some pretty awful things he does throughout the poem, but it is the fact that he feels bound by an ethical duty to call the “king” on his violation of common valued codes and laws.  Achilleus is bound by ethics and by honor, and therefore, feels he can trangress the chain of command and break with the authority figure.  And he is right to do so.  Now of course it is more complicated and I am boiling down the events and the ethos behind it for the blogosphere, but be that as it may, my point can still be made.  There are no more Achilleus in this world.  And that is unfortunate.

No one wants to take a hard stand against what is wrong, and no one wants to question authority.  Sure now that we know the abuses of Bush’s power and the days of it are numbered, we can all come forward and be critics.  But where were we when he was elected?  Where were we when he led us into an unnecessary war?  Where were we when we elected him a second time?  My point is this, we can sit back and blame 9/11 and the dangerous time after where if you spoke any criticism against the government you were labeled unpatriotic.  But that is just an excuse.  We let Bush and his team manipulate us into following whatever he wanted to do in terms of the Iraq War, the Patriot Act, torture, the failure to act after Katrina, etc.  We allowed them to dictate policy based on fear and terror, whether it was real or imaginary. 

No one stood up.  No one questioned authority.  No one said enough.  There was no Achilleus among us.  You can say it is different, for we do live in modern times and politics and society are much more complicated.  But cowards are still cowards, the weak are still the weak.  Our country is circling the drain.  We are fighting two wars, the economy is in the tank, the auto industry is about to go bankrupt, and still we seemed to be more concerned about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s kids than about anything else.  No one can be bothered to act on behalf of the Greater Good, to stand for something more.  And this is how we have operated in the past eight years and now our country is falling apart and people are terrified, and they should be when they are losing their jobs and their homes.  But you know what, we have no one to blame but ourselves, because we let the government put us in this position.  We didn’t say no and we didn’t stand up for what was right.  We let Bush take us here and to be frank, now we are reaping what we sowed. 

We need to read stories, myths, epics, like “The Iliad”.  I think they can give us perspective on how we can act as individuals.  They can guide us and show us a time where there people who stood for something, who acted and took the risk despite the consequences.  There was a time when people stood for a Greater Good, had ethics, and lived by them.  We need just a little bit of that.  Obama needs a little bit of that.  And it is our responisibility to have that in us so we don’t continue on the path we are on, and let ourselves be fooled again.  We cannot be ruled by our fears and we cannot let people play on them.  We still need the Ancient Greeks, to show us that although it may be difficult, it is not impossible.  But that is just my two cents.

The bailout for the auto industry failed this week.  The blame appears to be focused on the GOP—big surprise.  The GOP blames the UAW and Democrats for allying with the union—again, big surprise.  So what does this defeat tell us about our government and our unions?  Is it white collar vs. blue collar?  Is it a matter of class warfare?

For me this question begins long before the economy began to tank.  The question really does date back to Pat Buchanan and the “Culture Wars”.  But class warfare became a hot button issue, front and center, in this Presidential campaign cycle, with the help of Sarah Palin.  When she decided to declare that there were parts of America that were “more American” than other parts of the country, the line was drawn.  But we cannot hold Sarah Palin to the fire by herself, because many people bought into the line she was selling.  Small town Americans, thinking that there small town values, were more American and more patriotic.  Cosmopolitan and big city dwelling Americans, looking down on the red-neck hillbillies for believing they were more American than them who are far more sophisticated.  Every American, no matter where they lived, had something to say about Palin’s comments, and everyone chose a side, including myself.  I don’t care where you live—big city or small town—it does not make you more or less of an American, but what the hell do I know?

After the election and with the economic crisis increasing, it appeared that we were all equal and in this country together.  No one was more patriotic and we would all suffer as one nation.  But alas, that is not what has come to pass.  After bailing out Wall Street and trying to restore confidence to the credit markets, the auto industry is now facing huge job losses.  And now that the white collar workers have been given a life line, the blue collar workers are looking to the government to do the same for them.  Except this time, it is tough luck.  And now what are we left to ponder: class warfare.

I know this is a sticky issue.  And I am in graduate school, so automatically people lump me in the “elite” category.  But let me say, I belong to a union and I have to work two jobs, and take out loans just to scrape by every month.  I don’t know what is “elite” about that, but whatever, I get it.  But I do come from a family of proud card carrying union members and have been raised with the idea that unions are good.  I still hold that opinion, and while I see that there are problems with unions, and ways in which things could be done better, at the end of the day, I could not cross the line.  It just wouldn’t be right.  My working class background is embedded in my soul.

So for me, I do see a bit of class warfare in the decision by Congress.  Of course, I am not surprised by the GOP’s actions.  Why would any of them want to help any working class person?  But here is my bigger question for our representatives: if you bailout Wall Street hoping to restore confidence in the markets, and help Americans get credit and keep their homes, but you deny the auto industry the same advantage, which results in huge job losses and unemployment rates skyrocketing, which apparently defeats the purpose of the initial bailout in the first place, are you not declaring class warfare?  Are you not saying that you will only help out the white collared Americans, while screwing the blue collared Americans at the same time?  Have you not just undid whatever you were trying to do with Wall Street by denying Main Street?  How can people keep their homes, purchase food and goods, if they have no job to earn money?  And who will help those people then when they hit rock bottom?

How did we get here?  This is a real question and not rhetorical in the slightest.  How did we get here?

Class warfare has resurfaced and things will get ugly.  There is no doubt.  Questions will be raised and not many answers will be given.  Unfortunately, we are circling the drain and there is little hope that we can avoid slipping down it.  I don’t know how we can survive if the auto industry tanks, and not just economically, but the symbolic and psychological hit the average American will take.  I just hope the GOP sleeps at night.  I am sure they sleep like babies since they do not feel any hit to their wallets.  Like I said, the working class part of me is embedded in my soul.

There have been growing reports recently that MSNBC’s “Hardball” host Chris Matthews is gearing up to run for Arlen Specter’s Senate seat in Pennsylvania.  Various critics have stepped forward to demand he get off the air.  People say it is unethical for him to host a TV show on cable news, while running for political office.  But the question still remains is Chris Matthews actually going to run?  He has not declared one way or another, which gives him the best of both worlds right now.

Granted, from what I gather, all the signs point to him running for political office.  And who could blame him?  I am a big fan of Matthews.  He cutting remarks and what I believe to be very fair questions for his guests from both sides of the aisle shows his intelligence and wanting to get to the heart of the matter.  I just saw tonight’s episode where he questioned two Congressmen on where they stand on the bailout for the Big 3 auto companies, and asked them what kind of cars they drove.  I appreciate this side of Matthews, I really do.

But should he run for office?  I don’t know.  I am not so sure.  Being a political junky, I can understand that for someone like him who has been involved in politics and has now sat on the sidelines giving commentary over the years, it must be frustrating to a certain degree.  You can’t do much to change things, when you are simply a pundit or a viewer.  The best you can do is vote.  And with the election of Obama, there must be something of change in the air and a wanting to make a difference and do something.  Make the country better and get involved in a real way.  I can understand that, and understand what Matthews must be thinking with this decision.

However, this is what I fear.  I don’t trust politicians.  Even the best people who get involved, who have real ethics, can be so easily corrupted.  I sincerely believe that one of two things happens.  You enter the political arena, ethical, wanting to make a real difference.  You have great ideas and are not afraid to fight for what is right.  You are not willing to compromise your ethics.  Well either you won’t win a political office if you remain unyielding, or the more common event occurs: you cave and compromise.  You become seduced by the promise of power or realize compromising is the only way to get elected and although you tell yourself there will only be a few minor things you are willing to give up, it snowballs because power is seductive and makes even the best of us do crazy things.  And that is my fear for Matthews.  I respect him, and mostly because he is on the sidelines and can therefore remain ethical and do something just in terms of politics.  But when he gets in office, things could easily change because people are weak.  I understand that weakness.  We are only human and I am weak myself and as much as I would like to run, would never because I don’t want to be in the position of compromising myself or my ethics.  So I hope Chris Matthews really thinks and does what he feels is best.  But I sure will miss his show.  I heart Chris Matthews.

Today is December 1st, World AIDS Today.  It is a day to stop and think about the disease that has affected so many throughout the world, especially in the countries of Africa.  As someone who has been involved in the ONE campaign for years, I don’t think I will be ever be able to understate that there is still more to be done when it comes to AIDS, particularly in Africa.  It is always heartbreaking to me when people who cannot afford to get the medication that is so readily available in the U.S. and Europe, cannot access it so easily.  Fortunately, there are organizations out there who aid African countries, and plenty of people working for this cause—Bono comes to mind as one among the many.  But still it is not enough, there is always more, particularly when there are countries whose politics prevent the treatment of its people.  My request for anyone who reads this post today, is to stop and think about what it means to have a World AIDS Day, and how many people are affected by HIV and AIDS.  Think of the many children who have contracted the disease.  Think about those who go untreated because they do not have the access or the money for medications.  If you want to do more than just reflect, go out and buy some RED products.  Today you can go to any Starbucks and purchase a drink and part of the proceeds will go to the RED cause.  I encourage you to at least buy a cup of coffee and participate in helping to further the solution of this epidemic.  We can make progress and we can all help and do our part!