Pardon my hostilities during this post, but our
Miserable Failure continues to astound me even when I continue to believe he could not do anything else, short of resign, that would surprise me. Honestly, there are several things I could write about in this area, since it has been so long (aside from yesterday's Penis Pokey post) since I have posted, but I have two today. The first issue is serious while the second issue is serious as well, but will certainly be decried by a few zealots as frivolous.
Issue One:
Possible Indefinite Detention, Without Representation, of US Citizens
It should frighten every American that the idea has been put forth by our own government that American citizens, no matter how heinous their actions, could be seized and held without trial or explanation for as long as the president or the military desires to do so. That is what has been proposed by Bush's new
endless war anti-terror bill. Thankfully it appears to be coming under heavy scrutiny, but where is the action and the outrage from the average American? As unthinkable as this bill is, so, too, is the massive dose of apathy oozing from the American public. At no point in our history have Americans been subjected to the erosion of their civil rights and civil liberties than under the reign of President Bush. Spineless non-thinkers will put forth the weak strawman argument that I am grossly exaggerating because we are more free than any other country and that no law abiding citizen has anything to fear. How shameful it is that these few administration echo-chambers actually seem to have most of the country nodding in agreement. It is not that anyone has anything to hide that we enjoy our freedoms, it is because those are our inalienable freedoms from the beginning. Privacy, speech, belief, and dissent are not
granted to us, they are ours from the very start. Those who proclaim the innocent have no need to fear from surveillance are the
least patriotic among us as they seek to pacify Americans into forgoing there rights and privileges as a citizen of the US and as a human being. It is my hope that we collectively begin to realize this and beat back the creeping tide of anti-American sentiment expressed by these people and, apparently, our own presidential administration.
Issue Two:
The Unabashed Infantile "Nyah-Nyah" With Regards to Church/State SeparationWhy does this garbage continue to flow over our land? In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Christian and trust in God as I know God, but that has absolutely nothing to do with our country. This is Bush (
and his brother, Jeb, my governor) acting like a small child. His rampant crusade to Christianize the United States in a way unheard of by American founders is baffling given his
blatant lie regarding himself to be a uniter, not a divider. As the link shows, Bush has done nothing but
actively, of his own volition, divide the country through shallow partisan politics and a push for recognition of an American generic-though-monotheistic religion. So, if I may ask, in whose God do we trust: Muslim, Jewish, Christian, or other? If, perchance, the Christian God, which Christianity are we speaking of: Catholic, protestant, Baptist, Unitarian, charismatic, Mormon, or other? And what of the atheistic Americans that find a phrase such as, "In God We Trust" to be practically opposing to the very idea of American government? You were not assuming I meant
today's atheists, were you? Not so, I am referring to patriotic America atheists such as Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson (say 'deist' if you want to, but it is fairly clear that they did not differentiate themselves all that much other than to avoid a lynching of one sort or another). "E Pluribus Unum" ("Out of Many, One") was, for over one hundred years, our American motto; a magnificent and aptly fitting motto to be certain. It was
sectarian American Evangelicals in the 1800s who pushed for recognition of phrases akin to "In God We Trust" to be stamped onto our coinage. Sadly, atheists continue to be unmeritorious mistrusted, held in suspicion merely for their belief that there is no supernatural portion of our existence. How, with an honest examination, is this to be seen as far-fetched or untrustworthy? And yet they continue to be consciously and unconsciously persecuted for their beliefs/unbelief while the
liar "uniter" shuts his eyes and sticks out his tongue at them, like the runt of the playground he has shown himself to be.
Peter Callesen creates amazing works of art by cutting white paper into delicate sculptures making incredible use of both the positive and the negative space. I would love to try and emulate this style of artistry, but where would I begin? It appears as if Mr. Callesen has spent very long periods of time examining not only what effect his cuts would have on paper, but what exactly can be done with what's removed by those cuts.
