Freedom is Untidy

Remember back when the US first liberated Iraq, and Donal Rumsfeld commented on the looting images flowing back from Baghdad? In case you don't remember, here is what Rummy said: "Freedom’s untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things."

Well, now New Orleans looks like something from a John Carpenter movie. Rioting, looting, "armed gangs patrolling the streets." But the right-wingers are not at all happy about these looters. Marshall law has been declared. But, does anyone else besides me wonder about the "looting guns from stores" aspect of this? Could it be that stockpiling lethal weapons and selling them like donuts at a bake sale isn't the wisest policy to pursue?

This country is falling apart. All the loose nuts and bolts are now rolling willy-nilly over the national floorboards. We have a president who is so bad even Pat Buchanan is calling for his impeachment. We have loony religious right leaders proclaiming Christian fatwas against foreign leaders. We have a raging counter-insurgency war roiling the Middle East and costing our national treasury upwards of $300 billion. Meanwhile, gasoline is headed to $4.00 a gallon and the airlines are going broke.

Face it, folks: The wheels have come off and our national Hummer is rolling on bare axels into the roadside ditch of history.

A Fine Day for a Visit

Today, Jan came over for lunch. We had Mimi's excellent food. I had the chicken pot pie, which tastes darn close to homemade.

Tomorrow, I head over to Ray Schimmel's office to get my bankruptcy case started again. No fun, but it's got to be done!

The Wrath of God

So, what is it about the Red States of the South, anyway? Fundamentalists are always warning us that God will bring down a horrible vengeance upon places where sin runs rampant. Pat Robertson warned Miami they might face hurricanes, floods or "possibly a meteor" if they held a gay rights parade in the city. Some warned that those lustful, hedonistic European tourists brought the tsunami on their own heads last year, or that the 911 attack was a punishment of the United States for its godless ways (you know, crack, aborted fetuses in dumpsters, gay marriage, that kind of stuff).

Yet... Why is it that God visits his wrath most often on the denizens of the red states? Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods--every year Ma and Pa Kettle get driven from their trailor by some weather event or another. If God were punishing sinners, why did He steer the hurricane away from New Orleans and its famous Burbon Street to the peaceful hamlets of Alabama? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me!

Maybe God just has a grudge against trucks on blocks in the front yard, or bad Kincade lighthouse paintings.

Afghanistan the Beautiful

Suppose Judge Roy Moore had been born in Afghanistan? No doubt he'd be decrying the moral collapse of the Califate! Taking a litle liberty with Moore's poem, I created the Afghan version.

Afghanistan the Beautiful

-- A Poem by Mullah Royolla Omoor

Afghanistan the Beautiful,

or so you used to be.

Land of the Taliban's pride;

I'm glad they'll never see.

Women dating men,

Un-burqua'd on demand,

Oh, sweet land of Terrorism;

your mosque is on the sand.

Our children wander aimlessly

flaunting Allah's rules for boys

poisoned by kite flying,

Choosing to play with toys.

In Hindu Kush and Kandahar,

From teaching love of camels

our Nation turns away,

Watching television with rebels.

We've knocked Buddha out of Banyan,

yet how indolent we've grown.

When Christians, Jews and infidels

smoke the opium we've sewn.

We've voted in a government

and appointed Godless Judges

who forget to forbid sundaes

and the eating of hot fudges!

Too soft to bury an adulterer

up to her neck in mud,

yet soft enough to buy a CD

of the Rolling Stones or Bee Gees.

You think that Allah's not angry,

that our land's a moral slum?

How much longer must we wait

before slicing off more thumbs?

How are we to face Osama,

whom Americans cannot find?

What then is left for us to do,

but flog an infidel's behind?

If we the chosen few,

can humbly return and spill

The blood of every foreigner

and make them cry most shrill

Then Osama will hear from Pakistan

and impose Sharia law.

One and all must face the lash

Except oilmen with sufficient cash

But, Afghanistan the Beautiful,

if you don't - then you will see,

A sad Mullah Omar

withdraw His scimitar from Thee.

Roy Moore's Inverse Beatitudes

Last week, my parents forwarded to me a "poem" by Judge Roy Moore. He is the Alabama judge who illegally posted a statue to the 10 Commandments at his courthouse. Then he whined when he was forced to remove the statue, and he eventually resigned over the issue.

I say, good for ex-judge Moore for engaging in civil disobedience. It's our right as Americans to disengage ourselves from public acts of conformity to a society with which we find ourselves morally disaffected. Having engaged in civil disobedience, however, does not negate an individual's obligation to suffer the consequences of his or her actions.

On the other hand... The poem itself is a vile, hate-filled diatribe by a man who evidently thinks being Christian stops with "Biblical" law. The problem with people who support the display of the 10 Commandments in buildings owned by the public is that they are implying a governmental endorsement of religion. Specifically, they prefer the fundamentalist Christianity embraced by a certain portion of the population in the more southerly latitudes of this country to the religious tenets of everyone else.

The 10-Commandmenteers rely upon two arguments to justify their positions. One is that the US government was founded upon Christianity. The 10 Commandments, they argue, are the "basis for our laws." Yet, the Constitution nowhere mentions God or the Christian religion. Ample evidence can be discovered in the writings of Adams, Jefferson and others that they deliberately framed the constitution to avoid a government-religion bond. The laws of the United States are based on two sources: Anglo-Saxon Common Law (dating back to the 4th-7th centuries, when the English were pagans) and Roman law (already well established before Constantine imposed official Christianity upon the Empire). To post the 10 Commandments in government buildings implies a connection between Christianity and law that does not, and has never, existed.

"The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion" states Article 11 of a late-1700s treaty between the US and the Barbary kingoms that was signed unanimously by Congress and the president of the time (a Founding Father). Jefferson wrote in reference to the Virginia Act of Religious Freedom that its protection covered "the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and infidel of every denomination." The writers of the Act specifically removed from it any reference to Jesus Christ. Quite a tolerant position to take, considering that people were still being tortured and killed in Europe for heresy in the 18th century.

Failing the test of the descent of law, the fundamentalists like Moore fall back upon the idea that having religious monuments is constitutional as a matter of religious freedom. Since Congress is prohibited from making ANY law establishing religion, all religions are welcome in the public space. But, imagine if this idea were carried out! What would Moore, Fallwell, Robertson, et al. say about a Moslem judge's posting of the Koran? Heaven forbid a Wiccan might plant a tree in her courtroom, or a Buddhist post the "Tenfold Path" before his bench! These people are not looking for freedom of religion. If this were truly the issue, then one would expect to see Moslems and Buddhists arguing for display of their sacred symbols in government buildings.

What kind of world does ex-judge Moore seek to bring about? What form of government? Do we need an American Taliban to tell us right from wrong? The issue most sacred to him, judging by its prominence in the "poem," is capital punishment. But, what about sincere Christians who believe capital punishment to be immoral? His Commandments monument clearly seeks to establish a religious sect (or sects) above others. In placing the monument in a courthouse,
he is giving tacit official endorsement to the notion that capital punishment is ethical, in contradiction to Christians and non-believers who may believe otherwise, and be able to quote chapter and verse in favor of their beliefs. Likewise with abortion and homosexuality. Many Christians believe abortion and homosexual acts are a sin. But clearly at this time abortion is the law of the land, and homosexuality is tolerated to one degree or another by people of all faiths. If an Anglican gay bishop had to appear in Moore's court, how impartially could he expect the judge to treat him, given that imposing granite monument in the courthouse? Why is ex-judge Moore's version of Christianity better than everyone else's?

"God's law is higher than man's law," Moore's poem goes to great pains to prove. This is the argument of all fundamelists and extremists from Eric Rudolph to Timothy McVeigh and Mohammed Atta. The United States is a country composed of people of a multitude of faiths,
or none at all. Its constitution and laws do not endorse any religion, or none, but rather leave the people free to choose their own paths to enlightenment. That always has been the way in this country, and it should continue to be so.

Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--

This past week has witnessed some positive events unfold in my life:

Last Wednesday evening I attended the last session of the document design course. My presentation on what I did to improve the bronchiectasis pamphlet was well-received by the class in general and Steve, the instructor, in particular. The class ran long--very long. We went non-stop from 6:30-10:00 without a break. People didn't manage their presentations well. It took an hour to get through the first four--out of a 20-person class! Some folks had done nice work, but didn't know a bloody thing about how to find files in Windows. Some had no clue about how to use PowerPoint; since knowledge of Windows was one of the prerequisites for the course, I found myself wondering how these students got in and how they managed to put their presentations together. It did occur to me to suspect some of the work as canned--perhaps things people brought from their companies.

Anyhow, I was fourth-from last in the presentations, meaning I started mine at precisely 9:25 (class was supposed to be over at 9:30). I was also the fourth student to have selected bronchiectasis as my project, putting me at a distinct disadvantage, since by the time it was my turn to speak, I was well aware that people had had their fill of the topic. There's only so much one can do with a lung-disease brochure!

Luckily, I came prepared. Two things I learned in my teaching days were to overprepare and to include humor intimately within my work. The plan worked flawlessly! I had 'em rolling in the aisles. Even Steve cracked a smile or two. The humor relieved the drudgery of the topic. I assume--though I have not yet received my grade, that I got an "A."

Friday, Harold came over at noon and we made a trip to Caliber, the body shop that had worked on my van last year. I had girded myself for battle--but was pleasantly surprised when the service writer said "No problem" to my demands. I am going to have a guy come and fix my steering column and emergency brake lever this week, and they are going to bill Farmers to purchase the 12-inch steering wheel I need to drive. Also, they will pay for the $121 I spent at City Chevrolet to fix the headlight ground wire on the driver's side.

Then, Harold and I went shoe shopping. I have not worn a fitting pair of shoes since the accident. My foot was too swollen and the arch too high to fit into my 7-year-old Nordstrom's Spanish leather dress shoes. I had been wearing--occasionally--these horrible, white size 10 nursing shoes that Joe had bought for me last Fall when I first started getting out of bed.

The thing is, I wear an odd-sized shoe--size 7 WIDE. Very wide indeed, since the bone-crushing accident last May. We happened to be at the old Mira Mesa Mall already, so we went into the Shoe Pavilion within the mall. I did find a pair of 6 1/2 wide Keds that fit, but they were a horrible chocolate brown color with a bright-orange stripe down the sides. YUCK!

So, then we drove to UTC to try all the shoe stores there (I think they have about 10). Nothing fit. A lot of the shoes--even the athletic ones--were too damn heavy. I felt like I had the mafia-style cement overshoes strapped to my feet. Finally, in desperation, I entered the plush halls of Nordstrom's, the place I had bought my last decent pair of shoes. At least their sales staff seems happy to see you, treats you courteously and tries hard to find something that works.

The salesman, Gabriel, was very friendly and helpful. I'm sure my type of customer--disabled with an obvious foot deformity, is not his favorite--but he never let it show in his dimeanor. He even talked me into a pair of Mephisto black-leather shoes worth $360. He convinced me that I could take them immediately, wear them for the weekend and then return them if dissatisfied. One of Nordstrom's great qualities is their no-questions-asked return policy.

Having taken the shoes home, I decided to keep them on all night, until retiring to bed. When I did remove them, Lo and behold! A miracle! My "fat foot" was thin! It seemed the Nordstrom's shoe had flattened my high arch and squeeze the excess fluid from the foot so that it looked almost normal!

"Let's try your old shoes," Harold said. I did, and they fit too! Only a modest amount of shoe-horn wrangling was necessary. Therefore, on Saturday we returned to N's and I got a refund on my $360 (plus tax). On my roommate's suggestion, we proceeded back to the Mira Mesa Mall and tried Marshall's. And....

Eureka! I found a very light pair of Chinese-slave-labor-made Nike knock-offs for $21.5o! They fit great, feel like nothing on my feet and are something I can wear comfortably all day long. I am therefore going to take my dress shoes into the cobbler's and get them polished up for those "Sunday go to meetin' days."

The greatest miracle is that a lot of the problems I was having with leaning from side to side, such as using the lift to get into my van, have been pretty much solved. I have not needed help getting into the van since putting shoes back on my feet.

In your face, evil Dr. T! You implied that balance wasn't important for me since I don't walk. WRONG!! Get your arrogant arse back to medical school and put your mind to use. People with muscle weakness like me are NOT the same as quadriplegics with no feeling in their legs. I DO use my legs and need them to help support my body--even in the wheelchair! Not to mention driving, and planting my well-clad foot up some MD's ample backside!

Whew, 'nuff journaling for today, me thinks. Off to church and dinner for my mom's b-day at 4:00.