King Of Pain

Andrew Breitbart is dead.

The scion of and propulsive force behind conservative media hypocrisy in the name of Liberal-bashing, has taken his last vituperative breath. Girded to do battle against the Democrats in the 2012 Presidential election, his sword has fallen from his hand, and, momentarily, a still and eerie hush falls over the battlefield.

Before progressives everywhere rise en masse, waving their social AK-47s over their heads, filling the airwaves with defamatory rounds, we should take a moment to mourn for the man's family, especially his wife and children. At 43, the man was far too young, by modern standards, to have come to his demise so readily. It must be a shock of monumental proportions to a wife who has lost her husband and to four children who will now grow up only knowing of their father vicariously.

His defamatory style and bombastic degradation of his "enemies" made him a man to be reviled by the Left and lauded by the Right. His avowed goal was the complete and utter destruction of any progressive organization, person, or cause, by whatever means could be cobbled together. Truth worked best, but fabrication and obfuscation were not off the table as tools of his media-driven attack. Where someone or some group would not gladly provide a perfect foil, he would manipulate circumstances to fit his needs. His undeserving attacks on ACORN, his unrepentant denigration of Shirley Sherrod, his unwarranted attacks on the late Edward Kennedy, his tabloid-style take-down of Representative Anthony Weiner... nothing was beyond the pale, where it advanced the conservative cause.

If any good can be said to have come from his brief life, it is that the level of duplicity and malfeasance he employed can be said to have lit a bonfire under decent Americans of every stripe, galvanizing many, such as myself, to rise up in defense of the people and programs he saw as an "attack" on the heart of America. Far from crippling or even denting progressive and Liberal causes, he may have inadvertently given them new life and new strength through the outrage of Americans who were not so easily cowed or conned.

While it would certainly be understandable if we took this opportunity to drag him through the muck he so fondly stirred up, it serves no purpose other than to enlarge him to a stature he does not deserve. Instead, let us remember him as the polarizing figure he was, let us be glad he vexes us no more, and let us move on to ensure that the movements he so detested live on far longer than his demoniacal rhetoric. The greatest revenge will be in reducing him to a little-mentioned footnote in the history of the American political wars of the 21st Century.

What Passes For Conscience These Days

Some nurses in New Jersey are garnering attention for the "stand" they are taking, in refusing to assist in abortion procedures at their hospital, because to do so violates their ethical tenets. Their "heroic" stand against abortion has garnered them the support of notorious women's rights foe Representative Chris Smith, who has come out in full support of their actions, because he has an election coming up and it is time to energize his base constituency: the self-appointed moral guardians of New Jersey.

If you've noticed a particular odor wafting through the air as you read, that is the taint of hypocrisy that clings to the air whenever a government official or some member of the community stands up and claims that to have anything to do with sex, the aftermath of sex, or abortion of a fetus goes against their "principles." I put principles in quotes, because in many cases, their moral and ethical system of values is so fraught with contradictory and confounding rules that it makes no sense. Conscience, as such people define it through their words and actions, involves denying others their rights because something those others do upsets them in ways that are usually tangled up more in belief than reality.

So let's examine this "conscience" these people claim is being so offended.

What Anthony Weiner Says About Us

Representative Anthony Weiner has resigned as of this afternoon.

God help us all.

Here's My Birth Certificate

Since Donald Trump is so interested in people's birth certificates, and since the President was classy enough and thoughtful enough to show his, perhaps it is best that we all show him ours. So let me start with mine -- which just happens to be the same as that for everyone in this nation:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Those words are the birth certificate of a nation, and therefore, the birth certificate of each and every one of us who was born on this nations' soil, the soil of a possession of this nation, a recognized territory of this nation, or who has been naturalized by the Federal government of this nation. What any document containing the information about the birth of any one us says is irrelevant, compared to those words, which turned a loose confederation of former English colonies into a new nation, conceived in liberty, and built upon the idea that all her citizens were created equal.

The Man Who Will Never Be President

As the Presidential Election circus approaches, we take a moment to consider one act under the political big top that has outlived its useful life. I speak of none other than Newt Gingrich.

As Speaker of the House of Representatives, he engineered and steered the Republican victory of 1994 that saw them sweep into power in Congress. He of the “Contract For America,” proceeded to do a dance with President Bill Clinton, hamstringing him when convenient, attacking him when necessary, and compromising as little as possible. He would have been more successful, too, if greed and over-arching pride had not gotten the better of him. Ethically-challenged and morally-suspect, he went from Republican avatar to his own worst enemy in the matter of a few years.

Now, he wants to be President.

Wages Of Sin

The negotiation that took place earlier this week, which President Obama attended in good faith, and agreed to in principle, a sign of the possible rebirth of bipartisanship, has turned out to be ruse, a ploy designed to force the issue of reinstating the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Good as their word, despite the President's assurances, with sand running through the hourglass, the Republicans will not relent, stifling and snuffing out any bill that is not the tax cut provision.

The Republicans have collected their 30 pieces of silver. The high priests command that none shall have their bread until the priests have collected their due, and have sent their faithful servants out to ensure it.

Will The Real Sarah Palin Please Stand Up?

Not being part of the "lamestream media," perhaps Demi-Governor Sarah Palin would mind explaining to me, a member of the "Main Street" that she speaks of so often, just what she stands for. I'm serious. I am not a political pundit, not a talking head, not even affiliated fully with a political party (save having worked on Election Day in 2008 as a Democratic Party poll challenger at my local polling place). Being a lover of reason and logic, though, I am often troubled how she seems to say one thing, then say something else that does not mesh with something she previously stated.

Take, for example, fiscal responsibility. From what I gather, she is all for government having to pay for the things it does. Well, who doesn't? We'd love the Federal government to have the funding necessary to pay for things without driving up the national debt. However, if that is the case, then how come she is advocating for the continuation of the Bush-era tax cuts, tax cuts which had no funding source behind them? That would seem to be contradictory to her message; if we do not collect enough in taxes, we will not have enough money to pay for necessary government programs.

Of course, that would lead naturally to her position against big government. The problem is: she has given no indication as to which parts of government are no longer necessary, and how much it would cost to shut them down, because it's not just a question of letting everyone go and closing the doors and turning out the lights. Then there would the problem of all these people being suddenly unemployed; of course, they could simply pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.

There are her constant statements about her belief in, and the need to defend, the Constitution from the current administration, which is busy subverting it. Mind you, she has not told us how it is being subverted, nor can she point to one thing she has done to prevent the "subversion" from going on. It may be that her mere presence in the public arena is enough to keep the administration in abeyance, so that when people inconveniently point out that no subversion is going on, she can claim credit for it.

Also, when it comes to her love of the Constitution, she seems to have a hard time accepting that the provisions of it apply equally to all Americans. Take her opposition to the Muslim Community Center to be built two blocks from Ground Zero in New York City. Despite the fact that the developers have every right under the provisions of the First Amendment to build their center, to promote worship of Islam and better relations with other religions, Mrs. Palin is vehemently against their exercise of their rights. Such a contradiction must not have escaped her notice... or did it?

She is very big on freedom of speech, especially where that speech is hers. Strangely, again at odds with her persona as "Defender of the Constitution," is her opposition to those who protest against The Tea Party at rallies. What does she have against the right to peaceably assemble and express disagreement with the positions The Tea Party holds? Does she honestly believe that all those who do not agree with her are not entitled to voice their opinion?

While we are on the subject of personal freedom and liberty, can we discuss her opposition to abortion? Now, abortion is not a good thing, in and of itself; the fact is, there should be no necessity for it, but in the world we live in, it is a necessary evil, owing mainly to the machinations of men who do not have the honor for or the respect of women to do what is right, or whose intent is malevolent and malicious. Add to that an imperfect system of sexual education, and you have a prescription for increased abortion. It is a choice we hope a woman never has to make, but if she finds herself in such a situation, it is a choice she should have, as master of her own body. Unless, of course, you live in Sarah Palin's world. She, who chose to bring a child to term with a developmental disability, would seek to remove that choice from other women, and at the same time, make it harder for them and their peers to get the education necessary to prevent unwanted pregnancies from happening in the first place.

Let's not even get started on her desire to "Drill Baby, Drill"; she would tie us even further to a finite resource that is becoming harder and harder to obtain without extreme measures or without selling ourselves politically to other nations who hold the supply. An expansion of solar, wind, water, and nuclear power would severe our vulnerability to the whims of foreign powers, who could cripple us through the mere choking off of our fuel supply. As the recent Gulf Coast Oil Disaster pointed out, the lengths we must go to, to secure energy independence through drilling for more oil, will lead to even more wide-ranging consequences than trying to wring a depleted resource out of every nook and cranny of the Earth.

It is clear from her rhetoric and her staunch belief in the righteousness of her "cause," that she is not subject to self-doubt or self-analysis. The contradictions of her positions, and the hypocrisy they represent, show that, rather than being the "savior" of America, she is yet another in a long series of political busybodies whose goal is to impose her view upon the rest of us, running roughshod over the civil liberties that we all enjoy. She is unwilling to address these issues, preferring to blame her lack of critical reasoning on attempts by her opponents to discredit her. She would rather deflect criticism than meet it head-on. She believes that she knows what is best for us, and what is best for us is to cede control to her and her cronies.

It is clear that Demi-Governor Palin chooses not to see what is so clear to the rest of us -- that America is stronger for a diversity of opinion and for the ability of any citizen to live as they would, protected by a strong government, which will not allow others to usurp or invalidate their liberties. Given her myopia, the idea that she and her compatriots in The Tea Party are somehow going to "restore America," is as laughable as it is ludicrous. America does not require restoration; it does require strong and reasoned leadership, and that is something Mrs. Palin has proven that she cannot provide.

Restoring Sanity

Perhaps you missed it, but there was a rally Saturday in Washington, D.C., on the very same steps where forty-seven years earlier, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. The rally, intended by conservatives to be a non-partisan gathering to talk of faith and support the troops, was merely another ridiculous trope-spewing photo opportunity. The same tired and hackneyed words wafted into the air, to fall on the heads of a crowd eager to lap them up, like fauna at a waterhole.

I do not mean to demean or denigrate those of faith, but there is a great deal of difference between having faith and restoring "faith." The faith talked about at the rally was not the faith of the individual, protected and encouraged by the Constitution, but the faith of those organizing the rally, who were more concerned with getting out their message than creating any atmosphere of religious tolerance. It was yet another attempt to assume that, in America, there can be only one faith in God: their faith.

Their premise was flawed from the beginning, as if Americans as a whole had completely abandoned faith, which is far from the truth. In fact, Americans of all faiths are equally strong and equally represented in this country. What has changed is that many no longer tacitly accept every tenet of their belief system, up to and including those who lead them. Many now shun organized worship, content is assuming and subsuming their faith for themselves. There is no shame in this, and certainly no problem with it. Each individual's faith is, in fact, theirs, even where they are part of a larger organized community. It is the individual who decides how they will express their belief in whatever system they ascribe to, even if that system says to them that there is no God.

Americans do not need to be lectured to, or whipped into a frenzy over, what God they choose to believe in. They will choose for themselves what makes the most sense, to them. Those who participated in the festivities may have been under the mistaken impression that, somehow, they were "chosen" to lead America forward, into a new age. They were wrong.

My faith remains undiminished. First, I have my faith in God, not expressed through any organized religion anymore, but by having had the opportunity to see the far-flung reaches of our solar system and our universe. No matter how the creation is expressed, by living consciousness or natural law, the mechanism of creation is a beauty to behold. It is nice to think an organized mind, similar to our own, but of greater depth and scope, set this all in motion. It may not be the case. Until there is definitive proof, I shall hold on to the idea of a conscious creation, through mechanisms we are still learning about.

My faith in humanity remains undiminished, though sorely tested at times, especially by the likes of those who attended the rally. So many seek to impose their view of the world on others, that they do not even do justice to the Constitution they claim to love, which says that no one may create a singular faith for all, or silence those who would dissent, or keep those dissenters from gathering peaceably. They would have us follow them, as if they were anointed to be our leaders. They become our leaders only when we vote them into office and hand them the power to lead, or when we surrender our reason and prostrate ourselves at their feet, refusing to question their motives and intentions. In the main, humanity moves past those who appoint themselves as "guardians" of society eventually, but the pace of progress is maddeningly slow most times.

My faith in my country remains undiminished, if, again, sorely tested. I believe the greater proportion of Americans to be decent, hard-working, and on the main, level-headed individuals, who pitch in when they must, work to provide for themselves, and maintain a healthy respect for the fellow citizens, even if they do not always agree. I believe that many of those we see on television are self-serving, self-aggrandizing, and prone to obfuscation and hyperbole as it suits their needs, more interested in creating enemies to make people afraid of, than coming up with rational and concrete solutions to problems. I would like to think that when the time is right, Americans of all stripes will stand up to those who would seek to tarnish our image at home and abroad with their blatant disregard for the liberty of their fellow citizens.

Let them not speak of faith as if there is one brand, good for all, but let us speak of all faiths and the lessons we may obtain from them. Let us find the common in them, that part that says that we must work together, help up those who have fallen, and honor each other by word and deed. It is not faith that needs restoration in our nation, but sanity; a return to reason, logic, compassion, and compromise is called for to meet the challenges we face, which are no longer simply America's challenges, but those of everyone around the globe. Let America lead the way by showing what true freedom is, and let us extend a hand to all who need it. Let the faith of Americans in themselves and their liberties become the faith of all people in humanity.

America, The Dissonant

The United States of America is the land of the dichotomy; that is to say, we are the nation that embodies both the best and the worst of attributes of humanity simultaneously. It is at once a privilege to live in a free nation such as this, and a travesty having to live with the hypocrisy and ignorance so rampant. People would wave the flag and the Constitution at you, as if to say they are our country, but the flag is a mere identifier, and the Constitution, while grand, is but words on paper. It is what we do with these things that gives them meaning, and makes us angels, or demons, or both.

We live in a country where we are told there is an epidemic of obesity -- just look around. Even as this is said with breathless alarm, there are those who, with a meager income, public assistance, and the charity of food banks, still find themselves hungry several days out of the month.

There are those in this country who have city apartments or country mansions worth thousands of dollars a square foot, and those are only second homes. Meanwhile, families are being forced by economic chaos, to abandon homes they can no longer afford, to join the roles of the homeless, forced to seek shelter wherever it can be found.

Corporations beg, plead, and pay to receive tax incentives to create new jobs, claiming they cannot while they are so oppressed by the poor economy. This, when during the good times, they were cutting jobs, fattening profit margins, and driving up productivity, working the remaining workers harder and for lower pay.

We are outraged by the Gulf Coast Oil Disaster, scandalized by the way oil companies and the government have acted, even as we continue to fill up our SUVs and drive a mile for a gallon of milk.

Our immigrant heritage is celebrated, the bravery of those who voyaged here to start a new life held up as a shining example of the strength of our nation, even as we seek to expel immigrants who fill some of the most unwanted and back-breaking jobs in our country, because we could not find a way to let them enter legally, nor help them escape poverty in their own country.

Many trumpet their right to speak their mind, even as they shout down those who try and voice an opposing opinion.

There are those who claim that the American family is under siege, and that family values must be restored, even as they cheat on their spouses, to great public scandal.

Some firmly believe that the current administration is tearing down the Constitution, even though not one Amendment has been repealed and the Supreme Court of the United States continues to function as it ever did. Their right to freedom of speech is undiminished, yet they claim they are not being heard, even as they spout their vitriol on TV, the radio, and via the Internet, unfettered, all the while not complaining about the fact that the Federal government was ceded the power to monitor communications virtually without oversight.

Freedom, liberty, and justice are touted as our birthright, even as some seek to deny them to people who happen to be homosexual.

We are allowed to worship as we choose -- so long as "Christian" values take precedence over any other.

Americans are proud that they continue to have the right to bear arms, so long as the right is not infringed by pesky laws requiring background checks that might keep chronic abusers, criminals, and the mentally unstable from owning guns, and guns can be sold to anyone, no questions asked.

Public figures constantly tell us we are a "Christian" nation, even as the poor get poorer, the hungry get hungrier, and intolerance rises. Christian virtues of charity, compassion, and fellowship are espoused, if not practiced.

We seek perfection in our public servants, even as we elect the same crooks and charlatans again and again, never holding them to account for failing to provide a decent life for all Americans, even as they enjoy the fruits of American taxes.

Some are afraid that government is too large, though they would be hard-pressed to say just how large government should be.

Senators and Representatives from some quarters do not believe that tax money should be used to fund entitlements and social programs, even though they are charged with the welfare of all Americans. They instead believe that lining the pockets of the rich is the best way to provide for all Americans, even though the rich are under no obligation to spend the money. They decry the inflation of the national debt, even as they, themselves, pile onto it with their pet projects and spendthrift boondoggles.

The "free" market is the cure for all our ills, even though our choices are limited by the arbitrary decisions of out-of-touch corporations, and our consumerism is driven by marketing, not quality, costs passed back to us at every turn.

We cannot fail to see that such dichotomy is our ruination; to push ourselves to the margins, rather than move toward the center, where the bulk of humanity lies, is to divide ourselves, and a house divided cannot stand. If we are true to our founding, true to the words in the Constitution, true to freedom and liberty, then it is up to all of us to ensure that every American receives these benefits, regardless of individual belief. It is the protection of our individuality, while at the same time being knit together under one banner, that is what is truly great about America. Let us no longer allow the disparities between what is and what must be divide us -- let us seek to unite behind the proposition that every one of us is of worth, and deserves decency and respect. Only then will we truly be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Don't Hate The Hater

American society is currently awash in a red tide of incivility and hatred, spurred by national events and the ease of access to global communications. Bigotry, from subtle to vitriolic, seems more commonplace now than it was in the 60's, and the scope has expanded to encompass groups far and wide. No group which lies outside the "mainstream" is immune to its influences, and every major event or accomplishment is punctuated with a surge in invective. The most troubling aspect, though, is not that the sources of some of this hate speech, which is to be expected, but how the groups that hate spawn groups that hate the haters.

Freedom of speech is the single hardest thing to have in any nation, because it protects not only those who speak plainly, intelligently, and thoughtfully, but shields those who seek to stir up anger, spew rank intolerance, and perpetuate outright lies. It is the singular right that does the most to outline what is a free society, but it also is the right that permits ease in attacking a free society by fomenting civil unrest, hatred, and anarchy. It shows the difficulty in having your cake and eating it, too.

Those of us who cherish freedom of speech and the society it creates must steel ourselves against the drumbeat of negativity that accompanies such freedom. It is far too easy to fall into the trap of turning our fire hoses on the rabble, attempting to beat them back, not by force of reason and logic, but by retaliation in kind. To turn to our own brand of invective and vitriol, no matter how earnest and right we may be, is to fall prey to the very thing that caused the trouble in the first place: ignorance. It is ignorance that is the fertile soil of the bigot and the hater, and we may become bogged down in it as much as they, if we allow ourselves to tread upon it.

We may take our shots at them for comedic effect, or to release our pent-up frustrations, but we cannot allow our thoughts to dwell too long in the muck and mire. At the end of the day, though the spiteful and self-righteous may not bend to our reason or understand our compassion, they are made lesser when we choose to stand above them, instead of wallowing down among them. We must resolve to be better people than those we know to carry hatred in the hearts, for we are called upon to make up the deficit in humanity brought about by their choices in separating themselves from it. If we carry forward the strength of our convictions, then we reduce the effect of those who would see a world divided and rife with their brand of intolerance.

Our ultimate victory over the forces of bigotry and intolerance will not, in the end, be measured by how we crushed them beneath our heels, but how we chose to rise above them.

The Hypocritic Oaf

The last thing you need to hear, when your country has been shaken by an earthquake, flattening buildings, destroying infrastructure, and killing tens of thousands, is that it is somehow your fault. Or more precisely, the fault of your ancestors. Yet that is precisely what a "renowned" Christian pastor would have you believe, based on a apocryphal story and his own brand of bigotry.

According to Pat Robertson, host of The 700 Club, the people of Haiti made a "deal with the Devil" in order to throw off the shackles of oppression of their French masters. Apparently, only by employing the forces of darkness, were Haitians able to overthrow the French and declare independence from "Napoleon the Third." Or someone like that; Rev. Robertson was more than a bit hazy on the history.

Actually, the freeing of Haiti from oppression was due, in part, to the French Revolution, which inspired the Haitians to clamor for freedom from slavery and French rule. in 1793, when France and Great Britain went to war, the British invaded and the French commissioners there, to secure the help of the locals, abolished slavery in the territory. It was the beginning of independence for Haiti, and a now distant bright memory against the backdrop of death and devastation.

That a "Christian" minister would not only base his premise on apocryphal and false information is nothing new; the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trails, the death of Jean d'Arc... throughout history, it has always been easier to look on those considered "different," and fear them for their difference. This is, at the root, bigotry and discrimination, neither concept being anything new. Haiti is an 80% Catholic nation, and perhaps because they hew so closely to the mother church, upon which many a Christian sect looks unfavorably, it is easy to take up the "they got what's coming to them" screed.

Of course, Reverend Robertson is merely taking advantage of the First Amendment, which protects his hateful and hypocritical speech, as well as providing him the ability to worship whatever way he chooses. It could easily be said that had he made his remarks anywhere else, there might have been a greater swell of indignation. Perhaps it is because he has made such remarks in the past; perhaps the American people are simply used to people doing this and have become a bit blasé.

I suspect that Reverend Robertson has not read his Bible lately, or he might have come across this, from Luke 13:1:

"Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

And it will require repentance for Pat Robertson to see the gates of Heaven, for to claim to worship Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, on the one hand while ignoring his teachings on the other, is to incur a penalty most grave. While Jesus wanted people to follow his way, he knew it could not simply be imposed. First, the weakest amongst us had to be brought up from the gutter. The most wicked amongst us must be reformed. The richest amongst us must help the poorest; the wounds of the sick and the dying must be tended. Jesus knew that for anyone to be able to believe in God, his father, they must first know that his followers were earnest, nonjudgmental, and willing to extend them kindness and compassion. There must be a uniting of humanity.

So let preachers and pundits and purveyors of anger and hatred peddle their wares, for they alone are responsible for the stain it places upon their soul. We, who believe in higher purpose, greater good, and human duty, do not need their ilk, for we shall rise up and reach down, to take the hands of the hungry, the tired, the sick, the destitute, and the devastated, and raise them up, too. In the end, we will represent humanity, long after the words of the wicked have mixed with the dust on the ground.

We Get It

Yeah, we get it.

You hate homosexuals.

Yes… you. The narrow-minded, Bible-verse-flinging, ignorant, spiteful, fear-mongering segment of the population that views the idea of people loving people of the same sex so abhorrent, that if you could get away with it, you’d no doubt tie them to stakes and set them ablaze.

You, who are so uncomfortable with the idea of people being different, that you would do anything in your power to deny them the peace of mind and solace you believe is rightfully yours, and yours alone. You, the ultra-conservative, who cannot grasp that the planet has turned a corner into a new millennium, and that the old ways can no longer support human society. We need new ways of thinking, new ideas, not the old, moldy words of people drenched in fear for their life and fear of those who were not of their tribe.

You will not grow. You will not change. You will not open your heart or your mind to possibilities. You live in the staid, sedentary, somnolent backwater of modern society, afraid that “they” will ruin your way of life, take away your freedom, and somehow desecrate all you hold dear.

I have news for you: you have done far more to desecrate your way of life than anyone. You wield your beliefs as a sword, hacking away at anything than offends your “morality.” You claim some type of divine superiority through your faith, a faith based on hypocrisy and ignorance of the words of your own savior. Anything you do not understand or subscribe to is an “abomination,” to be given as little regard as the dust.

You will stand there, in your apocalyptically-driven glory, and claim that you have “nothing against gays,” even as you seek to fund those who would keep them down, keep them in line, and defend your way-of-life by equating them with all the ills of the world.

You hate them.

Not hate in the manner of holocaust, but a low-grade, simmering hate, never spoken, never voiced, never revealed overtly, but clearly written in action and deed. You paper the hate over with a veneer of morality and community service, but this cannot keep your true feelings from leaking out beneath the facade. You will stand and deny human beings rights, because it offends you to think that they could be happy, too. You spout rhetoric about “family values,” even as you cheat on spouses. You would “defend” marriage, even as you trample upon it with your mistresses. You would claim that marriage is a solemn connection between a man and a woman, when it is more the connection between a man and a slave.

So yes, once more you have managed to deny gays the right to marry. New York, New Jersey, Maine, California… you may sit there, smug and self-righteous, proud of yourselves, but know this: your day is coming. Those of us who value freedom, individuality, and prefer tolerance to ignorance will gather our force of will, and we will drive back the demons. We will supplant you. We will cast the pure light of humanity on your piteous and baleful forms, and drive you back under the rocks from whence you crawled.

There will be liberty and justice, for all.

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NOTE: After writing this, I came to find this wonderful video of NY Senator Diane Savino addressing the State Senate before voting on the gay marriage act that was defeated by a 38-22 vote. It says with poignancy and dignity, what I wrote with righteous anger and frustration.

It Must Be Nice

It must be nice to have the moral high ground, even as you exhort people to "stop the baby-killers."

It must be nice to remind people of the word of Jesus, even as you seek to shun the poor and the destitute.

It must be nice to speak of Jesus' love, even as you seek to bar homosexuals from the rights and privileges they deserve.

It must be nice to complain about the "tyranny of the government," when no one is knocking on your door or taking one single gun from you.

It must be nice to shout about "taxation without representation," when you elect the same representatives again and again, who spend your tax money with little regard for your feelings.

It must be nice to cast aspersions on and make claims of malfeasance about someone, while hiding behind the First Amendment.

It must be nice to appreciate your freedom, even as you are giving it away.

It must be nice to speak of the principles of fairness and justice in a free society, even as you seek to deprive that society's enemies of the same fairness and justice.

It must be nice to claim you are following the "will of the people," even as you are subverting that will to your own ends.

It must be nice to talk about family values, even as you are cheating on your wife.

It must be nice to speak of how you are being persecuted by the "liberal" media, even as you use that media to peddle your book.

It must be nice to share the secrets of becoming wealthy, even as you are bilking others out of their wealth to make yours.

It must be nice to disparage the President of the United States, after spending years telling people they should not do so.

It must be nice to claim you represent the "true faith," even when your version bears little resemblance to the faith you claim to follow.

It must be nice to send others to die as martyrs, while you sit in your home with your family and live another day.

It must be nice to complain about the burden of your taxes, even as you make billions off the sweat of other people's brows.

It must be nice.