Wednesday,
Yes, dear reader, I have heard your cry, your mournful cry, "Where is The Daily (W)Rite!" I am so sorry that I've not kept my promise to write something about MEEE! every day! {smiles} But life has gotten in the way of my writing anything here on this blog, on my movie review page and my original poetry blog, Even More Poetry by Robert R. Woods. I will try from now on to keep my promise to you . . . "I pledge my allegiance to the fan, for which he/she reads one blog post now and then, under intoxication for which they cannot stand, and elaboration and black coffee for all, until death do we part (or you just get bored with me), forever and ever . . . Hallelujah!"{snicker}
Thursday, July o2, 2015
Here's the thing: I am an extremely patriotic American boy. Okay, don't get all Liberal hysterical on me . . . I'm not a Right Winged kind of patriot that follows the precepts of the COTUS as long as they suit my personal beliefs . . . example: "Guns good, no guns BAD!" No that's not me. Although I do support the idea of the 2nd Amendment, I don't think that everybody should have access to a gun including yours truly. I am all for religious freedom too, and yes, I am a Christian . . . okay, okay, I can hear your eyes rolling at at me on that one. But like it or not, believe it or not I am a Christian, and granted I'm probably the extreme example of the prodigal son, and I don't know everything there is to know about the whole Bible, and yes I don't go to church . . . although I've been thinking about finding me an African-American church to go to because . . . well, I love the Christian strength exhibited by the folks at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church . . . . or at Anyway, let me get on with my rant, okay?
Lots of controversy these last few days over what the CRC (Christian Ruling Class) of Oklahoma considers to be its religious rights. Everybody's in a fever over the Supreme Court of Oklahoma's ruling about the Ten Commandments:
"Justices ruled 7-2 the monument must go because the state constitution prohibits the use of public property to directly or indirectly benefit a -church denomination or system of religion.'"
Okay, I get it. The separation of church and state, yeah, that's a good idea. Yes, the state shouldn't be involved in state business, AND the church should not have a binding right to interfere with people who are pursuing their rights set down by our beloved COTUS. However, isn't the decision to remove the Ten Commandments from the capital a bit . . . petty? Shouldn't we be spending our time fighting against the bigger concerns like gay and lesbians right to marry? I know what my liberal brothers and sisters are saying about cutting religious slack for the feelings of the CRC . . . that old slippery slope thing: grant the Right Wing Christians anything, even if it is just to have a monument displaying the Ten Commandments on state land is too much because they'll want this one thing, and then another thing, and another thing . . . Look, the "slippery slope" scenario is used by both the Right and the Left whenever they want to stop the other guy from getting something. The slippery slope attitude is just another con that stands in the way of the Right and the Left getting along and doing what's in the best interest of this homeland of ours. Slippery slope? Well, hell. Get a good pair of mudding boots and walk on! Let the CRC have their monument. Let us concentrate on the bigger problem: the right of same-sex couples to legally marry.
My problem with the Right Wing Christians' desire to have the "religious freedom" that is guaranteed to
them under the 1st Amendment, is that they confuse their right to religious freedom with their supposed right to take away ALL rights of those folk who don't think, act and talk like they do. Same-sex marriage doesn't take anything away from those who believe in traditional marriage, i.e., marriage between one woman and one man. Same-sex marriage would not change the definition of marriage but merely expand on it. If you believe that same-sex marriage is wrong under the eye of God, then okay you can believe it all you want. See? The right to marry someone of the same sex doesn't interfere with your freedom of religion at all. If anyone's rights are being violated here it is the rights belonging to the GLBT community. Denying gay/lesbian couples the same rights as the "straight" community is unconstitutional. At least, the SCOTUS thinks so with their 5-4 decision.
Friday, July o3, 2o15
FREDERICK DOUGLASS: Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore,... called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?
I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today?
What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes that would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.
At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would, to-day, pour forth a stream, a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and the crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced. -July o5, 1852
This is just a part of the speech Douglass gave back in July o5, 1852. Wonderful words that we as Americans have yet to totally grasp and understand their meaning. For the full speech you can go to:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/
Las
Vegas, NM 2006
I love a parade!
All this red, white and blue
drifting past my view
upon the sturdy backs of
hay-haulers and pickup trucks.
Oh, how grandly they float about
like patriotic clouds
in slow, majestic motion down
the oak-lined streets of
the procession route...!
military line along the rock strewn
edges of that dirt road
known as Highway 9.
Like children we waited
patiently for our summer
Santa to arrive!
Our teenage spirit high,
our jungle boots at attention,
each pair spit-shinned
to black perfection, and our
starched utilities gleamed
under a Southeast Asian sky...
Here comes the Fiesta Queen
perched precariously
upon the shinny bright, white hood
of a cherry '57 Chevy rag-top
which slows but dares not stop...!
What a dark-skinned beauty she is!
Her perfect right hand
waving relentlessly
at all these cheering families
as her throne glides by,
her dark, black hair matching
her dark, black eyes,
her pure white smile
lovingly kissed with
green shade from rustling
oak tree leaves...
like an angry sheep...
And there he stood
the man himself
standing in the backseat!
A virtuous stone statue
carved in human flesh and grace,
eye-burning victory
etched into his granite face,
a perpetual salute sewn to his cap
and we with pride
returned his regards
as he sped past...
from their upset, metallic guts!
Engines growling impatiently
when the parade slows down,
a mournful frown
on their shinny, chrome grills.
Embarrassed they are,
forced to mingle
with inferior, classic cars.
What humiliation they suffer,
being dressed up
as big, fat mechanical clowns
with colored balloons hanging
all around their mirrors,
with audacious posters dangling
from their doors
which implores the good citizens
of Las Vegas to
"Vote Don Martinez
for City Councilman ..!"
as they pursued our leader
into the graying south.
The gods of these metal beasts
threw piece signs and hollered
Good ol' American obscenities
for all long lost
brothers left behind...
atop their prancing ponies,
their historically correct armor
lacking only true soldiering.
"Viva La Raza!"
my anxious crowd cries...
such a frenzy shriek of passion,
a thunderous shout of pride...
of the grunts marching
in deadpanned unity toward us.
Their faces... God, their faces...!
the color of road, hard and cruel.
they trudged along that bitter highway
burdened like donkeys,
like mad dog strays
carrying everything they owned
rifles, rations, letters from home.
for their graves-
And their eyes... God, their eyes...!
tombstones seeing nothing
but the death they've known
and the death that awaits them
somewhere down that dusty road...
Some (yes, a few) quiet from disgust.
For here comes the Veterans
clad in mismatched uniforms,
proudly transporting a faded flag,
tattered and worn.
My, how they've changed!
Those faces now aged
beyond youth,
their steps still unified
but now, less hurried, less horrified.
Their eyes... God, their eyes...!
still carry those same, sad tombstones
I noticed back in Nam.
Woodie July 4, 2oo7
Thursday, July o2, 2015
Lots of controversy these last few days over what the CRC (Christian Ruling Class) of Oklahoma considers to be its religious rights. Everybody's in a fever over the Supreme Court of Oklahoma's ruling about the Ten Commandments:
"Justices ruled 7-2 the monument must go because the state constitution prohibits the use of public property to directly or indirectly benefit a -church denomination or system of religion.'"
Okay, I get it. The separation of church and state, yeah, that's a good idea. Yes, the state shouldn't be involved in state business, AND the church should not have a binding right to interfere with people who are pursuing their rights set down by our beloved COTUS. However, isn't the decision to remove the Ten Commandments from the capital a bit . . . petty? Shouldn't we be spending our time fighting against the bigger concerns like gay and lesbians right to marry? I know what my liberal brothers and sisters are saying about cutting religious slack for the feelings of the CRC . . . that old slippery slope thing: grant the Right Wing Christians anything, even if it is just to have a monument displaying the Ten Commandments on state land is too much because they'll want this one thing, and then another thing, and another thing . . . Look, the "slippery slope" scenario is used by both the Right and the Left whenever they want to stop the other guy from getting something. The slippery slope attitude is just another con that stands in the way of the Right and the Left getting along and doing what's in the best interest of this homeland of ours. Slippery slope? Well, hell. Get a good pair of mudding boots and walk on! Let the CRC have their monument. Let us concentrate on the bigger problem: the right of same-sex couples to legally marry.
them under the 1st Amendment, is that they confuse their right to religious freedom with their supposed right to take away ALL rights of those folk who don't think, act and talk like they do. Same-sex marriage doesn't take anything away from those who believe in traditional marriage, i.e., marriage between one woman and one man. Same-sex marriage would not change the definition of marriage but merely expand on it. If you believe that same-sex marriage is wrong under the eye of God, then okay you can believe it all you want. See? The right to marry someone of the same sex doesn't interfere with your freedom of religion at all. If anyone's rights are being violated here it is the rights belonging to the GLBT community. Denying gay/lesbian couples the same rights as the "straight" community is unconstitutional. At least, the SCOTUS thinks so with their 5-4 decision.
Friday, July o3, 2o15
FREDERICK DOUGLASS: Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore,... called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?
What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes that would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.
At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would, to-day, pour forth a stream, a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and the crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced. -July o5, 1852
This is just a part of the speech Douglass gave back in July o5, 1852. Wonderful words that we as Americans have yet to totally grasp and understand their meaning. For the full speech you can go to:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/
Saturday, July o4, 2o15
The
4th of July
I love a parade!
All this red, white and blue
drifting past my view
upon the sturdy backs of
hay-haulers and pickup trucks.
Oh, how grandly they float about
like patriotic clouds
in slow, majestic motion down
the oak-lined streets of
the procession route...!
L.Z.
Stud, Vietnam 1969
We
stood stark still in
one straight, military line along the rock strewn
edges of that dirt road
known as Highway 9.
Like children we waited
patiently for our summer
Santa to arrive!
Our teenage spirit high,
our jungle boots at attention,
each pair spit-shinned
to black perfection, and our
starched utilities gleamed
under a Southeast Asian sky...
Here comes the Fiesta Queen
perched precariously
upon the shinny bright, white hood
of a cherry '57 Chevy rag-top
which slows but dares not stop...!
What a dark-skinned beauty she is!
Her perfect right hand
waving relentlessly
at all these cheering families
as her throne glides by,
her dark, black hair matching
her dark, black eyes,
her pure white smile
lovingly kissed with
green shade from rustling
oak tree leaves...
The
General's jeep
thundered
toward uslike an angry sheep...
And there he stood
the man himself
standing in the backseat!
A virtuous stone statue
carved in human flesh and grace,
eye-burning victory
etched into his granite face,
a perpetual salute sewn to his cap
and we with pride
returned his regards
as he sped past...
Here
comes the diesel trucks
blowing
toxic fumesfrom their upset, metallic guts!
Engines growling impatiently
when the parade slows down,
a mournful frown
on their shinny, chrome grills.
Embarrassed they are,
forced to mingle
with inferior, classic cars.
What humiliation they suffer,
being dressed up
as big, fat mechanical clowns
with colored balloons hanging
all around their mirrors,
with audacious posters dangling
from their doors
which implores the good citizens
of Las Vegas to
"Vote Don Martinez
for City Councilman ..!"
And
Marine green tanks roared dust
into
our ears and mouthsas they pursued our leader
into the graying south.
The gods of these metal beasts
threw piece signs and hollered
Good ol' American obscenities
for all long lost
brothers left behind...
"Viva
La Raza!"
shout
silver vested Conquistadorsatop their prancing ponies,
their historically correct armor
lacking only true soldiering.
"Viva La Raza!"
my anxious crowd cries...
such a frenzy shriek of passion,
a thunderous shout of pride...
And
through the mist of dust
we
glimpsed the ghostly figuresof the grunts marching
in deadpanned unity toward us.
Their faces... God, their faces...!
the color of road, hard and cruel.
they trudged along that bitter highway
burdened like donkeys,
like mad dog strays
carrying everything they owned
rifles, rations, letters from home.
They
walked like zombies,
their
necks strained from
the weight
of weary heads, like
the living dead
they
staggered looking,
longing for their graves-
And their eyes... God, their eyes...!
tombstones seeing nothing
but the death they've known
and the death that awaits them
somewhere down that dusty road...
And
suddenly we merrymakers are hushed,
most
out of respect,Some (yes, a few) quiet from disgust.
For here comes the Veterans
clad in mismatched uniforms,
proudly transporting a faded flag,
tattered and worn.
My, how they've changed!
Those faces now aged
beyond youth,
their steps still unified
but now, less hurried, less horrified.
Yet
one thing remains
from
those days long ago.Their eyes... God, their eyes...!
still carry those same, sad tombstones
I noticed back in Nam.
Woodie July 4, 2oo7
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