Incurious

In 2004 I started studying Buddhism. You have to understand Buddhism is not a religion, not really. It's a practice whereby you work your way to a happier existence by compassion, giving and forgiving. It's the only dogma who's leader I have heard say that if science disproves it then you have to stop believing it. Seriously, in National Geographic. Can you imagine the Pope ever saying that? Me neither.

When my father heard I was studying Buddhism he said to my mom, as only he could, "What the hell does he want to learn that for?" Dad had a way with words. He wasn't alone though.

A very good friend of mine for a few years, Mason was a Christian. His whole family was. We often politely argued over things like gay marriage. Anyhow, Mason had a step-father who was a very honorable and nice guy. One day he and I started talking about things and he mentioned he had heard I was studying Buddhism. I naturally said yes. He asked me why? I told him how it had helped me with some issues in ways Christianity just couldn't. It had been a path I'd been on for a long long time anyway. His reaction surprised the heck outta me.

"You know better than that.You were raised a Christian.You know better than to dabble in things not real.It's very dangerous." He said, a stern look on his face.You would've thought I was contemplating killing puppies or raping farm animals or something.

Buddhism of course teaches that knowledge is all that's required to defend against fear. I personally how found this to be absolutely 100% true. It doesn't make fear totally go away but it helps when dealing with what you might need to deal with. So I asked this man I respected, "Maybe you just don't know enough about it. If you have questions I'd be happy to answer or find the answers to them for you.I can recommend many books too."

And that's when his face turned a white I've never seen before or since. He physically recoiled from me. It was as if I had just ripped off my mask to reveal myself some kind of demon. "NO! I have no interest in putting myself in danger like that!" To say I was weirded out would be the biggest understatement in the history of understatements. In fact it would such an understatement other understatements would elect it president.

What's my point? Well it's kind of explained by this exchange during the recent campaign:

Christine O'Donnell clearly thinks she's won. She's just obliterated any chance Chris Coons has of winning that race. Right? But where does that kind of egotism come from? In fact where does it come from that she's being presented with evidence that contradicts her view point and she STILL thinks she's right. Ladies and gents, I submit that my dad, my friend's step-father and Christine O'Donnell all come from the same place. Yes, ignorance but more than that. It's that they are incurious.

I had never heard the word "incurious" until Bob Woodward was stumping for one of his books about the Bush White House in the early '00s. I think it was the third one. People would ask him his biggest impression of George W. Bush. His answer almost everytime was "He's the most incurious man I've ever met." Why yes,yes he is.

I would argue that it's not his cronyism or greed that eventually had us invade a country with no reason and plunged this country into a recession we may not be truly out of until Miley Cyrus is eligible for Social Security (and the way things are going that could be longer than you think). It was his unwillingness to learn. His willingness to just take things as they are told to him. Remember Aug.2001? Bush was at his Crawford Ranch being told that the US was in immediate danger of an attack. His response? "Alright, you've covered your ass."

See, I'm not sure he actually wanted us to go to Iraq. What I think is more obvious is that he was scared not to. Cheney,Rumsfeld,Feith,Wolfowitz and others scared the be-jeebus out of him. We had to because the WTC attack was just the beginning. Who wouldn't invade if they thought that this was the best and only way to keep America safe? I'm not saying he wasn't told otherwise but I believe he ignored the other voices.

And now we have just seen an entire group of political candidates who are not only ignorant of facts, when faced with opposing evidence, they smile and think "You poor sucker. You believe that crap that the Marxists tell you." And they are proud of their ignorance. They believe the only books worth reading are the Bible and anything by Sarah Palin.

And they brag on it or, they don't want to admit it so they run away.Sharron Angle wasn't stupid. But she knew she wasn't able to withstand scrutiny. "We want media who are our friends." What did you really think that meant? And now,some of those same are in control of the House of Representatives.

Make fun of Rand Paul and "Aquabuddha" all you want, he alone could plunge the world into an economic depression by blocking a vote on raising the Debt Ceiling. Politicians aren't the only ones. Remember the protesters in Alaska who told Rachel Maddow they were against Eric Holder because he was "anti-gun, anti-second-amendment" but couldn't cite a single actual thing he'd done?

Growing up I had a friend named David who was raised by a single mother who was a Baptist. I have tons of stories I could tell about him and I growing up and her looneyness and maybe I will later. David and I lost track for many many years. So I decided last year to see if I could find him on MySpace. Sure enough there he was. Just as I was about to send him a message I noticed something really disturbing in his "Favorites" section. Where it asks you to list your favorite books he had written "I don't read. I don't like books."

Now I can tell you without any hesitation that I know good and well David can read and is not blind.Last time I spoke to him he had a job doing loan processing for a major home builder.So "I don't read. I don't like books" was not because of something that prevented him from reading.It was by choice. I find this a serious personality defect.A defect on order,in my opinion, with psychopathy.Seriously. People who tell me they don't like to read, I walk...errr..roll? away from them.

This is an extension of the post Wed. where I said we need to look around and know where we're coming from. With that I'm gonna recommend 3 items to get. In order for us to move the country forward, we need some basic education. So here we go:

A copy of the United States Constitution. In fact, here's the official government page on the Constitution. You can find not only facts there about it but read the actual document itself. You really need to. It's clear that not enough people in America have. If you don't think you should or need to, scroll back up and watch Christine O'Donnell again.

And two books. "U.S. History For Dummies" by Steve Weigand and "Congress For Dummies" by David Silverberg. You can find them at the usual spots.

Why the "For Dummies" books? Because everything has to start with basics.You don't learn to run until you learn to walk. You con't learn how to play Pagganini's 5th Caprice on guitar without learning "On Top Of Old Smokey" first. Basics people. Basics.

Email me! mnorton1972@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @Colierrannd

We're On The Yellow Brick Road? Yup!

Originally published at http://tinyurl.com/2fvredf on 11/03./11

So I want you to think back to 1939's Wizard of Oz. When we first meet our heroine, Dorothy Gale, she's living with her uncle and aunt on their farm. Something not often talked about is that this is during the dustbowl. They are poor people. Obviously they're somewhat better off than a lot during this period because they have farmhands but they certainly aren't rich. I'd suspect they are a lot like the original versions of the Kents over in Smallville. Dorothy is bored. Bored almost to tears. Let's face it, the girl's best entertainment is walking along a fence! Her only solace is her little dog, Toto and singing about some place far away where she can rise up out of her poverty. Most likely she's thinking New York but turns out to fit Oz as well. And as we meet the Gales and the people who work for them we also meet Elmira Gulch. Elmira's this nasty mean old woman who's sex life can probably also be thought of as a dustbowl. And what does she appear to want out of life? To take Dorothy's dog away. Reminds me of Eric Cantor. Anyhow...

So Dorothy's life could be much better right? She sings her song and then to top it all off a tornado made of pantyhose (it's true, that's what the FX people used) comes along and whisks her off to Oz! Hooray! She's escaped from Kansas and what's more her house lands on Elmira Gulch (or possibly her sister..?)! How awesome right? This is so awesome that native people of this new colorful place sing a morbidly happy song about the Witch's death! Awesome! Take that bipartisanship!

But wait...there's a problem. This is all great but already the Kansas farmgirl wants to go home. Frankly this is gonna be hard. How to do it? Even Glenda, the Good Witch of the North can't get her back. Damn. Stuck in a place where they give out lollipops as celebration for killing people. Wait! Glenda has an idea! Yes, yes the Wizard can do it!Maybe. And so, armed (or rather footed) with her ruby slippers she's told to get on the Yellow Brick Road and start walking. Lucky for Dorothy(and her little dog too!) the YBR just happens to start...actually, literally start...right in the center of Munchkinland! Wow, that's a lucky break! So, she starts walking!

Now, let's start diverging back to our reality, sort of. See, if life is a web, government is a road. A long,sometimes torturous road. And in this case, it's yellow and made of bricks. And we liberals? We're the young Kansas girl. Except we're not gonna end up back in the farm house in Dorothy's bed. And by the way, why do you want to end up in a 12 yr. old girl's bed? Perv.

So I want to fast forward a bit in what is becoming our twisted version of a film classic. We've been joined in our trip to liberal Oz by the Tin Man,Lion and Scarecrow. See, we're on the YBR headed in the right direction but time wise we're about 2/3 of the way thru the movie.Now we approach the Haunted Forest. Look quick and you can see the hanging guy (no you can't that's a myth). Dark, scary...the Wicked Witch named oh..."Sarah" knows our plans. She's sent her flying monkeys (weird how a monkey can look like a turtle) to attack us and they are circling above. The only way to Oz is thru the forest but...

Well, now we've got 4 choices. We can lay down and take a long nap for one. I mean, if we are asleep here at the edge of the woods the trees can't get us and maybe, just maybe the flying monkeys will think we're dead and move on. But no, that's not a great solution because it still doesn't get us any closer to the Great and powerful Oz.

We can fight the monkeys here before we proceed.That would eliminate one threat. But it also will deplete our forces we may need for the forest. We could just run hell's bells thru the woods and hope none of us get hit, but nope, because by then we'll be too tired to take on the monkeys and it'll make us more vulnerable on the road further. And who knows what the heck is yet to come? Hmm...guess it's option #4.

What's option #4? It's the option that comes between 3 and 5 but that's not important right now. What is important is what we are about to do. What we must do. We have to walk, not run, deliberately thru the forest. We'll hold hands or interlock arms so we don't get separated. And we'll move with purpose. The trees and whatever else is in the Haunted Forest might come to attack us but we can work thru that. We can fight them off. And what do you know? A good stern look will probably convince most things that might harm us that it's just not worth the fight.

So first, we look back just to make sure we didn't miss anything. Any detours around the forest. This is prudent and good because you always want to make sure you know where you're coming from. But take a moment and notice something else...you can't see Munchkinland. In fact, we've been walking so long and thinking about the future so hard we scarcely noticed it but there's a lot behind us. It's a very very long road. Look ahead and right now we can only see the Haunted Forest but we know the Emerald City is ahead. We just can't see it. We don't know how long the road is, so we may not even be able to see it on the other side of this forest which we don't know how big it is either. This is gonna take some work, right?

Last night we here in our own reality took a big hit. A huge hit. There's lots of reasons why and right now, this is where we are. The Haunted Forest ahead. The flying turtle looking monkeys are circling.Now what? We have something they may not. We have each other.

Before we lock arms and take that step we have to do something that is going to seem very counter-intuitive but I am gonna ask you to trust me and do it. We have to take that look backwards. We have to see where we went wrong. Again, wise and good.

While the Scarecrow might not have thought he had a brain, we know we do. While the lion thought he had courage, we know different. And the Tin Man might seem heartless but he's anything but.We're like him too. Notice that the the Tin Man is not accused of being cowardly even though he cowers. He doesn't need to though, he's indestructible. He's armored. We too have to acquire some armor.

Now, I don't know Tony Stark and seems to me we're not gonna get much help from the military in this regard so just possibly our armor will have to be made of something other than metal or synthetic hybrids. Maybe our armor has to shield our Scarecrow-like brains and Lion-like courage. The only armor I can think of possible of protecting those two things at the same time is knowledge. We're gonna have to take some time to learn. So, we're gonna start by doing the one thing that allows us dominion over the Earth. We're gonna learn. We're gonna read and watch and discuss. To that end, below you'll find two links to excellent articles that I've read in the last week. Let's start there. I'm also recommending you go out and buy some "For Dummies" books. I'll have that list and those links tomorrow. For now, read the articles and discuss them on twitter (follow me @Colierrannd) and among yourselves.

Remember that I've always said that the work doesn't end on Nov. 3rd. It starts now. Now we begin to take our country back to the left where it can truly move forward. Flying monkeys,Haunted Forest and Sarah Palin be damned.We're going to do this.

First up is this opednews.com post about the move that got us into this mess with the Teabaggers and the Congress we now have to face in January.

First Bad Deal Gone Down by Chris Floyd

Secondly is this op/ed from the New York Times by Ari Berman, which makes a convincing case that a smaller Dem majority is a good thing. I agree with him.

Boot The Blue Dogs by Ari Berman

Finally take note of a couple of things and take heart in them.

# 1- Sarah Palin is bad for the Republican party and they're starting to see it. Depending on the Alaska results she may have cost them a seat in the Senate and while Murkowski might caucus with the GOP there's clearly going to be bad blood. Also as an Independent now, Murkowski won't feel beholden to vote party line every time. This makes her vote vulnerable for Republicans.

# 2- While it's disgusting that not one African-American is sitting in the Senate now, the first black GOPer from the deep south is now in the House. Nikki Haley is the first Indian-American to be elected in the country and while she's GOP she's also in the south. Think about that for a second. And according to some reports more LGBT-friendly candidates were elected last night than any time in history. So while it looks like the GOP is winning, alongside that fact is that progressivism is winning too.

This all means that this was one bad day. It's one bad day in a long line of days that goes on forever. And it means that though it appears we've taken it on the chin, we've also made strides in the bigger picture. It means in reality we're winning. Now go read,discuss, learn and have a little fun. Maybe watch Wizard of Oz with the kids tonight.

Email me mnorton1072@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @Colierrannd

Copyright 2010 Michael J. Norton

An Offer Of Some Fun With The President

Hi, I'm President Barack Obama. Call me Barry. Listen I've been bored for awhile and so I was wondering if anyone would like to play chess with me? I promise I'll only have my King on the board the whole time.

According to Huffington Post the White House is ready to cave in on the Bush Tax cuts. Read it here.

Follow me on Twitter @Colierrannd or email mnorton1972@gmail.com

Copyright 2010 Michael J. Norton

Hold Your Nose: Ideals.

Hold Your Nose: Ideals.

Originally published http://tinyurl.com/2e6ustc on 10/19/10

I don't believe asking people to vote against things is a good idea. I don't think it's good politics or policy. Asking someone to vote for you, or vote for your side is one thing and a good thing. A much better thing to do. Even asking someone to vote "No" on a piece of referendum is better asked "Vote for this position. Vote No." See?

So I am going to ask you to vote for someone and you're going to be mighty surprised who it is. I want you to vote for Barack Obama. Candidate Barack Obama. While you're scratching your head let me talk to you about a few things and we'll have it cleared up.

George Washington. Ben Franklin. Thomas Jefferson. John Adams. These are men we all...well, on a certain level we love them. We admire them. We tell children stories about them hoping they'll take them as examples to use in life. It's been well documented that Washington never chopped down a tree and told his father about it. But we still tell that story to every kid don't we. Ever ask why? For all we know, George Washington could've been a pedophile. It's highly doubtful but as much as the average person knows about George Washington the man, how would we know?

See, we don't really love George Washington. What we love is freedom and the idea that free men can choose their own destiny. We love that we can vote and have it counted and that if we are in the majority our values and beliefs get passed on. Democracy is the ultimate in self-determined evolution if you think about it. So as a sort of shorthand, over the last 200+ years we've stopped saying "The idea of democracy and freedom and having our votes counted" and instead have started calling it The Founding Fathers. That's the label that we have given to our ideal.

Now,while you're holing that thought in your head I have another question. Why do we use bookmarks? Any kid knows it's to hold our place, right? It's going to be much easier to use

Democrats as bookmarks than Republicans. The GOP is trying to make us into a conservative...well, actually they want us to be a third world country where the rich get richer, the poorer get poorer and your rights to watch,read, travel,speak are gone. Controlled by the elite who would rather a teenage girl give birth to her rapist father's baby no matter how cruel, than let an innocent man be found on death row.

They want to control your message. It's very simple and it's effective and it works...sometimes. Other times cameras are there. Like the video below where Rep. James Sensenbrenner(R-WI) was nice enough to close off mics and lights to avoid any kind of actual debate on torture or Gitmo. Nice huh? But the GOP will gerrymander the districts and rules to hold on to power. The Dems are afraid to. They'll be much easier to unseat than the GOP in 2012 and that is what we want. Trust me on this. If Harry Reid is still leader in 2012 it's going to be that much easier.

So while holding your nose remember Candidate Obama. Remember the feeling you had voting for him. Remember how excited you were. Think of Candidate Obama the same way you think of George Washington. Not a personality but an idea. An ideal. Or you could just vote against

the GOP but wouldn't you rather vote for something instead of against?

Mostly vote because there are some Dems who share your ideas. And the GOP doesn't. For

proof, watch the video below.

James Sensenbrenner covers for the Bush/Cheney Crime Family

Remember you can email me at mnorton1972@gmail.com

Follow me on Twitter @colierrannd

Copyright Michael J. Norton

A Reaction To The 11 Questions

Originally published http://tinyurl.com/3yncs68 10/09/10

This is a Q&A in response to my "11 Questions for Texas Governor Candidates" which you can find here. http://tinyurl.com/26j6d2y

The questions are from Marie Bagatela who comments here frequently. So My thanks to her.

Her questions are in bold, my answers are not and I encourage you all to click the links I provide and read and decide for yourselves. Please do this especially if you live in Texas. It's important we have an informed electorate!

Be aware, and I'm very open on this, I am a liberal. I support Bill White, the Democrat, for governor. I don't love the Dems but White is a better alternative than Perry.

1)No, woman should have a choice base on her conscience, do she wont to keep the baby & can she love him after when it start looking like the father!

Obviously, but considering the current crop of GOP candidates who are for taking out the rape/incest exception, and one is wanting to take out the health of the mother exception, t's a pertinent question this cycle.

2)it is a trick Q, creationism is not science!

You'd better tell that to the Texas State Board of Education who very nearly voted to weaken the study of evolution last year:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/032609dntexevolution.72be216f.html

This is quite relevant as the Gov. has quite a bit of sway as he appoints one of the members to lead as chair.

3)No, being big don't give them the right to play God, civil right belong to people of different walk of life!

Yes but the TSBOE recently voted to play down the role of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and to play up the more violent rhetoric of the Black Panthers in history textbooks.

4)Mix of apple & oranges, War machine have nothing to do with poverty, even if they abandon the war industry all together, there will be still poor people because the system is creating them on a daily base!

This isn't true. For every bomb you make you take millions of dollars out of the federal budget that could go for meals programs and shelters. This is important for the candidates of all levels to answer because it shows where their values lie.

6)Select people with a strong conviction, follow their deed and if they go astray, vote them out next circle...but hey, that mean educated population also in civic and politics!

Rick Perry recently directed several million dollars to companies that also had given him thousands in campaign contributions. So I'd like to know how the candidates would propose to fix this loophole.

7)yes in general! But when I think about certain historical figure, no!

What certain historical figure do you mean? Term limits limits corruption and never lets a elected or appointed official feel too comfortable.If an elected official knows they'll keep their job forever it makes them less likely to think about the people or standing on their own principles and rather how to keep that job indefinitely.

8)have no clue about that one, don't live in Texas, and hear in Nevada never look at that!

As we struggle with budget issues, and as the Republicans are questioning the minimum wage, I'm thinking we should also be looking at pay cuts for congressional and state leaders as well as those on the federal level.

9)You not serious about that one...chip and dale! The way I understand Governor is like a

President of the state, he is not like most people, he suppose to be a leader, and the way he look, where he live and how he conduct himself should be a matter of pride, not arithmetic!- Sorry, my opinion!

First off, please never apologize for giving your opinion. You're in America and at least for now you have a right to it. and nope, I'm not making that up at all. In the fall of 2007 Rick Perry and his family started renovating the Governor's Mansion and moved into a house that costs the tax payers $9,900/month. Less than a year later, in June 2008, there was an arson fire at the Governor's Mansion and the Perrys have been living in the same rented house since.

Now, when Hurricane Ike struck the Texas Gulf Coast in 2008 a tree went thru a friend of mine's roof and they still had to live in their home until it was fixed. They didn't have the tax payers to help them out.

http://www.politifact.com/texas/article/2010/oct/06/back-basics-ad-demands-rick-perry-face-texans-and-/

10)It is a shame! How the Hell the system is set that way? Can believe education is treated like a burden to the Society!

Ask Gov. Perry. In Jan. of this year he declined to apply for up to $700 million for the state's education fund. He argued it would too firmly tie his hands on education. For the record he has no history as a teacher or an educator.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31522.html

More recently, to quote the Austin Chronicle:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Sept. 3, Texas submitted an application for its $830 million share of the $26 billion in job support cash allocated by Congress under House Resolution 1586; $10 billion of that was set aside for education spending, intended to prevent an estimated 160,000 teacher layoffs nationwide and alleviate the pressures of low teacher salaries. If Texas' application had been approved, the Austin Independent School District stood to gain $17.5 million.On Sept. 3, Texas submitted an application for its $830 million share of the $26 billion in job support cash allocated by Congress under House Resolution 1586; $10 billion of that was set aside for education spending, intended to prevent an estimated 160,000 teacher layoffs nationwide and alleviate the pressures of low teacher salaries. If Texas' application had been approved, the Austin Independent School District stood to gain $17.5 million.

But on Sept. 8, the Department of Educa tion announced that it was rejecting Texas' application because of what amounted to a poison pill inserted in the application by Texas Education Com missioner Robert Scott on Perry's behalf that was designed to flout an amendment in the enabling legislation authored by Travis County Congressman Lloyd Doggett.

The amendment, which obliged Texas to maintain education spending for three years (rather than one year, as is the case for other states), was a response to Perry's use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money in 2009 to shore up the state budget.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Find the rest of that article here:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:1084105

11) Ah, the death penalty! I believe those people who commit crime so terrible to deserve a death penalty are already dead deep inside, killing them is a favour for them, sort of liberation of the demons they carry inside, other then that...

It is not just Texas it is a whole USA that produce prisoners, that penalise its own citizen beyond comprehension! They use to say that is a sigh of decay, who know? The Justice system is based on money, like every other system, I do believe that is the real problem!

Possibly but this particular question is important to states that have the death penalty in general but to Texas specifically as we have the highest execution rate in the country.

So Michael, U have my answers...

Waiting for Your reply!

I apologize for the delay. Sometimes life gets crazy with me. I see this as one huge conversation we all can have to help shape the country and world that is to come. I can't

adequately express how grateful I am for your participation and I hope others will also get

involved.

Well, dear readers...what's your reaction?

As always follow me on twitter @Colierrannd

or email me at mnorton1972@gmail.com

Copyright 2010 Michael J. Norton

11 Questions For The Texas Governor Candidates

Originally published http://tinyurl.com/26j6d2y on 10/07/10

So I've been trying to get into the whole Texas Governor's race and I have to say it's as bland as the two main candidates. Seriously, both are more than middle aged, rich white guys. And in my research so far I have yet to find a truly compelling story. The narrative seems to be "I'm a rich white guy, vote for me because I'm not the other rich white guy."

So instead I am going to take this post and pose 11 Questions that I'd like to hear both candidates answer on camera. I think it's a perfectly good way to start deciding who we should vote for. BTW, a side note. I'm voting for Bill White. Why? Because I'm biased. I'm a radically left wing liberal and while I'd rather have a pot smoking hippie who'll protect our rights instead of selling them off, I'm stuck having to vote for a guy who hasn't advocated for Texas Secession.

So here are 10 Questions. Someone ask them and send me the footage. We'll blog about it. It'll be fun.

1. Do you believe a woman should be forced to have her rapist's baby?

2. Do you believe that science should be taught in science class and if so, why would you want creationism in a text book?

3. Is it important for the Texas State Board of Education to play down the civil rights movement in this country?

4. Do you think it's more important that we as a country build more bombs or help the poor?

5. Where do you think arts education should be in our education priority?

6. What will you be doing to eliminate the obvious corruption in a system where the governor gets to make so many decisions on his own about where money goes?

7. Are you in favor of term limits for both the State and Federal congress and the governorship?

8. In the current economic environment in Texas, would you support a pay cut for the legislature and Governor and Lt. Governor?

9. Is it fair that the state is both renovating the Governor's mansion and having to pay to rent a mansion for the Governor? After all, most people have to live in their homes while the home is repaired.

10. Why is education funding so low teachers are having to buy their students supplies that should be provided by the school districts when the lottery was supposed to fund education?

11. Have you personally seen a scientific study on how the death penalty has decreased crime in this state? If it is a deterrent, and Texas kills more prisoners than most countries do, shouldn't we have a much lower crime rate?

Ok, I'll admit the last one is really kind of two questions but you know me, I'm a damn dirty liberal!

So now dear reader it's your turn. What questions would you ask? What is your answer to the questions I've posed. Post in the comments below. I have a new email address your more than welcome to email me at:

mnorton1972@gmail.com (apologies I had to edit the email address as I totally got it wrong before. )

also feel free to follow and contact me on Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/colierrannd

I can't wait to hear your answers.

Copyright 2010 Michael J. Norton

The President's Discouraging Silence

Originally published at http://goo.gl/DLUI on 10/4/10

If this is the first time you've encountered me or my writing, you should know something about how I see the world. It sounds very Disneyesque, but I see life as a huge web. I own a Chilean Rose Tarantula, named Spatula.Spiders have notoriously horrificly bad vision. They are in essence blind.Yet when I feed him a live cricket he almost immediately knows it's in his aquarium with him because Spatula has laid out webbing all over the interior of his environment. The moment something moves on that web he feels it. This is how I see the world. A butterfly flaps it's wing in Africa and a hurricane develops in the Gulf of Mexico(which means I'm sure most residents around the Gulf are really pissed off at African butterflys). But more than that if a speeding car in Atlanta,GA hits and accidentally kills a person crossing a street there, it means that whatever accomplishments that individual would acheive are denied the whole world. And you might not think that means a whole lot but what if you're a teenage girl living in Montreal who is destined to have a child in the future born with Down's Syndrome? What if the man struck down by said car was the one man on the planet who could invent a vaccine for Down's Syndrome in the next 20 years? Seems to me that all of the sudden that man, and indeed that speeding car in Atlanta just became extrememly important to you, right?

This doesn't mean someone else might not come up with the same vaccine in 25 years but by that time your child is born and you're dealing with it and it's toll, mental,physical and financial. And the rest of the world is in it with you through either higher insurance or tax costs. Also then now the world is deprived of the contribution your vaccinated child might have made. Perhaps he could've prevented the next big financial meltdown.

I bring this up because the world has just been deprived of 4 people in the last 3 weeks who might've made fantastic contributions to the world, yet now we'll sadly never know. In the last 3 weeks 4 young people, ranging from ages 13 to 18. These four young boys were not murdered in the traditional sense. They were murdered however and you and I and the President and everyone else who stays silent about this subject are guilty as if we'd lined them all up and shot them ourselves.

We shouldn't be entirely surprised. This atmosphere of meanness has been around quite a while. While I don't blame popular culturefor these deaths directly, I have to say I never watched American Idol after the first couple of episodes because I found it to be mean-spirited. These people would audition and sing their hearts out and Simon would rip them to shreds all in the name of "just being honest". No Simon, you weren't "just being honest". You were being a bully.

And how many countless stories have we heard in the last several years about teenagers, gay and straight, who've killed themselves because the pain of the torture they get from their classmates is too much? We've even had parents get involved and torment young girls over the internet.

If you want to see how mean homophobia can get go to a gay pride parade. People line the streets and yell "fag!" and "Damn you to hell!" at gay women and men just for being gay women and men. But gays are also hated in a whole other way. By silence. DADT still exists. Sen. Jim DeMint has called for not allowing gays to teach in public schools. Christine O'Donnell says homosexuality is an identity disorder.

Then there is Andrew Shirvell, a Michigan Asst. Attorney General who is actively harrassing a gay student leader. Even sitting outside the guy's home.

And the Democrats and a lot on the left just point and laugh. They don't say anything. They give these homophobic nitwits the same attention one gives a clown at a circus. The clown is funny and we watch him but no one ever says he's dangerous. No one ever points out how mean he is. By our silence we take part in his joke. By our silence we take part in hate as well.

It's amazing that President Obama, considered by many to be the finest speaker on any circuit today,has been well, discouragingly silent on this, to borrow a phrase from Keith Olbermann. Keith mentioned the president's discouraging silence on his Sept. 21 show, talking to David Corn about the failed vote to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell" that day. But it's worse than Mr. Olbermann may realize or certainly worse than he or any of us knew then. We hadn't lost those four young men yet.

Now, the President of the United States is the biggest mouthpiece in the world. His comments are carried to every ear on the globe, with possible exceptions maybe of people living so isolated we don't know them. Don't believe me? As yourself what is on President Obama's iPod.Ask yourself if you know the name of his dog.You know exactly what's on his iPod or at least you can find out. And we all know Bo. We love Bo! Who doesn't love a big fluffy dog?

Now ask yourself what the name of VP Joe Biden's dog. Or ask yourself what's on Health and Human Services Sect. Sebilius's iPod.You don't know? Of course you don't. Why would you? But you know President Obama.

I'd like to address the President for a moment directly. And please, feel free to forward this to him if you like. And while you're in the mood to do something,please take a moment to check out the Trevor Project at http://www.thetrevorproject.org and the "It Gets Better" video project started by Dan Savage at http://www.youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject

Mr. President, With all due respect sir, you're keeping too quiet. I believe it's time for you to take to the airwaves once again, from the Oval office behind that beautiful desk. I believe it's time you stood up for people who are right now living in pain and fear. You need to sit the American people down and have a good hard truth telling. A verbal smack upside the head, if you will. Tell them we're better than this. Tell them that bullying anyone about anything should not be an option. Tell them they need to talk to their kids and find out if they are a bully or if they are being bullied. Since I believe all things are connected I see the failure to repeal DADT as part of the problem. It needs to be eliminated so that the country can, as a whole, understand that gay people are every bit the citizen and human being straight people are. We've all known someone who was ostricized for being gay. I myself know of several. I am straight but that doesn't mean I can't see the pain and anguish.

So even if you don't suspend discharges due to DADT, do this Mr. President. Make a speech. Make it a good...no, scratch that, a great one and tell the American people we need to love one another again. Thank you Sir.

Michael J. Norton

http://www.twitter.com/colierrannd

Email mnorton1972@gmail.com

Copyright 2010 Michael J. Norton