Ah, Virginia!
Virginia; A beautiful State, a proud State, an Historic State, and a State about which I know next to nothing! Sure I know about George Allen and Jim Webb and Macaca, I know about Warners and Elizabeth Taylor and the Civil War and the Revolution and that Washington DC is there....somewhere. And that brings me to what I don’t know. I don’t know what Virginia is like. I haven’t been any where near the South or even the Very Lower Atlantic Seaboard, if Y’all don’t want to be in the South anymore, ha-ha. (Y’all....that’s right I wrote Y’all!.....and I’m a West Coast hippie Liberal, what an asshole I am stereotyping like that! But don’t worry, it all ties in.....and if it doesn’t, you can hate me later!!!) I know that there has been a change in Virginia since I was there in the early Seventies, (I hope!) But I don’t know what it is or how much or what shape it has taken....or the really important thing, what it means for the future.
I know the whole world has changed. I know that through television, magazines, and the internet that we are all more exposed to homogeneity of humanity. That we are all beginning to realize that there are just not that many differences between humans, whether they are from China or Charleston (yes even WEST Virginians are human beings!) I also know that as the generations shift and the once young come into their own, attitudes shift as well. I know that ideally in ALL cultures, as the generations change, they move away from the worst aspects of their culture. As education and access to information becomes more widespread and available...ignorance dies. And I also know that it is a few brave souls who generally lead the fight and that others come later, accepting hard fought changes as the new status quo and embracing it. Progress.
I know that Virginia is becoming more urban, and that that urbanism is also bring changes in attitude. Both in questioning traditions and in increasing tolerance. I know that there are many fine progressives in Virginia who are working hard and I know how much they need support. And I know if you are reading this blog you are probably one of them!
Well I am here to support you, if only in this small way. When Kestrel asked me to write a piece for this shiny new place I was happy to oblige. But didn’t know what I would right about until it occurred to me to write about what I always right about. Change. Change that inevitably leads to Progress. Progress, as always...leads to more freedom for more people.
And freedom is the goal.
Humanities journey has been one long struggle to become fully free. Each eon we gain more Freedom, each epoch is remembered by the Freedoms gained within it. At nearly every major turning point in history, history has turned towards Freedom. Even in the times when freedom was delivered a blow, the oppressions then endured only led to an eventually greater rebellion...and the gaining of even greater freedom. We have been experiencing another one of those cycles in my opinion. After the freedoms gained in the Sixties, and Seventies...and the maturing of a full generation who has enjoyed those freedoms and indeed grown into taking them for granted, we were due a setback. Hello George Bush! Hello the rise of neo conservatism. Hello a BIG step backwards! We have gone from worrying about the rights of the handicapped to worrying about Habeas Corpus and from being concerned about affirmative action to worrying about extraordinary rendition! Oppression has come upon us and after a slight delay in coming to terms with the fact that yes, Republicans with unlimited power act....like Republicans with unlimited power!!! WE are starting to fight back. WE are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore. They have tried yet again to steal our freedoms out from under us. We are the ones who stand up and say no.
They call this a War....we see more evidence of that recently with this quote about pardoning Libby. (stolen from the Front Page of Daily Kos)
Fallen Soldier
Mr. President, do not leave this man behind
In "The Soldier's Creed," there is a particularly compelling principle: "I will never leave a fallen comrade." This is a cherished belief, and it has been so since soldiers and chroniclers and philosophers thought about wars and great, common endeavors...Scooter Libby was there for the beginning of that campaign. He can't be left behind as a casualty of a war our country had once proudly claimed as its own.
http://opinionjournal.com/...
http://www.dailykos.com/...
The war referred to is not Iraq or the War On Terror, the war Scooter was in was a war against Democrats/Liberals/Progressives. The War against Joe Wilson. The War to save their asses after scaring us into war with imaginary Mushroom Clouds from their Armageddon infested fantasies. The War on Truth and sanity and intelligent government and society. The War on us.
And here is our part of the War...What we must do...We do not fight against them. We do not go down to their level (if we can help it! Sometimes it just feels goooood!) We instead fight against their ignorance, the ignorance that leads to things like...Republicans. Oops, that’s redundant! Ignorance like trying to take over a government so you can corrupt it and drown it in a bathtub like Norquist wants. Ignorance like cutting taxes for the rich. While we are at war. Ignorance like pretending the economy is good...while cutting industry and jobs. Ignorance like leaving Afghanistan and invading Iraq for it’s oil...and then not getting the oil (yet.) Ignorance like preventing terrorism by torturing the people you are trying to prevent from becoming terrorists. Ignorance like ignoring Climate Change so Corporations that fund your campaign won’t suffer. Ignorance like perpetuating beliefs and ways of life and thinking that promote hatred and intolerance, instead of destroying it. The ignorance that says America is meant to be only for white males who go to the right church. And that the traditions and systems and attitudes that have been in place for hundreds of years must stay in place. And that War must be declared on any and all non-White Males....and all White Males who help them. The ignorance that tries to wipe out ALL of the good things about America...and about ALL Human Beings.
Because whether you live in Virginia or Timbuktu. If you believe that you are different from or superior to any other Human Being on this planet because of your heritage or the color of your skin or because that is what your daddy told you.........................
And here is where the cheap advertising ploy comes in!!!
If you wish to read the rest of this piece....you must go to
{{{FANFARE}}}{{{FANFARE}}}{{{FANFARE}}}
Cobalt6Cobalt6Cobalt6
Kestrel9000's new blog on Virginia Politics. Just click the orange link!!!If you don't, the clowns will eat you while you sleep!
.
.
(PS, DON'T FORGET TO BOOKMARK IT!)
.
.
And if cheap advertising ploys annoy you.....then you really shouldn't have opened a diary named a cheap advertising ploy. huh???!!!???