Why Should We Vote Anti-incumbent?

If you are considering sending the incumbents back to work next Tuesday but are still undecided please consider the following.

Which of the following are your reasons to do so?

The national debt?
The war in Iraq?
The constant fighting between the two sides?
The lack of Congressional action on the ecology, immigration, campaign reform, etc.?
Goons attacking protesters in Virginia at Allen’s speech?
Being wiretapped without warrants?
Denial of access to legal representation for citizens categorized as “material witnesses”?
High gas prices which strangely fall by one-third weeks before the election?
The limited democracy of the 2 party system?
Being labeled, by members of the government, as “unpatriotic” because you disagree with the policies of the government?
The politics of “divide and conquer” and “us vs. them”
The “Do nothing” Congress which is still fighting the 1960’s?
And so on, and so on, and so on?

The Multi-Sided Coin

The Multi-Sided Coin

Burn Down The Log Closet

BURN DOWN THE LOG CLOSET
By Moksha Bruce Todd
mokshanews@sbcglobal.net

Most of us know what it is like to live in the closet. We are familiar with the personal emotional strain we go through when in the closet. Thankfully, we also know the release of tension when we are finally out.

For many years the Log Cabin Republican Club has functioned in an atmosphere of hate and mistrust of gay people. They have often defended being in the Republican Party with excuses such as, “The people in the party need to see and know gays and will in turn understand and accept gays more readily.” They considered themselves as “out” to a limited degree. In reality, they were just peeking out the door and timidly at that.

Now the Mark Foley incident comes up. We have learned that there has been a quietly kept secret; i.e., there is a group of gay people in the administration and Republican Party who work in the background! DUHHH The Religious Right has responded with surprise. Pat Buchanan has called it a “ring” of gays. He has said that their being gay is not important but that by hiding it they are lying.

The Log Closet Club has hurt us all. The enemy now uses their hidden ness as proof that gays lie and mislead. They are upset because they have just “learned” that there are gays all around them; something we have told them for years. They say we hide our sexuality; a fact that exists because of their hate and intolerance. That is similar to blaming the rape victim for “asking for it” by wearing a short skirt (something that many on the Right believe, by the way).

All gay people must stand up for those who have the courage to come out, to let their world know whom they really are. The time has come to OUT all who are in the closet, especially those in the Log Closet Republican Club. They do harm to us all while protecting their individual economic, professional, or political desires. They act in concert with our detractors. They are guilty of the old adage, “Silence Is Complicity”.

OUTing people who are doing harm to the whole group is the only way that the members of the Log Closet Republican Club can be expected to help the movement over their selfish desires. OUTing is considered by many to be too invasive to the individual’s right of privacy. All I say about that is: The Jews in 1930’s Germany failed to hold to account other Jews known as “Copos.” Years later, in the concentration camps the “copos” were the Jewish jailers who worked with the Nazis for their own individual survival.

…..And the SSR grows on.


“From the late sixties on gay people had been speaking out to secure their legal rights. They organized to petition support, both among themselves and from others, for their right to be free from discrimination. This basic right – to organize had itself been difficult to obtain from the government. For years the courts had been their battle field. Many rights had been secured by the late seventies, but some erosion had begun to take place. Gay people became less vocal, unless they were in one of the gay ghettos around the country, such as the Village in New York, West Hollywood in Los Angeles, Coconut Grove in Miami, the French Quarter in New Orleans, New Town in Chicago, or The Castro in San Francisco. Gay activism had been institutionalized and was, like most aspects of American society, in the hands of a ruling clique. They organized some marches, lobbied the networks for better media coverage, and published some periodicals. But the only activism in the United States at present seemed to be the New Revivalism.”

The above quote is from a book published in 1981 by Alabama Birdstone. It is called Queer Free and many of the fictions she wrote about are now true. One amazing prediction she made in the book was the rise of the religious right at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. She predicted that the rise of fundamentalist Christianity would overwhelm the nation before most realized what had happened. She also showed that when the “non-beilievers” realized what was happening it was too late.

Ms. Birdstone has written a book that was eerily prophetic. She foresaw the rapid rise of a fundamentalist religious movement in America once the first “born again” President was elected. She foresaw the evolution of the Security State Republic (SSR).

In the book she saw “sodomites” as the target of hatred. At the time, terrorism was something “over there.” However, scapegoating is a necessary component of the SSR and rather than “sodomites” the rallying cry is cloaked today in words such as “democracy”, “freedom”, etc.

She foresaw a president who would change the Constitution to exclude gay people from equal access to the laws. In Bush’s evolving SSR, a major point is to control gays through exactly this means.

“But, we are still ok right now. It can never get as bad as she described” you say. That belief is the component most important to the continued growth of the SSR. That is the attitude that many gay people have today while conservative organizations such as Human Rights Campaign purport to represent all gays. As a matter of fact, HRC was the only organization recognized as examples of “gay leadership” after the national election in 2004, even by the media.

The SSR has become stronger due to the President’s wire tap program. He tells us it is necessary to spy on Americans in order to catch terrorists. He says it is only overseas emails and phone calls being monitored. And the outcry is deafening….right? Wrong!!! Outside of the media there has been very little negative reaction to these illegal practices. We are currently in a national debate whether these powers are an extension of the power of the executive.

How can this be a debate? Wiretapping is not legal without a warrant. The fact that the population at large is not interested in this invasion into our privacy is just one more step toward the SSR.

The SSR is approaching the point where it will be to late to stop. Allowing the growth of the executive, one man, is ever nearer to a representative dictatorship. Yes, we can have democracy by electing our officials, but when those elected officials begin to rubber stamp the desires of one person with very little opposition we are close to a form of dictatorship.

Eric Fromm stated in his book Escape From Freedom that the masses require someone to lead them…it is easier than thinking for oneself. Well America, get ready for that as more and more Americans struggle for a leader.

By the way, Mr. Bush often uses the terms “leader”, and “leadership.” Remember that “Das Furher” simply means “The Leader” in German. Nothing more.

In the Security State Republic, Democracy Is Versatile
by MOKSHA B. TODD, B.A. Political Science, University of Texas at Arlington
Copyright © 2005 by Moksha B. Todd
Democracy and freedom are often equated with the United States of America in the modern world. The word democracy comes from Greek meaning “people rule.” It is often not known, however, that democracy can function to varying degrees in a number of political systems.
The Third Reich was a capitalist democracy at its beginning. Hitler was elected by the voters to the office of Chancellor and passed his legislation through the Reichstag, the German congress.
Many in America think that capitalism and democracy go hand in hand. While it is true that they function well together, it is also true that one is a political system (democracy) and the other is an economic system (capitalism). Both modern political scientists and economists accept this model.
Democracy has functioned in various societies in history. Well known is the democracy established in ancient Athens. It was a system that allowed general male suffrage for the upper classes. The masses were not part of its function as today. Athens actually had two eras of democracy — the first much more liberal than the second.
Another example of a democracy comes to us from ancient Rome. The Roman republic was one that included all males’ right to suffrage. It only allowed the landowners to run for office in the Senate. The emperors were able to retain power by providing grain, holidays, and celebrations for the masses. Once Julius Caesar had manipulated the voters into granting him the office of Dictator for Life, the democracy began changing. The elected representatives lost more and more power as the voters gave a single person power.
Weimar Germany was a democracy that evolved into a dictatorship. While Hitler never won a majority of votes, he was able to manipulate the system and take control over it. Those who threw in with him came from many backgrounds, but the most powerful of his allies were the industrialists. Nazi Germany retained capitalism while giving up democracy.
Americans assume that their democracy cannot go the way of those of the past and to some degree they are right. The Constitution guarantees the right to vote, so the representative form of government is virtually guaranteed to continue for some time. But the right to vote does not guarantee freedom.
The Unites States is currently at a crossroads. We have historically grown by rationally acknowledging that wrongs must be righted. For example, we outlawed slavery, extended voting rights to all, and generally moved forward toward a more inclusive society. But we are moving dangerously close to what I call The Security State Republic.
The Security State Republic (SSR) is a democracy where the voters slowly allow the government to extend its power beyond previously stated boundaries. It is a democracy in that the lawmakers are elected by the people to be their representatives. (A republic is a democracy in which the people are represented by elected officials rather than directly voting on issues.)
The SSR slowly evolves out of the fear that the voters have of a threat — either real or perceived. In the SSR the government acts much as Big Brother’s government in Orwell’s 1984. It uses sloganeering and repeats lies over and over. It makes use of Hitler’s concept of “the great lie.” “The great lie” concept says that if you tell a lie over and over, the people will eventually believe it.
The SSR in the United States today uses the concept of the great lie to further its invasion of the individual. Sloganeering is used by our government to convince us and to deflect us from the truth. “Family values,” “Right to life,” “Pro-life,” “Stay the course,” “Freedom,” and “God told me…” are all slogans tossed about by leaders today. In the United States today children are used as the reason we must give more power to the government. “Protect the children” is a slogan used so often that the people believe the big lie that the government’s needs are at least equal to, and possibly superior to, the needs of the people at large.
In the SSR the police are revered as heroes simply because they are police officers. Sports figures are told they are role models, and when they turn out to be humans with human frailties they are demonized as bad examples for children.
In the SSR violence is spoken against but supported behind the scenes. Natural behaviors such as sex are subdued while natural tendencies toward violence are nurtured. Violent video games are bought for 9- and 10-year-olds, but if the games also include sexual content they are vilified. Guns are praised and peace is considered aberrant. War is glorified and the rule of international law is ignored unless it is useful to the SSR.
In the SSR the majority is encouraged to change or ignore those who disagree. Religious freedom is manipulated into a fight between good forces and bad, with the government defining which is which. The words “liberal” and “conservative” have become value-laden terms, with “liberal” being bad and “conservative” being good.
In the SSR the elected representatives pass laws which extend the power of the government a little bit at a time. Each tiny step toward authoritarian government is passed as necessary for safety. In New York City the police randomly search people entering the subways. Due to the recent bombings in the London subway, the American government tells the public the searches are for the safety of everyone. As the public becomes used to the “necessary” invasion of their privacy, the SSR extends its arms into more areas.
The evolution of the SSR is easily identifiable when all incremental movements toward it are strung together. Cameras throughout the society initially caused an outcry, but we eventually got used to them. “Profiling” used to be considered a form of discrimination dependent on perceived stereotypes of a group. Now it is an accepted legal concept. Freedom of mobility has always been a given in the United States. But on August 3, 2005 the people of Gainsville, Texas, who lived hundreds of yards from a resort called the Gaylord where President Bush was speaking, were told they could not go onto their own back porches and were threatened with arrest by the Secret Service if they did. American citizens have been held as “material witnesses” in the fight against terrorism, although the Constitution specifically disallows such imprisonment.
The SSR extends its tentacles into education. The drug education program DARE teaches children to help their “sick” parents by turning them in to a police officer or teacher if they have a bong. It teaches the young half-truths about our history and is very selective in presenting the truth. Black children are continually reminded that their ancestors were slaves, but are not told that the nation’s wealth was built from the Black person’s labor. Mexican children are taught about their ancestors but are not taught that the Maya had the concept of zero long before the Western nations. (The concept of zero must be understood before any higher mathematics are possible.)
The SSR appears to respect the Constitutional freedom of religion. Its initiators pay lip service to the concept while citing their individual religious beliefs as superior to others’ beliefs. They tell the big lie that the United States was founded on Christian principles, when the truth is that it was founded on humanistic principles, which appear in many religions and philosophies.
The SSR grows as the fears of the population grow. The government continually cites threats of attack but days later say they were wrong about it. This increases the fear the public has of being attacked which feeds the extension of the SSR.
The Security State Republic works well with representative government. It often reminds the public of its blessings of freedom. In Mein Kampf Hitler said the best way to control the masses is to first convince them they are free…. Then you are free to manipulate that belief. The SSR plays on this philosophy by reminding the American people that they are free through use of slogans.
Democracy can function well in this model. Democracy in and of itself does not make people free. In the end, that responsibility falls to the people themselves. If they remain vigilant and speak out about injustices of the government, it continues to extend humanistic values to more and more people. If the people defer to the government more than holding it in check the SSR slowly replaces the pluralistic society with one superior, over riding culture with no respect for any but those who comply with the majority. Remember Thomas Jefferson’s concern about “the tyranny of the masses.” The SSR is the personification of his concern

Religion: Global Psychosis
By
Moksha Bruce Todd
Published October 2005, Zenger’s Newsmagazine

“Psychotic behavior” includes hearing voices, having hallucinations, and being out of touch with the world. “Religious fervor” includes hearing God’s voice, seeing images of Mary or Jesus in reflections of glass or burned into a grilled cheese sandwich. What is the difference between the two?
When a murderer says Satan talks to him and tells him what to do, he is diagnosed psychotic. When a mother drowns her children so they can “go to God,” she is diagnosed psychotic. However, when a faithful person sees Jesus in a grilled cheese sandwich, the churches send representatives to see if it is a “miracle.”
Why are religious people not considered psychotic? Matthew Shepard is murdered and the religious community is silent. A murderer in Texas “asks the Lord into her life” and the churches petition the governor to suspend her execution. This is psychotic behavior on both counts.
Christians do not have a monopoly on psychotic behavior. Fundamentalist Muslims also are quite psychotic. They, like Christian fundamentalists, are certain that every murder they commit, every action they take is given them from Allah. “Allah” is merely the Arabic word for “God,” yet the two groups consider themselves to be different from one another.
They are in good historical company. The first time the cross was acknowledged legally was by the emperor Constantine when he needed God’s help to kill. The Roman Catholic Church tortured people in the name of God during the Inquisition. Christians and Muslims fought the Crusades in the name of God. The Spanish and English wiped out the Native peoples of America in the name of God. Americans spread across the continent due to Manifest Destiny — given them through the blessings of God.
When the Founding Fathers created the United States, they feared history and the role the churches played, so they separated politics from religion. They had been raised on the philosophies of humanists and sought to implement into law the humanistic beliefs common to all religions.
So what brings us to the problem the world is in today? According to a recent NBC poll more Americans believe Genesis than evolution (30% now accept evolution and 70% believe the literal story in Genesis). We have become a nation of psychotics. We ignore history with the attitude that we are the answer for the world’s woes. We waste oil and gas by driving way beyond the speed limit and supporting the growth of Nascar, in spite of the fact that wasting gas only puts more money into the hands of those who would destroy us. That is psychotic.
This affliction is not one limited to fundamentalists, though. Gays and Lesbians who profess Christianity or Islam are supporting the mythology of the psychotic. They make excuses for their support of it by pointing out the better points of the beliefs but ignoring the horrible nature of the beliefs. This is psychotic.
When Karl Marx called religion “the opiate of the masses” he did not mean it literally but figuratively. He meant that it acts as a drug and makes people behave in a psychotic manner. At the time he wrote, psychiatry was in its infancy and he did not have the term psychotic, but that’s what he meant.
There is a problem with following something due to faith. One must suspend rational thought and “hope” beyond reason that what they believe is true. The German people had faith in Hitler, look what faith gave them.
Religion has its place. It explains the unexplainable to those who are primitive enough not to know about science. It gives feelings of comfort to those who suffer with the promise of paradise after life. But when science explains how something works, religion is threatened. That is when fundamentalism rises. Never in history have fundamentalist religious beliefs served anyone but those in power. Turning to them now will not change the nature of humankind. When given the chance, humans are greedy, hateful, thieving, invasive of different cultures, and self-centered.
Only rational thought holds the human being in check. When Gays and Lesbians participate in the institution of oppression, they are guilty of oppression. Whenever Christians say “I love you…” they mean “I love you if….”
Those in the world who support rationality over mythology are the hope for mankind’s future. Religious intolerance is destructive to the individual.