I support all my addle brained and drug addicted brothers, homicidal sociopathic sisters, and every morally deficient freak on the planet 24/7/365. Don't change. You're perfect just as you all are!
The DEI crowd wants to be part of mainstream and accepted as having the same rights as everyone. To accomplish this they designate a month so they can be proud of being pride.. How many appreciation months are we going to have. How about senior abuse month where dr. jill can be the spokesperson or take your hooker to lunch month where BJ and DJT can be co-spokespersons. The who idea of wanting to be accepted as everyone else and then declaring a month of celebration is absurd.
The people listed in the post were hunted down and murdered, and they were deemed criminals under the law for being who they are. Oh, and for the religious out there, for being exactly what the gods they worship made them., Homosexuality was considered a mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) until 1973.
Does the name Alan Turing mean anything to you? Do you know why he died an untimely death? A world treasure and genius?
Homosexuality was illegal and considered a sickness! Homosexuality is human! And has been part of being human since we fell out of the trees. It is even a part of non-human animals. It is natural and human.
You see supporting human beings who were reviled by religions and unenlightened humans as "virtue signaling." In fact it is supporting people who had to hide who they were and who they loved. So we celebrate their and our liberation from that hateful ideology that kept them second class citizens.
You believe homosexuals are "morally deficient;" I believe it is YOU and people like you who are.
LOL! Nobody noticed them or cared what they did in private. They just needed moral "affirmation" to feel better about themselves and their vows of "sterility" and "purity" to Artemis.
Let your freak flags fly! There's nothing wrong with Don Quixotes. But when EVERYBODY's encouraged to become a Don Quixote, you've effectively killed the meaning within every Don Quixote. To challenge the status quo (which can never form).
If “no one noticed them,” why was it a crime to be gay? It was, as you know. Or maybe criminalizing natural human behavior doesn’t strike you as being inhumane and wicked?
You’ve never lived what they lived through, even if, as you proclaim, you have 2 close relatives who are gay. You did not live their life. And I’m astonished by your underlying revulsion and contempt not so hidden in your words.
Please stop. Our gay brothers & sisters were deemed criminals under the law and mentally ill by the medical profession until rational thinking, instead of religious doctrine and ignorance freed people’s minds from that wrongful dogma.
You sound bitter because we now accept people for who they are and do not accept killing them and making their lives miserable because we understand the injustice the lived with for ever.
You say having a month dedicated to our gay brothers and sisters ‘ acceptance is absurd. After what they’ve endured by hateful and ignorant people, they deserve a national holiday, not just a month.
The only people I know who are bitter about Pride Month are people who know nothing about their struggles and pain.
Wow. skud went full bigot right in front of us. No worries = they hate everyone. Implied snark but that's not what or how they said what they said.
Have the SAME RIGHTS AS EVERYONE????? Damn skud, not sure you meant to be as freaking discriminatory as you just were. Same rights?
In the George Orwell book Animal Farm skud is totally one of the pigs who wrote All animals are created equal but some are more equal than others.
Disgusting.
I had more but erased it because why? They are lost to common sense. They truly believe fellow citizens like me deserve less rights than themselves. Good to know.
Joe Conservative, So you admit to being a smooth brained bigot. Cool. cool.
Your attempt at brushing off criticisms of your ideals and comments is noted. Here's a thought - if you can't say a thing and mean it, why say it at all? It used to be that words were sacred and putting words on paper was a holy rite. Somehow I can't see you practicing sacred space when you write.
The sarcasm as well as ignorance of JC's comment reminds me of why there needs to be a Pride Month.
So, my youngest sister has a close male friend who was gay. He always knew he was gay and because he was treated differently and not accepted by many his life was frought with unhappiness.
My father who was not comfortable really with "gayness" nonetheless made the effort to get to know and understand him. As time passed they became friends and my sister's friend shared with my father that on several occasions he had considered suicide to end his unhappiness, the result of the bigotry and hate he experienced I in the presence of bigots who demeaned him for simply being who he is.
Thankfully, after years of struggle being accepted by an openly gay community he found inner peace and happiness.
My father maintained a friendship with the gentleman, and he was changed in his attitude towards people with different preferences and lifestyles. We were all proud of dad for his ability to grow. Which he did until he passed away at 84.
And that is why Pride Month is important. Only through understanding and compassion will the planet become a better place.
Oh stop. Did you think heterosexuals were somehow less than fully human when they spread syphilis? Gonorrhea? Genital herpes other STDs? Because heterosexual sex can be dangerous as well. Why is AIDS any different from other STDs? Should we make it a crime to be hetero because heterosexual spread sexual diseases as well?
I allow people I disagree with to post here because I don’t want this blog to be an echo chamber like the Mother Ship blog. I also retain the right as the blog owner to limit some people who make a habit of comment-bombing and taking over a thread, like they are entitled to have every comment they blast published.
Skud wonders, "idea of wanting to be accepted as everyone else and then declaring a month of celebration is absurd".
Maybe it's more about recognition and acceptance than just "celebration"? I think that's the part that bothers bigots the most. "GRRR...THOSE people are enjoying themselves! I don't LIKE what they are doing! Who do they think they ARE?" And so it's back to recognition and acceptance.
It's not "comment bombing". I'm a midwit. It takes time for all my thoughts to come together, so I post them as they come to me. They're all meant to be a single comment, but like I said, I'm not intelligent enough for all my thoughts to arrive at the same time. Sorry.
Ms. Shaw, There has been discrimination in the world for as long as there has been a world. In the US it was the Indians, Japanese, Asians, Blacks, Jews, Mexican, Muslims, LGBTQ+. Most of these groups want to be treated as equals and go about life in peace. There are two groups who want to be treated special. Until we treat everyone the same we will continue to suffer and politicians are determined to keep discrimination in the forefront because it works in their best interest.
Skud observes, "There are two groups who want to be treated special". Indeed. The rich elites, along with Trump and his thugs. Which groups did you have in mind? Hmm?
The two groups ( believe) that get you so riled up are 1) homosexuals, whose very existence was considered a crime, punishable by imprisonment, and by extra- judicial beatings, torture, and death. The second group, Black Americans, were considered less than human, when in several states in “ God-fearing and freedom- loving America,“ they were murdered, and lynched, with impunity, and not treated as the equal Americans that they were.
None of the groups you mentioned were considered criminals just because they were Japanese, ( Japanese are Asians) Jews, Mexicans, or Muslims. Homosexuals were. Think about you living in a world and being considered a criminal just because of who you loved!
Are you so bereft of compassion that you resent their celebrating their decriminalization for being who they are?
If discrimination isn’t “ in the forefront” as you say, it will stay hidden, and people will suffer for that, as did many of our fellow human beings. You can’t really mean you’re okay with that, can you?
With apologies to the cisgendered White men in my life who do not act this way:
There are two groups who demand special treatment skud, thanks for pointing them out.
If equality is illustrated as a pie graph the first group mentioned by skud are adult White cisgendered heterosexual men who have enjoyed 100% of the pie (aka privilege) for centuries. The second group mentioned by skud would be young White cisgendered heterosexual males who expect 100% of the pie upon reaching the age of majority.
The fact that the pie must now be shared with all the groups skud mentioned above has led to the following axiom - to those accustomed to privilege or the expectation of privilege, equality (sharing) feels like oppression.
For the record, equality is not a limited resource like a pie. All it requires of each human in our country is a mindset which accords every person on American soil the respect endowed upon them by the one document that governs us all - the Constitution.
Les is very correct. Nowhere does it say anyone must be treated the same but it's everywhere that everyone is equal under the eyes of the law. Now all WeThePeople have to do is live up to our lofty ideals.
How do those two groups want to be treated "special"? Did you know that May is Jewish American Heritage Month, and is also AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Heritage Month? Sept 15-Oct 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month and November is Native American Heritage Month. I'd say Christians have the month of December and Muslims have the month of Ramadan. Within each special month there are parades and/or activities celebrating those specific people. How is Pride month and the subsequent parades any different?
Ms. Shaw, You are correct that all Japanese are Asian but not all Asian's are Japanese. If you recall from your history class the Japanese were place in internment camps by the government. The Native Americans were forced to move (trail of tears) across several states and put on reservations. Their children were placed in government schools and forced to not speak their language. Jews were denied their own country and were murdered by the millions. They are had have always been a race to hate and get away with it. As long as people think they are different, they will be and if we live in the past we will never move toward the future.
As to my being homophobic nothing could be farther from the truth. I worked with gay's my whole life and never had a problem and neither did they because we chose to treat each other with love and respect.
I don’t believe skud is racist or homophobic. My opinion is that he just doesn’t understand that gays by just existing were considered outlaws. No other group suffered that indignity, except America’s Afro- American citizens. They were murdered with impunity by their fellow citizens for decades.
Shaw, I'm sure Skud is likely decent and honorable at a personal level.
We can give him the benefit of the doubt on outright homophobia and racism, but it is clear that he doesn't want to understand these issues from the perspective of POC and the LGBTQ communities.
I would suggest this willful indifference and ignorance is a "soft bigotry" at minimum.
Perhaps it's just his narcissism and self-centeredness, but whatever it is, his lack of empathy and compassion makes him an impediment to healing the bigotry and racism in our country.
Trump's tyranny depends on the worst Americans who lack empathy and compassion. This social/moral sickness of bigotry, racism, ignorance, and indifference is now abetting Trump's ambition to be a military dictator who rules over an expanding "Police States of America".
"Behaviours which unecessarily spread fatal diseases, contaminate blood supplies should be encouraged. In fact, we should spread that blame on to other bahaviours and obfuscate its origins. Instead of condemning anal sex or drug use, lets just enable drug users with clean needles so they don't have to share them." - The Fauci doctrine.
I do not know whether skud is or isn't bigoted or racist Shaw. What i do sense is his desire to never come out and forcefully denounce the folks and activities that clearly are supportive of both. For if one recognizes the unethical ground on which both stand and chooses to remain silent or make excuses for the behavior they are essentially a part of the problem. A smaller part to be sure. But part of nonetheless.
Anal sex has been practiced by humans for 4,000+ years. Instead of criminalizing it, humans, at an appropriate age, should be taught the dangers inherent in it, and ways of protecting themselves from those dangers. Human societies caution people about the diseases that promiscuous vaginal sex can cause, the same can be done with anal sex. As I said humans have been practicing that for millennia, and they’re not going to stop just because it is criminalized.
You must face the fact that humans of all cultures engage in personal sexual practices that offend you and others. Education and safe practices are the answer, not criminalization.
We can expect racists to be anti-gay bigots, as JC/-FJ exemplifies. He seems to think we're stupid enough to fall for this bullshit: "Sodomy was "outlawed" because it was an society endangering and reproductively unnecessary disease vector". It was the BIBLE and BIGOTRY, with their respective self-righteous IGNORANCE. Disease etiology (science of causes) wasn't a thing before bacteria was discovered. For being somewhat literate and educated, JC/-FJ is still embedded in the Dark Ages. How MAGA is that of him?
It is only recently that the dangers of anal sex can be mitigated with medical interventions that can contain its' spread... like AIDS and Monkey Pox. SInce we had no "medical protection", we employed a "legal" one. That's what society's do. Fortunately, anal sex is not a practice that most heterosexuals care to engage in (except in Porn). If it were, AIDS would have become a much greater danger than it was.
They love what they think they know. And the believe what their training and conditioning lead them to believe. Reified leftover ignorance from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
Les, Unlike some I believe in people making their own decisions as to how to live their lives. Your statement "never come out and forcefully denounce the folks and activities that clearly are supportive of both". Why does it matter if I denounce anything unless people are to insecure to believe in who they are.
I am not one who believes I should judge or control anyone because I believe in personal responsibility and doing what you think is right as long as it does not interfere with others rights. If
Leviticus is literally a Public Health and Safety guide... what food could touch what food, special "plates" etc. You really think G_d dropped out of the skies and handed the Jews a religious book? The Bible survived the Lindy test because it was useful, not because it was holy.
The Bible also condones slavery, it describes a god that wiped out entire groups of people, men, women, children, because they displeased him. And in Exodus and Numbers it says anyone who violates the Sabbath should be put to death. Also when the Bible was written, humans knew nothing about the existence of germs, pasteurization, and other methods of ensuring your food wouldn’t kill you. Not exactly a public health and safety guide as you.
Gosh skud, I too believe in personal responsibility. I also believe that folks have the right to live their lives as they deem most appropriate for their happiness.
I also believe in being truthful about my views regardless what anyone thinks about them. While I would never attempt to force my views on anyone I believe that to remain silent in the face of bigotry, racism, injustice, dishonesty, criminality, etc is, in essence to give it a leg up.
I do not believe you are a bigot or a racist. I think you are likely a very decent person. My remarks are simply expressing that because of your both siderism and refusal to acknowledge the threat to democracy and our republic that Trump represents it is damn hard to actually understand your position.
I used to call myself a conservative when the conservative party actually maintained a degree of honesty and respectability. With Trump both flew out the window in a big damn hurry. And when he initiated and stoked his J6 2021 insurrection attempt I absolutely knew he was and is a fascist authoritarian. Something my great uncle fought so this nation would never be faced with it. Or so he thought.
BTW, DJT is attempting to interfer with everyone's rights that do not agree with his ignorant authoritarian views and desire to control the lives of all Americans to conform with his bigoted and racist views.
The Bible and the belief in an omnipotent all powerful creator god are as responsible for untold injustices and suffering as anything humans have experienced throughout time. And this nation is starting down the religious barrel of injustice again at the hands of Christian Nationalists. Something Jesus of Nazareth would certainly railed against mightily. Spirituality is needed and a valuable guide for following a sacred path. Religion is all about control of others through dogma and fear.
To Thersites. Hit or miss. And the unlucky ones who missed, died. I prefer the scientific method to the Biblical one when it comes to actual knowledge. The Bible is hit or miss on morals as well.
Excellent summation Les. I hope skud is able to take your words to heart.
skud asked a legitimate question. I will attempt to reply with some grace but y'all know me, so there is that.
skud asked "Why does it matter if I denounce anything unless people are to insecure to believe in who they are."
I know exactly who I am and for the record, so to those who claim the LGBTQIA+ banner. We don't require you to 'approve' of who we are, just that you accept that we are citizens, just like you, with the same rights as detailed by the Constitution which governs us all.
So, metaphor time because using visuals is what I do.
Governments in general and democracy in specific are like a pool wherein the water is rights and the people swimming in the pool are citizens covered by those rights. When authoritarians try to modify or remove rights from a specific group they are urinating in the pool. Yes, the urine is released in the middle of "those people" (those people = marginalized community of the day) but when one water based liquid meets another water based liquid, the polluted water reaches everyone, eventually.
What this means in todays world - the FOTUS admin coming for LGBTQIA+ marriages is on the list of Things To Do for Project 2025 ( see Southern Baptists for details) and part of the eroding of rights as a whole for LGBTQIA+ people.
Marriage as the first step sounds like nothing until you understand the full scope of how deeply this simple contract between two humans (age of majority and rules of consent followed) touches. For example, when your spouse gets sick and needs to stay at the hospital who speaks to the doctors if your spouse is incapacitated? In a heterosexual marriage you have rights. If marriage for LGBTQIA+ people is overturned, your loved one, your spouse, your partner for life has to remain in the hospital alone because while hospitals have visiting hours for friends, family gets to stay and unless you are legally married or their child, you aren't family. Exception - you could have a Medical Durable Power of Attorney but those expire so for emergencies? yeah... extra hoops that 'regular' citizens aka those not urinated on don't have to complete. Without protection you don't get to speak for your loved one.
For this reason alone I would urge you skud to think about your family members alone in a hospital, scared, or even worse, unable to communicate because intubation, coma, so may possibilities and each one worse than the one before. I wish this for no one because you know someone I loved has experienced it. I ask only that you step out of yourself to see how someone else might feel and how you yourself would feel or respond if you faced this situation.
Final thought: when anyone remains silent in the face of an authoritarian government when they violate the rights of citizens deemed other in real time, that person is no longer neutral for they've chosen compliance as all authoritarians require (aka ignore me as I beat the crap out of this 'other').
As sure as the seasons change authoritarians need new challenges. Once all those considered other/illegal/them have been subdued where do you think the eyes of authority turn? Purity tests are a bitch, or so I've been told.
Les, So you believe the conservatives are a threat to democracy but don't believe an entire party who lied for four years to the American people about who is running the country is fine. I am still looking for the video that shows trump leading the crowd on J6 or the tape that says march and destroy.Maybe you can post that for all of us to see. He didn't act to stop it soon enough but walsh didn't act at all to stop the burning of Minneapolis. Now the honorable mayor and governor in Cali are supporting the rioters instead of the citizens are fine because they are democrats.
Put party aside and engage in the actions of our elected elite.
May 28, 2020: Chief Arradondo asks Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to evacuate police from the 3rd Precinct and he does. Protesters take over the building and set fire to it. The building burns overnight, becoming a symbol of the unrest following Floyd's death. Looting spreads to St. Paul. A second person dies during the unrest: Oscar L. Stewart Jr.’s body is found in the rubble after a protester sets Max It Pawn Shop on fire.
That same day, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz declares a peacetime emergency and activates the National Guard to respond to escalating protests. Late that night, President Donald Trump tweets about “thugs” in Minneapolis protests and warns: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Skud, You LIE almost as much as Trump does. In fact, I don't recall you ever admitting Trump is a criminal and pathological liar. That is your tacit approval, as far as I see it.
Your radical Right bullshit accusations reek of MAGA. Biden was more knowledgeable, honest and competent than Trump as president. HE negotiated and signed bills that helped Americans, instead of stripping them of rights, jobs, healthcare, and food.
Worst of all is your DEFENSE OF TRUMP'S COUP!!! He SENT his thugs to the Capitol to overturn the election. What they hell do you think his "Stop the steal" and "fight like hell" BS was about?
Instead you spew fascist demonizing LIES about Democrats supporting violence. Trump is the one who supports rioters. He PRAISED them and PARDONED them!!!
Have you no decency and no sense of honesty or curiosity to learn facts?
Anon 6/12 at 8:07 pm - I believe I've mentioned that event before. Yes, the police station was burned to the ground. And I'll type this slow so everyone can understand me - if the cops had treated those present for the memorial/protest service with respect there would have been no destruction. Instead the cops got all kinds of antsy as seeing so many Black faces so they panicked and fired teargas into a crowd of families with children, some in strollers.
Please, by all means, tell me that their response wasn't measured because if the cops had done that to me after I'd been following all the rules? Let's just say I wouldn't have stopped with the police building.
YOU DON'T TEAR GAS BABIES - I can't believe I even have to yell this.
Man, I feel like the yes, but, guy a lot recently.
Look, for all the carping from the right, during the G Floyd violence and continuing to the present violence across 20 square blocks in Los Angeles, Dem leadership has been pretty consistent in their message...
Your motivation may be correct but... all political violence is wrong.
Note the words but & all.
The GOP wants the Dems to just say the protestors are wrong. No buts. Full Stop.
The Dems want the GOP to say all violence, including the violence at the Capitol on J6, is wrong. All violence.
But neither side can do the right thing without angering their constituencies.
Historian Robert Meachum said this morning we'd have to go back to the pre Civil War era to find America so polarized. I wish I could credibly say he is wrong.
His (tRump's) politics are driven by his character. Which illustrates skud's disconnect from understanding the interconnectedness between thought and action.
55 comments:
You're SUCH a good person!
I support all my addle brained and drug addicted brothers, homicidal sociopathic sisters, and every morally deficient freak on the planet 24/7/365. Don't change. You're perfect just as you all are!
I try to always remain "affirmative". Sameness smooths, Otherness roughens. I choose to smooth through affirmation actions.
The DEI crowd wants to be part of mainstream and accepted as having the same rights as everyone. To accomplish this they designate a month so they can be proud of being pride.. How many appreciation months are we going to have. How about senior abuse month where dr. jill can be the spokesperson or take your hooker to lunch month where BJ and DJT can be co-spokespersons.
The who idea of wanting to be accepted as everyone else and then declaring a month of celebration is absurd.
Your sarcasm is noted and dismissed.
The people listed in the post were hunted down and murdered, and they were deemed criminals under the law for being who they are. Oh, and for the religious out there, for being exactly what the gods they worship made them., Homosexuality was considered a mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) until 1973.
Does the name Alan Turing mean anything to you? Do you know why he died an untimely death? A world treasure and genius?
Homosexuality was illegal and considered a sickness! Homosexuality is human! And has been part of being human since we fell out of the trees. It is even a part of non-human animals. It is natural and human.
You see supporting human beings who were reviled by religions and unenlightened humans as "virtue signaling." In fact it is supporting people who had to hide who they were and who they loved. So we celebrate their and our liberation from that hateful ideology that kept them second class citizens.
You believe homosexuals are "morally deficient;" I believe it is YOU and people like you who are.
Now, you have a sparkling day.
LOL! Nobody noticed them or cared what they did in private. They just needed moral "affirmation" to feel better about themselves and their vows of "sterility" and "purity" to Artemis.
< /Sarc>
Let your freak flags fly! There's nothing wrong with Don Quixotes. But when EVERYBODY's encouraged to become a Don Quixote, you've effectively killed the meaning within every Don Quixote. To challenge the status quo (which can never form).
If “no one noticed them,” why was it a crime to be gay? It was, as you know. Or maybe criminalizing natural human behavior doesn’t strike you as being inhumane and wicked?
You’ve never lived what they lived through, even if, as you proclaim, you have 2 close relatives who are gay. You did not live their life. And I’m astonished by your underlying revulsion and contempt not so hidden in your words.
Please stop. Our gay brothers & sisters were deemed criminals under the law and mentally ill by the medical profession until rational thinking, instead of religious doctrine and ignorance freed people’s minds from that wrongful dogma.
You sound bitter because we now accept people for who they are and do not accept killing them and making their lives miserable because we understand the injustice the lived with for ever.
You say having a month dedicated to our gay brothers and sisters ‘ acceptance is absurd. After what they’ve endured by hateful and ignorant people, they deserve a national holiday, not just a month.
The only people I know who are bitter about Pride Month are people who know nothing about their struggles and pain.
Wow. skud went full bigot right in front of us. No worries = they hate everyone. Implied snark but that's not what or how they said what they said.
Have the SAME RIGHTS AS EVERYONE????? Damn skud, not sure you meant to be as freaking discriminatory as you just were. Same rights?
In the George Orwell book Animal Farm skud is totally one of the pigs who wrote All animals are created equal but some are more equal than others.
Disgusting.
I had more but erased it because why? They are lost to common sense. They truly believe fellow citizens like me deserve less rights than themselves. Good to know.
As I said, disgusting.
Joe Conservative, So you admit to being a smooth brained bigot. Cool. cool.
Your attempt at brushing off criticisms of your ideals and comments is noted. Here's a thought - if you can't say a thing and mean it, why say it at all? It used to be that words were sacred and putting words on paper was a holy rite. Somehow I can't see you practicing sacred space when you write.
The sarcasm as well as ignorance of JC's comment reminds me of why there needs to be a Pride Month.
So, my youngest sister has a close male friend who was gay. He always knew he was gay and because he was treated differently and not accepted by many his life was frought with unhappiness.
My father who was not comfortable really with "gayness" nonetheless made the effort to get to know and understand him. As time passed they became friends and my sister's friend shared with my father that on several occasions he had considered suicide to end his unhappiness, the result of the bigotry and hate he experienced I in the presence of bigots who demeaned him for simply being who he is.
Thankfully, after years of struggle being accepted by an openly gay community he found inner peace and happiness.
My father maintained a friendship with the gentleman, and he was changed in his attitude towards people with different preferences and lifestyles. We were all proud of dad for his ability to grow. Which he did until he passed away at 84.
And that is why Pride Month is important. Only through understanding and compassion will the planet become a better place.
Why? AIDS was one good reason. STDs another.
Look at Skud and that other thing that pollutes your blog, scared of rainbows 🌈…
Oh stop. Did you think heterosexuals were somehow less than fully human when they spread syphilis? Gonorrhea? Genital herpes other STDs? Because heterosexual sex can be dangerous as well. Why is AIDS any different from other STDs? Should we make it a crime to be hetero because heterosexual spread sexual diseases as well?
I allow people I disagree with to post here because I don’t want this blog to be an echo chamber like the Mother Ship blog. I also retain the right as the blog owner to limit some people who make a habit of comment-bombing and taking over a thread, like they are entitled to have every comment they blast published.
Ol' Joe went full a$$hole today. 🤢
Skud wonders, "idea of wanting to be accepted as everyone else and then declaring a month of celebration is absurd".
Maybe it's more about recognition and acceptance than just "celebration"?
I think that's the part that bothers bigots the most.
"GRRR...THOSE people are enjoying themselves! I don't LIKE what they are doing! Who do they think they ARE?"
And so it's back to recognition and acceptance.
It's not "comment bombing". I'm a midwit. It takes time for all my thoughts to come together, so I post them as they come to me. They're all meant to be a single comment, but like I said, I'm not intelligent enough for all my thoughts to arrive at the same time. Sorry.
Ms. Shaw, There has been discrimination in the world for as long as there has been a world. In the US it was the Indians, Japanese, Asians, Blacks, Jews, Mexican, Muslims, LGBTQ+. Most of these groups want to be treated as equals and go about life in peace. There are two groups who want to be treated special. Until we treat everyone the same we will continue to suffer and politicians are determined to keep discrimination in the forefront because it works in their best interest.
You cannot treat everyone the same. To do so is a colossal mistake skud. But you CAN treat everyone equally while recognizing their individuality.
-Fair explanation -FJ... that explains a lot. Thank you.
Skud observes, "There are two groups who want to be treated special".
Indeed. The rich elites, along with Trump and his thugs.
Which groups did you have in mind? Hmm?
The two groups ( believe) that get you so riled up are 1) homosexuals, whose very existence was considered a crime, punishable by imprisonment, and by extra- judicial beatings, torture, and death. The second group, Black Americans, were considered less than human, when in several states in “ God-fearing and freedom- loving America,“ they were murdered, and lynched, with impunity, and not treated as the equal Americans that they were.
None of the groups you mentioned were considered criminals just because they were Japanese, ( Japanese are Asians) Jews, Mexicans, or Muslims. Homosexuals were. Think about you living in a world and being considered a criminal just because of who you loved!
Are you so bereft of compassion that you resent their celebrating their decriminalization for being who they are?
If discrimination isn’t “ in the forefront” as you say, it will stay hidden, and people will suffer for that, as did many of our fellow human beings. You can’t really mean you’re okay with that, can you?
With apologies to the cisgendered White men in my life who do not act this way:
There are two groups who demand special treatment skud, thanks for pointing them out.
If equality is illustrated as a pie graph the first group mentioned by skud are adult White cisgendered heterosexual men who have enjoyed 100% of the pie (aka privilege) for centuries. The second group mentioned by skud would be young White cisgendered heterosexual males who expect 100% of the pie upon reaching the age of majority.
The fact that the pie must now be shared with all the groups skud mentioned above has led to the following axiom - to those accustomed to privilege or the expectation of privilege, equality (sharing) feels like oppression.
For the record, equality is not a limited resource like a pie. All it requires of each human in our country is a mindset which accords every person on American soil the respect endowed upon them by the one document that governs us all - the Constitution.
Les is very correct. Nowhere does it say anyone must be treated the same but it's everywhere that everyone is equal under the eyes of the law. Now all WeThePeople have to do is live up to our lofty ideals.
How do those two groups want to be treated "special"? Did you know that May is Jewish American Heritage Month, and is also AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Heritage Month? Sept 15-Oct 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month and November is Native American Heritage Month. I'd say Christians have the month of December and Muslims have the month of Ramadan. Within each special month there are parades and/or activities celebrating those specific people. How is Pride month and the subsequent parades any different?
Ms. Shaw, You are correct that all Japanese are Asian but not all Asian's are Japanese. If you recall from your history class the Japanese were place in internment camps by the government. The Native Americans were forced to move (trail of tears) across several states and put on reservations. Their children were placed in government schools and forced to not speak their language. Jews were denied their own country and were murdered by the millions. They are had have always been a race to hate and get away with it.
As long as people think they are different, they will be and if we live in the past we will never move toward the future.
As to my being homophobic nothing could be farther from the truth. I worked with gay's my whole life and never had a problem and neither did they because we chose to treat each other with love and respect.
Kinda like the person who says: I'm not racist, I work with black people and even have black friends, eh skud?
I don’t believe skud is racist or homophobic. My opinion is that he just doesn’t understand that gays by just existing were considered outlaws. No other group suffered that indignity, except America’s Afro- American citizens. They were murdered with impunity by their fellow citizens for decades.
Shaw,
I'm sure Skud is likely decent and honorable at a personal level.
We can give him the benefit of the doubt on outright homophobia and racism, but it is clear that he doesn't want to understand these issues from the perspective of POC and the LGBTQ communities.
I would suggest this willful indifference and ignorance is a "soft bigotry" at minimum.
Perhaps it's just his narcissism and self-centeredness, but whatever it is, his lack of empathy and compassion makes him an impediment to healing the bigotry and racism in our country.
Trump's tyranny depends on the worst Americans who lack empathy and compassion. This social/moral sickness of bigotry, racism, ignorance, and indifference is now abetting Trump's ambition to be a military dictator who rules over an expanding "Police States of America".
"Behaviours which unecessarily spread fatal diseases, contaminate blood supplies should be encouraged. In fact, we should spread that blame on to other bahaviours and obfuscate its origins. Instead of condemning anal sex or drug use, lets just enable drug users with clean needles so they don't have to share them." - The Fauci doctrine.
Sodomy was "outlawed" because it was an society endangering and reproductively unnecessary disease vector.
I do not know whether skud is or isn't bigoted or racist Shaw. What i do sense is his desire to never come out and forcefully denounce the folks and activities that clearly are supportive of both. For if one recognizes the unethical ground on which both stand and chooses to remain silent or make excuses for the behavior they are essentially a part of the problem. A smaller part to be sure. But part of nonetheless.
Anal sex has been practiced by humans for 4,000+ years. Instead of criminalizing it, humans, at an appropriate age, should be taught the dangers inherent in it, and ways of protecting themselves from those dangers. Human societies caution people about the diseases that promiscuous vaginal sex can cause, the same can be done with anal sex. As I said humans have been practicing that for millennia, and they’re not going to stop just because it is criminalized.
You must face the fact that humans of all cultures engage in personal sexual practices that offend you and others. Education and safe practices are the answer, not criminalization.
Yes. I agree. A lot of folks are irritated with things they don’t understand, and with acknowledging the wrongs that have been done to “ the Other.”
We can expect racists to be anti-gay bigots, as JC/-FJ exemplifies.
He seems to think we're stupid enough to fall for this bullshit:
"Sodomy was "outlawed" because it was an society endangering and reproductively unnecessary disease vector".
It was the BIBLE and BIGOTRY, with their respective self-righteous IGNORANCE.
Disease etiology (science of causes) wasn't a thing before bacteria was discovered.
For being somewhat literate and educated, JC/-FJ is still embedded in the Dark Ages.
How MAGA is that of him?
It is only recently that the dangers of anal sex can be mitigated with medical interventions that can contain its' spread... like AIDS and Monkey Pox. SInce we had no "medical protection", we employed a "legal" one. That's what society's do. Fortunately, anal sex is not a practice that most heterosexuals care to engage in (except in Porn). If it were, AIDS would have become a much greater danger than it was.
They love what they think they know. And the believe what their training and conditioning lead them to believe. Reified leftover ignorance from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
Les, Unlike some I believe in people making their own decisions as to how to live their lives. Your statement "never come out and forcefully denounce the folks and activities that clearly are supportive of both". Why does it matter if I denounce anything unless people are to insecure to believe in who they are.
I am not one who believes I should judge or control anyone because I believe in personal responsibility and doing what you think is right as long as it does not interfere with others rights. If
Leviticus is literally a Public Health and Safety guide... what food could touch what food, special "plates" etc. You really think G_d dropped out of the skies and handed the Jews a religious book? The Bible survived the Lindy test because it was useful, not because it was holy.
The Bible also condones slavery, it describes a god that wiped out entire groups of people, men, women, children, because they displeased him. And in Exodus and Numbers it says anyone who violates the Sabbath should be put to death. Also when the Bible was written, humans knew nothing about the existence of germs, pasteurization, and other methods of ensuring your food wouldn’t kill you. Not exactly a public health and safety guide as you.
They didn't have to know those things. They saw and documented what worked. Lindy validated them.
Gosh skud, I too believe in personal responsibility. I also believe that folks have the right to live their lives as they deem most appropriate for their happiness.
I also believe in being truthful about my views regardless what anyone thinks about them. While I would never attempt to force my views on anyone I believe that to remain silent in the face of bigotry, racism, injustice, dishonesty, criminality, etc is, in essence to give it a leg up.
I do not believe you are a bigot or a racist. I think you are likely a very decent person. My remarks are simply expressing that because of your both siderism and refusal to acknowledge the threat to democracy and our republic that Trump represents it is damn hard to actually understand your position.
I used to call myself a conservative when the conservative party actually maintained a degree of honesty and respectability. With Trump both flew out the window in a big damn hurry. And when he initiated and stoked his J6 2021 insurrection attempt I absolutely knew he was and is a fascist authoritarian. Something my great uncle fought so this nation would never be faced with it. Or so he thought.
BTW, DJT is attempting to interfer with everyone's rights that do not agree with his ignorant authoritarian views and desire to control the lives of all Americans to conform with his bigoted and racist views.
The Bible and the belief in an omnipotent all powerful creator god are as responsible for untold injustices and suffering as anything humans have experienced throughout time. And this nation is starting down the religious barrel of injustice again at the hands of Christian Nationalists. Something Jesus of Nazareth would certainly railed against mightily. Spirituality is needed and a valuable guide for following a sacred path. Religion is all about control of others through dogma and fear.
To Thersites. Hit or miss. And the unlucky ones who missed, died. I prefer the scientific method to the Biblical one when it comes to actual knowledge. The Bible is hit or miss on morals as well.
Excellent summation Les. I hope skud is able to take your words to heart.
skud asked a legitimate question. I will attempt to reply with some grace but y'all know me, so there is that.
skud asked "Why does it matter if I denounce anything unless people are to insecure to believe in who they are."
I know exactly who I am and for the record, so to those who claim the LGBTQIA+ banner. We don't require you to 'approve' of who we are, just that you accept that we are citizens, just like you, with the same rights as detailed by the Constitution which governs us all.
So, metaphor time because using visuals is what I do.
Governments in general and democracy in specific are like a pool wherein the water is rights and the people swimming in the pool are citizens covered by those rights. When authoritarians try to modify or remove rights from a specific group they are urinating in the pool. Yes, the urine is released in the middle of "those people" (those people = marginalized community of the day) but when one water based liquid meets another water based liquid, the polluted water reaches everyone, eventually.
What this means in todays world - the FOTUS admin coming for LGBTQIA+ marriages is on the list of Things To Do for Project 2025 ( see Southern Baptists for details) and part of the eroding of rights as a whole for LGBTQIA+ people.
Marriage as the first step sounds like nothing until you understand the full scope of how deeply this simple contract between two humans (age of majority and rules of consent followed) touches. For example, when your spouse gets sick and needs to stay at the hospital who speaks to the doctors if your spouse is incapacitated? In a heterosexual marriage you have rights. If marriage for LGBTQIA+ people is overturned, your loved one, your spouse, your partner for life has to remain in the hospital alone because while hospitals have visiting hours for friends, family gets to stay and unless you are legally married or their child, you aren't family. Exception - you could have a Medical Durable Power of Attorney but those expire so for emergencies? yeah... extra hoops that 'regular' citizens aka those not urinated on don't have to complete. Without protection you don't get to speak for your loved one.
For this reason alone I would urge you skud to think about your family members alone in a hospital, scared, or even worse, unable to communicate because intubation, coma, so may possibilities and each one worse than the one before. I wish this for no one because you know someone I loved has experienced it. I ask only that you step out of yourself to see how someone else might feel and how you yourself would feel or respond if you faced this situation.
Final thought: when anyone remains silent in the face of an authoritarian government when they violate the rights of citizens deemed other in real time, that person is no longer neutral for they've chosen compliance as all authoritarians require (aka ignore me as I beat the crap out of this 'other').
As sure as the seasons change authoritarians need new challenges. Once all those considered other/illegal/them have been subdued where do you think the eyes of authority turn? Purity tests are a bitch, or so I've been told.
Les, So you believe the conservatives are a threat to democracy but don't believe an entire party who lied for four years to the American people about who is running the country is fine.
I am still looking for the video that shows trump leading the crowd on J6 or the tape that says march and destroy.Maybe you can post that for all of us to see.
He didn't act to stop it soon enough but walsh didn't act at all to stop the burning of Minneapolis. Now the honorable mayor and governor in Cali are supporting the rioters instead of the citizens are fine because they are democrats.
Put party aside and engage in the actions of our elected elite.
May 28, 2020: Chief Arradondo asks Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to evacuate police from the 3rd Precinct and he does. Protesters take over the building and set fire to it. The building burns overnight, becoming a symbol of the unrest following Floyd's death. Looting spreads to St. Paul. A second person dies during the unrest: Oscar L. Stewart Jr.’s body is found in the rubble after a protester sets Max It Pawn Shop on fire.
That same day, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz declares a peacetime emergency and activates the National Guard to respond to escalating protests. Late that night, President Donald Trump tweets about “thugs” in Minneapolis protests and warns: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Those are YOUR perceptions
Mine are vastly different. I'm done with the foilush game playing out daily by cons.
Skud,
You LIE almost as much as Trump does. In fact, I don't recall you ever admitting Trump is a criminal and pathological liar. That is your tacit approval, as far as I see it.
Your radical Right bullshit accusations reek of MAGA. Biden was more knowledgeable, honest and competent than Trump as president. HE negotiated and signed bills that helped Americans, instead of stripping them of rights, jobs, healthcare, and food.
Worst of all is your DEFENSE OF TRUMP'S COUP!!! He SENT his thugs to the Capitol to overturn the election. What they hell do you think his "Stop the steal" and "fight like hell" BS was about?
Instead you spew fascist demonizing LIES about Democrats supporting violence. Trump is the one who supports rioters. He PRAISED them and PARDONED them!!!
Have you no decency and no sense of honesty or curiosity to learn facts?
Yeah. We know the answer.
Anon 6/12 at 8:07 pm - I believe I've mentioned that event before. Yes, the police station was burned to the ground. And I'll type this slow so everyone can understand me - if the cops had treated those present for the memorial/protest service with respect there would have been no destruction. Instead the cops got all kinds of antsy as seeing so many Black faces so they panicked and fired teargas into a crowd of families with children, some in strollers.
Please, by all means, tell me that their response wasn't measured because if the cops had done that to me after I'd been following all the rules? Let's just say I wouldn't have stopped with the police building.
YOU DON'T TEAR GAS BABIES - I can't believe I even have to yell this.
Dave, Skud has said trump is evil and like all politicians, lies.
He's a bothsider king, but he has been somewhat critical of Trump as it relates to his character, if not his policies.
Man, I feel like the yes, but, guy a lot recently.
Look, for all the carping from the right, during the G Floyd violence and continuing to the present violence across 20 square blocks in Los Angeles, Dem leadership has been pretty consistent in their message...
Your motivation may be correct but... all political violence is wrong.
Note the words but & all.
The GOP wants the Dems to just say the protestors are wrong. No buts. Full Stop.
The Dems want the GOP to say all violence, including the violence at the Capitol on J6, is wrong. All violence.
But neither side can do the right thing without angering their constituencies.
Historian Robert Meachum said this morning we'd have to go back to the pre Civil War era to find America so polarized. I wish I could credibly say he is wrong.
But here we are...
knowing the one thing illuminates everything. Knowing everything but missing the one thing keeps one in relative darkness.
His (tRump's) politics are driven by his character. Which illustrates skud's disconnect from understanding the interconnectedness between thought and action.
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