Sorry If It Offends You, But...

I was having my daily chat with my mother this morning.  This is not as easy as it might seem.  She is 91, has dementia, and is losing her hearing.  Unless you have ever tried to carry on a conversation with someone with dementia, you cannot possibly understand how difficult and exhausting it is.  Nevertheless...I persevere.

Early into the phone call she said, "What do you think about Obama?"

I was about to give her my standard answer that he has a lot of work to do when she said, "There IS no Obama."

Okay.  Even for my mom, this was off the wall.  So I asked her what she meant.  And she told me that a person with whom I am acquainted had called and said that there is no Obama...no birth certificate...no one by that name...and no one was currently President of the United States
.
Then she started to cry.

My mother is a first generation American.  Her parents taught her - and (some of) my generation later - that the greatest privilege in life was receiving Eucharist...closely followed by voting.  My grandparents worked hard to gain their citizenship.  Much harder than those of us who were born here.  I have heard many times about how difficult it was for them to take their citizenship exam, and how their kids helped them study for it.  This was interspersed with whispered stories of "so-and-so" who was a DP (Displaced Person) and always watching over their shoulder for someone who might turn them in and send them back.

Being of immigrant stock (what a stupid idiom!), as well as a daughter of one of the first members of the United Auto Workers Union, my mother has always voted for Democrats.  I thought race might come into play when Obama first declared his candidacy.  But no - she liked him.  And she was thrilled when he won the election.

And now some fool told her that he didn't even exist.  No birth certificate, no Obama.

I wish you could see the smoke coming out of my ears right now!

First of all - leave old people alone.  She can believe whatever she likes - she's earned that right.  If you want to scare or disappoint someone, do it to someone your own age.

Second - Birthers need to get over it.  I believe the current internet term is STFU.  You are being ridiculous and are wasting valuable oxygen with your constant blathering.

And third...ah, third!  If you really feel the need to be afraid all the time, rent some horror movies or take a ride on the biggest roller coaster you can find.  Because I DON'T!

--There are no death panels.
--You will not be thrown in jail if you don't have health insurance.
--The Constitution was wounded by the force-feeding of the Patriot Act, but it's holding its own right now.  I visited it less than a year ago.  Still there.  Protected by men with really big guns.

See...I didn't spend all those years in grad school for nothing.  I actually learned how to do research.  Check facts.  You maybe be too lazy to google a topic, but I am not.  Fox News might just need to hire someone like me.

Republicans, I had eight years of your Bush presidency.  Now you have four or eight of my Obama presidency.  That's how a democracy works, Karl Rove notwithstanding.  Your breath-holding and fear-mongering are getting really old.

And frightening my mother is simply reprehensible.

She prefers to see the glass as half full.  I prefer to see the glass as half full.

Like the title says - sorry that offends you.

But Not In My Backyard...

From Huffington:

OKLAHOMA CITY — Frustrated by recent political setbacks, tea party leaders and some conservative members of the Oklahoma Legislature say they would like to create a new volunteer militia to help defend against what they believe are improper federal infringements on state sovereignty.

Tea party movement leaders say they've discussed the idea with several supportive lawmakers and hope to get legislation next year to recognize a new volunteer force. They say the unit would not resemble militia groups that have been raided for allegedly plotting attacks on law enforcement officers.

"Is it scary? It sure is," said tea party leader Al Gerhart of Oklahoma City, who heads an umbrella group of tea party factions called the Oklahoma Constitutional Alliance. "But when do the states stop rolling over for the federal government?"

Thus far, the discussions have been exploratory. Even the proponents say they don't know how an armed force would be organized nor how a state-based militia could block federal mandates. Critics also asserted that the force could inflame extremism, and that the National Guard already provides for the state's military needs.

"Have they heard of the Oklahoma City bombing?" said Joseph Thai, a constitutional law professor at the University of Oklahoma. The state observes the 15th anniversary of the anti-government attack on Monday. Such actions could "throw fuel in the fire of radicals," he said.

But the militia talks reflect the frustration of some grass roots groups seeking new ways of fighting recent federal initiatives, such as the health reform plan, which requires all citizens to have health insurance. Over the last year, tea party groups across the country have staged rallies and pressured politicians to protest big government and demand reduced public spending.

In strongly conservative states like Oklahoma, some legislators have also discussed further action to fight federal policies, such as state legislation and lawsuits.

State Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, a Republican candidate for governor who has appealed for tea party support, said supporters of a state militia have talked to him, and that he believes the citizen unit would be authorized under the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

The founding fathers "were not referring to a turkey shoot or a quail hunt. They really weren't even talking about us having the ability to protect ourselves against each other," Brogdon said. "The Second Amendment deals directly with the right of an individual to keep and bear arms to protect themselves from an overreaching federal government."

Another lawmaker, state Rep. Charles Key, R-Oklahoma City, said he believes there's a good chance of introducing legislation for a state-authorized militia next year.

Tea party leader J.W. Berry of the Tulsa-based OKforTea began soliciting interest in a state militia through his newsletter under the subject "Buy more guns, more bullets."

"It's not a far-right crazy plan or anything like that," Berry said. "This would be done with the full cooperation of the state Legislature."

State militias clearly are constitutionally authorized, but have not been used in recent times, said Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee and an expert on the Second Amendment. "Whether someone should get a militia to go toe-to-toe with the federal government ... now, that strikes me as kind of silly," he said.

Some conservative legislators in Oklahoma say talk of a militia, which would be privately recruited, armed and trained, goes too far.

"If the intent is to create a militia for disaster relief, we have the National Guard," said Sen. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, a retired Army lieutenant colonel. "Anything beyond that purpose should be viewed with great concern and caution."

Democratic Gov. Brad Henry's communications director Paul Sund also discounted the militia discussion, saying the National Guard handles state emergencies and security.

Federal authorities say that radical militia groups have not emerged in Oklahoma, unlike many other states, in part because of the legacy of the Oklahoma City bombing. On April 19, 1995, an anti-government conspiracy led by Army veteran Tim McVeigh exploded a truckbomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people.

Last month, FBI agents conducted a raid on the Hutaree militia group in southern Michigan and accused members of plotting to kill law enforcement officers.

See..Go for it, Oklahoma!  And while you are opting out, the other 49 states can divide up your share of federal funding to keep new medications flowing and safe...inspection of toys and food...defense against alQuaeda, the Taliban, North Korea, and Iran...FEMA money when the inevitable summer tornadoes hit your state...air traffic control...federal highway dollars...farm subsidies...and on and on and on.

Yes, I know it is almost April 15 - Tax Day.  I, too, would love to live somewhere without having to pay taxes.  I would also love to wear designer clothes, while paying K-Mart prices.  But the two just don't go together.  If you want to live in a first world country, the price of admission is first world taxes.

I have been cleaning out a closet of things that my mother has saved over the decades.  There are many letters from my father, written while he was serving in the Army during World War II.  Did he want to be in the Philippines?  NO!  But he knew that that was the price for defeating the enemy.  Decades before, all four of my grandparents left Poland and their families to come to the United States.  Did they want to experience the loneliness and uncertainty?  NO!  But they wanted the independence and opportunity of living here, and knew that that was the price they must pay.

Tea Baggers and their like need to quit whining.  Or else leave this country.  Because - as so many gun-nuts are fond of saying, Freedom ISN'T free!

Perspective

Adapted from the Pastoral Letter of Bishop Guy Deroubaix - 1966 - Saint-Denis, France:

We love our Church,

with all her limitations, and her riches too, she is our Mother.

For this reason we respect her, and while we do so,

we dream that she will never lose her beauty:

May she be a Church where it's good to live,

where you can breathe, and say what you think.

A Church of freedom.

A Church

which listens before speaking, which welcomes instead of judging,

which forgives without wishing to condemn,

which announces rather than denounces.

A Church of mercy.

A Church

where the simplest of our brothers and sisters

will understand what others are saying,

and where the wisest of leaders will know that he doesn't know;

where the people of God will be revealed in its entirety.

A Church of wisdom.

A Church

where the Holy Spirit will be able to feel at home

because everything hasn't been forseen,

settled and decided in advance.

An open Church.

A Church

where the audacity to do something new

will be stronger than the habit of doing things

as they've always been done.

A Church

where everyone can pray in their own language

express themselves according to their culture,

live with their own history.

A Church

of which people will say,

not "See how well organized they are"

but "See how they love one another."

Church of the city,

Church of the suburbs and streets...

Lift up your head, and look: The Lord is with you.

Note that this was written shortly after the closing of the Second Vatican Council...which was a time of great promise and possibility.  I believe I found it in a pile of things I was going through today, because that promise and possibility - while as yet unfulfilled - are still God's intention for us.

Sarah Palin...

...makes me want to puke.