In The Land of Lincoln

Last week, the state of Illinois held its primary election.   This determined who would be running in the general election for Governor/Lt. Governor, the Senate seat once held by President Obama, and the Congressional districts.  However, there was something interesting in the air on this particular election day.  It seemed as if the people could not make up their minds on who they wanted to run for Governor.  In the Republican party, you had two candidates with approximately 20% of the vote, and a third candidate at 19%.  There were 7 candidates in all running for the Republican nomination to be Governor.  But that fails in comparison to the Democrats.  They had two major candidates running for the nomination…. current Governor Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes.  Both ended up with 50% of the vote.  And after several days, it was announced that Governor Pat Quinn would be the party’s nominee for Governor.

Now, I’m not here to endorse any candidate (either Democrat or Republican) over another.  It’s rare…I know.  I grew up in the state of Illinois and spent the majority of my life thus far as an Illinois resident, though I’m not one currently.  But the state still means a lot to me.  There are times even now that I’ll say that I’m an Illinoisan at heart though I’m now a Missouri citizen… or maybe it’s that I’d rather be seen as corrupt than ass-backwards.  Who knows…  In any case, I don’t follow what’s going on in the state as closely as I used to since I have moved, but something this time has caught my eye in particular.

The Republicans are going after the Democrats on corruption, which is really nothing that shocking for Illinois residence.  Current Illinois Governor Pat Quinn was elected the Lt. Governor in the last election 4-years ago.  He became Governor in January 2009 when then-Governor Rod Blogajevich was impeached and removed from office on federal corruption charges.  Now, it has been determined that Pat Quinn was not involved in the scandal that brought down Mr. Blogajevich, but still the Republican party is going to try to hang him on this.  And since the average voter only has a short-term memory, it might actually work.  It’s the mentality that this party is corrupt, and I’ve lost faith in it…so now I’m going to vote for the other party.  And because of this short-term memory problem, the voting public keeps going back and forth and nothing ever changes.  In fact this time, it’s almost a bit or irony.

Illinois voters need to actually think back.  Eight-years ago, Rod Blagojevich and Patt Quinn were elected into office over the corruption of then Republican Governor George Ryan.  Now George Ryan was not impeached or removed from offce (nor was he even running for reelection), but his misdeeds were known and cost the Republicans the election.  (And oddly enough, the Republican candidate also had the last name of Ryan, though he was of no relation.)

So is it proper that the voting public say that they aren’t voting for the Democratic candidate simply because the last elected Governor was impeached, removed, and is actually now serving jail time?  Not really.  In fact, because both parties have proven to be just as corrupt, I have an even better solution for all the voters.  Vote them all out and start over.  Start with third party candidates (not including anyone represented by the Tea Party dumbasses).  It is often said that voting for a third-party candidate is throwing away your vote, but think about it for a moment.  If everyone who was tired of the corruption BS from both parties, and those that have decided not to vote for the incumbent party because of the latest corruption got together, then that third party candidate could win.  And it could possibly be a better candidate in the long run….unless that particular candidate is a murderer, rapist, or pedophile.

So, overall, I’m asking for the people of Illinois to think about the bigger picture when it comes to their candidates this year.  Remember, former Governors George Ryan (Republican) and Rod Blagojevich (Democrat) were both corrupt and are now doing jail time after being found guilty on federal charges.  So to me, it would seem like neither party has really earned (or deserves) your vote come November.  As the old saying goes…kick them all out.  Maybe its time we as voters listen to that motto, rather than just repeat it to people up until election day.

Haiti

I’m sure one would have to be in a cave in the deepest of oceans or on some faraway planet to not have heard about the devastating earthquake last week in Haiti or to have seen the pictures of the devastation and the suffering.  As a man that works in TV, I’ve seen the pictures and heard the stories more times than not.  Though I’m not a reporter, I do have a journalist-based education.  I was taught how to be a proper journalist…something I still give my main professor kudos to for teaching me that.  However, I cannot ignore my humanitarian side through all this.  And have caught myself tearing up or even openly crying during this situation.  I have found it heart-wrenching…and very sad.  Even the other day at work, the reporter on the ground during a taped piece had to say she had had enough and couldn’t handle anymore.  The topic as to what she was talking about had finally gotten to her.  And it was easy to understand why.  If I was a reporter on the ground, I, too, would need some personal time to go off and process everything alone.

I grew up in an all-white community (or at least 98% white).  And during my college years, when I was still going to church with my mom — which usually made her happy –the priest of our church changed.  This new man, a black man was going to be over the congregation…the all white congregation.  The even bigger difference in it though was that he wasn’t even an American.  He was Haitian.   Over the years, he did many good things for the parish, and though he was strongly anti-gay (and I would fume at his sermons on that subject), I do respect the man for his convictions and he is entitled to his own beliefs.  Though he is no longer at that church (and the parish doesn’t even exist anymore), and I no longer go to church with my mother, the events last week in Haiti brought back a lot of memories.

We had a sister parish down in Haiti while he was there.  We would send presents around Christmas time for the children and daily essential items for the community.  The archbishop even came to visit us.  Our priest went down there, with donations from us, and built a school for the children of the village so that they could be properly educated and could help start turning their country around…which is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.  The school still stands after the earthquake, but my former priest still wasn’t sure about his family and his friends.  The archbishop of Port-au-Prince is dead…not really sure if it’s the same one that we got to meet or not.  So my heart sinks even further into great sadness upon this personal connection.  Even now, as I am writing this story about my past, I am tearing up.

And yet, somehow, out of a great disaster comes greatness and compassion.  The nations, and the people, of the world have been reminded that we are all one in the same.  To quote President John F. Kennedy, “We all breathe the same air; We all cherish our childrens’ future; and We are all mortal.”  Stories of survival…even days after the quake collapsed buildings on top of people… are still coming in.  It’s these stories that give us hope in finding more people alive.  But we don’t fool ourselves that death will be a major after effect as time goes on.  The countries of the world are rushing aid into the small nation as fast as possible.  And it’s the overall people…those of us that see ourselves as not only citizens of our nations but as citizens of the world…that are moving all to help.  Maybe it’s because we are soft at heart or maybe it’s because it is in these times that we are able to put all else aside and work toward the common goal of a simple survival.

For those of us that are religious (or at least spiritual in some form), we know that it is going to take a lot more than just prayer to help in this recovery.  We must not let this slip from our mind…even after the media coverage has dwindled away.  We must remain steadfast in helping the people of Haiti rebuild their basic infrastructure, or we could watch as the nation falls into anarchy.  They, too, are citizens of the world community…and they, too, have the right to life as we all do.  Though my heart is saddened, I will not lose hope that tomorrow will be a better day for the people of Haiti.

Out of the ashes can rise the great phoenix.

The Safer Skies

I start off 2010 by discussing an issue that came about at the end of the previous year… the attempted destruction of a plane that was landing in Detroit.  It was a terrorist act that had been organized by al-Qaida.  Shortly thereafter, the federal government began jumping through hoops — as expected — though none of the recommendations they made would have made any significant difference.

So yet again, as passengers on these planes, we have a new set of rules to go by.  We can’t get out of our seats within an hour of landing, we can’t cover up with a blanket or have our laptops out also within an hour landing.  Why?  Because the terrorist had gone to the bathroom to get everything rigged up and had covered himself with a blanket to disguise what he was doing.  And why is it all within an hour of the flight landing?  Because that is when he did it.  I’m almost surprised the government isn’t making us strip down to our underwear in the name of national security.

But does anyone really think these new measures will do any good?  If you do…then maybe you shouldn’t be on an airplane at all.  What’s to stop a terrorist from just doing it earlier in the flight….like in mid-flight or at the beginning?  Once those happen, those of us who are passengers won’t be able to get up out of seats for the entire flight…no matter how much of an emergency it is, and we will have to sit there and freeze to.  It’s all quite ridiculous even.

After the failed show-bombing, it came down that we all had to remove our shoes so they could be inspected.  At least that made some sense.  But again…the terrorists adapted to our rules.   So again I ask…what’s next?  Searching our underwear perhaps?    They do have full body scanners out there that could have stopped this, but there are people out there that are more concerned about their privacy rights.  Now for starters…the person doesn’t see you completely naked.  And secondly, I really don’t think you’re privacy rights are going to make much difference if a terrorist boards your plane and blows it up.  I, for one, have no problem with the full body scanners…so scan me away.  I’m proud of my body.

The federal government also needs to communicate better…between all its intelligence divisions (which the creation of the Department of Homeland Security was supposed to do) and the airlines.  Airlines should have access to all the federal government lists…watch lists and no-fly lists.  As  a voter, I would like to ask why it took this near-disaster for this to come about when we knew after 9-11 that this had been part of the problem?   Shouldn’t this have been something that came about from that?  Apparently, that would have been too easy of an answer.

One could say that these new “security measures” were implemented to make the public feel safer.  But it shouldn’t take much thought from anyone to realize that the new measures won’t really do anything to increase the security of flying and are just red herring in order to make you think they are doing something to help.   So how safe are the “friendly” skies?  Only as safe as we deem them to be.

Echoes of 2009

Well here we find ourselves…on the final day of 2009.  And as I sit back and look at the past 12-months, all I can say is that it has been quite a year indeed.  It has had its ups and downs and even its turn-arounds.   Yes, 2009 definitely marked a major turning point in the LGBT-movement here in the United States and even in other parts of the world.  And we also had to cope with high unemployment and even a major economic recession but we still managed to push our way through it and come out the other side of it better than we had entered the year.

We were all surprised early on in the year when Iowa legalized same-sex marriage.  This was followed by Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire.   It was quite an exciting few months.  News was just flying all around.  Even New York tried to get into the game, but state politics got in the way there.  New Jersey was trying to get into the mix, but election night hampered that though they did still try before the legislative session ended.  Washington state passed the “everything but marriage” legislation.  It ended up going to the voters, and they narrowly approved it.  Several places throughout the country also added sexual orientation and gender identity to anti-discrimination laws.  We can’t forget that the Matthew Sheppard Hate Crimes Act was also passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, which included both sexual orientation and gender identity.  The Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) is making its way through Congress…as is legislation for LGBT immigration reform.  And we even brought light to the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell…though it got pushed off until next year… with the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) taking a back seat to other things during this economic recession.  It was on election night in November that we all watched the biggest turn-around of the year as Maine, which had approved same-sex marriage through the legislative process, overturned gay marriage with a vote of the people.  It was a major set-back…but one in which we learn our lesson and continue to progress forward.  There will be another day to fight in Maine and to get back the rights that we are entitled to.  With a March on Washington, and even marches in our own communities, we made sure that our elected leaders knew how we felt and that we are citizens, and voters, too…and that we deserve equal rights with everyone else.

It wasn’t just here at home that we saw events unfolding.  Argentina began to make a big turn in LGBT rights…first by letting same-sex couples adopt and then approving same-sex marriage.  Portugal is even considering same-sex marriage at this time.  And just a week or so ago, same-sex marriage was approved in Mexico City.  Australia opted not to allow civil unions…though it wasn’t a vote of the people than it was the decision of Australian Prime Minister.  And then there was horror of 2009…. the first steps toward genocide against the LGBT community in Uganda…with Rwanda working on legislation, as well.  The Uganda bill would bring about the death penalty for someone for being gay and life imprisonment for anyone who knows and doesn’t turn the person in to authorities.  It is the dark cloud upon the horizon and one that threatens to rip the very fabric of our community apart.  It will be like the witch hunts of colonial times ending with something similar to Hitler’s Final Solution.  We have brought our community to stride on this…and are working to make sure that none of this legislation comes to pass.  And as we close 2009, the end result is still not known.

Every great movement has its set-backs, and we must not forget to learn from them so that we can make sure that they aren’t repeated down the road.  With all the ups and downs that have transpired over the past 12-months, 2009 will go down in the history books as a major turning point in the LGBT movement.  Remember this little piece….that in 1776, the year the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, General George Washington lost more battles than he won…and yet, in the end, he was the one that persevered.  So let us not concentrate on our losses but instead continue to move forward and work for a better tomorrow as one people fighting for our glorious and righteous cause.  As we begin 2010, the wind is at our backs and the stars are out to guide us.  So let us not stray from our course but sail directly toward the end, and we shall see what’s in store for us all in 2010.

Uganda’s Final Solution

(**This is an edited & up-to date blog entry that is based on the previous entry.**)

One would assume that we have the ability to learn our mistakes in history so as we don’t allow them to happen again.  And yet, here in 2009, we find ourselves confronting a most egregious atrocity in the making.

A member of the Uganda Parliament has introduced a bill that would basically make it illegal for a person to be a homosexual.  This new legislation states that the minimum sentence for anyone having gay sex would be life imprisonment.  If the accused person is HIV-positive, a serial offender, a “person on authority” over the other person, or if one is under the age of 18, a conviction would carry the death penalty.  It would not matter if the sex was consensual between two adults, if the HIV status was disclosed, or if condoms were used.  And the bill doesn’t stop there either.  It would require members of the public to report any homosexual activity to authorities within 24-hours or risk up to three-years in jail.  Overall, it sounds like a witch-hunt, not unlike those from Salem or Ipswich, Massachusetts, that will end in something that will resemble Hitler’s Final Solution.

Most will turn themselves off from caring because this involves an African nation, and most times, we tend to turn a blind eye to anything happening in Africa.  I’m sure that’s how we tried to reason the reports on what Hitler was doing to the Jews in the 1930s and 1940s.  It was in another country in another part of the world and, therefore, didn’t concern us.  And if some connection to the US must be made… this entire situation is being aided by a US-linked evangelical campaign that alleges that homosexuality can be cured and that gay men are trying to recruit school children.  You’d think the general populace would think differently than that.  But even an educated populace here in this country still believes that nonsense, so we can’t expect the people of Uganda to know any better…especially when they are being brainwashed into believing such lies.

Is it possible that this legislation will die out and go away?  Not likely.  Because of Uganda’s deep homophobia and the US-linked campaign, the movement is going strong and has widespread support of the people and even the backing of the Ugandan president.  So I ask, what’s next?  Burning people at the stake?  Concentration/death camps?  Gas Chambers?  One must remember that what Hitler did also had the backing of the people after he spread lies that made the Jews the evils of society.

I know that homosexuality goes against many, if not all, religions.  But the line must be drawn when you are forcing your religious beliefs onto someone else.  You might not like homosexuality…and you might be against it.  But, in the end, what gives you the right to determine that it’s wrong?  And the death-penalty?  Really now?  That’s like trying to put someone to death because they have blond hair or brown eyes.  It doesn’t make any sense.  And spreading lies to a population that knows no better when you know that the outcome for some is going to be death for just being themselves simply screams of Nazi Germany and Hitler’s Final Solution.  Shouldn’t we all have learned from this already?  Why must we repeat it again?  Religion should be about love and tolerance…not about persecuting those around us that are different from us.

We all, as free citizens of the world, need to rise up and put a stop to it here and now.  We aren’t going to let innocent people die for being who they are.  We are going to give those people one big, loud, and powerful voice.  Not everyone can speak out against their government.  It is a right that we in the US are very fortunate to have.  So we must, through ourselves and through every means at our disposal, speak out against those governments that would do harm onto its LGBT citizens in which those said citizens have no voice of their own to be heard.  This type of Final Solution must not happen anywhere ever, and it is our job as free citizens to be steadfast in our observations and diligent in all our efforts to thwart such horrors from ever happening again.

(**This is an edited & up-to date blog entry that is based on the previous entry.**)