Language - We all use it, but not well.

This is one of my favorite scenes from Blazing Saddles.  To me, it is one of the best anti-racist films ever made.  And that's because of Brooks' use of language.  Could you imagine the impact of this scene if it were limited to politically correct language?  Try this comparison:

"One move, or the black fellow gets it!"

or

"One move, or the n----r gets it!"

Which is more funny in the context of this film?  Given how dumb the racist whites in the film are being shown to be, I feel the latter line used by Brooks has a greater impact in more ways than one.

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What a person says, how it is said, and the context in which something is said gives much meaning to an utterance.  This is why Germany has strict rules regarding the display of Nazi symbols to this era.  I find it sad that America has greater freedom in the use of Nazi symbols, and with it, a larger neo-Nazi movement.  Sadly, symbols can carry meaning more effectively than words. And during the Trump era, we've seen more Swastikas and Confederate Battle Flags on display than I'd ever have dreamed would be socially acceptable in any part of America.

I was sickened when our former president said "there were good people on both sides" when referring the the Charlottetown protests.  Are Nazi sympathizers good?  How so?  Does this mean that black rights are bad?  I still remember them chanting "Jews will not replace us."  How can they do that, given how few there are in this country?  Maybe, it's because these people don't want want to invest in the education needed to get the jobs of the future?  Maybe, it's because these people don't want to move to where the jobs are?  Maybe, it's because they don't value people who are not as bigoted as they are, and employers reject them because they want a healthy workplace?

Over time, we saw how bad a person our 45th president was. Recently, Business Insider posted an article noting how the Russians have been cultivating this man as an asset for years. The article links to another in the Guardian, that references a new book on the KGB's development of assets in America. Given what is now known about our 45th president, it's easy to see how a foreign power could manipulate a person's use of words to harm a nation while plausible deniability is spread all around.

It's hard for me to say this, but maybe we need guardrails on the 1st amendment.  Germany strictly regulates the use of Nazi symbols.  But it does allow them to be used.  How many of us know that in a country that generally prohibits the use of the Swastika, that Mel Brooks was allowed to use it in a theater where "The Producers" was being performed?  Yet, Germany prohibited the use of the image outside the theater. So, a pretzel flag was used instead. Even Germany realizes that a symbol of hate has to be exposed to the contempt it deserves.  

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Sometimes, freedom of religion conflicts with other people's property rights.  Several years ago, a bunch of ultra orthodox Jews sued to allow their Eruv to be extended from Rockland County, NY into neighboring areas of New Jersey.  What couldn't be openly discussed in the courts is that the neighboring New York religious community had a much higher rate of poverty (50%-60% on public assistance) than in the community on the New Jersey side of the border. The folk in New Jersey wanted to keep their parks for their own community, and not be crowded out by outsiders.  They wanted to make sure that their properties would not be bought out, then turned into illegal multi family homes.  The 1st amendment actually got in the way of free and responsible speech in this case.

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All of our freedoms come with responsibility.  Sometimes they come into conflict with each other.  When I contrast our 45th president's encouragement of a mob storming the capitol on January 6th with the court battle regarding the Eruv, I see evil (as evidenced by the 1/06/21 mob) vs. good (both sides of the Eruv dispute).  In the former case, people had no respect for the law, and would use any and all tools to get what they want.  In the latter case, the court system was responsibly used.  Although the settlement was not perfect, it is being adhered to, and has had a peaceful outcome.  

Language when used effectively is powerful. But without law, it can also be dangerous.  My question is: Do we need explicit limits on 1st amendment freedoms?

Trump - Off the deep end!

Joe Scarborough is a conservative host on a network that has leaned to the left. And he has said that he can not support Donald Trump because of Trump's refusal to disavow the endorsement of David Duke, former head of the KKK.  Sadly, Joe's outrage, and the outrage of the GOP elite is too little, too late.  The only chance that Trump can be stopped is if the Democrats put up a winning candidate.

Sadly, Hillary Clinton is a weak candidate.  Even worse, in an election where the public (for the most part) wants to vote to "throw the bums out", Hillary represents the interests of the ruling elite.  In the past 30+ years, the elite of both parties have praised the benefits of globalization, without providing a safety net for the structural unemployment that this trend would create.  Neither political party has given a damn about the growing inequality between the working class and the wealthy elite.  In fact, people like Trump have said that our national minimum wage is too high.  Too high?!?!?!?  When I was young, minimum wage was enough for a person to feed his/her family and put a roof over their heads.  Now, a person working minimum wage would be lucky to be able to take care of one person's needs while working 3 jobs!

Where was the outrage in the GOP when Trump insulted Mexican-Americans?  Where was the outrage when Trump insulted Muslims?  Where was the outrage when he acted like a bully, destroying healthy political discourse?  Sadly, the GOP reaps what it sows, and may possibly fall apart as the Whigs did in the 1800's.  And this would be a healthy thing, if centrists were to regain control of the party.  Unfortunately, I don't see that happening.

Recently, Chris Christie came out in support of Trump.  What will he get for his endorsement?  We now have bombastic blowhards who have seduced a large part of society in the hope that a "fearless leader" can "Make America Great Again."  We've seen what happened in Central Europe did this in the 1930's.  

Why do I mention Central Europe?  Two things happened today that give me pause for concern.  At my office, two people were having a political conversation (both moderates) about Trump, and got concerned about my overhearing their chat - as if I were a Trump supporter.  They were pleasantly surprised to find out that Jimmy Kimmel, Matthew Broderick, and Nathan Lane did a spoof of "The Producers", and that I had a sense of humor.  Instead of being worried about being open around me, they became relaxed because they found out I may have the same sense of shock that Trump is a viable candidate for the GOP nomination.  And then, on the way to the railroad station's parking lot (on the way back to my car), one woman and I had a more serious conversation, both of us seeing the parallels between the USA and Weimar Germany.  

How can Trump be defeated?  One can't do it by being mean.  He's a mean person, and can out do any civilized person who has any sense of ethics.  But he can be defeated - by humor.  If people laugh at him, make fun of him, he will lose power each time a person laughs.  One of my favorite spoofs at the expense of Trump came with a person echoing Trump's words from a South Carolina speech with a "gay voice". Once you hear these words coming out of someone else's mouth, you'll realize how insane these words sound. And the clip is funny - unlike Trump....

We have an important choice to make in November.  But the work to make sure that dysfunctional leaders don't get elected starts now.....

"Southern Heritage" = Racism

Does anyone really believe this?

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The Rebel battle flag means many things to many people. Most of all, it is a symbol of rebellion against a country which was moving towards abolishing slavery,  There were many good men caught up in this battle, brother fighting brother, and a way of life destroyed. But can anyone say with a straight face, that flying this flag is not a slap in the face to any Black person who sees it?

In Germany, the non-museum display of the Nazi flag is highly regulated. In most cases, it is banned. But even the Germans know when the Hackenkreutz can be displayed - when the Swastika's extremely bad taste is used for humor, as in "The Producers" when it played in Germany.

Outside the theater, the Pretzel banner flew - a little bit of humor, spoofing the former symbol of the Reich.  Inside the theater, the Nazi banner flew - where there was no way that it could be taken to honor the values of the Reich.

This was an elegant way to deal with a sensitive issue in Germany - they know that the seeds of hatred are easily sown, and they know that symbols as powerful as the Nazi flag can be easily abused.  Sadly, our 1st amendment in the Bill of Rights gets in the way of dealing with the most important symbol of American treason, racism, and hatred - the CSA battle flag.

If many in the South wanted to celebrate "Southern Heritage", they could just as easily flown one of the other flags of the Confederacy - such as the one below:

Why isn't this one flown?  Because behind all the politically correct and sanitized talk lies a background of racial hatred.   

In two books I've read that included trips across the American South ("The American Home Front: 1941-1942" by Alistair Cooke, and "Travels with Charley - In search of America" by John Steinbeck) the authors both got disgusted with the attitudes of most Southerners they encountered, and couldn't wait to be out of this land. Although things have changed a lot since the 1960's when Steinbeck wrote his book, we still have far to go.

When I was last down South in 2001, I visited a couple of friends from the AOL chat group for Widows and Widowers. While there, I ended up chatting with the woman of the house. She complained that "them N----rs" are getting everything from the state, leaving us poor. (Of course, the 2 of them could have saved a lot of money by kicking their 3 pack a day cigarette habits - but that wasn't going to happen.) This lady loved to blame Black people for the problems that she and her White friends were having. Although this was 14 years ago, it left a very foul taste in my mouth when it comes to the values of our South.

Recently, 9 people were killed by a lone wolf terrorist inside a church.  One of those people was an elected representative in South Carolina's legislature. And it was amazing how quickly many people in the government realized that they needed to remove the Rebel Battle Flag from the Capitol. Yet, when members of the GOP POTUS candidate "Clown Car" were asked about whether the flag should be taken down, most of them hemmed and hawed - not wanting to alienate the racist lunatic fringe that makes up a goodly number of loyal GOP voters in the South.

In a recent article in Der Spiegel (International), they wonder why it is only now that America is addressing its long history of racism.  Der Spiegel notes that we have a prominent museum dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust in Washington, DC (which I've visited, and discussed in another blog entry), but none to remember the evils of slavery.  They go on to note that Thomas Jefferson has a big monument in our nation's capital, but only when you go to Mount Vernon, his homestead, do you find out about the abuse of slaves that went on in his era. 

I am glad to say that former POTUS candidate Mitt Romney said in unquestionable terms that the flag MUST be taken down - something most of the "Clown Car" won't do.  And I am even more glad to see that Strom Thurmond's son, Paul, has taken an honorable stand and will vote to remove the Confederate flag from South Carolina's Capitol.  Knowing his father's pro-racist stance for most of his political career, it's good to see that the son will do right by history - and help to get the flag removed before the Black legislator killed by the terrorist lies in state in the Capitol building. And this gives me hope for the future....