Don't Stop Believing

To describe this year's political campaigns as disturbing would be an understatement. On one side,we have a narcissistic megalomaniac who says whatever comes into his head, no matter how demeaning, racist, or void of intellectual thought.On the other side is a woman who is a Beltway insider reportedly so ruthless, she has had people killed and negotiated illegal deals for personal gain.2016 can only be described as the year of the voting conundrum. Do you vote for the idiot or for the bitch?

Or is it really that simple, that black and white?

This election year -- and all of the rhetoric, both patriotic and hateful -- has led me to examine my own beliefs, my own values.  What do I believe in and who is the best person to reflect those beliefs?

My life, my experiences, and my knowledge have led me to these beliefs.  So, in a nutshell with little embellishment, here is my personal vision statement to guide my election choices.

I believe . . .

• All people are created equal and should be treated as such.  Men, women, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Christian, Muslim, gay, straight.  Underneath it all, we are one race -- the human race.
• There is no "one" religion.  Religion or no religion is a personal choice, and has no place in governance.
• Government is necessary for the maintenance of civilization. Yes, it has grown bloated and inefficient, but consider carefully what truly should be pared away.
• Good health and affordable healthcare is a right of all people, not a privilege of those who can afford it.
• Our planet is a living organism, and we are killing it. This must stop before we have no home world left to inhabit.
• Clean air, clean water, even clean food are our rights. According to our own Declaration of Independence, we have been given life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by our creator, whatever that may be. Without clean air, water, and food, we will have no life.
• We are meant to care for each other and for the animals of the world. Most religions hit pretty hard on this.  Even the Christian Bible talks about being "good stewards".
• Sensible safe gun regulation should be the law of the land.  The inconvenience of a background check won't kill you, but it might keep someone else from being killed.
• Education is the most important gift we can give our children. Learning moves us beyond the mundane to the extraordinary. Through education, we learn to think and create, and quite possibly change the world.
• Hate, bigotry, prejudice,and racism have no place in my heart, my mind, or my life.
• Love is love, and everyone has the right to love regardless of gender, race, or beliefs.

When you consider your own beliefs, who will you choose in 2016?

Driven on by A Heart of Stone?

I have been fortunate throughout my professional life to work where I felt I could have an impact. At a community college. With at-risk children. And now, at a center for people with disabilities.

Work becomes so much more meaningful -- and enjoyable -- when you see someone who has been told they can't do something, do it. I love being part of what has become a state-wide push to see people with disabilities gainfully employed.

Despite the good feelings that naturally come with this job, there are days when I still have to ask, "WTF?" Those are the days I encounter people with attitudes so medieval that I wonder how they function.

Recently, I contacted an acquaintance to inquire about openings in food service at the local hospital.  First, let me say that this is a well-respected, professional woman. That view of her quickly changed when she remarked that the individuals I wanted to place there would be "eaten alive" by her employees.

In the words of John McEnroe, "You cannot be serious!"

Then, only a few days later, my colleague spoke to another employee at this hospital about hiring our employees.  Her response was, "I need employees who can carry food trays."

Lady, we have people who drive tow motors! I'm sure a food tray can be easily managed.

Now, I might have expected to hear comments such as these in the dark ages of the 50s and 60s. Back then, individuals with disabilities were shut away from public view.  In their homes or in institutions. It was assumed and accepted that they could never function in "normal" society, never hold a job, never live independently. Antiquated ideas we now know to be completely false.

So why do these supposedly educated people cling to antiquated stereotypes about people with disabilities? Is it fear? Ignorance? Prejudice? Hire one of our individuals and we'll help you overcome all of those issues!

Instead of clinging to a stereotype, you should see these people as productive, valuable members of the community.  People with disabilities are often the best members of the workforce. Once in the right job, they are dedicated, loyal employees.  They frequently offer to fill in when other employees take time off.  And they stick around -- we have some individuals who have worked for the same employer for 10 years!

And they are willing to take the jobs that "typical" employees think they are too good to do..

This particular hospital has a high turnover rate in its janitorial and food service areas. Every time they train someone who then leaves, they lose money.  Every time I see their help wanted ads, I think how we could fill those positions and help them save money.

Why not invest in an employee who will stick around?  Then you might have enough money left to offer sensitivity training for your other employees -- who obviously need it!

Shine On -- But It Ain't Gonna Help

We all know about putting lipstick on a pig, and making a silk purse from a sow's ear. Ever hear of polishing a turd? It's the backwoods cousin to those other colloquialisms for trying to make something better than it really is.

Turd polishing quickly came to mind recently with the celebration of the George W. Bush Presidential Library.  We, on the left, mused about a room full of coloring books and crayons. Those on the right celebrated the President who "kept America safe for eight years." (Of course, we won't discuss the first attack on America since WWII, thousands dead, and TWO wars.)

Yes, every President is entitled to a library.  Even the weakest administration possesses documents and items of value to history. It is part of being the POTUS, no matter your politics, your successes, or your failures.

But a Presidential library should not be an opportunity to rewrite history. Why else would library representative Karen Hughes invite us to visit the library and learn about the Bush presidency?  No thank you, Ms. Hughes! I lived -- or rather survived -- those years.  I don't need to "learn" what happened in your view of things.  I don't need you to polish the turd that is Dubya's legacy to America.

And just to put it all in perspective, I offer a few other examples of polishing a turd (in no particular order).

1. Absolutely anything involving Donald Trump.
2. John Boehner's tears -- as many as they are, they can't wash away that fake tan.
3. Tiger Woods' return to golf -- OK he's a great golfer, but he's still an overpaid philandering schmuck.
4. Sarah Palin as anything other than a has-been beauty queen.
5. Michelle Bachmann trying to convince us that she has a brain -- or that husband Marcus isn't gay.  Can we just say "beard"?
6. Any interview with OJ Simpson.  'Nuff said.
7. Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, and the list goes on. Despite your legions of fans, you're still nothing more than a dressed-up turd.
8. Jerry Falwell's tears -- or any crying evangelist for that matter.
9. Michael Vick's return to the NFL.  Nothing could ever improve this POS excuse for a human being.
10. And anytime we are bombarded with commercials for a new movie or TV show.  I don't care if they are only 15 seconds long, EIGHT commercials an hour for that new Tom Cruise movie is overkill. And it also means it's a real stinker.

There are so many more, and they are all best ignored.  To paraphrase Dan Rather, if it looks like a turd, and it feels like a turd, and it smells like a turd, then it is a turd. And I, for one, will just steer clear of that shit.

A Winter's Day -- 1967

It was unbelievably cold in the Mid-Ohio Valley, especially for the middle of December. With only ten days to go until Christmas, I just knew we would have snow that year. After all, it was December 15th and flurries had been flying all day.
When he came home from work, Daddy built a fire in the fireplace. After supper Mom would make muffins and Constant Comment tea to have by the fire.  It was a winter tradition.
I curled up on the couch, reading whatever a 12-year old reads, when the local news came on. But something was wrong. The news was somber, more urgent. The newsman, who seemed ready to cry, said a bridge had fallen into the Ohio River between Point Pleasant and Gallipolis. I screamed for my parents to come from the kitchen.
All evening and throughout the weekend, we watched in horror as news stories told of the collapse of the Silver Bridge. They showed photos of the twisted wreckage on each side of the river. We saw the concrete piers standing empty in the river. And we saw bits and pieces of people's lives -- especially Christmas packages -- floating in the river. We wondered how anyone could have survived, only to later learn that 46 -- many of them families on their way home from Christmas shopping -- had not. They perished either in the black, icy waters of the muddy Ohio, or beneath the debris of the steel superstructure of the once beautiful bridge.
The tragedy became part of our little communities of Newport and St. Marys days later when our beautiful bridge, the twin to the Silver Bridge, was closed. The reason? The design of the bridge -- an I-bar suspension -- contributed to the collapse of the Silver Bridge. (Brittle steel and the stop-and-go traffic were later found to be factors as well.)
The Army Corps of Engineers and others came in to clean up the Silver Bridge disaster. A few years later, I worked with some of those men from the Corps that helped with the clean-up. They refused to talk about any part of their work that winter.
Our bridge, the Short Route Bridge or Hi Carpenter Bridge, remained closed for five more years before it was torn down. For people in St. Marys and Newport, two communities that had always been tied together by that bridge, we either rode a ferry boat or walked the now-deserted bridge. Many times, I walked beneath those soaring gothic towers and marveled at the graceful suspension.
Our bridge had claimed lives too while being built. My own grandfather had died during its construction in 1927. Now, its twin had claimed 46 lives and would soon claim our bridge as well.
The federal government determined that they could never be sure our bridge was safe. It never reopened, and five years later, it too came down, crashing into the muddy Ohio with the help of demolition experts from CDI.  It was another five years before an expansive new bridge reconnected Newport and St. Marys.  Five years of lost time and friendships.
The collapse of the Silver Bridge on December 15, 1967, claimed 46 lives. It also claimed the heart and soul of the four communities that were linked by that ill-fated bridge and its twin. Some dates and events make an indelible mark on your life.  For me, December 15, 1967 is one of those points in time that I will never forget.
We did have snow on Christmas that year.

I Can't Drive 55

It's true. I drive too fast -- and with an attitude. Oh I drive defensively, always watching out for the other guy. But I also drive with a purpose, or as family and friends like to say, I drive offensively.

When I set out in my car, I have some place to go and only so much time to get there. Those who are, shall we say, sight-seeing impede my purpose. I frequently remind those with whom I share the road how they can improve their driving skills. And, I believe, with some right to do so.

I make that claim because, in my 40 years of driving, I have been involved in two major accidents. And guess what? Neither were my fault and I could not do a thing to prevent either. Both were caused by others failing to drive with purpose, or any awareness of the world around them, catching me up in their oblivion.

The most recent one --  at least I walked away from that one with a few bruises.

My first accident cost me my car, my knee, the clothes I was wearing, and nearly my life. You know it's bad when the OHP officer looks in your car and says, "Oh my god, you're alive!" And, again, it all could have been prevented by driving with purpose and paying attention.

Now that we are living and driving in NW Ohio, I find my need to instruct other drivers has increased significantly. In the flatlands, stop signs on a country road are merely a suggestion. Farm equipment, particularly tractors and pick ups with grain wagons, always take the right of way. OK, I concede to the tractors. They are bigger and the equipment they pull would destroy any car. Battlebots come to mind, for some reason. But that stop sign is there for a reason -- because other cars are on the road!

And while stop signs appear to be a suggestion, these people won't turn right on red with a formal invitation. I don't know what you are waiting for, but if there is no sign and no traffic, make your damn turn! I know you all are conservative, but are you so far to the right that you can't even turn right on red?

Also, the damn center lane is for immediate turning, not for driving between stoplights! It's called a no-man's lane for a reason.

But the worst, and most dangerous, is your predilection for driving in the middle or on the wrong side of the road. If you wait too long, you hit me. If you overreact, your ass is in the ditch or the cornfield. It's all especially unnerving for someone who has been hit by an idiot driving/sliding on my side of the road. This isn't England, so get on your side of the fucking road and stay there!

My driving may not be perfect, but I don't get in anyone's way. I don't fart around in the road or when making a turn. I don't cut you off. I don't text and drive. I don't tailgate or make last minute decisions to turn. I haven't caused any accidents. Plus I use my turn signal indicator, which is more than most of you do.  But I do give you driving instructions, complete with sign language, frequently!

And, as a young friend recently pointed out, if you think Jesus is going to take the wheel, you'd better think again.

Living in the Good Old Days?

Let me see if I have this correct.

We want to put a man on the moon.

There is a subversive lurking around every corner.

A nuclear strike is imminent.

Sex is reserved for married, white, heterosexuals couples -- and then only for the purposes of making babies.

Men must protect women, and women may have opinions only when men give those opinions to them.

Women and minorities are second class citizens.

The bigger the corporations, the better they -- and America -- are. And workers owe their very existence to the benificence of their employers.

Protesters are dirty, drug-addled hippies who have never held a job in their lives and are unpatriotic.

The war we are in is to help a foreign country.

Yep, that pretty well sums it up . . . if it were 1955! Given that this is the GOP's current train of thought, I have to ask.  What freaking century are you living in?

If they think they can win an election with retrograde thinking and scare tactics -- oh wait, they might just be able to pull that off because some Americans will buy any old song and dance.

Sorry, but this shit is giving me flashbacks.

In The Name of Love

For some time now, I have considered writing about the so-called Christian Right, but felt I couldn’t mount adequate arguments to counter their ignorance and stupidity. Quite obviously, I cannot view these people with an objective eye. Their intolerance and hatred of anything or anyone different leads me to believe that they are neither Christian nor right.

Then, a friend sent me a link to a website that said all that I have been thinking – and said it far better than I ever could. The site, http://www.soulforce.org/, addresses Christianity, the Bible, science, and more as they apply to the LGBT community (although the information presented could be used to argue for women’s issues, racial issues, even religious issues and more).

Written by a pastor, who also happens to be gay, the articles present straightforward, unemotional cases for inclusion of all in God’s grace. He makes one important point that really stuck with me. The Bible is a book about God’s love, not a book about human sexuality. So, why then are those self-professed evangelical Christians so fixated on S-E-X? And, how can they profess to follow the tenets of a book about love, yet spew such hate toward fellow human beings?

I may be a Sunday School drop-out, but I seem to remember something about being made in God’s image. Who’s to say what that image is? White, Protestant, heterosexual male is not the only mold that God created. To say that it is, quite simply, is ignorant of history, biology, and religion. If you believe in any parts of the Bible, then you have to believe and accept that ALL human beings were created in God’s image, whether they are genetically wired to be straight, LGBT, African-American, developmentally disabled, whatever.

I’m not particularly interested in religion of any type. I have seen more devout and spiritual people among non-Christians than among the church-going types I have known all my life. That does not mean that I cannot appreciate and accept the beliefs of those individuals. What I will never accept are those who take one Bible verse, then twist and corrupt it to support their own fears and prejudices. That is what the Roman Emperor Constantine did to create the Bible we have today. That is what today’s Christian Right is doing to gain control and impose a state religion upon this country.

And, by the way, this country was NOT founded on Christian principles, but on personal freedom and religious tolerance. Read your history books, folks! If the earliest settlers had wanted the strictures of a state religion, they would have stayed in England. Nor do we have God-given rights as Americans. Last time I looked, America isn’t even mentioned in God’s Word. What we do have are Constitutionally-guaranteed rights – but that’s another discussion.

I strongly recommend checking out http://www.soulforce.org/. If you are a religious person, you will come away with a clearer understanding and deeper appreciation of what your Bible actually says. If you’re not, you will find the support you need for responding to those who base false claims on the Biblical text. Plus you will have the smug satisfaction of saying, “Told you so.”

Contrary to what we are led to believe, all of the world’s major religions share one primary theme – that we love each other. We need a lot more love and a lot less divisiveness in this world. Because, as a great man once said, “All you need is love.”