Rant

[Locut0s]

Sorry if this sounds a bit screwy, I just have something to get off my chest.

A few items that have come up over the past few days and weeks have been simmering slowly away, on top of all that has happened over the past couple of years.

For one we have the apparent 'anniversary' of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction". Apparently we have to invent a new sound byte for every media story, I get the feeling that 1/2 the time people use it because they just can't bring themselves to even say the word breast. Yet again we see the power that is the collective Christian conservative right. Hiding behind a slew of organizations, oddly enough almost all having names like the Family Foundation, Family Institute, Family Coalition, etc.. they are on constant patrol for any small tidbit they see in the media that has even the smallest whiff of being anti "family values". Someone swore on TV last night or showed a little bit of skin during prime time or maybe talked a little too frankly about homosexuality, never mind the context that's obviously not important, you can count on these groups having thousands of signed petitions in the mail the next day on their way to the FCC. Now were this a normal government, and by normal I don't just mean democrat but any number of the more balanced governments the US has had in the past, such letters might cause some stir on occasion, might even have caused a show two to be cancelled but nothing on a large scale. Instead we find ourselves in a situation where an event that should have been joked about around water coolers the nation over and parodied on light night talk shows but little more, overnight ballooned into a media crisis. Now a year later we find ourselves in a world where people are talking about increasing the fines the FCC is allowed to fine networks for airing �obscene, indecent or profane� material by a factor of ten or more, never mind the definition of what people find indecent "we'll decide that for them". We find ourselves in a situation where any major broadcast has the infamous "7 second delay" just in case GASP something naughty should slip by, how much more blatantly Orwellian feeling could you get? Interesting that were this same event to have occurred in just about any other democratic country that I know of people would hardly have batted an eyelash.

We also have these same "Family Foundations" screaming at the top of their lungs any time the idea of "tolerance toward homosexuality" is mentioned. That's right not equality but just tolerance, as in the recent hilarious Spongebob Squarepants thing, well it would be hilarious if they weren't actually so furious about this kind of thing. What is it about homosexuality that's so evil again, that's right it's dangerous to marriage and it's corrupting American Family Values, apparently there's only one set of such values. Hmm let me get this straight you're Christian marriage is in danger of falling apart because of what now?.... So the new neighbours Tom and Chris moving in down the street, they're the reason I no longer get along with my wife, they're the reason I don't pay attention to the kids and come home drunk every night screaming. If you're going to blame something for the destruction of families at least point to something that has some logical connection for gods sake!

Instead we see a government that has taken these issues to heart. While on the one hand preaching how the US military through an invasion is going to bring about democracy and a genuine constitution enshrining the rights of the people of IRAQ, in the other hand is promising to amend his own constitution to actually take away rights! Apparently we now live in a world where the ends actually justify the means. "Why did we go to war with IRAQ?" "Why TO PREVENT TERRORISM! ... Err no make that TO ELIMINATE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION .... Err no I have it TO FREE THE IRAQI PEOPLE!" 3rd times the charm I guess. Like most others I would much rather see a democratic and free IRAQ, free from the terrorist insurgents, free from US troops, free from dictatorial regimes. And if the result is such a country I will be happy, but that hardly means I can't be horrified at the means of bringing about such an end. But of course it seems that increasingly anyone who voices such opinions in any major medium is quickly and unrelentingly labelled Anti-freedom, Anti-America, Anti-(insert exemplary ideal here). By the reasoning of some of these right wing wingnuts because the world after WWI and II was in many ways more prosperous and stable then WWI and II must be unquestionable defacto good events!

Note: No I haven't been living under a rock these past years. I just haven't given voice to any of this kind of thing before, at least on on a public forum such as this. It's not like I've suddenly become aware of the world around me, though I can understand why some might think so from reading this post :)

[alittlelark]

1. r u fur real???

don't know? Dial 1-800-fu*ckedup

[Locut0s]

11. ??

I'm assuming you mean things are f*cked up and I must have been living under a rock the last several years to make a post like this? Hehe if so yes it's a little late.

Or do you mean I'm f*cked up?

[oasis]

2. Your rants would be more reader friendly if you would break up that

sea of grey into smaller paragraphs.

[Mojambo]

3. Paragraphs are your friends. n/t

[Skittles]

5. especially for those of us with older peepers

:o

[cry baby]

4. My eyes hurt after reading that! You are certainly passionate about

things. I see that you are a newbie - Welcome :hi:

If you have just started reading and keeping up with these events, it's understandable that you would want to rant. There are a lot of things to be upset about. You will feel better if you do something now that you know the true state of things in Bush's world. Sign petitions, send emails, read everything you can, wear a paperclip, protest, etc.

Just for your future rants, please put your thoughts into paragraph form. One big hunk of words is very hard to read on the computer for mid-aged people that can't see as well as they used to.

[Dookus]

6. I don't know what you said

cuz my aging eyes need paragraphs... but right on, brother (or sister).

[ultraist]

7. Are you Canadian or American?

Where do you live?

Welcome! :hi:

[Locut0s]

10. Canadian..

Uhh Canadian as the avatar suggests. A lot of what's going on in the US though is just part of a broader spread of fundamentalism and conservatism, much of which I've seen here in Canada.

[TwentyFive]

8. You have a brilliant mind & are very passionate.

You be a powerful writer, but I suggest taking some english/writing courses at your local college. Don't let your talent go to waste.

[Locut0s]

12. Thanks :-)

Actually I am a University Student at the moment. I have thought of taking a few writing courses as I do like to indulge in writing a paragraph or two now and again. However my actual major is Computing Science and Mathematics.

[cry baby]

9. After edit - much easier to read. You have many good things to say

I just want everyone to be able to read it! Great Job.

[Locut0s]

13. Thanks.

[readmoreoften]

14. Yup. It's pretty maddening, isn't it?

Welcome.

[Pushed To The Left]

15. Excellent points!

I couldn't agree more. The religious right's political movement needs to be destroyed! Their actions and ideology are what have "pushed me to the left". I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Those of us who oppose the religious right must band together to defeat them!

[Ani Yun Wiya]

16. Thank you for the four paragraphs..

You have very well expressed the frustration millions of normal folks have with this variety of asshat.

[magellan]

17. Welcome, Locut0s

Obviously NOT of the neo-corporate/theocratic bush**borg collective. ;) Brilliant rant. It always comforts me to remember that Canada doesn't drink the kool-aid. Now if only one of your scientists (or one of ours) could find an antidote for bushbot-ulism....

[Locut0s]

18. Thanks. We may not all drink the kool-aid but....

don't fool yourself into thinking that it isn't a popular refreshment here either ;) The far right has a strong voice here too, aka the Conservative party that now is the opposition in our minority government. Take a look at an electoral map of Canada and you will see something similar to what you see in the US. Colour votes for the Conservative party red and those for the liberal party blue and you would get a familiar looking map with areas of high population density being solid blue and more rural areas solid red. In the past few elections the liberals have been able to win over the conservatives because they have been able to count on the province of Ontario voting for them, more than offsetting the conservative vote elsewhere. Last election though they lost a lot of that support through "the federal sponsorship scandal" in which over 100 million dollars seems to have been wasted:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/groupaction/

And the liberals aren't really a far left party, for that see the NDP, more central to centre left. If the conservative party won you'd see Bush 2.0 in power up here. Our political landscape does have a little bit more variety than the US scene though with the NDP (a socialist party) and the Bloc Québécois having more say in government than they would otherwise under a different system.

As an example where we are divide take the gay marriage debate. Quite a few provinces have already legalized gay marriage, including here in BC, but the current federal government wants to federally legalize it. There is quite a lot of vocal opposition from the right here, from many of the same type of "Family Foundation" type organizations spouting the same type of fear mongering.