Sunday, September 05, 2004

Now that was a Hatefest

It's finally over. The Republicans are through tearing a hole in the universe of decency and honest discourse. My eyes are still burning from all the fire and brimstone. Now, the Dems had the dog and pony show last month, but their's was merely entertainment, not a crucifiction.

I have never, in my many years and lives, encountered so much vile and hatred outside a Mississippi lynching. Those delegates were steaming with hatred - and enjoying every soul-burning moment of it.

Now, to be fair, the Dems did their share of mudslinging but the leadership made a concerned effort to stem the tide of vitroil aimed at Bush. Some speakers went astray and lashed out but even their remarks were nothing but party poppers compared to the 'daisycutters' of the Republicans. And nothing could make these GOP freaks more proud.

It's as if being hateful and crass is a new American family value to them. They reveled in the own mud. I know of only one animal that does that.

One example of that was the wearing of of purple heart bandages by some of the delegates. This. of course, is a reference to that insipid smear campaign that Karl Rove orchestrated against John Kerry's honored service in Vietnam.

Well folks, the same Navy that awarded those Purple Hearts (and Bronze and Silver Star) is the same Navy that has been awarding medals to other Vets, including thousands of injured Marines coming home from Iraq over the last two years. Those jackasses who profoundly displayed those little purple insults, spit in the face of every soldier, sailor and marine that left a piece of themselves on the battlefield in service to America.

Am I angry? Damn Right!

I served a hitch in the Navy in the '80's. I didn't get a Purple Heart or fought on a swift boat but I served my country with honor and pride. A great deal of my time in service was in or around the Persian Gulf, keeping the world (and some Kuwaiti tanker ships) safe from extremism. Little to my knowledge at the time, most of the extremism was brewing home in the good ol' USA.

Now, I have a real desire to be fair. Hell, I'm a Liberal - it's in my DNA. So I have listened to the other side. My congressperson is Rep. Jennifer Dunn, retiring GOP from the 8th Dist of WA state. She is surely one of the most conservative people in Congress, although not quite up to the standard of Tom 'Bugman' Delay or Rick 'Buttman' Santorum. I have written her many leters on policy and concerns, like any good patriotic citizen would do. They all go unanswered. As a Liberal in the 8th Dist. of WA state, I do not exist to these people. My words go unheard, unheeded, unresponded to. This is not unexpected. All I can say is I tried.

John Kerry is not the perfect candidate, we don't make those in this country. But he is a candidate that we can work with. He listens to the folks who will put him in office. He's intelligent! Boy, will that be a change.

Saturday, June 05, 2004

To Grow Without, First We Must Grow From Within

I'm not going to claim that quote. I have no idea where it came from but I find it apropos here.


There is history happening here. Not just something to put in the textbooks of our grandchildren, but one of those monumental events that dictate whether or not there will be any reason to print those textbooks.

America was born from the tyranny of others. When people became concerned about their freedom, they tried to change their governments. However in Europe at that time, those governments had hundreds of years of oppressive experience and most of the resources to keep these people in their 'place'. So, these intrepid souls gathered their meager belongings and left, or more likely, escaped to the shores of our country.

Once here, they used those talents that made they had learned in their original homeland. The promise of freedom in America brought them here, their hard work and sacrifices brought new brilliance to our society.

Our relatives back in the old country saw and heard what we were doing, how we lived and decided to work with their new American cousins and start chipping away at the old regimes that once had such a hold on the old continent.

In the middle of the last century, when the world went mad, they were given a great oppotunity to make that change.

The America of today was built by sweat, blood, laughter, and pain. From those who came from Siberia 20,000 years ago to those who arrived last week from Bangladesh, America IS her people.

When history tested our nation, we always fought hard and won the day. We did the right thing and joined with other nations to meet these challenges because in order to defeat tyranny you must first expose it to the light of truth and open it up for all to see. America oversaw the death throes of fascism and the starvation of communism with the help of those cousins who chose to stay behind.

America became a global icon for freedom, a trademark for a working democracy. We realized that our founding fathers: the settlers, the natives, the slaves and the servants, had given us a gift that was a living thing. It grew, took nourishment, laughed and cried.

This Gift was not all-powerful, in fact, it was rather fragile. From the beginning, we tended it, cared for it and gave it sustenance. We allowed it to grow into its dream, its promise.

We have learned how to grow our country from without. We have expanded its borders, its people, its ideals. We have created a fine democracy. It has grown quickly, with surety and countenance, with the best of intentions and the strength of will.

Evolution needs to catch up to us. The Gift is showing signs of neglect. Its strength is in its ability to grow and evolve. We have expanded our outer borders, yet neglected to strengthen our inner structure. Our skeleton of standards and ethics have been pushed aside for the worst of reasons; the scope of our image is being used to fulfill the desires of greed and power. The American people have allowed a small group of demagogues change the direction of our evolution. They want to lead America into a new regime, a regime that saw its beginnings in the oppressive places of the old countries.

America has turned full circle from a home safe for democracy to a place where fear is a commodity and hope is a luxury.

To combat the forces of stagnation that have taken hold of our culture, we must become more aware. Education is a tonic against those stagnant entities. American society must open all avenues to greater education, higher learning and the search for answers. Roadblocks that have been put in place the last few years must be torn down. The 'marketplace' should be about ideas and possibilities not profit and loss. The American Experiment must be taken off of Wall Street and put back on its original foundation - on Main Street.

We have strayed. We allowed ourselves to be fooled into giving in to fear and ignorance. That is not why America has succeeded for this long. We succeeded because our courage was greater than our reasons to be afraid.

The remedy, the tonic for our social malaise is to sweep the forces of stagnation from the roles of leadership. We must enter a brave, new world that returns us to those ideals that were spawned when Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and Madison were alive.

We talk of freedom to people in other lands. It is time for us to follow our own advise and free ourselves from the yoke of ignorance.

Shamanaqua out...

Sunday, May 23, 2004

Sometimes you just have to get pissed off in order to find your purpose

Goddess, I just want to scream sometimes. I have been a loyal American patriot all of my life. I have worked tirelessly for the just cause of freedom and democracy. I am not a right winger by any means but I am just as American and just as much a patriot as any of them. I would never relinquish my citizenship for anything. It will be a cold day in Hades when I give notice that I no longer desire to be an American. I will be Red, White, and True Blue until the day the Earth Mother calls me home.


I was born shortly after Castro's take over of Cuba, lived through the Bay of Pigs, Kennedy's assassination, Johnson's war, the Civil Rights movement, Woodstock, Charles Manson, Watergate, the capture of the embassy in Tehran, Ronald Reagan's presidency, a four year stint in the Navy, Iran-Contra, Clinton's rescue of America, Gingrich's Contract On America, the rebirth of the Christian Right and the selection of Bush as Emperor.

You would think that I would have seen it all and could not be surprised by anything coming out of the craphole called Iraq.

Good Goddess, I was a fool to think so.

As an American, as a patriot, I can only say that after seeing the crap from Iraq, I am ashamed to be from this country. Saying this does not in any way take away from my patriotism, in fact, it defines it. I refuse to allow the Right Wing to tell me how to be an American. The great blessing that is American citizenship is our diversity and self-defining purpose. We are a great nation of differing views, cultures, ideas and values. We know what is right and what is wrong, even when the boundary between the two dim and fade. We make mistakes, sometimes big ones. Mostly, we do great things. We are people who strive to be free, even if we stumble.
The great American quality that has lasted over 227 years is our ability to grow past our mistakes.

I have watched the videos and seen the photos of the prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib. Images that sully the memory of Jefferson and Madison. Those who participated in these actions are spitting in the face of every American who ever put on the uniform in defense of their country.

To the Right Wing mouthpieces I say this: Call me any name you want, accuse me of every treasonous crime you can create, the one thing you can never do is call me a liar because the truth knows no party, it knows no political view, it knows no campaign. It only speaks clear and clean. The Truth is Free.

Sunday, May 09, 2004

Quagmire? It's a Damned Vortex!

Great Goddess of the Earth and Sky! To think that the country of my birth, the holder of the Flame of Liberty, the Icon of Freedom and Democracy would be involved in the type of abuses that have occured in Abu Ghraib prison...is beyond belief. I am almost speechless. These pictures are an abomination, an affront to every freedom-loving American.

Yet I do not blame the men and women in the pictures. They will be punished, albeit severely, for their actions. However, they were not the instigators of this mad act. They were merely the tools used to perpetrate this crap. If you get hit by another man's car, do you attack the car? NO, you go after the one in control. The car was just the means to an end.

I enlisted in the Navy in 1984. There was no war, I was pretty safe in assuming I would see no danger. I have no frame of reference to judge battlefield decisions or to explain the stress of facing violent death 24/7 in Baghdad. But I am familiar with the military command structure and how it deals with unpleasant tasks. These soldiers would not have indulged in these actions if the command had forbidden it. Basically, the fault lies solely with the command structure, not the soldiers charged. Although they should pay for their actions, I would prefer to see them relieved of duty and given a general discharge or a Section 14, pay a fine and be given an oppotunity to redeem themselves.
Instead, these men and women are going to spend some considerable time behnd bars and end up becoming the poster kids for Bush's failures. They rot in jail and Bush/Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz walk away with their hands clean.

This is not how the military is supposed to work and all the soldiers know this. They will see their comrades go up the river to protect Bush & Co. and they will get pissed off. As if they didn't have good enough reasons before, they will have their bellies full now. George W. Bush should take this piece of insight very seriously. Changing the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people isn't his biggest problem in this election cycle. It's the hearts and minds of those GI's who work and bleed in Iraq. They will not sit long on their anger and neither will their families.

Anger and disgust is just now starting to swell here in the States. The Right-Wing Wonks are trying to play this off as nothing more than a 'frat hazing'
Hannity has been no better, but then consider the source. I don't give Ann Coulter much attention, she deserves only contempt. The rest of the Screamers on the Right have been towing the Bush line all through this travesty. To expect any common decency from them is both foolish and naive.

America will remain asleep to these events for only so long. The outrage we have always suspected will come is but a few turns of the clock away. Bush has few options right now. He can face the music and take the responsibilityfor these events or blame the grunts in the pictures, blame the Iraqis, and/or blame the Clinton administration. (Doesn't it always come to that?)

Bush is a coward. Nothing is his fault. The men and women in his administration are the perfect example of diligent government employees and never do anything underhanded and dishonest. His lieutenants are above reproach, they are the hallmark of honor and respect. They....I'm sorry.... even with sarcasm dripping from my keyboard, the words still make me gag...

Half-hearted apologies and empty promises are not going to bring ua out of this vortex. The Ship of State is swirling around like a turd in the flush. It didn't have to be this way. It could have been a lot different. But then, 776 men and women didn't have to die either. Bush feels no guilt for what sacrifices the young people of the military have made. He is as separate from that emotion as two galaxies in space. In order to feel guilt, one must have a heart, a soul and George W. Bush has neither. He has only ice in his veins, only dollar signs in his eyes instead of tears. I fear the worst of humanity is in one of the greatest positions in the world.

The next few weeks will determine the direction our country will take in the next four, the next forty years. The good will that we have fought long and hard for in the past one hundred years is being spent like a welfare check in a liquor store. Good will isn't a gift, it's a paycheck given us when we do the job the world community demands of us. We are the symbol of truth, justice and the American Way. When we falter, the fabric of democracy in the free world unravels and all of the little dictators and despots on this planet dig their roots in a little deeper.

Blogger is going off line soon, so gotta make this quick...

Keep the faith, truth will win out, if only a little bruised.

this is Shamanaqua, out

-30-

Saturday, April 17, 2004

The Feces has Hit the Fan

It's been a while since I've entered anything here. I'm trying to get a reasonably decent looking page together along with a lot of links to places you probably already know about and love with all you hearts.


Been listening to a lot of talk radio. Not something I do much, but the opportunity presented itself when Air America went live.
Now, I am a Liberal and it is really no point in listening to such talk. I don't need preaching to. I am a loyal, tie-dyed in the wool, grey pony-tailed, hippie living in the woods, drinking chai, member of the ACLU, Greenpeace kinda guy.

I need to get connected again. It is lonely out here in the bush....oops....I mean sticks. I have grown tired of screaming at my radio. If I hear one more right-wing wonk tell me how evil and deceitful I am, or how ignorant and clueless my politics are - I will go freaking postal.

Air America
I was a little surprized by their premiere. It wasn't as flashy as I wish it could have been.

Hey, liberals are the artists, the creative ones. Shouldn't we have at least come up with some great kick-ass music, audio effects that would blow our woofers into mush? I was a little let down, but it was short-lived. The content was what I expected and more. Al Franken is a god-send. I have always loved his humor. He never lets me down, I've been a fan for years. His partner Katherine Lampher was unknown to me but shows that she will hold her own and is no second banana.

I have become a follower of the Goddess of the Earth, Randi Rhodes. Now, as a devoted shamanic Pagan, that's saying a lot. She speaks to my lonely, liberal soul and, yes, it's sexist but I love to listen to smart ladies. But, and this is difficult to say, her voice kills me. I'm sorry Randi, but the templor of your voice gives chills. This isn't about her voice but about my reaction to it. Man, it hurts! Maybe this can be traced back to that ZZ Top concert in 1974. Many brain cells were sacrificed in the maw of the Great Zuu'l that day, I'll tell you.

Regardless, of how much pain I'm in, I will listen to her. Her message is clear, clean and in your face. She pulls no punches and will give no ground. She's right on target and never misses the plate. By the way, did I ever tell you that I am the King of Cliche'?

Talk Radio has far too much influence in our country. Especially the drastic imbalance of it. This is one of those showcase moments in recent history that should have given clues to the Democratic Party about its demise. A point of light that we turned a blind eye to. We should have been there from the beginning. We are the creative ones, dammit, and should have come out swinging when Rush Limbaugh started getting popular. Whenever these right-wing wonks start a new blast of poisonous spittle, we have to meet it head-on.

It's time to take it back...not just the stuff we gave up, but the whole enchilada. I know I sound trite, it's a small price. The actions still have to be made, any delay requires more energy later.

I have little patience for stupidity. There are folks who may be intelligent on the outside, but they is as dumb as a box of rocks in reality. When did humanity get so clueless? Oops, I'm letting my superiority complex show. The best way to find your faults is to point them out on other people. Yeah, yeah, I know. "He who is without sin cast the first stone". But you have to admit there are a lot of 4 watt bulbs out there. They live everywhere.

Gotta go and get the day started...until next time...Shamanqua out...

April 17, 2004
-30-

Monday, February 16, 2004

It really is about Credibility

I just finished reading Milt Shook's essay on Bush's credibility. You can read it at his Lying Socialist Weasels web site:The Daily Weasel

It's entitled "It's Not About Military Service"

I wholeheartedly agree. It has very little to do with Bush's military service. This spot on Bush's resume only serves to illustrate what kind of person George W. Bush is. Consider that this man, who talks like Rambo, dresses like G.I. Joe (with Kung Fu Grip), and is as bright as a 4 watt bulb; hasn't spoken a word of truth to the American people since he took office.

Now, I'm not just spewing some angry left-wing pinko rhetoric based on mere disagreement on the issues, but am bringing to your attention a pattern of behavior that, coming from the President of the United States, is a blatant spit in the face to every man, woman, and child that salutes the Red, White, and Blue each day.

Our president emphatically says one thing and does another. He is a classic bait and switch salesman. George Bush is looking out for only one person, himself. He was raised to be a self-centered, pampered, vapid, uninquisitive, greedy bastard. His ancestors were the worst of the worst at the dawn of capitalism. They were the kind of men who sent widows and orphans into the cold because they were 5 cents short on the rent.
These men were cut from the same cloth as those who owned the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in March 24, 1911; where 146 women and men died in a tragic fire where the escape doors and the accesses were blocked. Some women jumped to their deaths from the top floors of the building rather than be burned alive. The owners were found not guilty of any infraction and settled the inevitable lawsuits at $75 per death.

When I say that the current Bush spawn is corrupt, I mean it from the roots up.

There is little one person can do to rid ourselves of this menace. The only way to deal with this travesty is to disinfect the entire Capital. Beating Bush this year isn't the only priority, flushing out the other Bush Crime family loyalists that inhabit the Senate and Congress. Men like Tom Delay, Bill Frist, Denny Hastert, and a host of other right-wing wonks need to be sent back to the swamps and under the rocks from whence they came.

What we have to do is keep the faith. We have to gather together our loved ones, our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors and keep the issues fresh in front of them. Debate, argue, joke, complain, whatever it takes to keep the issues in the mix. If we allow them to forget about the lies, they will start to believe them all over again. Some of the heartiest flag wavers won't be swayed. Leave them be, ignore them for they are as blind as a bat and as ignorant as a bigot.

Go to meetings, hold gatherings at your house to discuss the issues, play boardgames and talk politics. We have to do anything we legally can to beat back the Bush dynasty. Let their reign end here.

Tuesday, February 03, 2004

Super Bowl Hypocrisy

Woe is me!

I have seen the travesty that is Janet Jackson's breast. My life as a moral, upstanding citizen of this great nation is at risk. I must cast myself prone before the temple of All That Is Righteous and Profound and ask for penance from the High Ministers....


What a crock...

I cannot believe the hypocrisy of the American Media (like I have EVER thought otherwise). Janet Jackson, in case you've been in a refridgerator box for the last few days, was performing at Super Bowl halftime with that paragon of entertainment Justin Timberlake. On cue, at the finale', Justin reached over across her chest and pulled the covering from her bustier, exposing one full, nipple shield-covered tit. CBS cut away rather quickly.
The aftermath was similar to a car wreck. Every network wanker came out in veiled outrage at the event. They accused MTV, the promoter of the halftime show, of collusion. CBS's executives, always looking out for the moral welfare of America's children, blasted MTV and the dynamic duo, vowing to never let MTV stage another Super Bowl halftime again.
This from the same network that refused to air the MoveOn.org commercial 'Child's Pay' because it was an advocacy ad.
Bet they wish they'd shown the ad.

To top this travesty off, Michael Powell, the FCC chairman and the son of our Secretary of Dishonor, Colin Powell, has ordered an investigation of this affair. What better example of the Fox watching the Henhouse. We are expected to look the other way once again. They promise us that everything will be taken into consideration. The Government knows how to check these things out. Nevermind that the Bush Administration is currently stalling the Valerie Plame and 9-11 investigations. Nevermind that the Resident has been forced by public opinion to investigate the lack of WMD evidence (and his role in it) that authorized entry into the Iraq War. Nevermind that Chairman Powell advocates reducing the public's role in the administration of the airwaves and an increase in corporate ownership of local media. Nevermind that all of this points to a concerted effort on the Right to reduce the power of public review and increase the power of corporate control of areas previously held by the people.

When we bring ths up to our elected officials, what do they say?
"Nevermind!"

Oh, the Horror!

Personally, I would rather see a hundred bare breasts on televsion than a single gunshot wound. Within a few hours of this flash, more than a hundred acts of violence were shown on various stations across the cable spectrum.
Where is the outrage?
When is a bare boob more damaging to a child's sensibilities than seeing a man get his face blown off?
In Europe, where nudity is more prevalent on telelvision, there are far fewer cases of violence, far fewer rapes and murders, far fewer reasons to strip the airwaves of maked bodies. Since when has a body part, especially a gender specific one, been deemed obscene?

IQ's are running at an all time low. Fear the Stupid!

Thursday, January 22, 2004

The State of the Onion Report

It was an interesting speech.
I couldn't watch it live for very long though, I was in a piss-poor state of mind. I couldn't wrap my head around what the Emperor was saying. I had to watch a media clip of it later in the evening (as well as read the transcript.)
I say interesting because only a madman (or a simpleton with cahones the size of basketballs) would say those incredible things.
You can put frosting on a cowpie but it doesn't make it any more palatable.
I feel sorry for the poor bastard. He is obviously in over his little head. He has to pull out all the stops and use every trick in his carpetbag. He has to face the entire country, the world and lie like his life depended on it
Evil Advisor Karl 'Wormtongue' Rove is working a lot of overtime these days. I hope he doesn't run foul of the new regulations though. He may not get his time and a half.
Good Evening!
My name is Shamanaqua and I live in the forest.
This forest is located somewhere is the North Cascade Mts. of Washington State.
I am a Pagan, a worshipper of Nature and all Her children.
But I'm not a pacifist.
And I'm very angry!

Stay tuned for lots of things, some expected ...some not.