Hard to imagine, giving how many horrible things the President who will not be named has said, that he said the two worst things ever within a day.
First of all, in a rally in Mississippi, he made fun of Dr. Christine Blassey Ford and got laughter and applause.
The other was when he was about to get on the helicopter and told reporters, and I quote: "It's a very scary time for young men in America."
It is unforgivable to mock a victim of sexual abuse whose predator, I believe, will be named to the highest count in the land tomorrow. Whatever you think about whether the accusations are true or not, to make fun of a woman who altered her life to testify about what she remembers is just short of Satanic.
And to the second statement by President WWNBN-ed is beyond belief.
Thank God, I say, that these are scary times for 'young men' in America. Every time, before now, have been scary times for 'young women'. Turn about is more than fair play--it is right and good and just and noble.
Young men, I hope, are scared. Scared enough to respect the women around them in a new and better way. I pray that is true.
Fear is a good thing to motivate behavior.
One of the worst things he's said and I hope young men hear it and heed it. I truly do.
Scared young men will make life better for young women. Hopefully....
Friday, October 5, 2018
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Ten sleeps
That's the way we told Josh and Mimi, when they were young, when something was going to happen.
"Five sleeps," we say, "and then we're going to grandma's house"...or to the beach...on until the birthday party.
Bridget (Annie's new name since she really didn't react to 'Annie' except by lowering her head like something bad was coming) has been with us ten sleeps.
She is remarkably sweet and quiet and good. She is beginning to seek us out when we're not with her. At first she was on a couch or the bed until we came and got her. She's obviously used to 'being alone'. Now she comes looking and gets some loving and then goes back upstairs. When either of us is up in the TV room, she's there.
Outside is hard for her. I don't think she's been outside much and she's cowered by most things outside--cars, mowers, people, other dogs. But she goes and gets a little better on walks each day. We haven't thought of taking her to walk the Canal down at the bottom of the hill yet. Not ready for that.
She needs a follow-up shot for lime disease in a week or so, which will only be the second time we've put her in a car. The first was to bring her home.
Every once in a while she seems excited and happy--usually around meal times and when we walk in to where she is.
But there is much to do yet--for us and for her.
Ten sleeps hasn't been enough. But we're patient and love her so.
Hopefully soon I'll be able to attest that she trusts and loves us.
Just not after only ten sleeps.
"Five sleeps," we say, "and then we're going to grandma's house"...or to the beach...on until the birthday party.
Bridget (Annie's new name since she really didn't react to 'Annie' except by lowering her head like something bad was coming) has been with us ten sleeps.
She is remarkably sweet and quiet and good. She is beginning to seek us out when we're not with her. At first she was on a couch or the bed until we came and got her. She's obviously used to 'being alone'. Now she comes looking and gets some loving and then goes back upstairs. When either of us is up in the TV room, she's there.
Outside is hard for her. I don't think she's been outside much and she's cowered by most things outside--cars, mowers, people, other dogs. But she goes and gets a little better on walks each day. We haven't thought of taking her to walk the Canal down at the bottom of the hill yet. Not ready for that.
She needs a follow-up shot for lime disease in a week or so, which will only be the second time we've put her in a car. The first was to bring her home.
Every once in a while she seems excited and happy--usually around meal times and when we walk in to where she is.
But there is much to do yet--for us and for her.
Ten sleeps hasn't been enough. But we're patient and love her so.
Hopefully soon I'll be able to attest that she trusts and loves us.
Just not after only ten sleeps.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Far from over, if ever....
The President said today that these were 'bad days for young boys'.
All the days before these days have been 'bad days for young girls'...
Turn about is not only fair play--it's how it has to be.
The President also said there could be 'bad reports' about everybody.
That's simply not true and grossly misleading.
Most men I know never did anything that could be called 'sexual assault'.
I do agree that most men I know drank irresponsibly at some time or another. I myself did not drink until after high school when I went to New Orleans to be with my cousin Mejol and she took me to famous clubs and got me drunk enough to realize how dangerous drinking too much could be. Bless her, what a gift.
I still love white wine and drink on holidays until I'm just smiling and nodding.
But I've never hurt anyone while drinking.
In fact, I get even gentler than I already am after some wine.
But all this is far from over, no matter whether or not Judge Kavenough is on the Supreme Court or not.
November is coming. Let's see how worse the 'bad days for boys' can get.
And 2020 is looming.
This whole scenario is far, far from over.
Lean back and take a deep breath. Better times are coming and coming and coming....
All the days before these days have been 'bad days for young girls'...
Turn about is not only fair play--it's how it has to be.
The President also said there could be 'bad reports' about everybody.
That's simply not true and grossly misleading.
Most men I know never did anything that could be called 'sexual assault'.
I do agree that most men I know drank irresponsibly at some time or another. I myself did not drink until after high school when I went to New Orleans to be with my cousin Mejol and she took me to famous clubs and got me drunk enough to realize how dangerous drinking too much could be. Bless her, what a gift.
I still love white wine and drink on holidays until I'm just smiling and nodding.
But I've never hurt anyone while drinking.
In fact, I get even gentler than I already am after some wine.
But all this is far from over, no matter whether or not Judge Kavenough is on the Supreme Court or not.
November is coming. Let's see how worse the 'bad days for boys' can get.
And 2020 is looming.
This whole scenario is far, far from over.
Lean back and take a deep breath. Better times are coming and coming and coming....
Third times' a charm
I've shared this post twice before to almost no readers. Trying again....
It was on the way to Israel in December of 1999. We landed in
Frankfort in the wee hours of the morning. I had forgotten all about it
(but at my age 'forgetting' is normal....) But I was reading from the
notebook I took on that trip and found this poem.
Watching dawn come at Frankfort Airport
Staring out on a school of
planes
(neatly arranged like huge
patients in a ward
attached with feeding tubes
of walkways to the
terminal)
dawn creeps in.
It comes as a lightening
of the sky
from black
to indigo
to navy blue
to steely gray.
Somewhere on the flight
somewhere over the north Atlantic
somewhere at 37,000 feet
I lost six hours.
Dawn comes late in Frankfort
in December
but my watch is still at
10 'til 2 in the tiny
hours of Eastern Standard Time.
Who owes me these six hours?
How do I get them back?
All around me members of
my group are sprawled
on black, comfortable
seats,
dreaming that in sleeping they
can steal back the time.
But those six hours are
simply gone, I tell you!
Poof! Disappeared! Lost....
Now a monorail passes outside the window,
people lit up inside, heading for airplanes.
I can see planes dropping to earth
and leaping away on faraway
runways.
People are trapped inside
each of them, headed toward
Budapest, Singapore,
New York, Moscow,
New Dehlia. Losing
or finding hours as they
go.
I hope someone nice finds
the six hours I lost
and uses them well.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
The only time I was ever in Germany
Watching dawn come at Frankfort Airport
Staring out on a school of
planes
(neatly arranged like huge
patients in a ward
attached with feeding tubes
of walkways to the
terminal)
dawn creeps in.
It comes as a lightening
of the sky
from black
to indigo
to navy blue
to steely gray.
Somewhere on the flight
somewhere over the north Atlantic
somewhere at 37,000 feet
I lost six hours.
Dawn comes late in Frankfort
in December
but my watch is still at
10 'til 2 in the tiny
hours of Eastern Standard Time.
Who owes me these six hours?
How do I get them back?
All around me members of
my group are sprawled
on black, comfortable
seats,
dreaming that in sleeping they
can steal back the time.
But those six hours are
simply gone, I tell you!
Poof! Disappeared! Lost....
Now a monorail passes outside the window,
people lit up inside, heading for airplanes.
I can see planes dropping to earth
and leaping away on faraway
runways.
People are trapped inside
each of them, headed toward
Budapest, Singapore,
New York, Moscow,
New Dehlia. Losing
or finding hours as they
go.
I hope someone nice finds
the six hours I lost
and uses them well.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Sometimes squeamish, sometimes not,,,
Sometimes I wonder what was going on in the minds of the scholars and divines who put together The Revised Common Lectionary--the Sunday and Holy Day readings used by the Episcopal Church and most Main Line denominations.
Today for example.
In the Gospel from Mark, we hear Jesus telling the crowds to 'cut off your hand', 'cut off your foot' and 'pluck out you eye' if your hard or foot or eye causes you to sin. (This is from Mark 9.) "It is better," Jesus tells them, to enter God's kingdom short a hand or foot or eye than to be whole and go to hell. Some rather detailed descriptions of the horrors of hell are added just for good measure.
I remember preaching at a church as a supply priest when this gospel was read. (It shows up every three years on the Sunday nearest September 28th, in case you care--and why should you?) When I finished reading it, all the kids left for Sunday School. "Boy," I said after they were gone, "I'm glad I'm not to one to have to explain that to them!" The congregation laughed nervously. They were glad they weren't too....
But on this same Sunday, the lectionary gives us a reading from the Hebrew scriptures, from the Book of Numbers.
In it, the children of Israel are complaining that they have no meat to eat--or fish or onions or garlic or anything good--just the sticky manna that shows up in the dew every morning. Manna, as it is explained in Numbers, is sort of like communion wafers--hardly something to stick to your stomach. So Moses complains to Yahweh about making him in charge of this whiny people out in the Wilderness, wandering for 40 years. So God promises 'meat' to them and makes 70 other Israelites share the leadership responsibilities with Moses.
Thing is, the Numbers reading is chapter 11, verses 4-6, 10-16, 24-29. So 7-10 and 17-23 are left out. Now it is a long lesson, so I guess the lectionary folks didn't want to make it longer.
However, what is left out is what Yahweh/God says to Moses about the pigeons that will fly in every evening and die so the Children of Israel can have 'meat' to eat. God is angry with the whiny band as much as Moses is, so he says: "They will eat meat....until it comes out their nostrils...."
That seems to be, to me, a real insight into how God can get really pissed off!
So maybe the lectionary icons wanted to spare us a view of God that unfavorable.
If so, why do they let us hear Jesus tell us to maim and lame and blind ourselves to avoid hell?
Sometimes squeamish, sometimes not, it seems to me....
Today for example.
In the Gospel from Mark, we hear Jesus telling the crowds to 'cut off your hand', 'cut off your foot' and 'pluck out you eye' if your hard or foot or eye causes you to sin. (This is from Mark 9.) "It is better," Jesus tells them, to enter God's kingdom short a hand or foot or eye than to be whole and go to hell. Some rather detailed descriptions of the horrors of hell are added just for good measure.
I remember preaching at a church as a supply priest when this gospel was read. (It shows up every three years on the Sunday nearest September 28th, in case you care--and why should you?) When I finished reading it, all the kids left for Sunday School. "Boy," I said after they were gone, "I'm glad I'm not to one to have to explain that to them!" The congregation laughed nervously. They were glad they weren't too....
But on this same Sunday, the lectionary gives us a reading from the Hebrew scriptures, from the Book of Numbers.
In it, the children of Israel are complaining that they have no meat to eat--or fish or onions or garlic or anything good--just the sticky manna that shows up in the dew every morning. Manna, as it is explained in Numbers, is sort of like communion wafers--hardly something to stick to your stomach. So Moses complains to Yahweh about making him in charge of this whiny people out in the Wilderness, wandering for 40 years. So God promises 'meat' to them and makes 70 other Israelites share the leadership responsibilities with Moses.
Thing is, the Numbers reading is chapter 11, verses 4-6, 10-16, 24-29. So 7-10 and 17-23 are left out. Now it is a long lesson, so I guess the lectionary folks didn't want to make it longer.
However, what is left out is what Yahweh/God says to Moses about the pigeons that will fly in every evening and die so the Children of Israel can have 'meat' to eat. God is angry with the whiny band as much as Moses is, so he says: "They will eat meat....until it comes out their nostrils...."
That seems to be, to me, a real insight into how God can get really pissed off!
So maybe the lectionary icons wanted to spare us a view of God that unfavorable.
If so, why do they let us hear Jesus tell us to maim and lame and blind ourselves to avoid hell?
Sometimes squeamish, sometimes not, it seems to me....
Friday, September 28, 2018
Surprise, Surprise!
Thanks to Jeff Flake and others, there will be an FBI inquiry into Judge Kavenough.
Surprise, surprise.
There is some small reason to continue to believe in the system of government--but not a big one, by any means.
At least, for the first time in recent history, some Democrats and some Republicans actually sat together and talked about 'what's best for the nation' instead of what's best for one side or the other.
Lord, I never thought I'd say this but I miss when Ted Kennedy and Republican senators would get drunk together.
Now the country is so polarized that Democrats and Republicans don't even talk with each other, much less get drunk.
When people who disagreed felt comfortable drinking together was a much better time.
Have some scotch, talk about families, baseball, food you love--get to know each other. Get to even like each other.
Then it will be much harder to be so bitter and mean to each other.
The Senate and House need to hoist a few glasses and narrow the Divide we're now in.
Really. Alcohol is the great equalizer.
Have a drink Judiciary Committee.
We need you to. We really do. This whole country you all claim to love.
Bottoms up!!!
Surprise, surprise.
There is some small reason to continue to believe in the system of government--but not a big one, by any means.
At least, for the first time in recent history, some Democrats and some Republicans actually sat together and talked about 'what's best for the nation' instead of what's best for one side or the other.
Lord, I never thought I'd say this but I miss when Ted Kennedy and Republican senators would get drunk together.
Now the country is so polarized that Democrats and Republicans don't even talk with each other, much less get drunk.
When people who disagreed felt comfortable drinking together was a much better time.
Have some scotch, talk about families, baseball, food you love--get to know each other. Get to even like each other.
Then it will be much harder to be so bitter and mean to each other.
The Senate and House need to hoist a few glasses and narrow the Divide we're now in.
Really. Alcohol is the great equalizer.
Have a drink Judiciary Committee.
We need you to. We really do. This whole country you all claim to love.
Bottoms up!!!
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Are you suprised?
Are you surprised that a man with a whole baseball sized team of accusers of his sexual misconduct--two of which he paid hush money about--is suggesting the three women from Judge Kavenaugh's past are making it all up?
And I think the Democrats are using these women's pain, humiliation (and actual danger!) in too political a way.
These women must be listened to. It is an act of great bravery for them to go public with their accusations. (One of them, who gave a sworn declaration, is a federal employee risking her career.)
The Republicans, by scheduling the committee vote before even hearing out the three women, are burying their heads in the sand and pretending it's just going away. That's an insult to any woman who has been sexually assaulted.
And the explanation some of the Judge's supporters are using: essentially 'boys will be boys'--is an insult to the vast majority of men who have never made unwanted sexual advances.
And to imagine that Kavanaugh won't have the same "*" hanging over him that Clarence Thomas has for all these years. They can start a 'sexual abuser' club on the highest court in the land, that, by the way, should be made up of men and women beyond reproach.
It's a mess. Those on both sides should drop the politics and deal with this situation calmly, decently and with deep respect.
And if they don't....?
Will you be surprised???
And I think the Democrats are using these women's pain, humiliation (and actual danger!) in too political a way.
These women must be listened to. It is an act of great bravery for them to go public with their accusations. (One of them, who gave a sworn declaration, is a federal employee risking her career.)
The Republicans, by scheduling the committee vote before even hearing out the three women, are burying their heads in the sand and pretending it's just going away. That's an insult to any woman who has been sexually assaulted.
And the explanation some of the Judge's supporters are using: essentially 'boys will be boys'--is an insult to the vast majority of men who have never made unwanted sexual advances.
And to imagine that Kavanaugh won't have the same "*" hanging over him that Clarence Thomas has for all these years. They can start a 'sexual abuser' club on the highest court in the land, that, by the way, should be made up of men and women beyond reproach.
It's a mess. Those on both sides should drop the politics and deal with this situation calmly, decently and with deep respect.
And if they don't....?
Will you be surprised???
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)