Back to basics

The fundamental duty of government is to protect its people...all of them. In this modern age, that includes closing the wage gap, providing free or affordable health care for all citizens, assuring basic food and housing, regulating corporations, and more.

We're fucked.

Neoliberals and their "free market" mantra are doing quite the opposite. We need not look too far, nor too deep to realize that when you're paying $80,000 for a 3-day hospital stay while Exxon rakes in $63 billion in profits for 2005 something has gone desperately wrong.

Like most, I wish American corporations had a conscience. But their fundamental function is profit for their board and their investors. Greed is a powerful thing. It's brought both "political parties"--and I use the word "both" loosely as it implies a marked difference between 2 entities; a joke in our current political climate--to the edge of the corporate dinner table, begging for scraps like dogs.

Then comes the PR campaign. Why "do the right thing?" Why adhere to your fucking job description? Why admit wrongdoing when you can simply condition the public--through targeted PR campaigns--that it's in its best interests?

The large corporations have run amuck. With our government's help, they have turned our entire population into consumers. They've turned communities into target demographics. They build strip malls, not public parks. They've propagated their racist views with terms such as "illegals." And we've bought it hook, line, and sinker.

When did this shift in government duty occur? When did they sell out? What happened?

Blame Madison. Yes, that Madison. In his writings, he made it abundantly clear that the priviledged, educated class was to control policy and government. He was smarter and thus better suited to mold the country for his uneducated counterparts on the farms.

After all, submission is implicit in democracy. We submit to the laws set forth by the electorate. Fair enough. But where we dropped the ball was letting said electorate shift its duty from protecting our welfare to serving the corporate world. And we wonder why those pesky bills to tax the rich never get ratified.

Keep 'em shopping. Keep 'em thinking this is the best they've had it. But most importantly, keep them from organizing!

And it's working. It's working better than Madison probably ever hoped. His "opulent few" are very much still in control. Trouble is, we're no longer uneducated laborers. We're not the "spectators" that they want us to be.

Reform the laws that prevent other voices from competing with the "two" major parties. Listen to us. Provide for our well-being. Even if that means taking Abramoff's dick out of your mouth for 15 minutes. Look after your constituency. After all, it's what you're paid to do.

For ourselves and our communities...

Highway robbery!

"Are these space pants? 'Cause my ass is out of this world."

Santino Rice, you've been robbed. I was pulling for you...hoping against all hope. And for what? So your title could be tossed away. You're the champion, brother.

If you find yourself muttering, "what the fuck?", then you are obviously not a fan of Project Runway. You know, that show on Bravo about the fashion designers.

Which brings me to guilty pleasures, skeletons in my TV closet, and how to reconcile seemingly vapid reality shows with one's social conscience. I find it humourous that folks react with such surprise to learn I watch not only Project Runway but Blow Out as well. "Is he insane?" "Does he lack intelligence?" "Is he gay?!"

Hardly. As a writer, musician and wannabe stencil artist, I can appreciate the creative process. What's more, these people's creations serve a greater purpose of enriching the lives of those who receive said creations.

I contend that a new piece of clothing or a kick-ass new coiffe can do as much for a person's self-esteem and general mood as anything. So why dismiss artistic vision and technical ability as worthless just because it's "fashion?"

Art, music, and yes, fashion, are what move us forward culturally. If you're looking to your fellow man to lead you politically to your utopia, you're pining up the wrong tree. In fact--as evidenced by recent legislation in South Dakota--your fellow man is dragging you, your lifestyle, and your sister's uterus back about 50 years.

So we must look to Santino Rice and Jonathan Antin--and every last artist and musician we know--to help push us forward. To help open our collective eyes to the New..to the Next. And, well, to make our asses look tight.

*in my best Santino doing Tim Gunn voice*

Where's Andre?

treading water

I hesitate to divulge too much. After all, the voluntary submission of personal info to the Internet digital chasm is bound to raise some flags. That said, it's without hesitation that I submit to you, the reader, all the random prattle you can stomach. Political? Somtimes. Tongue in cheek? Most often. Riddled with typos? Assuredly.

Though the goings-on in my life are not unlike those in yours, we all have a unique slant on our shared--albeit subjective--reality. So know this: I live in a blue state. I have liberal politcal and social views. If we disagree, then that's great just so long as it's on, say, responsible fiscal policy in the Western U.S. or which Clash song is the absolute best. (To paraphrase Colbert, "Joe Strummer: great musician, or greatest musician?")

However, if you're here to invade my space with tales of hunting as a viable means to control animal populations, diatribes on how the have-nots are beelding the welfare system dry while you live paycheck-to-paycheck, or how orientation has anyting to do with a person's ability to function as a compassionate, productive, MARRIED person in our community, then...

...well...

you can fuck right off.

"Hypocrisy!" you scream. "How dare you encourage open debate but limit the participants to those who share your narrow view of the world?"

My viewpoints are a product of my upbringing, geographic location, and a healthy dose of "live and let live." But I will not tolerate bigotry. Yes, you have a right to hold those opinions. Yes, you even have a right to stand on the sidewalk and shout them at me. But the reality is, you and those archaic views are not unlike the Black Knight from Holy Grail: tragic, clueless to his pending demise, and fodder for hours of laughter and entertainment at your expense.

So, I'll put you down for "greatest."


get rad. stay rad.