Hosted by a Treadwell droid.
Question of the Day
We've done this one before, but not for over a year... What's the worst book you've ever read, so bad you couldn't believe it got published?
On Law & Order (Or Some Thoughts on the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail")
The emphasis on and call for "law and order" has often been synonymous with the suppression of social justice struggles in our society. Martin Luther King, Jr., realized that and spoke eloquently of it. Today, as some of us commemorate his birthday, I just want to mention some relevant passages on the issue of "law and order" from his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" and the "Statement from Alabama Clergymen" that prompted the letter.
The Alabama clergymen had already written a statement called "An Appeal for Law and Order and Common Sense." They imagined themselves moderates, negotiating between southern segregationists and civil rights workers, each equally "extremist." See, there's a problem with proclaiming oneself a "racial moderate" or "neutral." Because the perspectives of dominant groups are normalized and regarded as the default, those perspectives are often viewed as “neutral.” In the case of social justice struggles in the United States, the so called “moderate” perspective, in reality, centers the feelings, thoughts, and ideologies of non-marginalized people.
King wrote, for example, that white moderates took the same paternalistic view of African Americans as white southerners who were more overtly racist. As a result, he had been ...gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate.
King also pointed out how the moderates’ claim that the Birmingham protests were "unwise and untimely" revealed their privileged status as “white” in the racial hierarchy and their inability to fully understand African Americans’ perspective:Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."
Unaffected by the "disease of segregation," the clergymen composed a statement that insisted on the importance of obeying the law. They implied that the legal system and the institution of law were logical and just and that justice would be the result if people use them. The clergymen acknowledged no distinction, King claimed, between just and unjust laws. Segregation laws were unjust, examples of "dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.”
We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait."
So, why did the Alabama clergymen, who imagined themselves moderate and even sympathetic to African Americans insist on "law and order" and define civil rights demonstrations as representative of disorder that "incite[d] hatred and violence?" Why did they suggest that African Americans pursue their cause via the courts--a suggestion not rooted in any historical or social context, as African Americans had received little redress in southern courts--instead of "in the streets?"
Obviously, the people who will or do benefit from the system in place have a vested interest in maintaining and/or prolonging the status quo through the use of "law and order." And as I noted, whether they acknowledged it or not, the eight white Alabama clergymen who drafted the statement did benefit from the social order in the South. Thus, according to King, order was more important to them than any semblance of justice, despite their claims:[The moderate] ...constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; ...paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; ...lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
And, in the case of the "moderate" Alabama clergymen, King theorized they had a problematic definition of peace, that prioritized "a negative peace which is the absence of tension" over "a positive peace which is the presence of justice."
King called for moderates to shift their perspectives and to realize that the "calm" appearance of order often obscured the violence necessary to maintain it:Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.
Please keep thinking of justice and positive peace, not "order," as the foundation upon which we should build.
It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation.
I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy two year old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: "My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest." They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience' sake.
Happy MLK Day!
Photos of the Day
U.S. President Barack Obama (R) paints on the walls with other volunteers as he and his family volunteer in honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day, at Stuart-Hobson Middle School on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 17, 2011. [Reuters Pictures]
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama (L) paints a cartoon apple as she and her family join volunteers in honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day, at Stuart-Hobson Middle School. [Reuters Pictures]
Michelle Obama is surprised by everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to her as she arrived at the Stuart Hobson Middle School; today is her 47th birthday. They are joined by their daughters, Malia, 12, right, and Sasha, 9, embraced by the first lady. [AP Photo]
First Lady Michelle Obama smiles and grips the president's hand as everyone sings "Happy Birthday" to her. [Getty Images]
First Lady Michelle Obama high-fives her husband, President Barack Obama. [Getty Images]This venue probably wouldn't have been Ms. Obama's first choice if asked where she'd most love to spend her birthday, but First Families sacrifice a lot for their service. I think it's really cool that she still managed to have fun with her family, even while volunteering. And one of the things I love most about this First Family is that when they do activities like this, which are SO OBVIOUSLY just obligatory staged photo-ops for most presidents, the Obamas get into it. It looks meaningful when they volunteer, because it's authentically meaningful to them.
Monday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, publishers of the upcoming memoir on aging, I Shouldn't Have Wrinkles If I'm Still Getting Zits by Melissa McEwan.
Recommended Reading:
Arturo: Three Different Insults to the Legacy of Dr. King
Alex: After Promising to 'Repeal and Replace' Obama's Health Law, Republicans Have No Replacement
Angry Asian Man: Chinese Soccer Team Inducted into B.C. Sports Hall of Fame
Loryn: The Politics of Hailing a Cab
Fannie: Revelations [TW for MRA bullshit]
Andy: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Commits Herself to Nationwide Marriage Equality on 'The View'
Leave your links in comments...
Daily Dose of Cute
This is Alfie playing with one of his favorite toys, the honking hedgehog. I remember when we first got him, he had no idea what to do with toys. Then one day, Space Cowgirl suggested I walk up to Alfie and show him the toy while squeaking it. That did the trick.
Keep in mind that after playing with the toy for about a minute, he has expended all his energy and needs to take a nap. :)
Quote of the Day
"Aside from the fact that it's been hugely mean-spirited with mildly sinister undertones, I'd say the vibe of the show has been pretty good so far."—Robert Downey, Jr., at the Golden Globes last night, after host Ricky Gervais introduced him by listing many of Downey's films then adding, "But many of you in this room probably know him best from such facilities as the Betty Ford Clinic and Los Angeles County Jail," which itself followed on the heels of other jokes mocking stars for things like age, weight, and addiction.
[Ricky Gervais, Nasty Trainwreck: One, Two, Three, Four, Five.]
Dear Mr. President: Please Reconsider
[Trigger warning for violence.]
So, Iain and I are watching the Bears-Seahawks game yesterday (go Bears!), and we see an ad for the Super Bowl, which will be airing on Fox, including the news that Bill O'Reilly will be interviewing President Obama before the game.
Apparently, this news was first reported on Jan. 6, before the shooting in Tucson and thus before the memorial in which the president called on the nation to engage in more civil rhetoric, but, in light of that event, he needs to cancel the appearance (to which he never should have agreed in the first place).
Bill O'Reilly is one of the most egregious offenders of violent and incendiary rhetoric among public figures today, a professional font of diarrheic invective who disgorges a continual torrent of contemptible rightwing rhetoric peppered with eliminationist language and overt threats. He has has lied about and stalked his critics, said that progressive bloggers should be dealt with "with a hand grenade," said Air America hosts were traitors and should be "put in chains," suggested Al Qaeda should be allowed to blow up San Francisco ("And if Al Qaeda comes [to San Francisco] and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."), engaged in despicable rape apology, used virulently racist anti-immigration rhetoric, said he would have ordered the execution of all the prisoners held at Gitmo, openly discussed killing a sex predator, routinely referred to Dr. George Tiller as a "baby killer," even called him "Dr. Killer" in covering Tiller's murder, and loves using the language of war as a rhetorical device, leading the "War on Christmas" charge and referring to himself as a "Culture Warrior."
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The president cannot admonish the nation to be more civil and to discuss issues "with a good dose of humility," and then turn around and grant a hugely important interview to one of the most uncivil, egomaniacal, irresponsible commentators in the nation, thus tacitly legitimizing his aggressive, violence-laced shtick.
Well, he can. But not without looking like an integrity-challenged asshole who doesn't feel obliged to hold himself to the same standards he expects of everyone else.
It's not good enough to just not use violent rhetoric himself; he's got to refuse to endorse its use by other people, too, even if that's not politically expedient.
And let us note with bitter irony that this interview is just yet another foolish exercise in trying to appeal to the part of the population that don't even believe he's a fucking citizen. That he's caving for them is craven (and stupid) beyond measure.
And terribly disappointing.
Giffords Update
Representative Gabrielle Giffords is now breathing on her own, and her condition has been upgraded from critical to serious condition.
Only two other survivors of the Tucson shooting remain in the hospital, and both of their conditions have been upgraded to good.
Very good news.
After the shooting, part of Giffords' skull was removed, which is a common strategy to prevent dangerous swelling in patients with traumatic brain injury. Once her brain has had more time to heal, that section of the skull will be replaced, which I imagine is the next big hurdle in her recovery. IIRC, CNN reported this weekend that would happen in the next couple of weeks.
Dr. King's Dream
[Voices singing "We Shall Overcome."]
Intro: At this time, I have the honor to present to you the moral leader of our nation. I have the pleasure to present to you Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
[Applause.]
Dr. King: I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.
But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Open Thread
Hosted by a rubber duck.
This week's open threads have been hosted by Things That Are Made of Rubber.
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Daily Dose of Cute
Video Description: Dudley lies on the couch, legs akimbo, while I ask him if he wants to go out, go to the dog park, eat a treat, get scratches, play. He yawns. No interest in doing anything but lying on the couch.
This is, by the way, after he's already been sleeping in that same place for five straight hours, lol.
Quote of the Day
"It's very clear the party wants to do something a little different and maybe a little better."—Current Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele, who "has just dropped out of the race to retain his job at the helm of the RNC and endorsed Maria Cino to be the committee's next chair."
I've had my share of poking fun at Michael Steele over the years, and he deserved every last bit of it and then some, but I'm not going to make any jokes today.
I'm only going to say this: Many of Steele's biggest gaffes seemed to be evidence of a round peg trying to fit into a square hole. He's often spoken of being raised by a mother who was a Democrat, and they say you can't go home again, but it's never too late to cross the aisle.
Have lunch with Scottie, is all I'm saying.
In Shit I Couldn't Make Up
[Trigger warning for anti-Semitism.]
In an editorial arguing that "Mrs. Palin is well within her rights to feel persecuted" and defend her use of the phrase "blood libel," the conservative garbage-paper The Washington Times calls efforts to hold her accountable for her reckless use of violent rhetoric "simply the latest round of an ongoing pogrom against conservative thinkers."
Yes. Seriously. A pogrom.
I don't even know what to say anymore.
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, proud distributors of BEAUTIFUL RONALD REAGAN CAKES. Happy Birthday, Mama Shakes!
Recommended Reading:
crunktastic: Meeting My Sister
Cara: "This is a maid." [TW for sexual assault and rape apology.]
Andy: First Gay Couples Married in Canada Celebrate Tenth Anniversary
scatx: On Rising Food Prices and Why They're a Problem
Pam: Chicago's Cardinal Francis George on Marriage [TW for homophobia]
Rana: Scraping By
Leave your links in comments...
And Never the Twain Shall Meet, Part II
[Trigger warning for violence.]
In Part I, I argued that the national abortion debate in the US did not get more civil as much as go away. And it's certainly not because the two sides have declared a detente: Roe is constantly in danger of being rendered an empty statute as anti-choicers strike at its heart in steady degrees on the state level.
As I've written before, anti-choice activists, in conjunction with the GOP, have successfully chipped away at abortion rights on the federal and state levels for two decades, hollowing the right guaranteed by Roe via "partial-birth abortion bans" and "parental consent laws" and state legislatures that refuse to fund clinics offering abortions and local municipalities creating barriers with zoning laws.
A lot of progressives treat legal abortion like an on-off switch and Roe as a magical abortion access password, but it's not remotely that simple. Legal abortion is only worth as much as the number of women who have reasonable and affordable and unencumbered access to it. That number is dwindling: By 2000, less than a third of the incorporated counties in the US had abortion clinics.
That's not just inconvenience—between travel expenses and time off work along, the cost of securing an abortion can become an undue burden.
And instead of the national conversation about abortion access getting louder in the wake of this assault on women's rights, it has gone virtually silent.
Because violent rhetoric is a successful silencing technique.
Especially when it's clearly associated with actual violence and destruction. That makes decent people more reluctant to vehemently defend their position, creates a nagging thought in the back of their minds that they're accountable just for speaking up if they know that speaking up will elicit violent rhetoric in response.
If we're all very quiet, maybe no more doctors will get killed.
The people who use violent rhetoric, and violence, bank on that response. They provoke until Something Bad Happens, and they count on their opponents' decency, which they exploit for maximum gain.
In the void of noise where our volatile national abortion debate used to be, there is the slow but certain erosion of women's bodily autonomy.
And we're admonished to be quiet about that. Just to make sure no one else gets hurt.
Meanwhile, we've got a Democratic president whose greatest legislative accomplishment is also "the most expansive restriction on access to abortion Congress has passed," who considers acceptable company a man who equates abortion with the Holocaust and admonishes anyone who objects that "we can disagree with about being disagreeable," who wants pro-choice women to "find common ground" with people who deny their basic autonomy, and who invents straw-women to play concern troll on abortion.
That's what violent rhetoric seeks to accomplish: Surrender on a national scale, because decent people don't want to inflame irresponsible jackasses who will stop at nothing to win.
The only thing to do is be honest about this reality as loudly as possible.
Not more silence. Less.
