Gibson's gay obsession: John Gibson, commentator from Fox News, recently made a joke about the recent death of the actor Heath Ledger who played the role of a gay man in the film "Brokeback Mountain."


At long as have you no shame, John Gibson and Fox News? The comment from John Gibson after the death of Heath Ledger leaves me, for once in my life, speechless. I do not know what makes up the content or lack of it of some people's character. They simply are missing something in the synaptic tapestry of their brain. I will never understand why they care so much about with whom someone sleeps. It makes not one inch of a difference to their lives. No one tells John Gibson whom to be with or whom to love. Heath Ledger was NOT even gay. He PLAYED a gay man in a movie for God's sake. Even if he were I would never understand why the right wingers do not understand that gay issues are about the freedom to pursue a singular happiness and love whom one choses while maintaining all the political (and financial) rights everyone else enjoys. Perhaps, it is because those on the right feel so little love themselves that they are unable to empathize with people who do.

I wrote this on an MSNBC blog in response to the story that these Christian idiots will be protesting Heath Ledger's funeral because of his movie role as a gay male in Brokeback Mountain. It's written off the top with not much thought as to sentence structure.

Usually I wax academic and try to present cogent, well formulated opposition to the issues of the day. This time with respect to the anti-gay Kansas church protest of Keith Ledger's funeral because he played a gay man in a movie, I can think of only one sentence. THESE PEOPLE ARE ABSOLUTE MORONIC 100% IDIOTS WITH THE INTELLIGENCE OF A DUMB CHIMP! I won't go on and on about Biblical veracity being absolutely from planet Pluto. We are using a 5000 year old document to twist people into submission. Homosexuality is variation of nature. It is inherent in one's genetic and hormonal construct. I guess our Biblical geniuses did not understand the concept of DNA. What would one expect if one reads ONE'S bible from a text which indicts people for a million other "sins" including heterosexual adultery? By the way biblical passages also indict people with body differences as somehow offending god. So which is it? Do you want to take this book of stories from 5000 year old men as fact? If you do then you must feel that the earth is the center of the universe and that Joshua really did make the sun stand still. Get real and get a brain. THINK for a change. What a new concept in this country. People who could actually THINK!

Segregation forever? I provide a fascinating link below to a Newsweek photo exhibit which traces segregation then and now through pictures. It tells of our nation's sad story on race during the mid-20th century, a era of profound segregation. It prompted me, to write a little bit on this Achilles heal of our nation.

After you click on the link below, simply click on each individual picture which has a description to the left of it.

I wrote:


When one thinks nothing much has changed simply view those pictures. They are worth a thousand words. I was a little white girl in the 1950's and raised in a mostly white (at that time) Boston suburb. I remember our high school class elections when a black woman was running for president. She said to me that she would never win because she was, as she put it then, a Negro. I was astounded that she would make such a statement. I thought about that continuously for many years and when I looked back I, of course, sadly realized she was absolutely right. I think even then, though, I knew she was right but I simply did not want to realize that would be true in the country I loved. Much has been accomplished since that time nearly 35 years ago, but, I believe, we still have a long way to go.

There is, I think, something, perhaps, which is woven into our genetic tapestry to resist those who are not a member of our group. Perhaps it dates to the origin of man. We, hopefully, as years go by and decades pass will know that we are one species -- homo sapiens -- and that all of us, each and every one, can trace his or her lineage to Africa. We must learn to live together if we are all to survive together. I hope I see that in my lifetime.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/94787

Oliver Stone is going to make a film about George W. Bush. Supposedly he will take a balanced look:

Nothing is ever black and white EXCEPT, as I see it, the George Bush presidency. I never, from day one, ever thought George Bush was up to the cerebral task, or possessed the intellectual excellence and wisdom that, in my opinion, one needs to be president. Risking arm chair psychology, George Bush, in my opinion, is a vapid and vacuous man who had the good fortune to be born into the right family which he used successfully to extricate him from heaps of trouble and get him into prestigious schools for those would be presidents-in-waiting. He got out of trouble most of which most of us would pay a huge price whether it was his evasion of military service, the consequences of his severe alcoholism, drinking and driving, failure in business, countenancing the theft of an election or even courting treason by the outing of a covert agent. I think he did not care about anyone, anything or even his country as long as he advanced himself and his own hide was saved. I even believe his so called conversion is bunk.

I believe George Bush knows he was given the intelligence short straw and feels uniquely inferior to his much more able father H.W., grandfather Prescott and brother Jeb. So, he appears outwardly to be unmovable and strong. In reality, though, I believe he feels utterly incapable and weak. I think he is a weak man, unknowing of history, and a man who by his ignorance and lack of insight, has cost thousands their lives through his utterly failed policies both foreign and domestic.

Admittedly, I am not a Republican but I could manage to say some positive things about Reagan, Eisenhower, H.W. Bush and even Nixon. There is not one thing I can say that is positive about George W. Bush. Not one. I am not sure I would want to see ANYTHING positive about a man I consider utterly catastrophic for our country and, indeed, for the world.

Dr. Judah Folkman died yesterday. He was a pioneer in cancer research in the area of angiogenesis which studied tumor blood vessel growth and ways to stop it. I left a condolence in the Globe obit section.

I never knew Dr. Folkman in any capacity but when I read of his death it was as if I had known him all my life. Truly, this is a profound loss for not only his family and friends but for the entire world. I mourn with all of you and take some comfort in the truth that he will go down with the greats of science who strive to advance man's knowledge despite great odds. He walked on the shoulders of those giants of academic excellence. Now others will walk on his creating new possibilities in man's endless quest to cure the enigma of disease. Rest in peace, righteous man. You have earned it.

PBS Series: The Jewish Americans is wonderful series. My comments may be redundant but words fall short expressing the excellence of PBS programming.

I grew up Jewish in a mainly (at that time) Christian suburb of Boston in the 1950's. Watching, through this documentary, the historical progression of my people in America is absorbing. Much of the modern Jewish cultural experience which is mentioned in the series I poignantly remember but unlike many Jews whom the filmmakers interviewed, I never felt ashamed of my Jewishness. To the contrary, I felt a delight bursting within me reinforcing the love I had for being Jewish and a sense of pride for the many distinguished accomplishments of the Jewish people. It always shocks me that there were so many who, indeed, felt a world apart and even ashamed of who they were. I surely understand why many of us did feel separate from the dominant Christian culture but I personally did not. I was culturally assimilated but to this day being Jewish is an utterly positive visceral experience.

I have, though, a few times, felt the slings and arrows of Antisemitism. I remember being called "Christ killer" numerous times in elementary school but I never felt physically threatened and someone always overruled the onslaught. Their vitriol, at that time, did not stick. I have had a few Anti-Semitic comments occasionally hurled at me even as an adult. My parents imparted in me, however, a solid sense of Jewish pride which has always overruled those who would impugn me for being Jewish.

Now as mature observer of history, I am acutely attuned to Antisemitism when I hear and when I see it because now I understand its genocidal implication. I do not for a second forget the Holocaust, a seminal event in Jewish history, even though I was born slightly after its occurrence. The Holocaust has become the engine of much of who I am and the rationale behind the metamorphosis of my progressive political thought. I am a completely secular but a cultural Jew who every day thanks my grandfathers who had no money but possessed the courage and the foresight to come to this land. All the Jews of the eastern European shetyls (Jewish villages) from whence they came were killed. Keep up the fantastic work, PBS. You truly restore my faith in humanity.

Cruise Control: I cannot wait to read Andrew Morton's new book entitled Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography. As much as I am against tabloid and celebrity journalism, the fact that Tom Cruise is an advocate for a religious cult like organization which rakes in millions of bucks by duping millions of people, I welcome any opposition questioning those beliefs. Scientology, like many other belief systems, is an organization which takes political stances and influences many unsuspecting and uncritical people looking desperately to improve their lives at any cost.

Anyone who takes on religion and cults by advocating rational thought, I ardently support. I believe the ultimate danger in our world today comes more from fanatical belief systems of all stripes than from any other single factor. I would gladly contribute to the selling of a book which confronts those who would capture people's wallets by capturing their unquestioning and unsuspecting minds.

A Voice for Our Time: Perhaps this presidential election is the most important election in US history. We desperately need a uniter; a person who can work with our friends as well as our adversaries. We are a humanity that has the nuclear capability to annihilate humanity with one blast. We want no more fear but we need to protect ourselves from those would instill that fear within us. We need a leader with Solomon-like wisdom; a person of prescience who can reach across divides. I think the American public now sees how important the presidency is. It can make the difference between life and death. We must not repeat this administration's most costly mistakes.

I believe at this juncture in our history we must confront but understand the Islamic world. We must elect someone who is capable of negotiation instead of employing the rhetoric of confrontation. We must elect someone who is able to end our belligerent and unidimensional policies which achieve nothing but death and debt. We, too, need immediate and unadulterated action to restore our environment, begin constructing energy alternatives and give everyone the right to healthcare. We need these things and much more.

Barak Obama, because of his charisma, and yes, even because he is a man of color, if given the chance, I believe, can begin to address these things in our country, for our people at this moment. I have been converted to his cause. Perhaps some kind of destiny is determining this for our country so that it can realize once again the greatness our founders began over three centuries ago. I can only have the audacity to hope!

The Significance of Obama: Maybe the people can make a difference over the corrupt corporate stranglehold that has been this country. Nothing is perfect but this happening has been the most incredible thing I have witnessed since the Gene McCarthy organization of 68. This time though Obama really does have a chance. Maybe I will get my wish to experience a leader I can love like my parents loved Roosevelt. That has always been my dream. This is what I wrote to various media:

I feel like the day after the November election and my candidate won. I know that is not the case ... yet. I was up most of the night during the Iowa caucus because I could not sleep. Maybe just maybe it is morning in American again and hope is beginning to reign. Obama has an electricity that is contagious. He has convinced the doubter in me, through his message and his charisma to vote for him. The fuse, I believe, has been lit. I realize it is most emphatically not over yet but the dye has been cast and history has already been made. The fact it is a distinct possibility that a person of color could achieve the presidency is a major historical sea change. We are becoming a better nation and, perhaps, a more inclusive nation. Finally I can feel my alienation beginning to wane. Change is the genius of America and that is why so many from all over the world risk their life to get here. A new day is dawning. I want it. I can feel it. I fervently hope we get it.