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Another Foggy Moment
These are the continuing adventures of a typical resident
of the self-proclaimed center of the Pugetopolis universe -
Seattle. Most are true stories but some are made of whole-
cloth. I ain't the Mayor, the Governor or a Big Shot. Just
another Working Stiff with a Bad Attitude.
THIS AIN'T NO STINK'N BLOG
------------------------------------------------
WARNING: This is not a Child-Proof Neighborhood.
If you're a kid - scram!, beat it! you little
punk before your Old Lady catches you and calls
the cops. They'll throw you in the Big House in
Walla Walla and won't let you out until you're
89 years old. There. Don't say I didn't warn you.
-------------------------------------------------
- 214 -
The first hint of the trees changing colors has begun to appear. Summer
has begun to wind down. Drumheller Fountain continues to gush gleefully
away when I pass it in the late afternoons. The roses surrounding it are
quite happy about the situation and continue to bloom with reckless
abandon. But mysteriously, no goldfish have yet appeared in the pool
surrounding the fountain. Could these uncertain economic times have
people hording their goldfish? Could be. The raspberries are slowly
taking their time ripening. Which means there are still plenty to eat.
Yum. Yum. I arrive home most nights looking like I've been in a wrestling
match with a mountain lion. But it's worth every succulent, sweet bite.
Whip me. Beat me. Feed me raspberries.
Checking out the coming book Signings/Lectures in the window of the Dub
Bookstore on The Ave, a couple familiar names popped out. Both towards
the end of September. Former Saturday Night Live regular Al Franken, who
recently kicked FOX News' fascist ass in court when they tried to block
the cover of his new book, will be coming on September 22nd. Originally
he was scheduled for sometime in October but they moved him up. Then the
next night, Neal "Cryptonomicon" Stephenson will be arriving. Neal
specializes in the realistic/near-future Sci-Fi sub-genre of Hacker-Fi.
For all our love of gizmos we haven't done much to incorporate technology,
nor the people who develop it, into our broader culture. Neal takes a
stab at doing so and seems to be making a few Bucks at it.
The poster people have had a slight problem with anti-poster Nazis ever
since the civic law banning posters was thrown out. I occasionally see
the Nazis scrapping away at the informative and often imaginative graphic
efforts displayed by various local bands and politicos on the power poles.
Now the Poster People are fighting back - with a poster of course. Aside
from condemning the Nazi atrosities, they throw a little humor in there
too. Next to a sad looking little girl's face are the words, "Today they're
taking our posters. Tomorrow they will be taking our children". Bravo!
I say: stop the bastards now before this thing gets out of control.
Passing through downtown Thursday night I was amazed to see a "Jews For
Jesus" lady passing out stuff in front of the Bon. That's the first time
I've seen them out in public in Hooterville. I occasionally hear that
guy on the radio who does the Jews For Jesus show everyday but he's
from "elsewhere". Jews, of course, generally consider Christianity to
be worship of a False God - the absolute worst thing a Jew could get
involved in. Needless to say, they totally detest the Jews For Jesus
crowd. This ought to spur the Chabadniks (ultra-conservative Jews who
prostelitize) into action. They got/had a little van they call the
"Chabad-mobile" that they used to use in the U District a couple years
ago. Rev that baby up and hit the bricks Bubbalah! The Infidels are at
the gates!
I ran into one of the former occupants of the Nut House Formerly Owned
By a Nutcase. As you may recall, they were thinking of squatting in their
former residence after Mayor Greg suckered them into a one-week notice
to vacate so as to accomodate a couple of his developer buddies. The
law requires six-months notice but Big Shots like Greg can ignore the
law. It's for Little People, not guys like him. The former residents
ended up in a downtown homeless shelter instead of getting nice new
places to live and the compensation checks always seemed to be 'in the
mail'. A few of them escaped the shelter and have moved right back into
their old neighborhood so as to better scope things out squatting-wise.
Seeing as how the place is presently pretty much gutted, they decided
this would not be a good time to move in. They're going to bide their
time.
The first World Cup Seattle was won by the local Brazilians. They blew
out the Ethiopeans 4-0 in the final. A strong Mexican team gave the
Samba Boyz a run for their money in the semi-final but came up one
goal short. The Ethiopeans were easily the best of the rest after
dropping the Hondurans in their semi. Some local Japanese even jumped
in at the last minute and put in a respectible effort by winning a
consolation round.
BTW -
Early rumors of who will show up in Seattle for next year's FIFA Euro
soccer match have the English Premiership's Liverpool v. La Liga's Real
Madrid. We just might get to Bend It Like Beckham afterall eh. The local
hombres would go nuts having a Spanish team to scream for. Latinos are
Seattle's largest minority.
HOOTERVILLE HISTORY...
It was 35 years ago this coming Saturday that 26 armed Black Panthers paid
a visit to Rainier High School. It was primarily a social visit and they
didn't shoot anybody. The principal of the school had repeatedly ignored
complaints of harassment from black students who were being Goofed On by
some of the white kids there. So the Panthers showed up to let him know
he should pay closer attention, if he knew what was good for him.
Non-violent protests were pretty much a waste of time. Only a couple years
earlier, a group of black kids at one Seattle high-school had staged a non-
violent sit down strike to protest racial conditions at their school. This
was around the time of Martin Luther King/Southern Christian Leadership
Conference and the Selma March. They were arrested and the judge sentenced
the kids to time in the King County Jail for disrupting school activities!
High school kids! A Seattle judge was actually stupid enough to do such a
thing. So much for Seattle the Pure & Progressive eh. Not a heck of a lot
different from what you'd expect from some backwoods Crackerville in Georgia
or Mississippi. Hooterville's always had a bigot heart. Always will.
The Black Panthers - a 60's-era black self-defense group formed in Oakland,
California - were Big News back in '68. Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver and
Bobby Seale were practically household names. Posters of Huey wearing his
black-leather jacket and wearing a black beret as he sat in a high-backed
chair holding a shot-gun in his hands, were nearly as popular as posters of
Che Guevera. The message was clear: don't fuck with us. Like many good ideas
wrought by political-types, it all came to naught in the end. The Apparatus
came down on them like ten tons of elephant shit. Uppity Nigras will not
be tolerated in America. Only nice Negroes like General Shoeshine Powell
and Little Missy Rice - Negroes who know how to kiss white ass - will be
tolerated.
The Panther group here wasn't as well-known as the Oakland Posse but they
were active. The state Governor at the time, engineer-turned-politico Dan
Evans, once actually invited the Pathers to tea at the state Capital to
discuss our racial situation with them! He may have been a Republican but
he wasn't your usual Republican. The Panthers took him up on it and deeply
impressed the Governor with their case. They showed him a side of America
he had never seen before and he responded positively and respectfully to
them. Which pretty much took the wind out of their sails. He was a very able
politician afterall. While Governor Evans' subsequent reforms were far from
revolutionary, they did instill in The System a basic level of respect for
black folks that wasn't there before. Small victories for everyone are a
better strategy than winner-take-all confrontations any day. It's a lesson
that the Little Stinker, our present gubnatorial dwarf, never learned.
DAWGY DAZE...
The US News & World Report ratings for universities came out for the new
school year and I'm happy, if not proud, to say U Dub is moving up. Not
exactly with a bullet but at least they're heading in the right direction.
Leaping boldly from last year's 47th place, we are now 45th! Ain't that
something? Look out Yeshiva University, here come the Dawgie Eggheads
take'n down names and kick'n butt! We'll soon be knocking on College of
William & Mary's academic door any day now. And we won't be asking to
borrow no stink'n sugar neither.
Really not much more than a glorified community college that cranks out
Ambulance Chasers, Paper Shufflers and Bean Counters for the state's
bureaucracy and local trade, U Dub is an academic mediocrity in America.
Medicine is the only strong faculty they have. Their Primary Care (sort
of the engineering/technical end of medicine) faculty was rated tops in
the country but then the competition was pretty light. They rated much
further down in the sexy Medical Research category where the Big Boyz
hang out. The Dub's nursing school is also highly regarded nationally.
And if you ever get diabetes, you're in the right place - it's one of
their specialties. But the home of Microsoft doesn't even register on
the computer science radar and the birth-home of Boeing, isn't a player
in aeronautical research. Both Microsoft and Boeing get their brains
from elsewhere. A kid from Washington state would have to move out of
state to get a competitive education in either field despite growing up
in the corporate shadow of the world's two leaders in those fields.
The new Bundy Law School, named in honor of former Seattle Crime Commission
member and notorious American mass-murderer Ted Bundy - its most famous
alum - is a cellar dweller amongst American law faculties. Damn. After
all the money we spent on that goofy looking, ass-backwards building too.
People got no respect for architecture any more.
The search for some poor sap to take on the Prez job apparently continues
to grind on. The last Prez took a demotion to has-been Rutgers just to
get outta here. And with our football team in managerial disarray after
the coach got turfed for laying bets, we probably won't even have the
prospect of Rose Bowl tickets to wave around as incentive. Dear, oh dear.
Whatever will become of us? Hey! I hear Saddam Hussein's looking for work.
You think he might be interested? He milked Uncle Sammy for billions and
billions in his heyday so he definitely knows how to put a budget together.
Oh well. We STILL have one of the finest and funkiest Marching Bands in
the country. I'm proud to say they will soon be marching in all their
sassy, sexy, brassy glory right through my neighborhood.
Boooowwwwwww to Washington!
Dooooown
BTW - it was intriguing to notice mention that most law school students
pay for their education with student loans. The average American
law school student graduates carrying a $85k debt. I don't know if
U Dub is average or not, but tutition in the law school has gone
up 80% in the last two years. Those guys NEED people to file lots
of lawsuits just so they can pay for law school eh.
YELLER NEEDS A BUNNY...
It's not too difficult to see that events are building up to a dramatic
crescendo. Our economy is in the trash bin and sinking ever deeper. But
you'd never guess it from our News Nazis' ever more strident and insanely
desperate attempts to create "Recovery Fever". In the Good Old Days we
used to export cars, machines and management know-how. Nowadays our
primary exports are jobs, factories and dollar-bills.
Can you really run an economy on bullshit, puffery and sleight of hand
illusion? Probably not for long, but we are determined to give it the old
College Try. Quarterback George W. Yellowbelly has reached back and chucked
a Hail Mary Pass-the-Buck to whoever's hang'n around the global endzone.
Our News Nazis, using diddled Government Numbers carefully molded from
heavily massaged data, are cheering him on like its a sure touchdown.
Problem is, everybody seems to be running the other way trying to avoid
our Buck. It may be exciting, but I don't think that's how the game is
played.
This hasn't dettered the News Nazis in the least. That light at the end
of the tunnel, they would have you believe, isn't the high-balling freight
train of economic disaster, it's the Dawn of a New Era of Prosperity. And
those screaming bodies flying through the air aren't the first victims
getting hit, they're singing angels shouting Hallelujas. As improbable
as their Spin may be, Boobus Americanus is happily willing to allow himself
to be led down the garden path as he buries himself ever deeper in useless
junk and crippling debt. Hope springs eternal. Especially false hope. It's
got more spring than the regular kind. And unfortunately, more THUMP at the
end. No matter. We'll be getting our reality-check in the mail soon. We
have a date with Destiny. And from what I hear, she's one ugly Broad.
President Yellowbelly's stinky TWAT is obviously also in serious trouble
both in Afghanistan and Iraq. What do we get for liberating them? They hate
our guts and want to kill every American they find. Everybody else thinks
we're the Biggest Asshole in the World. Back on the homefront there is growing
restlessness and boredom with our foreign adventures. People are nervously
hitting the buttons on their remotes as they become annoyed at the lack of
Good News on the TWAT Front. Our News Nazis have even begun nudging and
prodding Yellowbelly to get on with this liberation business and get the job
done. Given his mental instability - a very dangerous thing to do. Showing
that they've absorbed their TV lessons well, the average Americano has
responded by giving Yeller low marks in the popularily polls. No need to
think. Mr. TV will do your thinking for you. Don't make him use his 24-hour
Maximum Brainwash special coverage with the HDTV Super Graphics.
Just to really rub it in, A-G Johnny Boy Ashcroft has been out checking
on his whores and beating the bushes for his new Patriot II Act and the
results have been less than inspiring. The whores just whine about wanting
more money and everybody else practically spit on him. What is this world
coming to when an Attorney General tries to ram his fascist legislation
down peoples throats and they impertently tell him to shove it up his fat
ass? The insubordinate little bastards! After all he's done for them,
saving them from the imaginary Al Qaida Boogermen and all. Nazis just
don't get no respect any more.
The pressure is on. The strain, palpable. The sense of desperation, pushing
the envelope. Something has got to give. Things can't go on like this for
much longer.
Under ordinary circumstances, this situation might be looked upon as the
beginning of the long, slippery slope to political defeat for El Presidente.
His Daddy started popping Prozac like M&Ms at about this point. He turned
into a drooling, incoherent blob of mush incapable of defending himself.
Bubba Jay, an obscure ex-Governor of a backwoods hillbilly state at the
time, had little trouble flushing Daddy down the toilet of political
oblivion as a Single Term President.
But these are not ordinary times nor is this a normal President. This is a
man whose drug-fried brain imagines itself to be in direct voice communication
with God. This time it's going to be different and you may not like the way
it plays out. With a little luck, we all might even survive to laugh about
it afterwards. But, at best, that's less than a 50/50 proposition at this
point.
Previous adminstrations have looked upon public opinion as a beast to
be catered to and fed. The public, while perhaps not being admireable,
at least had to be reckoned with. But this administration has taken a
very different tact right from the get-go. It didn't need the electorate
to gain the White House, so why should it need the electorate to keep
the White House? With its Star Chamber of rich and powerful supporters
and our buyable Congressional Whores, it looks upon public opinion as
something to be manufactured rather than responded to. They're very
pro-active in that regard.
Their assumption is: the public are an ignorant and unruly mob of children.
Simple, trusting, timid creatures, scared of their own shadows, each of
whom imagines himself to be the center of the known universe. Peasants far
too ignorant to know what is in their own best interests. Exploit their
fears, feed their overblown egos, encourage their most self-destructive
tendencies - their hearts, minds and wallets will follow. Simple as that.
It is the DUTY of an elite to show the peasants the true path to happiness
and success. It's right there in the Bible somewheres.
So far it's worked like a charm.
Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are in the dumpster, we got secret
prisons full of thousands of citizens, we got a Death Camp for Prisoners
of War, we're running two BillionBuck-a-Day foreign wars and we're so
far in the economic toilet we likely won't see daylight again for a
decade. Yet, everybody's pleased as punch and happy as little birdies.
Buying SUVs, throwing their money at death's-door tech companies and
maxing out those credit cards like little demons. But the first clear
signs of fidgeting have emerged and they better be nipped in the bud
or Yeller's in trouble.
This is an awkward moment for our Executive Hillbilly. He needs to pull
a "bunny" out of is hat. A war, preferably. Nothing else will immediately
reunite the nation four-square behind him. But the timing's all wrong for
the sort of slow build-up and steady milking that Iraq required. He needs
another vicious high-death-count homeland terrorist event like 9/11 or a
large-scale surprise attack on one our helpless, innocent allies - like
say Israel or perhaps Taiwan. The sort of thing that would evoke instant
disgust in the minds of all Americans and demand an immediate crushing
response. Something with lots of dead babies and mangled innocent bystanders
so everybody will immediately forget about their lack of a job, that fat,
bloated national debt and those nagging phonecalls from the Repo Man. A
big, HAIRY, ugly bunny with fangs, BO and bad-breath.
But then what's he going to do next year during the election? Let's just
say you wouldn't want to be Mr. Dean or whoever the opposition happens to
be at that point. It'd sure be a shame if the Democratic front-runner got
Whacked just before Voting Day? It would throw the whole election thingee
into chaotic disarray and force Yellowbelly to become President Pro-Tem
more or less for life. Against his will, of course. He'd sacrifice himself
for the national good.
...........................................................................
First get the facts straight, then you are free to distort them at your
leisure.
Mark Twain
...........................................................................
PREJUDICES
Everybody has prejudices. They are natural and normal. They serve a survial
purpose or we wouldn't have them. Anyone who tries to tell you they have
no prejudices is BSing you. Either they're being dishonest or they are so
lacking in self-insight as to be readily ignorable.
Anyone who has read AFM even once, knows I have prejudices. I like black
people. Most of my experiences with them have been good experiences. I
don't like Pollocks. Those I grew up with and have encountered since have
been amongst the worst bigots I've ever run into. I instantly 'click'
with Injuns. There's nobody else in the world that I feel more comfortable
with. I don't like politicians. Virtually all of them I've ever known were
habitual liars and self-centered pricks of the worst sort. I like Chinese
but I don't especially like Japs. Wops and Swedes are okay, but Krauts and
Limies make me uncomfortable. On and on it goes. Incongruously, what I hate
worst of all is someone who is ashamed of themselves - of who or what they
are. That is the worst sin I could imagine. It seems like such a profound
violation of a person's humanity. I can live with any perceived contradiction.
More than occasionally people tell me they don't like my ad-hominum approach
to criticizing others. What can I say? I don't distinguish between the
person and the idea. They are a package. A whole. I honestly don't believe
you can seperate them. I think our gubnatorial dwarf is a phony and a poser,
so I call him the Little Stinker and make rude and impertenant remarks about
his lack of physical stature. It nicely mirrors his lack of moral stature.
Though I don't for a second believe that someone who is short in one category
is automatically short in the other. Just him. I don't believe it's possible
for a Hitler to come up with the thoughts and ideas of an Einstein. That just
doesn't make any sense to me. It's a fantasy to imagine you can seperate the
ideas from the person who conceived them. There's a small matter of integrity
involved.
These prejudicial feelings and attitudes are the result of my life experiences.
They are the patterns that emerged from it. They are like intuitions and hints
that emerged as I went along. I can try to deny them if I like but it won't work.
For better or for worse, they are a part of what makes up 'me'. They are fully
integrated.
I will say that I treat them as 'starting points' not dogmatic entrenchments.
People I don't like, I'm just wary of. I've never been able to bring myself to
gratuitously write-off large populations. If they give me reason to think they
are okay, I'll go with that. But if they follow the pattern, then screw 'em.
Ditto for people I do like. In effect, I give them the first punch. If they
abuse it, then they won't get another. I allow for exceptions to the rule. It
just works better.
I don't set my prejudices in concrete. Many people do. They just make up their
minds and that's that. I don't think of it as being especially dangerous. It
just un-necessarily limits the field and all but eliminates the possibility of
a big, juicy exception popping up. I tend to look for the exceptions to the
rule. They are often more interesting than the general wash of humanity. Not
necessarily better, just more interesting.
If nothing else, I see in each person I encounter, a mini-universe. They
started out as a baby with a clean slate - didn't like or dislike anything.
Then over their lifetime, they "re-invented the universe" in their own
image, building it from scratch. Building it from their experiences with
people and things. Forming their own little hypothesis about things and
gradually shaping them into personal theories about how the World Works.
Each of us is a unique universe of experiences and I'm always more than a
little interested in seeing how the other guy did his. And curious as to
how come theirs came out that way. Most especially if they did theirs in
peculiar circumstances: being black in white society, being Gay in a
Straight world, being Jewish in a Christian country, etc. It takes an
exceptional person to reach beyond those sorts of basic barriers.
We're often told it's bad to have prejudices. It's something we should
be ashamed of and strive to eliminate. It's hard to even imagine what a
person without prejudices would be like. They'd be more like a robot than
a human being. If somebody hated black people but felt the prejudice was
somehow career-limiting and therefore inappropriate for their success in
life, would that mean they liked or respected black people? No, of course
not. It would just mean they found dishonesty to be a more lucrative strategy.
I would much rather deal with an honest bigot than with a dishonest bigot.
When people are dishonest, it's like you're talking to a shadow instead
of a person. It makes for poor conversation.
Many of my favorite writers are people who were highly prejudiced and
full of contradictions for that reason. Louis Celine was, at one time
in his life, virulently anti-Jewish. Yet he completely blocked out that
aspect of his thinking in his wacky, lovely books. Ernst Juenger was a
freak'n officer in the Nazi army, yet you'd be hard-put to find a more
eloquently humane man of ideas. Sholem Asch was a practicing, faithful
Jew who wrote in Yiddish, yet his most famous books were about Christ
and Christian themes. Take away the contradiction and there isn't much
interesting left.
So have your prejudices and be aware of them, but don't let the tail wag
your dog. Leave the door to your mind open a crack.
...........................................................................
I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it.
Groucho Marx
...........................................................................
'OL YELLER'S TWAT
(aka The War Against Terrorism)
And American blood continues to drip, drip, drip onto the sands of Iraq as
more young "Heroes" are stuffed into big baggies and shipped home for glorious
military funerals. We continue to ignore the slackers who merely lost an
arm or leg. The Department of Defense says they aren't 'significant' and
our News Nazis apparently agree - they never mention them. Stick 'em in a
VA hospitial - out of sight, out of mind. Gone and most definitely forgotten.
A few of the boys from the VFW will come around on Rememberance Day to give
them all candy-bars. A small gesture of appreciation from a grateful nation.
More bombs in Iraq. Was it them? Was it us? Was it some CIA cut-out that
decided to take matters into their own hands? Or was it revenge for the
UN bombing? We'll never know. Whatever is happening, it's clear that even
Saddam did a far better job of running Iraq than our Retards in Uniform
are doing. Our occpation is about as dumbass as it gets. We're too stupid
to even run a backwash 3rd world country without fucking up.
The first of the Conquering Heroes are arriving home after blowing away 8-year
olds and cluster-bombing villages full of helpless civilians. And the whinning
began almost as soon as they stepped foot back 'in-country'. Nobody drafted
these clowns. Every last one of them VOLUNTARILY submitted themselves to the
loving care of DoD. We dump billions and billions of Bucks into DoD's big black
hole every year. Surely they can spare a few bucks to take care of their own.
If the returnees want to whine, whine to General Rummy, not us. We paid our
fair share and then some. Not that we had any frik'n choice in the matter. If
they aren't being taken of, General Rummy's to blame, not us. Maybe the drunks
down at the VFW Hall will put in a good word for them and pull some strings.
Come on boys! Put down those beer bottles and send a little postcard to your
Draft Dodger in Chief telling him to take care of his troops. It'll only take
a few seconds.
Generalissimo George W. Yellowbelly, terror of the Mooslem World and a close
personal friend of God, this week assured everybody that he really didn't give
a hoot how many troops were getting their brains blown out - there would be no
retreat from Iraq. Brave words from a man who has run from every fight he's
ever been in. And quite meaningless. We wouldn't even know who to retreat
from. Not to mention that Yeller's position is technically very temporary.
In fact, getting more temporary every day if he doesn't get his butt in
gear soon.
Everybody still wants to pretend our continued trashing of Iraq is merely a
temporary bureaucratic faux pas. It's not. It's deliberate and intentional.
Just like the senseless repeated ineffective mass-roundups of Iraqis by our
military screw-up artists isn't meant to ensure the safety of our troops.
It's had no effect whatsoever on the Iraqi Freedom Fighters efforts in that
regard. The snuffing pace hasn't been even slightly affected by the round-ups.
DoD doesn't care. There's plenty more hillbillies to replace the broke ones.
Our real intention in both instances is to hurt the Iraqis. Our government
and our military hate the Iraqi people and everything they stand for. They're
stink'n Raghead Mooslems. We intend to make an example of them for all the
stink'n Raghead Mooslems in that part of the world. We want to show all of
them how much we hate and despise them. We want them to know that if we
ever get our hands on them, they are going to get the exact same treatment
that the Iraqis are getting, and then some. We don't want there to be any
doubt in their minds. We want to rub their noses in it. We want to see it,
day in and day out, everyday on TV in living color: this is how America
liberates Ragheads. You better pray that you're not next.
.............................................................................
A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy
bringeth mens minds about to religion.
Francis Bacon
"Of Atheism"
..............................................................................
MONDO VATICANO
The prison murder of John Geoghan, one of the principal Pervert Priests from
Boston who precipitated the present scandal, dominated things last week.
Everyone was agreed that it was a shame and a pity but few quite knew why.
Certainly the prison's warden knew the likelihood was high that a Small Eyes
would be murdered if the general prison population ever got their hands on
him. It's kind of a prison tradition. Especially a Small Eyes of Geoghan's
notoriety. As to why the warden didn't take proper precautions to safeguard
Geoghan's life, is open to question. But I haven't heard anyone question his
judgement or his competence though both are obviously very much in question.
Perhaps the reason for this lack of interest is because everyone from the
Vatican on down is just a little bit happy Goeghan is no longer around to
embarass them. Though it wouldn't be polite to admit it.
Geoghan was a sick man. His bishop, Cardinal Law, led him to believe his
problem wasn't a serious one. His bishop led him to believe that it was
okay to rape and molest children as long as he did so discretely. Aware
of Geoghan's 'problem', his bishop not only didn't get him the help he
needed, he actually encouraged him in his perversion by protecting him
from the long arm of the law and feeding him new victims in parishes
where he wasn't yet known. Once the cat was out of the bag, Geoghan was
convicted and thrown in prison to die. His bishop remains free as a bird
and in no serious danger of being legally held to account for his clear
obstruction of justice while aiding and abetting a man he knew was hurting
and molesting children. Go figger.
There is no effective treatment for Geoghan's problem. Indeed, the
psychiatric community recently moved to have his illness removed from
the manual they use to make their diagnosis of various forms of mental
illness. Many of America's psychiatric professionals don't believe it
is abnormal for an adult to sexually exploit children. Exactly what
sort of treatment are they likely to develop for those who have this
problem? None, of course. Those who share Geoghan's problem are left
in limbo. Nobody wants to cure them. Nobody gives a damn.
+
New Bishop Sean O'Malley in Boston continues to play "What's My Deal"
with the many victims of sexual abuse in his diocese. He upped his
offer a couple times since the original. Why doesn't he just put it
on eBay and be done with it? In a couple weeks we can see what the
winning bid was.
+
I recently ran into a most interesting character. He's an ex-priest
who was laicized. While he isn't a cleric by Vatican rules any more,
he of course remains a priest for life. It's not just a good idea,
it's Canon Law. And it's a responsibly he feels very deeply. I didn't
ask him why he is no longer a cleric. If he wanted me to know he
would have told me. Some things are private.
Despite his situation, he continues to function as a priest. The
Curia Queens in the Vatican would go bananas if they found out.
But they're not likely to find out. His congregation, if you like,
are those who are excluded by the Vatican's definition of Catholic
despite being devout Catholics. They are Gay. And there's the rub.
Many are also slowly dying of AIDS. The spiritual comfort that the
Vatican denies them, is provided by this priest whom the Vatican
disapproves of. He is the most priestly priest I've run into in a
very long time. As ordinary and unassuming as he is, the Spirit
of Christ lives daily in him. He is living Christ's commandment
to love his neighbor as himself through his acts of lovingkindness.
And he's doing it on his own dime and out of pure selfless love.
I really needed to run into a priest like this. He's given me a
new respect for the priesthood at a time when it was sorely needed.
The Church isn't a monolithic thing planted in Roma. It is a big,
sloppy Ball 'o Mud. A messy, cantankerous, squabbling thing that
embraces a wide variety of expressions of Catholic traditions.
That's part of why I love it. Just like the sacraments, it doesn't
belong to the Vatican. It isn't the Vatican's property. It belong
to us - God's Family. Given the Vatican's corruption and perverity,
to imagine those hypocrites are guided by the Holy Spirit is the
height of obscenity. We have no Vatican-centered Magisterium at
present in any meaningful sense of the word. We have instead, a
Magisterium of the Family. The Vatican has profoundly failed in
its responsibilities, and we're picking up the slack ourselves.
That is the cold, hard reality of these times. Many Catholics are
slowly beginning to realise it. Some many never realize it. No
matter. The tide has turned. Perhaps someday a Vatican-centered
Magisterium will return. I'm open to the possibility but I'm not
holding my breath. Nor will I ever again give them a cent of my
money. It will go to people like the above-mentioned priest, who
more accurately reflect the true Catholic Spirit.
+
The synogague in Rock Island, Iowa had lost most of its congregation
and the city picked it up on taxes. A culturally diverse neighborhood,
the building right next door to it was a legendary whorehouse back in
the Good Old Days. The old synagogue dropped into the city's lap by
default and they sold it for a Buck to a couple young fellers who were
willing to start a business in it. The new owners decided to appeal
to a congregation of a slightly different sort - they turned it into
a sports bar & grill. And just to rub it in, they named it the "Hail
Mary's Last Chance Sports & Spirits". Oi! They named it after the
legendary last-ditch desperation football pass of the same name, not
Jesus' mother. Any idiot knows that. The city knew it when they sold
it to two fellas. And so it quietly remained for the past five months.
Then along came Bishop Jenky of Peoria (IL). He's making a jackass of
himself by trying to marshall the local Catholic community to lean on
the town's politicians to force a name change. I guess the bishop
business is kinda slow in Peoria these days and he can't find anything
better to do with his useless life.
Jenky's the replacement for the jerk who left Fr. Jeff twisting on the
wind a couple years ago after he got hooked on the Date Rape drug by a
couple weight lifting 'buddies'.? The hypocritcal bastard who left
his addicted priest in place while sneaking him off to the out-patient
drug rehab clinic. He didn't bother telling Fr. Jeff's parish about their
newly addicted priest. Didn't bother telling the cops about the drug
activity his priest had stumbled accidently into. That might have cut
into his Vatican career-potential. A real First-Class Citizen and deeply
religious Christian eh. My ass. Jenky seems to be much the same.
City officials, political whores that they are, are seriously thinking
of forcing the sports bar to change its name. The new owners feel more
than a little betrayed. They were honest about the whole thing from
the get-go and have brought the town new business that everyone has
benefited from. What's Bishop Jenky ever done for Rock Island? Not a
damn thing except stir up unnecessary trouble. He should be taught to
mind his own damn business.
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This whatever-it-is operates under the patented Daily Bleed
"anti-CopyRite 2000-3000". More or less. As the product of
my imagination, I retain full pecuniary rights. You make any
money off it, I better get my fair share. My lawyer, the Ginzu
Viking, Dr. Yoshi Rasmussan LLD, anxiously awaits the chance
to rat-fuck you and your heirs unto eternity if you even think
of trying to screw me over. Otherwise, help yourself.
~---------------------------------------------------------------
MAIL: tofoggymoment@yahoo.com
(Only checked when feeling self-abusive.)
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