red onion

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Good-by Chief Tootie Montana

Chief Tootie Montana collapsed at the podium at a City Council meeting in New Orleans on Monday. He died after uttering his final words into the microphone, "I want this to stop". The Times Picayune said he was referring to the "cultural miscommunication" between Mardi Gras Indians and the police that has resulted recently in police harrassment and disruption of the St. Joseph's Day tribal gathering, a gathering that has taken place for decades now. Other accounts report that Montana was referring directly to alleged police harrassment on that day. In my view, the misunderstanding lies with the police and our city leaders.

African-Americans of lower income in New Orleans are getting it from all sides. From the destruction of the St. Thomas Housing Development, to the secretive plans now to do the same to the Iberville Housing Development. I say secretive, because in April, Hands Off Iberville Coalition attended a City Council meeting in which members stated "nothing" was being planned for Iberville. I heard this with my own ears. Then recently, in answer to the coalition's Freedom of Information Request, minutes of a March meeting between Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson, developer Pres Kabacoff, and former mayor Sydney Bartholemew, were released to us, revealing the types of alliances and behind the scenes machinations that it takes to demolish and move an entire African-American neighborhood. In the minutes, Kabacoff states there are too many single mothers and their children in Iberville, and they have to be "moved out". He stated he wants the City Council and Mayor Nagin to lead the way in this.

Kabacoff wants our African-American leaders to lead the way in the removal of the heart and soul, single women and their children, of an African-American neighborhood. Were the civil rights implications not so obvious, we might also be wondering if Kabacoff is not asking African-American leaders to commit political suicide.

How long before such decisions will catch up with those who make them? It's only a matter of time before black and white citizens become wise to the spin of such destructive projects whose reverbrations do damage to traditional culture and eliminate low income housing and drive up rents all over the city. Then there is another matter, the questionable shooting deaths of several African-American citizens, including that of unarmed Jenard Thomas in the 7th ward of the city on March 24th of 2005 . It seems like it has become common city practice to victimize the poorest and most vulnerable of its citizens. And the people doing the victimizing are not only the adult children of wealthy New Orleans families, such as Pres Kabacoff, but its own African American leaders as well.

It could be suggested, that in their race to do well for themselves, African-American leaders are, at times, willing to participate in, and/or watch, the attack on this city's African-American neighborhoods, culture and citizens. These same citizens are being marginalized, literally, to the outside fringes of the city with the destruction of St. Thomas and now, possibly, Iberville Housing Development. This, despite the fact that it is these same African-Americans who work in the hotels and restaurants, drive the cabs, serve the chicken and hamburgers, to downtown office workers, conventioneers and tourists, in and around the French Quarter and Central Business District.

Iberville Housing Development is smack dab in the middle of the downtown, on the outskirts of the French Quarter, on prime real estate that developers like the architect of the destruction of St. Thomas, Kabacoff, are drooling to get their hands on. One only has to sit at Popeye's Fried Chicken at the corner or Rampart and Canal St., as Councilman Oliver Thomas did recently and admitted in a recent meeting, and watch the flow of human traffic to know that many of the people there are flowing from Iberville, wearing the uniforms of the hotels and restaurants of our famed inner city.

The destruciton of Iberville would not only be the destruction of desperately needed and disappearing affordable, inner city housing, but the destruction of a neighborhood as well. Originally constructed during the New Deal era, the thick, red-brick buildings represent one of the last, possibly in the nation, downtown African- American neighborhoods that is so close to the vibrant, central economic hum of an American city, This is where the jobs are, not in New Orleans east, no matter how much money is poured there into sagging cinemas that have little chance of recovery, like the recent decision by the City Council awarding $1 million to Plaza Cinema in New Orleans east.

Mr. Tootie Montana, I followed you and your tribe a few times, and aquired some beautiful pictures as a result. I witnessed first hand the splendid and wild energy of the Mardi Gras Indians as they made their rounds in mixed and African-American neighborhoods, that, at least for a while, were able to suspend ordinary drudgery and concerns as you paraded with your spy boys, and anyone wanting a more brightly colored reality.

You're right, Mr. Montana. I, too want the destruction of African-American traditions and neighborhoods to stop before all of the vibrant color of this city is drained of its joy and spontaneity.

# posted by scorpiorising : 10:16 AM |

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

On the Theme of Rot and Soul

Rubicon took off on the disassembly theme after George Bush's malapropism:

But Bush seems to think that he can make torture disappear from everyone's memory—that he can change reality—by repeating, again and again, that any report of torture is "absurd." In his press conference on Tuesday, he said:

We've investigated every single complaint against the detainees. It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word of -- and the allegations -- by people who were held in detention, people who hate America, people that had been trained in some instances to disassemble -- that means not tell the truth.

Who knew that Bush was a deconstructionist? Who knew that he had deep thoughts about the disassembly of language? Who knew that he was a disciple of Derrida, a follower of Foucault?

Disassembly is the modus operandi: the method of control, the way to confuse and distract: color codes for levels of terrorist threat, accusations of traitorous activities on those who dissent, manufactured crisis such as social security, and the method of profit in Iraq.

Who, more than anyone, or perhaps unlike anyone else, is profiting off of the chaos, the disassembly in Iraq?

Halliburton.

Yes, there was a coup in 2000, and again in 2004, in this country. But it was not a coup, necessarily, orchestrated by the republican party. It was a corporate coup, with the cooperation of Bush and cronies. The lines of distinction blur easily in our era, or perhaps they always have, if you study American history, you will note this. Government, and the interest of profit that became the corporate interest, have always colluded. It is the result of the landed gentry and their influence on the formation of our constitution, of the intention of our government in its beginnng.

And yes, there were high ideals in that beginning, and their spirit has lived these couple hundred years, if not their practice. But these high American ideals of democracy and freedom and happiness as the pursuit of the individual, are being crapped on everyday by our own government, at times with our support.

You may believe in the principles of individual freedom and democracy, but if you invade another country and maim and kill their people in the name of those high ideals, you shit on them, you shit on your own principles. The blood of the Iraqis, of our own soldiers and civilians from all over the world, clots the dream of "democracy" and "freedom".

You, in effect, disassemble your own principles. The best way, and we haven't figured out a better way, to assess reality, is to see how something works, its results. It is to use all of our abilities, including reason and analysis, to assess those results.

The results of our invasion of Iraq, resulted in the beginning, immediately, of the "dissasembly" of Iraqi lives. It was a disaster before it started.

IN the meantime, American companies profit from this misery, and the more disassembly in Iraq, the longer the reconstruction is prolonged, the greater the period of time in which Halliburton will profit.

Halliburton profits from disassembly.

So it was actually, more than a malapropism. It was a classic Fraudian slip. The president was telling us how it is done.

# posted by scorpiorising : 11:20 PM |

The Rot of the Soul and Football

This is an extreme example, yes, extreme, but valid none the less, as to why the challenge of stereotypes matters, and mattered over at Dailykos over the Ginger/Maryanne ad.

There is an old expression that "the fish rots from the head." Right now the San Francisco 49ers are stinking like a salmon in the sun. Their more general fall from grace has been a matter of public spectacle, as the "Team of the 1980s" has become a mismanaged, cap-strapped embarrassment. Yet the stench that envelops the Niners invaded the rest of our lives last week with the leaking of a media training video meant to "guide players on how to deal with San Francisco's unique and diverse community." A noble goal, to be sure. San Francisco is home to significant Asian, Pacific Island populations, and is of course synonymous with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community and culture. The video, however, was not aimed to help players with cross-cultural understanding - but instead an exercise in rank bigotry.
How to talk to the Bay Area Asian community? There is a mock interview with a actor playing a Hop-Sing "bucked tooth Asian man". How to reach out to LGBT football fans? There is a mockery of Gay weddings and clucking about "bending for the soap" in the county jail. Even worse, the team's PR department enlisted players such as Julian Peterson to act in the video, with the All-Pro linebacker playing a "bum begging for food"- homelessness being just another hilarious sight on the Bay Area landscape.

# posted by scorpiorising : 7:23 PM |

Patriot Act Strengthened

While Daily Kossians continued to throw pies at each other, the Senate Committee on Intelligence (a contradiction in terms) voted to give more powers to the FBI:

WASHINGTON, June 7 - The Federal Bureau of Investigation would gain the right to demand a variety of records in terror cases without a judge's approval, under an expanded version of the law known as the USA Patriot Act that the Senate intelligence committee approved late Tuesday after a closed-door debate.

I was counting on Senator Rockefeller, who initially opposed this expansion of powers, to exercise reason. Instead, behind a closed door, under the cover of secrecy he and other members of the committee cowardly voted for the expansion of powers.

Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, a West Virginia Democrat who is the vice chairman of the committee, voted for the legislation, saying that the Patriot Act powers are critical tools in the fight against terrorism.

But he said in a statement issued Tuesday evening that he objected to some of the proposed expansions of investigative powers and would continue to work to try to revise the bill.

The House Judiciary Committee, who also must approve or disapprove changes to the Patriot Act, is now all that stands to block expansion of the Patriot Act; it also requires a full vote of Congress.

# posted by scorpiorising : 6:14 PM |

The Loss of Soul or...Dean's Fall from Grace

Pathetic. This writer, so disgusted with the roll-over screw me some more attributes of the democrats, unloaded in this article. And I gotta tell you, our democratic leaders are suffering from a massive case of identity crisis, and before you know it, the party is going to lose badly in 2006, badly, if this continues.

More on this later. Here is the article. Judge for yourself.

The doctor followed with a jumble of self-contradicting phrases, amplified with the old Dean lung power:

" We are really not in the wilderness," because 48 percent of the people voted for John Kerry. (Maybe I'm naive, but I thought the election was a disaster for the Dems, given their losses in the House and Senate -- even despite Bush's scandalous inattention before 9/11 and equally scandalous lies about Saddam Hussein's weapons. And didn't Dean once call Kerry "another special-interest clone in Washington"? )

"People think we should have good jobs that stay in the U.S.," Dean declared. They disapprove of Bush's "borrow and spend" fiscal policy, and pine for the good old days of Clintonian fiduciary rectitude. (Didn't Clinton ram job-exporting and trade-deficit-ballooning NAFTA and China-trade normalization through Congress, over the objections of many in his party?)

"Maybe we can't win the presidency in Mississippi, [but] we have a moral obligation to win the governorship in Mississippi." (What's that mean? Why not a moral obligation to win the presidency in Mississippi, and why couldn't they win both? Wasn't Dean the guy who said, astutely, that Democrats should appeal to working-class Southerners with Confederate flags in their pickup-truck windows?)
But the most remarkable thing about Dean's speech was, literally, its thoughtlessness -- now a virtue in the Dean playbook. Democrats, he said, need to take seriously the fears of "moral Republicans," instead of saying "That's ridiculous" ("Clinton would have said, 'I feel your pain' "). Pointing to his head, Dean explained how to do it: "We have to stop talking from here anymore"; then, pointing to his heart, he said, "We have to speak to them from here."

As for delivering this heartfelt message, Dean said, "When we're talking to the television, we'll say it in ten seconds or less," just like the "good politician" Bush. (Wasn't the very thoughtful Dean famous for turning his campaign rallies into town meetings, with extensive question-and-answer periods? Can't a redneck tell he's being talked down to just as quickly as a New York intellectual? Does Bush's lying in 10-second sound bites make him a tactical role model for the Democrats?)

I could go on -- Dean did -- but it's too sad. I asked a prominent New York Democrat standing near me why DNC Chairman Dean never denounced the Iraq occupation/bloodbath, and the politician, an old acquaintance, seemed to flinch. I promised I wouldn't quote him by name, but his reaction was worth noting: "Maybe he [Dean] should talk about Iraq. Nine American soldiers died in Iraq in the last two days. If [Al] Gore were president, can you imagine the screams from the Republicans?"

All I heard from Dean was a squeak; "the mess in Iraq" was as far as he would go. Anyway, he had already thrown in the Iraq towel in April, in a speech in front of the Minnesota ACLU: "Now that we're there . . . we can't get out. . . . I hope the president is incredibly successful with his policy now."

# posted by scorpiorising : 7:40 AM |

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Yep, it matters.

The kittenish pose of Mary Anne and Ginger right after (or before) a pie fight, in an ad on Dailykos running right now, matters. If Markos wants to buy into packages with Time Warner, that's his business. However, be aware of the consequences: ads appearing of which you won't know the content ahead of time.

It touched off a firestorm on Dailykos yesterday, and resulted in a lot of bruised feelings, on both sides of the gender gap. Ouch. Take off the gloves guys and gals, and let's discuss this, if possible.

I can tell you that since the feminist movement of the 60's and 70's, the issues concerning women have been marginalized and trivialized, and largely dropped from the national radar, with the exception of abortion, and thanks to Planned Parenthood, contraception.

Gone are the days when women held workshops and teach-ins, apart from men, to school themselves in self-empowerment and reclaiming their lives. Women today take it for granted the hard won gains of the feminist era, including the right to a legal abortion, and equality in the workplace. Some of these hard won gains are now threatened, not only by republican policies, but also by sheer neglect from liberals from right, center and left of center. Some of the gains were never fully actualized.

In issues of divorce, men flaunt their cultural power by threatening to cut off support from their ex and children. There was a local, high profile case that made the newspapers here, that included sex, lies and audiotapes, and the ex-husband is heard to say on one tape, "I'll cut off your support, if you don't...", you get the picture. I saw this in my sister's divorce, and he got away with it a good part of the time. There aren't many options. Throw the bum in jail, and there is no chance of earning money to help support the children.

Now, regarding that ad. The obvious positioning of the women in relation to each other, the way they were dressed, and the purpose of the ad which was obviously to titillate (and what kind of IQ would be titillated?), to get you to watch that ridiculus show, the ad was, in my view, demeaning and exploitive. It reinforces the still stuttering stereotype that women are here to please men, and that is their purpose. They are not the complex, feeling human beings that you men are.

One need look no further than the teenage pregnancy rate in this country, along with the incidence of venereal diseases in young people, to look at the negative consequences of that kind of stereotype. There is also a connection, I believe, to spousal abuse and rape and the incidence of rape in our culture. The devaluing of women, and their exploitation, takes place on many levels.

Now I can tell you that our culture devalues and exploits men and children as well, and when we engage in that kind of behavior with each other, we expose ourselves to the same, or, it is already occuring. War is an exploitation and a devaluing of men and women, despite all the speeches proclaiming the "honor" of the sacrifice of life and limb. There is no honor to this, but there is the sacrifice of a peaceful future for our children and grandchildren.

Children are constantly exploited in the ad industry, pressured to pressure their parents to purchase the latest craze, doll, toy gun, certain clothes or shoes. Children are nothing more than consumers, to the ad industry. Devalued and dehumanized.

On Dailykos, I was surprised to hear several women declare they felt nothing in regards to the ad and were actually annoyed with us gals who stated our objections to it running. Some of the men were downright hostile. These are liberal men and women, with whom I have fought alongside, since joining this forum 6 months ago. It was an awakening.

If issues must always demonize the right, then we lose the opportunity to see the seeds of those issues in our own backyards. That ad, that ridiculus ad, is just one of those seeds. It isn't the entire problem, but it is one aspect of the problem, the problem being, that women have yet to take charge of the identity of woman in our culture, and I can tell you, our culture is suffering for it.

There's the issue of anorexia and bulimia.

Now I'm not exacting that the ad industry has created the body imaging problems of young women, but I am putting forth that it reinforces it. The question is, how do these values arise? I can tell you how it gets started, this body image "problem": it is circular, you see.

The ad industry reflects the values of those it represents, and it represents all of us, in some degree or fashion. How many times have I heard well meaning, and not so well meaning family members commenting on the weight gains of young, adolescent girls. I'm no expert on this, but as a woman, and most women do, have a feel for the kinds of pressures women are subjected to in terms of their body images. One must educate and illuminate oneself to be totally free of its tentacles.

I have two nieces, one eight years old, and one just entering her teenage years. The eight year old, as slim as a toothpick as she is active and athletic, is already worried about gaining weight. This is devastating to me, and I can tell you it originates in a culture caught up in worshipping thin women. It's no accident that many women in the fashion industry retain that adolescent look, though they are 20 something in age. There is a conscious and unconscious attempt to control women by encouraging them to keep excessively youthful, even childlike, dependent on men, or that is the fantasy, and easily controlled. This results in excessive control on the woman's part of her appetite, to the point of starvation, or, through forced vomiting.

There are no easy answers, but I can tell you that we need an aggressive push from women to begin to create and reclaim the identity of woman. When we let men do it for us, we become men in drag, fighting wars, starving the poor for corporate greed, and starving ourselves.

# posted by scorpiorising : 2:41 PM |