Gryphmon's Grumbles

Protests in West Hollywood

Many years ago when Pete Wilson vetoed anti-discrimination in employment and housing legislation a similar thing happened although on a much larger scale. Spontaneous eruptions of people out of the bars and into the streets. The protests and marches continued for about a week.

These are what all those silly staged protests you have seen over the years should be and want to be.  You get into the street, you express your justifiable anger, and then come back home and get to work. Its a fundamentally American experience. When you get back home, new organizations and groups are formed, and old ones are invigorated or replaced. The movement goes forward and succeed beyonds your wildest dreams.

I marched those many years ago, at the front of the column that went to Century City and the Hotel where Wilson was supposedly staying that night. Another column was marching toward where he was attending some fund-raiser or something. They eventually joined back up with us later in the evening.

Back then the idea that gays and lesbians might be able to get married anywhere at all some day isn't something that would have even occurred to me. It was so far off my radar I thought it was something that was surely permanently out of reach for me, at least for my lifetime. Its hard to explain this, but its not just that we have since then succeeded beyond my wildest dreams, for we certainly have. Its that back then marriage wasn't even something I dared to  dream of, it was so far out of reach. It just never occurred to me that it could be even a remote possibility. I never even considered it.

I carry on my key-chain today a whistle. Its the same one I used that night after my voice gave out. Today it sounds just as loud, if not louder than it did way back then. A lot, if not most of my friends that were around that night are gone now, but I still remain, as do you and everyone else that came after. And thats worth everything.

This morning all the people that voted for Prop 8 are discovering to their dismay that gays and lesbians didn't vanish in a poof of smoke over-night. They are finding out that no matter how they vote, we are still here, and we will continue to be here.

We ain't going anywhere and we are just  as much a part of this great country as they are.  And we aren't going to just survive Prop 8, we are going to thrive and grow and expand until the promise of America is kept for everybody. (including us).    Remember that, and don't give up, and don't get down. You are important. Your life has meaning and substance even when others don't want to fully recognize that and give you your due. So  keep your head held up high, and just keep moving forward.

Overheard on a California playground today...

"Mommy? Guess what I learned in school today. I found out that a Prince can still marry a Prince in MA, CT, Canada, and of course in Denmark and the Netherlands where they actually have royalty."

..."Mommy? Why are you such an idiot?

I really, really want to vote for John McCain.

His speech reminded me why I have always liked and admired him.  With Jon McCain I don't even really seem to care about his current positions on gay an lesbian Americans.  I think he is approachable and reasonable. I think he would sincerely honor gay and lesbian military service-members if he met them. He wouldn't treat them like garbage like Warner used to. If he had been the nominee back then I think I would have voted for him 4 years ago, 8 years ago.  John McCain almost made me forget that he belonged to a political Party.

And if I hadn't heard Sarah Palin speak I might have voted for him in this election.  But I'm afraid that while McCain reminded me of how good, even noble politicians can be, Palin only reminded me of everything I have come to loathe about politicians.

The nasty insinuations, the snide assumption of moral superiority, the fanatical partisan divisiveness, the "us and them" mentality about who are real Americans and who are not. As she spoke what kept running through my head was that there is no place for someone like me in her America. I felt very sad that once more American politics was going to be taken down that road. Doesn't the GOP know any other tune?

The truth is that Republicans like Sarah Palin believe that they are not only ideologically more suited for running the country, but morally better suited as well.  As if!  Honey, even a good politican is still a politican. And thats maybe one step above snake in the grass.

Palin reminded me of the truth that lies below all the hollow political promises that are made each election to reach across Party lines, to be compassionate conservatives.  I've heard them all before. George W. Bush made the same promises, and the same overtures to moderates and even gays and lesbians both within his Party and without. Once in office he swiftly turned his back on us and turned into our worst nightmare. Massive incompetence coupled with a belief that he was doing Gods Work.

John McCain was absolutely correct when he said that the GOP had lost the trust of the American people.

Politicians like George W. Bush and Sarah Palin are among the reasons why. Politics as Palin practices them are the true face of the Republican Party. Thats why McCain is called the Maverick. He is the exception to the rule.

I would love to elect John McCain President. But I won't do it if it means that he brings the GOP with him.   They don't deserve any more chances right now. They have had 8 years. If they want support, they need to earn it. Other than to bash Democrats, or anyone else in their way, really what has the GOP offered? Has there been any indication of turning over a new leaf? McCain is the only Republican I have heard even remotely admit that they had screwed up. And would it really be that difficult to lead the country without bashing any American no matter what Party they belong too? This is why the fastest growing Party is the Party of Cynical. The one I belong to.

I've been reading the Conservative blogs and  they are all rejoicing that Palin stuck it to the Democrats and Liberals in her address to the country.  And indeed, if you hate Democrats and Liberals she made a terrific speech. Yup. Gotcha all fired up.

But the idea that some Americans are simply disgusted and fed up with that behavior whether it comes from a Democrat or a Republican doesn't seem to occur to them. Because they are part of the "in" crowd, they think its really, really, neat-o and cool. Sheesh. How High School is that?

And as a side note, why are all the conservative blogs upset at the media's grilling of Palin?  Especially when their only crime is acting more like bloggers?

Martial Virtue

Read first:

BlackFive's Martial Virtue and Masculinity.

Just as a point of cultural reference, the "daywalker" term might be more familiar to readers as the character played by Wesley Snipes in the "Blade" movies that were based on the graphic novels.

It is true that no society can survive without martial virtue. However, the other elements, justice, mercy, those things I would group under the banner of chivalry, are also an absolute requirement. Societies that try to utterly suppress them are ultimately not successful, they soon war themselves into extinction. Sparta was eventually a failure, cast into the dustbin of history.

It reminds me of Bill Whittle's post a few years ago called Tribes.

http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000129.html

He says that in very general terms society can be divided up into two groups, sheep and sheepdogs, with those of the martial virtues being the sheepdogs of course. And sheepdogs are always necessary to protect the flock from wolves.

Where his post, as well as this one, falls short is that civilizations face other threats than wolves. For example, I do not believe that terrorists are wolves. They are in truth rabid sheepdogs gone mad. Martial virtues run rampant without check are far more destructive to the societies they presume to protect than any outside enemy could ever be. Osama Bin Laden and martial Islamists have killed far more Muslims than any infidel has ever done, at least in modern times. They are the worst danger to very people that they claim to protect.

Sheepdogs are not more virtuous than sheep. In fact you can make a strong case for the opposite. As Bill Whittle once again points out, sheep choose to be peaceful, to get along with one another. Disputes most of the time are not settled withs swords but with words. Sheepdogs on the other hand, with their innate capacity for violence may not be quite so righteous as they may think of themselves - or wish themselves to be.

The answer is to not get so caught up in what are often illusionary divisions.

"Here's the problem: those "traditional lines" aren't there by accident. Regardless of a hundred years' argument to the contrary, the fact is that our conceptions of virtue aren't mere 'social constructs' that can be played with and reformed at will, or without consequence."

This is more or less correct. However reality is more complex a picture. For the simple reason that people are not either sheep or sheepdogs. They are each a mixture of both, to varying degrees. Every sheep can be a sheepdog under the right circumstances. For example, - Flight 93. But every sheepdog also should strive, when not actually engaged in combat, to practice the chivalrous values. It is the only way you can do your job and still retain your soul.

What is needed in every leaders is a mixture of the martial and chivalrous values. They should be marked by not just the willingness to exercise violence to protect their community, but also by their ability to restrain from doing so. To those that are skeptical of this approach, I will cite as example the triumph of the U.S. over Soviet Russia. Its a war we won without ever have to invade the actual country. It was an approach embraced by Ronald Reagan. Was he sheep or sheepdog? He was both.

As a footnote and aside.

Don't get too hung up on equating genders with this discussion. Martial does not mean exclusively male, compassion and kindness are not exclusively female qualities either. Once again, reality is more complex than the analogy. Human beings are physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, a mixture of both things. Guys don't believe me? Go look in the mirror and try and figure out why you have breasts. And no warrior in his right mind would willing cross a mother protecting her young. And no woman in her right mind would ever willingly marry a man unable to express kindness, if only to her children.

I find it amusing that it was the Democrats who gave the most blatantly homophobic reasoning not to support Obama. "Metro-sexual" could be applied to a great number of our best Presidents. Especially the ones fond of wearing wigs and garters, like Washington and Jefferson. And if "slender" is a handicap, that removes Abraham Lincoln from the running. Sheesh.

MEMORIAL DAY -- Remembering Alan Rogers

MEMORIAL DAY -- Remembering Alan Rogers

Jihadist Surprise

A Change in Pace

You can always tell someone is very, very prejudiced when they can't distinguish between someone who is gay and "homosexual acts". Mr. Pace does not believe that gay people exist, he thinks that we are just fucked up straight people behaving badly I guess.

I'm glad Mr. Pace thinks that the military needs moral standards. Perhaps then he would like to explain all the moral waivers he has been approving to let felons into the military while kicking gay people out. Perhaps he would also like to explain the vast disparity between the numbers of military personnel kicked out for Adultery as opposed to homosexuality or sodomy.

I'm also tired of people excusing their prejudice on their "upbringing". If you call black people niggers because thats the way you were raised it doesn't mean your not an asshole.

It is my decided "political" opinion that Mr. Pace should spend more time thinking about what his soldiers and Marines are doing on the battlefield instead of in the bedroom. I'm just not interested in his opinions on butt-fucking so he should keep damn mouth shut and find something more useful to occupy his time. Like say... winning the war in Iraq. But hey, I'm just a nub civilian, what do I know about waging war?
Pfft.

Bush-Hater

Theodore Roosevelt,

Written in an Op-Ed for The Kansas City Star 1918ish

The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole.

Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile.

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.

In this day and age of course, Theodore Roosevelt, would be burned at the stake as a Bush-hater.

Why I joined: from 2nd Lt. Mark J. Daily

A note from Army 2nd Lt. Mark J. Daily.

H/T Intel Dump

______________________________

Why I Joined:

This question has been asked of me so many times in so many different contexts that I thought it would be best if I wrote my reasons for joining the Army on my page for all to see. First, the more accurate question is why I volunteered to go to Iraq. After all, I joined the Army a week after we declared war on Saddam's government with the intention of going to Iraq. Now, after years of training and preparation, I am finally here.

Much has changed in the last three years. The criminal Ba'ath regime has been replaced by an insurgency fueled by Iraq's neighbors who hope to partition Iraq for their own ends. This is coupled with the ever present transnational militant Islamist movement which has seized upon Iraq as the greatest way to kill Americans, along with anyone else they happen to be standing near. What was once a paralyzed state of fear is now the staging ground for one of the largest transformations of power and ideology the Middle East has experienced since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Thanks to Iran, Syria, and other enlightened local actors, this transformation will be plagued by interregional hatred and genocide. And I am now in the center of this.

Is this why I joined?

Yes. Much has been said about America's intentions in overthrowing Saddam Hussein and seeking to establish a new state based upon political representation and individual rights. Many have framed the paradigm through which they view the conflict around one-word explanations such as "oil" or "terrorism," favoring the one which best serves their political persuasion. I did the same thing, and anyone who knew me before I joined knows that I am quite aware and at times sympathetic to the arguments against the war in Iraq. If you think the only way a person could bring themselves to volunteer for this war is through sheer desperation or blind obedience then consider me the exception (though there are countless like me).

I joined the fight because it occurred to me that many modern day "humanists" who claim to possess a genuine concern for human beings throughout the world are in fact quite content to allow their fellow "global citizens" to suffer under the most hideous state apparatuses and conditions. Their excuses used to be my excuses. When asked why we shouldn't confront the Ba'ath party, the Taliban or the various other tyrannies throughout this world, my answers would allude to vague notions of cultural tolerance (forcing women to wear a veil and stay indoors is such a quaint cultural tradition), the sanctity of national sovereignty (how eager we internationalists are to throw up borders to defend dictatorships!) or even a creeping suspicion of America's intentions. When all else failed, I would retreat to my fragile moral ecosystem that years of living in peace and liberty had provided me. I would write off war because civilian casualties were guaranteed, or temporary alliances with illiberal forces would be made, or tank fuel was toxic for the environment. My fellow "humanists" and I would relish contently in our self righteous declaration of opposition against all military campaigns against dictatorships, congratulating one another for refusing to taint that aforementioned fragile moral ecosystem that many still cradle with all the revolutionary tenacity of the members of Rage Against the Machine and Greenday. Others would point to America's historical support of Saddam Hussein, sighting it as hypocritical that we would now vilify him as a thug and a tyrant. Upon explaining that we did so to ward off the fiercely Islamist Iran, which was correctly identified as the greater threat at the time, eyes are rolled and hypocrisy is declared. Forgetting that America sided with Stalin to defeat Hitler, who was promptly confronted once the Nazis were destroyed, America's initial engagement with Saddam and other regional actors is identified as the ultimate argument against America's moral crusade.

And maybe it is. Maybe the reality of politics makes all political action inherently crude and immoral. Or maybe it is these adventures in philosophical masturbation that prevent people from ever taking any kind of effective action against men like Saddam Hussein. One thing is for certain, as disagreeable or as confusing as my decision to enter the fray may be, consider what peace vigils against genocide have accomplished lately. Consider that there are 19 year old soldiers from the Midwest who have never touched a college campus or a protest who have done more to uphold the universal legitimacy of representative government and individual rights by placing themselves between Iraqi voting lines and homicidal religious fanatics. Often times it is less about how clean your actions are and more about how pure your intentions are.

So that is why I joined. In the time it took for you to read this explanation, innocent people your age have suffered under the crushing misery of tyranny. Every tool of philosophical advancement and communication that we use to develop our opinions about this war are denied to countless human beings on this planet, many of whom live under the regimes that have, in my opinion, been legitimately targeted for destruction. Some have allowed their resentment of the President to stir silent applause for setbacks in Iraq. Others have ironically decried the war because it has tied up our forces and prevented them from confronting criminal regimes in Sudan, Uganda, and elsewhere.

I simply decided that the time for candid discussions of the oppressed was over, and I joined.

In digesting this posting, please remember that America's commitment to overthrow Saddam Hussein and his sons existed before the current administration and would exist into our future children's lives had we not acted. Please remember that the problems that plague Iraq today were set in motion centuries ago and were up until now held back by the most cruel of cages. Don't forget that human beings have a responsibility to one another and that Americans will always have a responsibility to the oppressed. Don't overlook the obvious reasons to disagree with the war but don't cheapen the moral aspects either. Assisting a formerly oppressed population in converting their torn society into a plural, democratic one is dangerous and difficult business, especially when being attacked and sabotaged from literally every direction. So if you have anything to say to me at the end of this reading, let it at least include "Good Luck"

Mark Daily

_____________________________________

Army 2nd Lt. Mark J. Daily Was killed Monday, Jan 15, 2007 in Mosul, Iraq.

LA Stories

GPW is thinking about leaving Los Angeles because of the usual reason, superficial people, etc.

It’s funny though but when people describes their reasons for both liking and not like Los Angeles, they are not really things that I would associate Los Angeles with. Although ever word of L.A. Story is absolutely true.

GPW says:

"As I told my classmates, many of the stereotypes are true about LA, the selfish, superficial people. But, that is only part of this city’s story. There are days when I truly love LA and see why this city has produced some truly outstanding movies and quality television. And other artistic achievements."

This isn't the Los Angeles that I know.  I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I was born here and grew up here.