Organizing your writing life

STATE OF THE DISUNION: I'm sitting here listening to Dubya give his state of the union address, and at this very moment, he's once again resigning gays and lesbians to second class status by supporting an amendment to the Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Funny, not a mention of civil unions, the bandwagon he jumped on toward the end of the election when his numbers were sinking. Now that's he won, he's back to business as usual...pandering to the christian fundamentalists who put him in office. And, just now, he's talking about nominating judges who will uphold "values" and that his government will continue to support "faith-based organizations" (i.e. more christian fundamentalists). This is a sick, sad son-of-a-bitch. He's droning on about Social Security, which is going to see members of his own party jump ship if he continues to push voluntary retirement accounts. Even Republicans realize their constituents aren't going to put up with monkeying with their monthly checks. With congressional elections looming in 2006, Dubya has a long uphill battle. Good thing he has warmongering in the Middle East to keep him warm.

Old Dubya is riding high on the success of the elections in Iraq. Okay, so they held an election. I'm thrilled. Now where's the exit strategy to get American troops out of there? You workin' on that Condi and Rummy? My guess is no. According to Seymour Hersh's damning article in the last issue of The New Yorker, the Dubya administration is too busy planning to invade Iran. You can read the article at this link. We've got a puppet government hand-picked by America and Iraq doesn't have its own army, which means American troops are there indefinitely. Where are the troops going to come from to support a war in Iran? Hmmm....can you say draft? Dubya is giving the same kind of talk about Iran ("largest supporter of terrorism") that he did before we invaded Iraq.

Now Dubya is talking about terrorism...using more of his scare tactic language and how "we're going to keep fighting terrorism until we have won." Somewhere, Osama bin Laden is smoking a big stogie, laughing his ass off and planning the next terrorist attack. Since Dubya has ignored keeping our borders safe (Mexico is basically a revolving door and you could sail a boat full of atomic bombs into any harbor), my guess is that Al Qaida operatives are already working in this country for the next attack. Dubya says we need to eliminate "radicals and tyranny" in the world...ummm...Georgie, look in the mirror and start with yourself. He says America will not impose its rule on other countries. Oh, dear, god...he has completely lost touch with reality.

Now that I've given the Republicans a good thrashing, I'll say one good thing about them. They refused to accept the United Nations report on Darfur, which says a genocide is not taking place. Read the story here. However, while America is giving good soundbites, it's not lifting a finger to send any troops there. Dubya and his band of merry idiots go on and on about the tyranny and horrors of Iraq, but can't send a single soldier to Darfur where thousands have died and millions displaced.

Last night, I read at a benefit for glbt survivors of the tsunami in Asia. There was a wonderful turnout at Outwrite Books and I was honored to share the bill with Franklin Abbott, Maria Helena Dolan, Vim Jairath, Angela Motter, Pat Wells, Craig Washington and Veronica Jones. Veronica raised a few eyebrows with her poem about how we give money and support when a tragedy is large enough, but other issues...such as gay rights...fall by the wayside here at home. She had a point and I totally got her message, but some there did not. Their loss. Outwrite owner Philip Rafshoon (who I love) said a few people were also incredibly pissed off about my political poems, including the one called Siege about Reagan's death and my refusal to deify him. This was one of those misguided "Log Cabin Republicans," who I associate with the Jews who aligned themselves with the Nazis. Wake up and smell the oppression! When I read my poem calling out Condi Rice, someone in the audience mumbled "I like her." That's your misfortune. If you want to love that modern day Step N' Fetchit, be my guest, but she's sold her soul to whitey and is a warmonger just like the rest of them. I'm sure she's lovely and I hear she plays great piano, but maybe she should have stuck with that.

What really moved me last night was Angela Motter when she got up to sing. She began to cry because she said it seemed for awhile in the 1990s, the glbt community was starting to get a footing in this country. Now, it all seems lost. Maria said, "look at the longview." I agree with her, but sometimes it's hard. I'm already looking ahead to 2008. We MUST redouble our efforts to take back this country from the radical right that has gotten the upperhand.