30 Days of Haiga: Day 14: Lament for My Flag

Original background image:

Copyright: milena1234 / 123RF Stock Photo

Fighter planes image (upper left corner) source NPR News

Racist graffiti image source: Olean Times Herald

Misogynist quote source: Donald Trump

Notes:

I like to think the piece speaks for itself, but I will include a little personal history. 

When I was a young child in my early school years, I was very proud when it came time to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I sprang to my large and far from dainty feet, puffed out my scrawny chest, put my hand over my stalwart young heart, and spoke those hallowed words in my biggest voice. 

I was born in 1965. I didn't go to Kindergarten. Many years later I had a nightmare that Ronald Reagan ordered me to go back to school starting with Kindergarten. Initially, I attempted to comply, but then I realized that there was no legally binding reason for me to do this and I said "I quit," and walked out of the classroom to the sound of Mr. Reagan's voice berating me as a loser.

From first through third grade, the Viet Nam war was still taking place. I believed that the United States would eventually see that the war was a bad idea and would end it, so I said the Pledge proudly because I believed that my fine country would eventually do the right thing because we were the Good Guys.

During the next several years, the country was healing from the aftereffects of the Viet Nam War. I believed that we were headed in the right direction, and I thought that Jimmy Carter was a fine president and would continue to take us that way.

The Reagan era began when I was fifteen years old and I came to believe that we were all doomed to either eat flaming death in a nuclear holocaust or freeze to death in the nuclear winter which would follow. The Pledge of Allegiance lost its former wondrous appeal to me, but I still said it because I felt it was my duty as a patriot to try and believe in my country.

As my son says, the United States is still one of the best countries to live in, but we have a lot of problems. The election of Donald Trump brought a plethora of pathology boiling to the surface. 

We are not post-racist or post-misogynist and we are severely intolerant of anyone who isn't a God-fearing American "Christian." I put Christian in quotes because I don't think the behavior of those who subscribe to the ideals of American religious fundamentalists is Christ-like in any way. There is a frightening new wave of nationalism, and free speech is under fire. There is normalization of bigotry and intolerance.

This is not the America that young me believed in when she put her hand over her heart to proudly say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at school and even at home in her bedroom on Saturday and Sunday because she thought it was the right thing to do.

This America brings tears to the eyes of middle-aged, working class me as I write these words. I despair for the loss of innocence in the heart of the child I once was and fear for the future of who I have become, for those I love, and for my fellow citizens of this world.

~Sly Speaks~

As real as it gets

Copyright Julia Henze +123RF.com 

‘We Need to Survive His Presidency’: Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters Blasts ‘Buffoon’ Trump—and the Media Covering Him @alternet

‘We Need to Survive His Presidency’: Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters Blasts ‘Buffoon’ Trump—and the Media Covering Him @alternet: 'It’s totally unpredictable. I don’t think he knows what he’s going to do.” Appearing on CNN Saturday morning, former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters tore into President Donald Trump—and the media covering him—while pondering if we are going to survive a Trump presidency.Speaking with host Michael Smerconish, Waters talked about his latest tour that features copious images of Trump—and not in a flattering way.Smerconish asked about the anti-Trump imagery and if the rocker was running “the risk of helping him by going over the top.”

5 Wingnuts and Reactionaries Bill Maher Has Made Peace with in the Last Year Alone @alternet

5 Wingnuts and Reactionaries Bill Maher Has Made Peace with in the Last Year Alone @alternet: Ted Nugent is just the latest extremist the 'Real Time' host has courted in recent months. With his snarky, irreverent style, liberal comedian Bill Maher has a way of getting under conservatives' skin. To many, the host of HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” epitomizes the coastal elite who mock them mercilessly and belittle their values at every turn.



*************************************

Really have never cared for Bill Maher. To me he seems like one of those neoliberal men who is more than willing to throw women under the bus. He tends to use statements such as "like a girl" to insult men he dislikes.



~Sly~

5 “Proud Boys” suspended from duties and face investigation says chief of defence - APTN News

5 “Proud Boys” suspended from duties and face investigation says chief of defence - APTN News: APTN National News Canada’s military’s chief of defence staff says the five members of the “proud boys” group that interfered with a Mi’kmaq ceremony in …

Right Tyranny vs. Left Paternalism

The "left" is not entirely sweetness and light. They tend to be elitist, patronizing of poor and marginalized people, and very fatphobic. As opposed to the right, who want to smash everyone who isn't up to their standards under their jackboot goose step, the left has a tendency to behave as the Great White Hope, giving those falling into the White Man's Burden category a condescending pat on the head while killing us softly.

~Sly Has Spoken~

copyright juliahenze@123rf

Women are Half of Humanity

This is a comment I made on an article by Arthur Magida.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/might-5-ex-presidents-prevent-trump-making-us-unrecognizable-2020

A bit of nit-picking of an otherwise well-written piece. If the author were to state "these are times that try the human soul" rather than "these are times that try men's (and women's) souls," he would avoid putting women in parentheses as if we are an afterthought. I believe that the author does not think of women as an afterthought, given his biography."

Most of us learned the old, sexist literary rules of always referring to an unspecified person as "him" and using phrases such as "the spirit of man" to describe all people. 

Personally, I took hits to my grade because I refused to do that. These rules come from a time when women were seen as lesser and, in fact, thought not to have souls.

When making a direct quote, I don't change the wording as I am attributing the quote to the person who initially wrote it. However, when it comes to my own writing, I am human but I am not a man. I refer to the human spirit, to humanity (as opposed to mankind, unless I am speaking only of men.) 

It is past time to recognize that humanity encompasses more than "man". 

As I said, other than that, the author is spot on. 

Lord Dampnut and his cabinet of crooks present a terrible threat to everything the U.S. stands for, and to the safety of the entire world.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Copyright juliahenze +123RF.com 

NaPoWriMo 2017: Day 22: Sad State of Affairs

There once was the worst politician

Who obtained the highest position

T'was a sad state of affairs

Instead of making repairs

To destroy everything was his mission

~Sly~

Notes:

The NaPoWriMo prompt for today was to write a Georgic.

This is not a Georgic.

It is a limerick.

Nonetheless, it was inspired by that prompt.

Cross-posted to:

Sly Fawkes

Sly's Free Speech Space

Copyright juliahenze +123RF.com