DOES DICK CHENEY FEED(ON) AMERICAN EVIL?

                A funny thing happened on the way to writing a blog about how John McCain, William Kristol, Paul Wolfowitz, and the rest of the gang that got everything wrong about the war in Iraq in the first place have the nerve, the gall, and pure unmitigated audacity to present themselves once again as the experts on Iraq.   I was going to talk about the trillions that this war has cost, not to mention the almost 5,000 American lives and uncounted wounded this TOTALLY UNECESSARY war has cost.  I was going to write about how all this money can be spent on so called nation building in Iraq, while African American communities continue to languish to the point that getting a supermarket in one makes greater news than a child being shot there.  I was going to talk about the wrong-headed values of these white men (yes, race IS crucial) when it happened.  Just like in the movies.

In grade B martial arts films there comes a time when the evil minions scatter to make way for The One.  The One is a gigantic heavily muscled being who wields the forces of darkness with a skill that makes all others kneel before him.  Just like in these movies, the arguments of McCain et al could hold only so much hubris and could deliver only so much venom.  It would take the advent of The One to wrestle reality to the ground, to magnify Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels’ assertion that the bigger the lie the better. Only The One could have told America that Iraq would greet the Americans as liberators, that Iraqi oil would pay for the war, that we would be in and out in a brief period of time, that there were weapons of mass destruction, and that Saddam Hussein was in cahoots with Al Qaida.  Only The One could have told so many falsehoods, cost so much money and so many lives then said of Obama, regarding the Iraqi war which The One instigated:  “Never before has someone been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many.”

The sheer magnitude and scope of the attack was breathtaking in its excess.  This was a clear statement of mastery of the universe.  It was The One declaring that he would never yield to reality for, in fact he was not just the master of the universe, but of reality itself.   Only The One could stare America malevolently in the eye and issue the challenge:”Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?”  The One is the spiritual twin of J. Edgar Hoover.  He is the spiritual descendant of our seventh president, the architect of Indian genocide, Andrew Jackson, as well as our 17^th president, Andrew (America is for white men) Johnson.  The One (or perhaps I should say one and a half, considering that his offspring carries his powers of darkness) of course is former vice president Dick (shoot ‘em in the face, I will not stand up for a black man’s presidential inauguration) Cheney. 

The fact that Cheney could make the statement about Obama being so wrong and follow up with another attack on Obama for withdrawing troops based on an agreement made by his administration both clarifies and elevates this debate from one of politics to one of morality; of evil vs. good.   He removes any lingering doubt as to whether he made mistakes regarding he interpretation of intelligence or if he simply was lying.   Cheney was lying then, and he’s lying now.    Even I knew before the start of the Iraqi war that there could have been no alliance between a secular dictator like Saddam Hussein and a religious fanatic like Osama Bin Laden.   Cheney presents as the pure evil that has made America hated around the world.  George W. Bush’s nonsensical  fairytale, “They hate us for our freedom” notwithstanding, America is hated because of its belief that it is ordained by God to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries, often installing brutal rulers (Shah of Iran for example)  in place of the legally elected leaders.  Cheney is the embodiment of that belief.  He is the imperialist; the colonialist.  As such, his participation in the current debate elevates it from one of mere current day politics to one of enduring metaphysical implications on a level that transcends that of Ronald Reagan’s successful battle for the soul of the nation.

Cheney’s battle is for much more than the future of Iraq.  It is for the character of America.  There have always been two Americas: one noble and capable of incredible altruism, and the other evil, capable of the genocide of Indians, the enslavement of Africans, the development of the Ku Klux Klan, the internment of Japanese during WWII and the list goes on.  Cheney’s ongoing war with Obama goes way beyond mere political differences.  Like Donald Trump, he does not recognize Obama’s presidency.   This battle goes all the way back to the Old Testament.  Cheney is fighting for the status of his people -white American men -as the Chosen People.   The anointed.  That’s why he sat in a wheelchair during the Obama inauguration.  That’s why Cheney can do no wrong, and Obama no right. 


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ARE SEXUAL ISSUES MESSING US UP?

                Sexuality and religion are, perhaps, the two most   powerful   forces on the planet.  Recent news events have prompted me to try to determine which, if either, of these two massive forces is the more dominant.  I’m afraid that before we can even begin this mammoth undertaking, we’ll need considerable defining of terms as well as context.  For our purposes, we are dealing with the negative effects of sexual and religious dysfunction in the broadest sense of both of these terms.  In this blog I’ll be advocating that sexual dysfunction is the more powerful negative force.  By “sexual,” I mean anything psychological, spiritual, cultural or symbolic that in any way pertains to or represents sexuality.  In a subsequent blog I’ll be pushing for religion.  You be the judge.

                While I have studied the role sexuality has played in human events in the past, I was re-drawn into the subject by the rants of the latest lunatic mass murderer, Elliot Rodger.  Through the haze of his twisted logic and hatred, the one idea that came across most clearly was that his intense hatred was born out of his sexual frustration from being rejected by women.   On a much, much lower level, I’ve often wondered how many interviewees either received job offers or were rejected based largely upon how “lucky” the interviewer was the night before. 

                Then there is the case of Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas.  The testimony of Anita Hill (yes, I emphatically believe her) revealed, in my opinion, not so much a man who liked to harass women, as much as a social klutz who had not the lightest clue as to how to talk to them and subsequently wound up making utterly inappropriate comments to them.  Given his social ineptitude (along with the fact that he’s no Denzel Washington) can there be any doubt that he was repeatedly rejected by black women?  Could the rejection by black women have caused Thomas to seek revenge by rejecting black people and voting against their interests in every single issue concerning black folks that has been put before him? 

                Could sexual issues play a role in wars and, dare I say it, slavery?  We know that beyond the financial rewards, the other great benefit of slavery for white men was the freedom to rape black women en masse without fear of reprisal.  As has been noted by the great black writer/advocate/intellectual and co-author of the Black National Anthem, James Weldon Johnson, the sexual appetites of the rapists had to be justified by projecting the Black man as a “dark, sexual beast.” 

                In his essay, “Male Sexuality and the Fragile Planet: A Theological Reflection,” Yale educated Dr. James B Nelson asserts that social violence, white racism and environmental abuse are all “sexually transmitted diseases.”  He follows that assertion by saying that he is being quite literal in making it.  He goes on to say that the “alienations and distortions” in our sexual existence have deep connections to these issues.  Obviously I can’t break all that down in this blog, but it is a beginning for thoughtful dialogue.

                Finally, what does it say about us when we abuse or “rape” our Mother Earth?

                So now it’s up to you, Oh thoughtful Reader. This aspect of our being has been so demonized that it’s difficult to look at it in a sober mature fashion.  But, hopefully, I’ve demonstrated in some small way, the impact sexual issues may have.  What do you say?

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