Category Archives: Social Commentary

July 5, 2010 · 11:09 am

Punishing the Unemployed – NYTimes.com

The latest from Paul Krugman about how our “leaders” in Washington are failing to do their job to help the long-term unemployed. They seem to forget these folks are unemployed and still can’t get a job as a result of the Republican mismanagement of the economy and the GOP lead deregulation of the financial markets that led to the financial crisis causing all this pain.

Here is a sample:

There was a time when everyone took it for granted that unemployment insurance, which normally terminates after 26 weeks, would be extended in times of persistent joblessness. It was, most people agreed, the decent thing to do.

But that was then. Today, American workers face the worst job market since the Great Depression, with five job seekers for every job opening, with the average spell of unemployment now at 35 weeks. Yet the Senate went home for the holiday weekend without extending benefits. How was that possible?

The answer is that we’re facing a coalition of the heartless, the clueless and the confused. Nothing can be done about the first group, and probably not much about the second. But maybe it’s possible to clear up some of the confusion.

By the heartless, I mean Republicans who have made the cynical calculation that blocking anything President Obama tries to do — including, or perhaps especially, anything that might alleviate the nation’s economic pain — improves their chances in the midterm elections. Don’t pretend to be shocked: you know they’re out there, and make up a large share of the G.O.P. caucus.

By the clueless I mean people like Sharron Angle, the Republican candidate for senator from Nevada, who has repeatedly insisted that the unemployed are deliberately choosing to stay jobless, so that they can keep collecting benefits. A sample remark: “You can make more money on unemployment than you can going down and getting one of those jobs that is an honest job but it doesn’t pay as much. We’ve put in so much entitlement into our government that we really have spoiled our citizenry.”

Now, I don’t have the impression that unemployed Americans are spoiled; desperate seems more like it. One doubts, however, that any amount of evidence could change Ms. Angle’s view of the world — and there are, unfortunately, a lot of people in our political class just like her

Here is the link to the full column:

Op-Ed Columnist – Punishing the Unemployed – NYTimes.com.

Variations on the Theme of Freedom

Today is the Fourth of July. A day for parties, cookouts, fireworks and fun. But, as usual, I’m going to be an earnest, wet blanket. This is also a day we need to stop and think…

Let’s start with looking at an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence, as signed on July 4th, 1776. Most of us probably haven’t really read it since we had to learn it in elementary school. I wonder, do they still teach the Declaration of Independence in elementary school? Or in school, period?

Anyway, let’s look at part of the second paragraph:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed

Life….Liberty….Pursuit of Happiness…Safety…Happiness….These are the key words that jump out at me.

But remember. When this Declaration was signed, it really only applied to White Male Landowners. You, know. Republicans….

In 1776, slavery was still the law of the new land. It took almost 200 more years-from the Emancipation to Brown vs the Board of Education to Dr King to the Civil Rights Act– for African Americans to be truly free and legally equal. And even though we now have an African-American President, we still have a lot of work to do on Race.

In 1776, women were basically the possessions of men. You know, like the Southern Baptist Convention still dreams of them being….Women could not vote until 1920. They were tied to home and hearth until the Birth Control Pill was introduced in the early 1960’s. They didn’t truly control their own bodies until the Rowe vs. Wade decision by the Supreme Court in 1973. They spent the generations working toward equal rights, equal opportunity and equal pay in the workplace.

In 1776, Gay People did not exist. Or so the Religious Right and their allies would like folks to believe…Of course, there have always been Gay people and Gay Relationships. I can make some people’s heads explode with my theories on what was really going on between David and Jonathan in biblical times…but, I digress.

In short, there were no specific protections for Gay People in either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. I’ll grant the right-wing this point.

However, look back at the words…. Life….Liberty….Pursuit of Happiness…Safety…Happiness….The intent is clear.

Today, Gay People still are not legally protected. We can still be fired from our jobs just for being Gay. No legal protection. We can still be denied hospital visitation rights for our partners as our relationships are not legally recognized. We cannot protect joint property and inheritance rights without expensive legal paperwork- that is still subject to challenge. We cannot serve openly in the Military. The list goes on. Even in the post “Will and Grace” era, we still have a lot of work to do…

Freedom is not something that happens because a bunch of men sign a piece of paper. I’m a descendent of one of those signers: Dr Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia. And I still don’t have the all same rights in the same context that he had then…Because I’m Gay.

We all have to keep working on freedom. Both winning it and keeping it. We can’t just treat it as a word or celebrate it one day a year.

That’s why it’s so important we make informed decisions at the ballot box. That’s why it’s important we call our representatives in Congress and make our opinions known. That’s why we have to watch those representatives and vote them out of office, either in Primaries or General Elections, when they do the bidding of the few, the elite and the Corporations, instead of the People.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men– and women– are created equal. All. No exceptions. Enough said.

So, enjoy the day. Cookout, Drink and party. Watch fireworks.

And tomorrow, remember to keep working on keeping our dreams of Freedom alive.

Professors rank President Obama 15th Best President, George Bush Ranked One of 5 Worst

I know this is going to raise the blood pressure of some of my friends and family…

Interesting article. While Obama has not done as much as some of us would like, we sometimes forget that he has accomplished an awful lot in a short period of time…and came into quite the mess to clean up from the Bushies…

In the overall ranking, Obama rated two places below Clinton, who was 13th best, and three better than Reagan, who is ranked as the 18th best.

Franklin D. Roosevelt again earned the top spot, as he has every time since the poll was first conducted in 1982. He and the Mount Rushmore presidents — Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson — have consistently been the top five presidents in the poll’s findings.

Obama’s 15th ranking is slightly higher than other presidents who have taken office since the poll started nearly 30 years ago. Most start out at about number 20, said Siena statistics professor and poll director Douglas Lonnstrom.

“[Obama’s] doing a little better, but he’s generally in the same ballpark,” he said.

While he ranked high on traits like imagination (6th), communication ability (7th) and intelligence (8th), Obama rated poorly ratings on background (32nd), which was composed of traits like family, education and experience.

Lonnstrom said the main factor that gives a president a top-five or top-10 ranking is his accomplishments — and an all-around high ranking in most categories.

FDR, for example, ranks in the top 10 for every category except integrity, he said.

“The experts really are looking for consistency, a president who is looking good across most of these categories,” he said.

Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, was ranked at number 23 in 2002 — the last time Siena’s presidential expert poll was conducted — but has since dropped to number 39, qualifying him as one of the five worst presidents. Bush came in at number 42 — second to last — on issues such as handling the U.S. economy, foreign policy accomplishments and intelligence. (Warren G. Harding was rated the least intelligent president).

Bush joins Harding, Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan and Franklin Pierce, all of whom have consistently ranked as the worst presidents since the poll started, in the bottom five.

via Professors rank President Obama 15th best president – Emily Schultheis – POLITICO.com.

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Filed under Politics, Social Commentary

Tagged as Bush, Obama, politics, President

June 30, 2010 · 8:47 pm

A New Depression Due to Massive Stupidity?

One of my biggest fears for the safety of the emerging economic recovery is Washington stupidity. And it looks like my fears may be realized.

Several things have happened in Washington over the last week that have greatly disturbed me.

The first issue that’s disturbing me is the call by the Republican Leadership to raise the Social Security Retirement age to 70 and to cut Social Security benefits to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. How about we end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and use the money to cut the deficit and grow the economy by repairing our collapsing infrastructure– and create new jobs to support Green Energy instead?

And people need to realize that John Boehner, who is making these statements, would be in the driver’s seat to push this legislation if people were stupid enough to turn over power in the House of Representatives to the Republicans. The idea of Speaker Boehner is very scary to me. I’ve met the man. He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer…

The second issue that disturbs me is that, because the loud-mouthed Tea Party crowd has been screaming about cutting deficits, the soulless Republican Party- with the help of some ignorant and/or self-serving Democrats- is focusing on cutting the deficit before the fragile recovery has completely secured itself. Herbert Hoover would be proud of them.

Thus far the Recovery has been dependent on Consumer Confidence and Consumer Spending. Numbers on both are not exactly stellar.

Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize Winning Economist, put it best recently in his New York Times Column:

We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost — to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs — will nonetheless be immense.

And this third depression will be primarily a failure of policy. Around the world — most recently at last weekend’s deeply discouraging G-20 meeting — governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending.

Let’s be honest, the Republican Party does not want the economy to be in a robust recovery in November of this year. They would rather wreck the recovery and the economy in order to use it as a political issue to gain seats in Congress.

Politics is always more important than the needs of the American People to today’s Republican’s. They can thank the late Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and the rest of the George W Bush gang for installing that mindset in the GOP. That’s why all the Republican’s and Ben Nelson- who is a Democrat in name only- voted this week not to extend Unemployment Insurance to millions or people who’s benefits are running out. It’s why they also failed to provide funds to the States to prevent teachers, fire fighters and others from being laid off.

Let me say that again: In the midst of one of the worst economic times in history, with millions of people unemployed, the Republican party blocked the extension of Unemployment benefits to people who desperately need them until more jobs are created. They also blocked state funding that will put more people out of work. This is today’s GOP.

Funny, how the Republicans are counting on people forgetting that they are the ones who created these deficits and the economic crisis causing these job losses.

Republican’s enabled the financial meltdown by deregulating Wall Street and the Banks. Obama and the Democrats are trying to fix Republican mistakes and bad policy. Remember, Bush inherited a substantial budget surplus when he took over from Bill Clinton.

Republicans are more than willing to sabotage the economic recovery to win seats in November. If any behavior should be labeled “UnAmerican”, this behavior should be so labeled. This is insane.

To be blunt, if no one else has the money to spend to create jobs, the government has to do so. That is what got us this far on the recovery. To stop now, puts us at risk of a double dip recession and a depression. It’s clear, the “Best and the Brightest” are no longer running things in the Republican Party. I also question the Democratic leadership–and particularly the so-called conservative Blue Dog Democrats– for not realizing this and fighting back harder.

Once people go back to work, have money to spend and tax revenue rise due to a robust economy, then the deficit will start to come down from the economy growing, people making and spending money–and then we can look at cost cutting. Particularly for wars that should be stopped sooner.

The economic recovery is far too fragile to pull back now.

My hope is that the American People are not as stupid as the Republican leadership and won’t put these fools back in power. If they do, we all will lose. I hope the American people realize the game these people are playing and call them on it in November.

That’s a long way away… I hope they don’t do too much more damage in the meantime.

Here is the Link to the entire Paul Krugman Column: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/opinion/28krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

6 Comments

Filed under General, Politics, Social Commentary, The Economy

June 25, 2010 · 7:15 pm

Triad Stage, “Providence Gap” and Some Thoughts On Blogging

It has been a very interesting week for me.

My review and thoughts on “Providence Gap” created quite a lot of discussion, both here, on FaceBook and in conversations I’ve had around town. That post received the most “hits” of any blog post I have posted.

I thank all of you who read it, whether you agree with me or not. So far, almost everyone I’ve talked to has agreed with me. But I’m sure almost everyone tells the folks at Triad Stage they loved “Providence Gap”. People don’t like to be impolite. Neither do I.

I will start by saying I have re-read my blog post several times and I stand by my comments completely.

With one exception: I think I was unintentionally a little too harsh on Preston Lane. While I stand by my comments on “Providence Gap”, the Appalachian series and “Julie’s Dance”, as I reviewed his credits last night, I realized how much I had enjoyed some of Mr. Lane’s other adaptations.

Like most consumers, theatrical or otherwise, the bad usually stands out at the expense of the good in our memories as time passes.

I want to give praise, where it is due, just as I will give criticism where I think it is due.

Mr. Lane did a great job in his adaptations of “Ghosts”, “Hedda Gabler” and “Dracula”. I thank him for those works and those enjoyable evenings at Triad Stage. He has also shown great talent as a director. However, when you are the Artistic Director of a professional theatre company, you have to be ready to accept good feedback as well as bad.

That brings me to some thoughts on blogging…

I read blogs for a long time before I started one. I’ve only been blogging since December and I’m constantly amazed that more and more people are reading this blog. I decided to throw my thoughts out into cyberspace as an outlet and for fun. I never really thought whether someone else, outside a few friends, might want to read them. They do. I’m surprised when I run into people around town and mention my name, for some reason, and they say: “Are you the blogger?” It’s been an adjustment to think of myself that way. But yes, I am a blogger. I’m proud to say so.

I think bloggers are essential to communication today. With most of the traditional media outlets owned my big corporations and news mixed up with entertainment, I’ve long depended on political blogs for my news and information. With the local traditional media being swallowed up by corporations and conglomerates, you don’t see as much local news coverage as you once did.

And you see almost no Arts coverage. No one in the local media reviews local Theatre or other Performing Arts anymore. That’s why blogging is essential. We have to create our own information sharing process. That’s why I intend to continue to provide my thoughts on the local Arts scene when I attend performances. I hope you will, too.

I’ll also say that what few traditional critics still remain don’t carry the weight they once did. Shows can survive horrible reviews in the New York Times and still run. Example: “The Adams Family.” Shows can also get great reviews and be derivative, boring and deeply flawed. Ex: “The Shining City” and “Pillowman”.

Word of mouth is much more important now than it used to be. But it doesn’t always get to the producers. That’s why we need blogs in the Triad. I’m really not sure the folks at Triad Stage were hearing what I and others were saying about “Providence Gap” until I posted on my blog. And quite a lot of people were saying it.

Now if you Google Triad Stage and “Providence Gap” you not only get the Triad Stage press releases, you get our blog posts. This is an important change due to the internet age. We can all comment and express our opinions. And others can read them. Then they can make up their own minds. It’s really free speech at it’s most basic level. No one controls the dialogue.

It’s too easy for us to be caught up in our own bubbles, silo’s or echo chambers today. With Triad Stage and other organizations, I worry that so many people want something from them- parts in plays, jobs, productions- that it is getting harder for them and other Arts organizations to get real feedback from their audiences. Standing ovations mean nothing in the theatre now. Audiences think they are expected. Hell, in New York, they even applaud the scenery changes.

I don’t want anything but good theatre that expands the heart and mind.

So I’m going to continue to blog. I hope you will continue to read it. I also hope you will continue to give me your comments and your feedback. I no longer do this just for my amusement. I’m finding a sense of community and a dialogue that I am enjoying immensely.

We live in an increasingly polarized and isolated society and blogs can help us rebuild our fractured communities. They allow we busy people to communicate at our own time and speed. They let us share ideas, thoughts and opinions in ways that daily interaction in a Politically Correct world often prohibits.

I don’t expect everyone to agree with me and I welcome comments, both good and bad, on this blog. As long as they are civil. This is an open forum and I plan to keep it that way.

I also encourage others to start their own blogs. I’ve enjoyed many other great blogs here in Greensboro, the Triad and the state of North Carolina as much as I enjoy some of the national blogs I read daily. It’s really easy to start a blog. I recommend WordPress.com. You can start your basic blog for free and be up and running in a matter of minutes.

So again, my thanks to all of you who bother to read this blog and apologies to Preston Lane for overlooking the good works he does due to the impact of one really bad night in the theatre.

Let’s keep the dialogue going…

1 Comment

Filed under Entertainment, Greensboro, North Carolina, Social Commentary

Tagged as entertainment, Greensboro, North Carolina, the south, theatre, Triad, Triad Stage

June 23, 2010 · 7:25 pm

June 22nd- A Day of Big Entrances and Big Exits

I was just checking the internet because I knew of one important event that happened yesterday.

I actually found many interesting things happened on June 22nd. It’s kind of a Red Letter Day in Gay History and the Arts…

On June 22nd:

In 1527 Machiavelli died.
In 1906, Billy Wilder was born.
In 1909, producer Mike Todd, one of Elizabeth Taylor’s husbands, was born. He later died in a famous plane crash.
In 1921, Joseph Papp, founder of the Public Theatre, was born.
In 1921, actor, dancer and Broadway director Gower Champion was also born on this day.
In 1922, Designer Bill Blass was born.
In 1933, Diane Feinstein, former mayor of San Francisco and current US Senator was born. She was the one who announced Harvey Milk and Frank Mosconni’s assassinations.
In 1936, Kris Kristofferson was born.
In 1941, journalist Ed Bradley was born.
In 1947, Don Henley was born.
In 1948, Todd Rundgren was born.
In 1949, Meryl Streep was born.
In 1953, Cyndi Lauper was born.
In 1961, Jimmy Summerville, of Bronski Beat and the Communards, was born.
In 1964, author Dan Brown was born.
In 1965, David O Selznick, the famous Hollywood producer of “Gone With the Wind” and many other classics died.
In 1966, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” opened.
In 1969, Judy Garland died at age 47.
In 1972 “Man of LaMancha” opened on Broadway.
In 1976, “Godspell” opened on Broadway.
In 1977, Jai Rodriguez, actor and “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” regular, was born.
In 1987, Fred Astaire died.
In 2002, Ann Landers died.
In 2008, George Carlin died.

A lot of big entrances and exits on this day. Kind of makes you think…

You Can’t Go Home Again

I’ve spent more time in my hometown of Danville, Virginia over the last few weeks than I have spent there in the last 20 years.

Normally, I would go up there for Christmas Eve and maybe once more during the year. I had a four hour limit on how much time I spent there. That was to preserve my mental health. After about three and a half hours, I had to head for the border to be sure I could get across to North Carolina before they closed it. I lived in fear of being trapped there. I always did…

But times have changed. We have been in the process of moving my Mother to an Assisted Living facility, so I have had to spend a fair amount of time up there and I’ve learned a few things:

You can’t go home again because home changes. Home is now our house in Greensboro where I live with my partner of almost 14 years and our furry children.
Houses shrink. The house I grew up in seems so much smaller than it used to. It’s smaller than the house just the two of us live in now. It’s certainly not the McMansions most people expect now. But we survived growing up there. More or less…
I don’t know anyone anymore. I went to banks and other places I used to go to and foolishly expected to find people there I knew. It never occurred to me they would have moved on. I guess I thought Danville was frozen in time as it was when I left it.
Danville has changed for the worse. I know I keep harping on this, but I am shocked by how run down the town now seems. The shopping center where Value City and Harris Teeter was is empty. Piney Forest Road is the ugliest strip of real estate I have ever seen. And it takes forever to go across town on it because of all the bloody stop lights!
There are so many old people there. Not just at my Mother’s Assisted Living place. There is no sense of youth and vibrancy. I like to think there once was…
Neighborhoods change. Our neighborhood was one of the new post World War Two developments full of ranch houses and hope. The shopping center nearby had two grocery stores, a Woolworth’s, a Drugstore and a Belk Leggetts. Now the neighborhood is going rental and the shopping center is a joke.
All the good restaurants seem to be gone. Except Short Sugars, the Dan View and Mama Possum’s. Only kidding. There used to be some good local restaurants and now they are all gone. All I see is chain restaurants. I don’t do chains. I would starve to death if I had to live there now.
Dan River Mills is being torn down. I think this is what is killing the town. At one point, over 20% of the population worked there. Now it’s closed dead and gone. Taking the town with it. You can almost feel a tangible atmosphere that is a mixture of anger, resignation and defeat.
Bitterness and isolation thrive when hope leaves. When I read the comments in the Danville paper on–line, I see so much bitterness and closed-mindedness. They seem to want to wall off the town and keep what little is left for themselves. How tight they hold the ties that bind.
They don’t like outsiders- and now I am one. Unless you have pledged to stay there and suffer, you seem to abdicate your place as a Danvillian. They almost seem to view some of us who leave as traitors. So be it. I can’t count the times I’ve heard “you don’t live here now” as if it is a dismissal.

This makes me know I made the right- the only- choice to leave. But it also makes me sad. I never planned to stay there, but I always thought there would be something I recognized there to go back to. There isn’t. I don’t recognize the town or it’s people anymore…

Thomas Wolfe was right…you can’t go home again.

But when you look back, you have to remember the good friends, good times and family you once had there. Some of us are lucky enough to have to have taken some of that with us-if only on FaceBook.

And we have to be very grateful for the good times we did have there and how they made us the people we are.

We can not allow those memories to be colored by how time has ravaged what was once a pretty nice little town. We can’t be petty and bitter. We have to fight those Danville genes.

We have to create our own homes and our own families We have to look forward while still trying to honor the past.

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