Happenings Are Still Happening!

We are living in “happening” times.  Back in the Sixties, there were random, spontaneous events they called happenings.  They seemed, usually, to involve drugs, nudity and massive quantities of mud.  But they were, as recalled in the parlance of the era, “far out.”  Today, the old-timers lament, we need more of them.

Last Sunday in Phoenix, there was a happening of epic proportions in the gay conservative and libertarian world.  I had the chance to meet North Dallas Thirty at a coffee house uptown.  There were no drugs, nudity or mud.  But (perhaps partially because of that) we had a very nice visit.

We buried the hatchet on our ridiculous Gay Patriot flame war of a few months ago.  We talked about our families, friends and romantic histories.  We even spotted a very young man (at a coffee house!) with an Ayn Rand book! Thus did we find another reason to hope that the next generation won’t be lost.

North Dallas is a very nice, funny, smart and generous man.  We may have our differences, but they aren’t worth battling over.  He’s a conservative and I’m a libertarian, but we agree on all the most important matters.  And the gay Right in this country needs to stick together now more than ever before.

Our Leftist counterparts are in the throes of Obama-gasm because The One has come out in favor of gay marriage.  He has clearly done this only out of political expediency.  The social reactionaries seem determined to weigh Ken-Doll Romney down with obligations on issues the government should stay out of, and if he doesn’t grow a pair and stop pandering to this crowd very soon, he’ll lose the election to Obama big-time.

That is my opinion – I’m not at all sure North Dallas would agree – but what is clear to practically all on our side is that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans who don’t want Obama’s reelection need to stand up now and be counted.  We can’t let the Lefties go on presuming to speak for all of us.

We speak with at least a somewhat more united voice since last Sunday.  We’re here, we’re queer and we are not a herd of sheep the statist Left can take for granted.  We don’t trip out on drugs, we remain fully-clothed in public and we don’t wallow in the mud.  We also, most certainly, never have Obama-gasms.

What Would We Do Without Hypocrisy?

It’s entertaining to watch the spectacle of Democrats and Republicans pounding each other, this election season, with charges of hypocrisy.  As if one side is guilty of it and the other isn’t.  It reminds me of little kids at some preschooler’s birthday party:  “She did it first!” “No, he did!” “But she did it more!”

A friend of mine, whose politics are predictably leftist, has gone on a crusade to get me to hate Sarah Palin.  I made the mistake of noting that, as a woman, I find it offensive the way Leftists pile on her, while criticizing Right-Wingers for their sexism.

This is further proof (as if we needed more) that in politics, principle matters little.  Power is everything.

I’m no great fan of Sarah Palin.  But I don’t hate her, either.  She’s a politician.  I don’t have a particularly good opinion of any of them, Right or Left.  The demonization of them is — just as much as the worship of them – but a symptom of the cult of personality to which we subject them.

When talking heads in the media make pornographic remarks about women in the public eye, I find it offensive.  I don’t care which “side” they’re on.  Comments about their children, about their body parts, about their weight, or their dress, or their appearance, are stupid and childish.  It makes those who make such comments sound like airheaded thirteen-year-olds.

This will be conveniently forgotten the next time I make a remark unflattering to the sacred cow of either particular “side.”  I will be accused of unfairly targeting her or him.  Even though proof of my even-handed abuse may be only the click of a mouse away.

We use the hypocrisy of others to excuse our own.  But it does not excuse it.  Nothing does.  Only children think that other people’s hypocrisy makes theirs justifiable.

An old slogan from the Sixties said “What if we gave a war and nobody came?” I’d like to update that.  What if they held an election, and everybody acted like an adult?

Now, there’s a concept.

Voting Down the System

As we watch the latest election year farce unfold, one thing that is becoming increasingly clear is that it won’t amount to a hill of beans if we vote for anybody the “experts” pick as a contender.  As always, we wouldn’t be voting for a candidate, or either for one “side” against the other.  We would be voting for the system.

I intend to vote; I really do.  But I’m not interested in voting for a system that is strangling very very life out of this country.  A vote for Obama will energize the damned fools who support sociopaths like Rick Santorum.  And a vote for Santorum will reelect the president.  A vote for Romney would probably do somewhat less spectacular harm, but it still wouldn’t change a thing, because Ken-Doll Romney is the system.

It is, quite simply, a lie that supporting one “side” can ever defeat the other.  If you support either side, you will only bolster and help to perpetuate the other.  The game being played on us, by the statist power-players, is all about perpetuating a system.  And the whole system is designed to serve them.

When the Libertarian Party gathers to choose its nominee, the system tells us it will be choosing a loser.  But if enough of us vote, in November, for the Libertarian candidate, the system will be forced to adapt.  It will be confronted with a new reality.  Every vote that is cast will be a vote that counts — either for good or for ill.  The only losers will be those who do not vote at all.

Unless the system is changed, and quite substantially, the sickness plaguing this country cannot be overcome.  I wrote an essay, some time ago, for Liberty magazine in which I ruminated (some would say “ranted”) on the best course for a libertarian voter to take.  It has been one of the ten most-read articles in that magazine ever since, which shows that a whole lot of people are struggling with the same question.  However we decide to vote, we must each cast our ballot.  We matter, and our voices must be heard.

When we discuss our options with statist friends, it is revealing that they always tell horror-stories about the other side.  They reflexively, automatically point to the other side because they are helping to perpetuate the system that supports both.  It is how they have been trained to think.  We’ll have to wait until they have consulted the talking heads approved by their side before we can find out what they’re allowed to think about it, but we will learn little from whatever they say.  Beyond, that is, that what they are supporting is not either side, but the very system itself.

Let’s make our vote count this time.  The country is sicker than ever, and the system is making it sick.  We can only heal our country, and begin to help healing our world, if we stand up and choose somebody different.

Diamondbacks for President!

Again this election year, the best viable contender for President may be “None of the Above.”  Come November, I will probably vote Libertarian.  I refuse to go on holding my nose and voting for stinkers.

In America, we are so sports-obsessed that we see everything as a game.  But the choice of the most powerful human being on earth is anything but a game.  It is a deadly serious business.  The kids should stay home and let the grownups handle it.

Your vote counts, and so does mine.  This is true not only if we pick a winner, but if we bother to vote at all.  In this technologically-sophisticated age, every vote is not only tabulated but studied — analyzed down to the most minute detail.  Your vote is your voice, and if you vote, your voice will be heard.

If I were to vote as a baseball fan, not only for who will play in the All Star Game but for how the teams would finish the season, my Diamondbacks would be World Series champs, the Twins runners-up and the Cubs would come in third.  The Yankees would always end up dead last, with the Dodgers only slightly ahead of them.  But sports don’t work that way.  Maybe political elections should, but even though our system isn’t set up for them to work that way, in a very real sense they do.  As voters, every aspect of our choice is duly noted and registered as a matter of permanent record.

So please vote.  Vote early, and often.  If you live in Chicago, and you’re dead, there’s no reason even to let that stop you.  If you’re from the Planet Neptune and you want to vote for President Obama, the Democrats will undoubtedly find some way to let you do it.  But never let it be said that your vote will not count — or that, if you do show up at the polls, your voice will not be heard.

If I vote for the Libertarian candidate for President this year, my guy will not win.  But if enough people vote for him, it will mean something.  I chose Ron Paul in the Republican primary, even though I’m not sure why — as I am now a registered Libertarian Party member — I was sent a mail-in ballot.  I was never under any illusion that Dr. Paul would win, but I chose, this time, to vote without holding my nose.

Upon much reflection, and after several months of having watched both make utter asshats of themselves, I have decided I’d probably rather write-in the Diamondbacks (any or all of them) this year than pull the lever for either Ken-Doll Romney or his rival, the sanctimonious Santorum.

Diamondbacks may be snakes, but at least snakes don’t stink.

Back to the Blogosphere!

My dearest kind and gentle readers, I took a break that needed to be taken.  Seized by the irresistible urge to write a novel, that’s exactly what I’m doing.  I’ve only finished the first draft, but I found that stage to be one that couldn’t be completed while keeping up with everything (or anything) else.  The first draft of a novel is demanding to a degree unequaled by any other endeavor I’ve ever undertaken.

A novel’s first draft is a high-maintenance mistress.  Not that I’ve gotten any sex out of the bargain.  Everyone in my life, as a matter of fact, thinks I’ve fallen off the face of the earth.  I’ve been getting annoyed phone messages and emails almost on a daily basis.  The general thrust of them all having been “Where the hell are you?!”

Now that I’m back on earth, I should be blogging again regularly.  Novel revisions are a lot of work, but the really frenzied part is done.  Born on 9-11 should now officially be back in business.  I will also be posting on the blog of our GLBT conservative and libertarian group, Out Right Patriots.

There are a lot of things to blog about, because interesting things never stop happening.  My WordPress stats tell me that people are still stopping by every day to see if I will post anything new.  I promise that this post is only the beginning.

That is, unless aliens abduct me.  Or I am again seized with the inspiration for a novel.

Gay Conservatives Are On Our Way!

In the land of Goldwater, the gay conservatives are coming together.  Our fledgling group had its first meeting this past Sunday afternoon and evening at Lux Coffeehouse in Phoenix.  And it was a smashing success.

We aren’t sure what to call ourselves yet.  But we’re hoping the concept will take off, and that groups will form around the country.  There were only four of us at the initial gathering — though two more showed up and, because the place was so crowded, couldn’t find us.  They say they will be back, though.  And at least a few more have already expressed an interest.

Actually, our group is for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender conservatives and libertarians, as well as our straight allies.  We want to make it as inclusive as possible.  What we want to avoid is entanglements with Leftists — whom we see plenty of, and hear too much from, elsewhere.  We all have liberals we love, but we intend to keep our group one where we can discuss politics and life without the static we encounter just about everywhere else GLBT conservatives and libertarians attempt to express themselves.

If you’re of like mind, and you’re interested, please join us! We’ve decided to make Lux our regular gathering-place for the time being, because though it’s noisy and crowded, the food is excellent — they even serve full meals — and the staff is helpful and very friendly.

The most interesting thing about our group, thus far, is that we are all women.  And all the others are younger than me.  I would never have expected this.  When I told liberal gay friends what I was planning to try to get together, they grumped that we would get nothing but grouchy old farts.  Farts, in their parlance, being male.  They are wrong about many things, and boy, were they wrong about that!

(They were wrong, dear gentle reader, that we would all be male.  I think they were also wrong that we would be farts.)

I don’t know why we’re all female thus far.  Nor can I say, for sure, why so many are young.  Beyond the four Founding Mothers, we do hope to collect a large group, including men and other women of all ages.  Another interesting feature is that we all used to be “progressives.”  There’s a study here somewhere.

We do all share a fondness for the late-night FOX show, Red Eye.  And for Monty Python and science fiction.  I’m loving this group already!

Sometime within the coming week, we plan on going together to see the movie, Iron Lady, with Meryl Streep.  From time to time, I will send a shout-out on this blog for more members.  I have the feeling that we are embarking upon a wonderful adventure.

Watch this space for more…

A Beautiful Battle

Well, so it’s set now.  Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova will meet in the women’s finals of this year’s Australian Open.

It’s going to be the Battle of the Beauties.  And it will be a beautiful battle, indeed.

But I don’t watch women’s sports because I like to watch good-looking women.  No, of course not.  Just like men who read Playboy read it for the articles.

This festival for the eyes will take place on Saturday.  And it will be titanic.

Of course these two ladies deserve to be appreciated because of their skill instead of just their looks.  And I certainly do.  Actually, I appreciate everything about them.

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam event of the tennis year.  By the time the ladies square off, we’ll know whether Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer has won the men’s title.  I’m for Rafa.  Roger is great, but I have a weak spot for Spaniards.

[Ed.:  That was the men's semis.  I'm obviously not paying as much attention to their half of the action!]

Who will win on the women’s side? I don’t particularly care.  When it comes to that match, for me, what matters won’t be the destination, but the journey.

And what a journey it will be…