Sunday, September 30, 2012

These Are Times That Try Men's Sides

In politics, there are periods full of worry and gnashing of teeth, when elections and issues are nail biters right up to the very last minute.

And then there are times when you can sit back and enjoy a heaping cup of schadenfreude. If you are a Democrat, this is one of those times.

Ever since Romney had the misfortune to speak his true mind in the infamous "47%" remarks, his election numbers have been plummeting. So called "swing" states such as Ohio have clocked up to 10+ point margins for Obama in recent polls.

And what has Romney done in response? Stuff like this. That's right. Romney's going to save Virgina from the tick borne menace with synergy, and other corporate buzzwords.

Unfortunately, the laughs dry up when more is learned. The real story is that the only reason Romney is bothering with this odd promotion because of a single donor named Michael Farris, who is both influential in Virgina and screwy as a silly straw. Michael Farris is a firm believer in a notion of "chronic Lyme's disease," an idea that has been thoroughly debunked by the CDC. This is more than silly, its dangerous. People have died due to the "treatments" given to them by quacks and those with loose ethics.

But of course that doesn't stop Romney from pandering to this guy. What's supporting a dangerous delusion in light of some extra help for his floundering campaign? Keeping consistent with his character, he considers a choice between money and people no choice at all.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Being an Artist and Being a Jerk: Two Completely Compatible States of Being

An incident both irritating and upsetting happened in my Literature class earlier today. We were discussing the poet Amiri Baraka, a poet who started out as a Beat artist and transformed into a card carrying radical socialist. Being a black socialist born in the 1930s, one can take an educated guess as to his views on America and white people.

After bringing him up in class, my professor decided to tell what I'm sure she thought would be nothing more than an amusing anecdote. Apparently despite this man having written such lovely sentiments as "the white woman understands that only in the rape sequence is she likely to get cleanly, viciously popped,"* the state of New Jersey thought it a grand idea to appoint him the Poet Laureate of New Jersey, a honorary position.

Then 9/11 happened. In response, Baraka wrote the poem "Somebody Blew Up America," graced with such lines as these:

Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed
Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers
To stay home that day
Why did Sharon stay away?
[...]
Who know why Five Israelis was filming the explosion
And cracking they sides at the notion*

Naturally, many people called this poem anti-Semitic. He claimed it was only about Israelis and the Israeli government, who he think knew of the attack beforehand.

In other words, he doesn't hate Jews, he just thinks a majority Jewish country run by Jews knew of a terrorist attack that would kill thousands and only thought Jewish lives were worth saving. Indeed, even thought that watching non-Jews die horribly was quality entertainment.  

I'm sure some of his best friends are Jews.

In response to this blood libel based on a lie, the Governor of New Jersey attempted to strip Baraka of his Poet Laureate title, only to find there was no legal way to do so. This fight ended up in court, with the state eventually prevailing by abolishing the post altogether.

Perhaps the professor thought that hearing of New Jersey's self imposed plight would be amusing. I failed to see the humor.

While having a anti-Jewish slur thrown in my face early in the morning wasn't exactly pleasant, what happened next was worse. In reaction to my declaring this guy a nasty bigot spreading lies, other people defended Baraka, including the teacher. You see, Baraka is controversial, and an artist, and a controversial artist. This means that I can't criticize what he writes. Or something. They never got much beyond calling him an artist who is controversial.

It even got to the point where someone said they thought being a good artist meant offending people. To which I responded, "So if I write in large letters in the hallway, 'Jews ain't shit,' am I a good artist?"

The student actually responded, "Yes," but stopped talking after that. Its official folks. Internet trolls are now artists.

It seemed beyond even the professor to comprehend that someone can be an artist and use their art to propagate a horrible message. One that can and should be condemned. 

I was the only person to voice a problem this poem. Would it surprise you that I was the only Jew in that class? I'm just lucky that I am perfectly comfortable arguing a position with everyone else against me, even the teacher. Another person, another Jew could have all too easily found themselves in a position where they heard an anti-Semitic slur tossed off as nothing and then let it slide without comment because they didn't feel comfortable making waves.

Upon reflection, some comments made early in the semester make the behavior of my professor much more understandable. She explained that there were some writers and poets that she just couldn't bear to read no matter how beautiful their writing because she knew they were jerks in real life. Knowledge of an artist's poor behavior tainted all their work for her. So in light of what happened today, if she accepted that Baraka was a bigot, that would mean she could no longer read his poetry. Thus she chose instead to hide under the shield of being "controversial," saving her enjoyment of his work.

It doesn't excuse her actions, but it does explain them. Meanwhile, I will persist in calling a spade a spade, and a bigot a bigot.

*Obtained from the Wikipedia article on Amiri Baraka.