Daddy on the Edge of Using Your Words

Watch:



Everlast - "What It's Like".  Pretty moving song. Of course, this is the first time I've actually heard it all the way through without half of the words squelched out (squelching is my word for what we used to call bleeping, or censoring - they mask the lyric with a rap record "scratching" sound).  Some of the words they squelch are predictable - "fuckin'" and "shit" are still pretty de riguer in radio land.  They censor the word "balls" (as in testicles), but I think that's only because the lyric refers to cutting them off.  The word "whore" is censored from this song on many radio stations, but to my knowledge, has not been removed from any printings of The Holy Bible. Come to think of it, the Bible also mentions eunuchs a couple of times, which are guys that operate sans balls.  There's even talk that marijuana (or "green") is mentioned in the Old and New Testaments - (you can click over to here to read about that.)  Pretty funny that American radio's standards of decency are more stringent than...well...God's.  But then, America and God haven't always been in perfect harmony on everything - America gets their panties all up in a wad because someone says "shit", but they let a lot of things slide - often going out of their way to broadcast and re-broadcast them in a 24 hour news cycle - yet I'm pretty sure that God would never approve of backwoods, hee-haw, hatespeak shit like this:

"God hates fags."           "Thank God for dead soldiers."
               "Italy is a nation of mobster-breeding perverts."

            "It's a sin to pray for America."

 "A  fag is a Jew, pretty much."           "Santa is a fag."

"This is the hypocritical, fag-infested, fag-run United States of America and we're supposed to respect that fag rag flag?"

"If you would STOP worshiping false gods, 
being a fag would not be a complex matter."

I don't even pretend to understand that last one.  But yeah...in case you haven't guessed by now, Daddy's

talkin' about the Douchebag du jour, The Reverend Fred Phelps.  He's said far worse than this, but even Daddy's got standards, and frankly, the only reason that I'm even talking about this whack-a-mole is because I'm growing exceedingly pissed off with America's double standard when it comes to what can and cannot be said in our country, and Freddy is a real popular poster boy right now.

In Fred's world, God hates me.  God hates you, too.  According to Fred, God hates pretty much everyone who isn't Fred or Fred's family.  But do you wanna hear something funny?  The Westboro Baptist Church, which Fred Phelps founded and which is made up mostly of Phelps' extended family...excommunicated him.

Yeah...they kicked his ass out last summer.  You may think that God hates us Fred, but we've got some pretty strong evidence that your family, your church - hell, pretty much your entire world - isn't too crazy about you, either. 

That's not to say that you haven't done some good in this world, Reverend.  Your vile, disrespectful behavior toward your fellow men has inspired a Federal law and laws in numerous states limiting picketing at funerals.  Granted, I don't think we ever needed such laws before you came along, but I imagine they're good to have now that you've made picketing the dead so hip.  On the other hand, the Supreme Court did rule that your church and it's members couldn't be sued for monetary damages for inflicting pain on grieving families under the first amendment.

Dude can't sing about ganja but a hate group can purposely make grieving families suffer even more than they already were, ridiculing their fallen family members as a part of some macabre, hillbilly circus - without fear of litigation. What a frigging First Amendment triumph.

It seems like the role of censorship is to shield the innocents (read children) from things that may be harmful to them.  Well, it may make me a bad parent, but Daddy's kids have heard some four letter words in this house. They will also learn about drugs - what they are and what they can do - because knowledge is power.  Hearing these words, knowing about these things isn't harmful.  Hate speak is harmful.  Fanning the flames of hate is harmful.  Hate has done more evil, has destroyed more lives than the word Fuck or Shit or any other "profanity" ever possibly could.  And, in this case, Phelps and his flock have named The Creator as an accomplice to their Hate.  You wanna talk about using God's name in vain?  Censor That.

We're hearing now that the Reverend may not be long for this world, and Daddy's been trying to put himself in a right way about that.  If Fred Phelps has taught me anything, he has taught me that it is not right to express joy at a death.  I am not happy that this man is dying. I also hope that no one decides to picket his funeral - poetic justice aside, it is (as we know all too well) a disrespectful act, but more importantly - it would only serve to give this man the attention that he has so desperately craved throughout his existence on this planet.  Denying him that is the true Justice.  Let us leave him alone - completely, totally, utterly alone - and pray that, when he does leave this plane, that some of the hate that he has fostered over the years leaves with him.  We have had quite enough of it.

As I mentioned at the start of this piece, the Everlast song is highly squelched, because the lead singer cursed and talked about drugs.  And yet, there's a song that came decades before - a song who's poetic turn of a phrase managed to rarely get censored, despite the fact that it talks about transsexuality, drugs, male prostitution and oral sex.  I can think of no better farewell  to Reverend Fred Phelps than to dedicate this other First Amendment triumph to him. 

Freddy baby, this one's for you...



God doesn't hate gay people.  God doesn't hate soldiers, or Italians, or Jews; God doesn't hate the liberal media or the conservative media or America or Santa.  God Loves Us All.  Even you, Fred Phelps.  Even You.

God Bless, 

Daddy

Daddy on the Edge of The Fence

A friend of mine asked me not too long ago how I choose the subjects that I write about here.  I was quick to say, "I write about things that piss me off", which is pretty much true.  But then I thought about all the things that aggravate Daddy on a daily basis, and realized that if being pissed were the only litmus test, then I would never stop writing in this place.  Turns out there are two criteria; subjects have to piss me off, and I still have to be pissed about them weeks later.  If they're still bugging me, I'll write about them.  Sometimes Daddy has a hard time letting go, but I'm in good company - watch:




Now, let me just say right here that I have no desire to force anyone to eat their own face meat whilst family looks on - that is not my intent.  But I do have to cry fowl on occasion when I hear or read something that paints me or mine in a negative light.

"Me and mine", in this case, refers to Men.

I was reading an article by a friend of mine - the subject was sex.  My friend likes to talk about sex.  A lot. I haven't quite figured out if it's because she has an over-active libido or if because talking about sex gets more clicks on your articles, but I try not to think about it at all.  In the past, every time I have mentioned that she looked good in a picture, she has said "awwww" and told me to give my wife and kids a big hug (a subtle reminder that I'm married and shouldn't be noticing that she is attractive, even if it's meant in the most platonic sense).  So, I don't tell her she looks good anymore.  Goofy I know, but it's just not worth the grief of always feeling like I'm some kind of lech when I know I'm not.  And I already hug my wife and kids plenty, thanks.  

So, if I'm not even looking at pictures of a person with their clothes on, the last thing I want to do is read about them describing sexual acts.  But there it was - the article was about sex - mind blowing, "f*ck your brains out"  sex, but quickly denigrated into the mind aching, time honored tradition of reinforcing the archaic differences between Men and Women.  Men were described as emotionless.  Lacking intuition.  Solid and Unchanging.  Possessing No Desire.  Oh, and we're good at Penetrating.  Penetrating seems to be our best thing.

At best, based on this description, Man is this:

But we can't all be Khal Drogo from "Game of Thrones", so on average, we'd be more like this...

But really, when you boil the text down to it's simplest form and look at the adjectives -  Solid, emotionless, unchanging, devoid of desire, used for penetrating, then it becomes clear that this is what we are really seen as...

Now originally I thought that's what had upset me - I was having an emotional response to the importance of my gender being minimized to it's basest, most...dildo-ish form - but then I remembered that men don't experience emotion, so I looked deeper.

And that's when I realized the trap that I had fallen into.  Us vs.Them.  Male vs.Female.  Black vs.White. Zero vs. One...

The Binary.

Binary technically means "composed of two parts", so it's basically the understanding that there is only one or the other - in this case Men or Women.  The Binary is a dynamite sales and marketing tool - as is stated in the article I reference, John Gray made multi millions of dollars in personal wealth with his "Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus" series of books.  Did it do much for people that didn't relate to being from Mars or Venus, other than making it more obvious that they didn't fit into that "norm"?  Maybe not, but who cares, right?? - it spent 121 weeks on the best seller list!  Yup...more clicks for the same old schtick.

Trouble is, the schtick isn't real.  

Do you have any idea exactly how many people feel like they don't fit into the standard Male/Female role? How many gay, lesbian, bisexual, panssexual, transgender, transsexual, intersex, hermaphrodite, asexual, eunich, androgyne, bigender, genderqueer and questioning people there are in the world? If you said yes, then you're lying.  The truth is that, while there are millions of people that come out and live their lives as who they truly feel they are, there are vast multitudes of people who know that they're "different", yet are afraid to admit it - they find the idea of being their true selves terrifying.  Why?  Because so much of our world hates them (and not like you hate the Red Sox kind of hate - like slit their throat and leave their body in a ditch kind of hate).  Why?  Because they're "not normal".  Why do we think they're not normal?  See "The Binary".

"Hetero-normative", "gender conformist", "heterocentric" - different words with a similar message - that the heterosexual lifestyle is the one fully accepted, practiced, "normal" way to be.  Unfortunately, the flip side of that acceptance and embracing of heterosexuality...is homophobia.  Why?  Us or Them, baby.  Black or White.  The Binary.

And it doesn't have to be the outside world hating on them - a lifetime of the world telling a kid that what they are is wrong - yeah, that shit can turn inward - can turn into self loathing; a vicious, violent denial of who and what a person is - a painful internal battle that they have to fight and hopefully win before they even have a prayer of taking on the rest of the world.  It takes an awesomely brave, incredibly strong individual to come out as anything that deviates from the  "norm" - in large part because of the subtle, constant reinforcement of the binary, and that anything not "this" or "that" must be "wrong".

Constant, relentless repetition that outdated gender stereotypes have any place in any kind of enlightened discussion may be good for some page clicks, but it has real, life and death implications for those outside the binary - for those people not so specifically, entirely, absolutely Male or Female.  Words are a powerful flame - they can light the way, or they can scorch the earth.  The choice is yours.

I thought I was pissed about being called a dick.  Turns out it was something bigger than that.  I had originally titled this piece "Daddy on the Edge of Tired Ass, Supermarket Checkout Aisle Rationalizations, Generalizations and the Compulsive Need for Clicks, Licks and The Same Old Schtick (ADULT)".  Instead, I'm going to call it, "Daddy on the Edge of The Fence".  Why?  Watch the vid.

Opened with Minchin...closing with Minchin.  Tell the folks what I've been trying to say, Timmy...

It's not that simple.

Daddy

Daddy on the Edge of a Happy Birthday

Go Daddy!  It's your birthday!

We gonna party like it's your birthday!
We gonna drink Bacardi like it's your birthday!

Feh.  Daddy don't like Bacardi (however, Daddy is a fan of fine tequila, so if my name comes up on your Secret Santa list...).  The lyrics above are from a 50 Cent song called "In Da Club" - the song has absolutely nothing to do with birthdays, despite the misleading opening - but it is my birthday, and it's a fun little open, and it's about as close as an old white guy like Daddy gets to singing rap, so there it is.

Number one question on your birthday?  "How do you still look sooo incredibly sexy at your age?"  Oops; my bad - that's the number one question I wish I would hear on my birthday (as opposed to the oft heard, "You're how old?  Damn, I really thought you were older.").  No, the number one question is "What do you want for your birthday?"  And it never ceases to frustrate my wife, because there is quite honestly very little that I want, at least in terms of material possessions.  I used to want things - lots of things - and I bought a lot of them, often using credit cards and ringing up my average share of the average American debt.  So, what do I want now?

I want money to be no object.

What do I desire? It's different than "what do I want?".  Desire burns, it comes from deep inside and it is rarely fully quenched.  Want is fleeting, and usually does not stand the test of time.  Right now, go into your closet and take a long hard look at those things that you haven't worn since the Clinton Administration.  There was a time when you wanted every one of those things - the fuscia Le Tigre dinner jacket, the dayglow leotards which you wore with the Flashdance legwarmers.  We had to have that stuff (and yes, during Daddy's performing arts career, even I wore legwarmers) so we bought it.  We bought it all, and if we couldn't pay for it, we put it on credit.  And God almighty, would you look what's happened since - 

From nerd wallet finance - 

American Household Credit Card Debt Statistics: 2013

by TIM

The average US household credit card debt stands at $15,112, the result of a small number of deeply indebted households forcing up the numbers. Based on an analysis of Federal Reserve statistics and other government data, the average household owes  $7,050 on their cards; looking only at indebted households, the average outstanding balance rises to $15,112. Here are statistics, trends, studies and methodology behind the average U.S. household debt.

Current as of November 2013

U.S. household consumer debt profile:

• Average credit card debt: $15,112
• Average mortgage debt: $146,215
• Average student loan debt: $31,240

In total, American consumers owe:

• $11.08 trillion in debt
  • A decrease of 3.2% from last year
• $846.9 billion in credit card debt
• $7.75 trillion in mortgages
• $1,002.0 billion in student loans
• An increase of 10.9% from last year

Did'ja get that?  In 2013, American consumers owe $11.08 trillion dollars in debt!  That's a lot of leg warmers.  And it's not just the price of the leg warmers; it's the interest.  The national average interest on credit cards is currently 14.95 percent.  Our interest payments alone could buy a small country.  And of course, these are just averages.  Many of us, in terms of the amount of debt we've been able to amass and the interest that we pay, are quite above average.  Some of us are just frigging exceptional.  There are many reasons for debt.  Medical issues, school loans, divorce, death - a myriad of perfectly valid, sometimes heart wrenching reasons to have gotten into the hole...

and they don't mean squat.  

That's not meant to be insensitive; it is only meant to say that what's past is past, and there is no reason (aside from a legally binding contractual agreement that we and our credit card companies entered into) that we should keep spending our present and future days financing the past.  We are spending too many of our tomorrows on our yesterdays.  And society has been built up around it.

Debt has become a way of life; both for those that pay for it, and those that charge for it.  What would the world economy look like if all that debt were to suddenly disappear?  Can you imagine what kind of world it would be if people could no longer profit from debt?  Can you imagine what life would be like if we didn't embody the bumper sticker sentiment, "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go!"?

Can you imagine what would happen...if we all just stopped making the payments?

Well, that's what I'm suggesting.  Not defaulting - not unless you absolutely, positively have to.  But instead, by working as hard as we possibly can - harder than we work at our regular jobs, harder than we work on winning a Facebook debate, harder than we work to get to the next level of Candy Crush - to pay off every single bloodsucking, life altering, time wasting, dream killing debt that we have (and we have 11.08 trillion of them - that's a lot of dreams being killed.)

Alan Watts asks in the video above, "What would you do if money were no object?"  The way some of us live with our debt, that's like asking a burning man, "What would you do if you weren't on fire?"  We can't think about that; we can't think about anything at all - except the fire and the fact that we are being burned alive.  And yet, we continue to feed the very fire that destroys us.

It's time to stop the fire.  Proverbs 22:7 says, "Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender".  As far as the Bible is concerned, we are slaves to our credit cards, to our mortgage companies, to our leasing companies - time to stop that, too.

In the United States, we talk a lot about "Freedom".  No, that's not right - the word "Freedom" is said often, usually by politicians telling you that other politicians are trying to take it away (your freedom, that is - to practice your religion, to carry a weapon, to say "Merry Christmas" - whatever "Freedom du jour" will best serve the purpose for the point being made), but if we think about it, we can hardly call ourselves free if we are carrying the weighted chains of debt.  We're just deluded slaves.

I don't want to be a slave anymore.  I desire to be free.  I'd like to walk in the sun and ask myself what I would do if money were no object, and know that I have the luxury of time to think about it, and to come to a real and fulfilling answer, because money will be no object.  That's what I desire -  for me, and for you, and for every one in the whole frigging world.

I want us all to be truly "Free".  That's all I want for my birthday.

That, and the tequila...

You could get me the tequila if you really wanted to...

But pay cash.

Daddy

Daddy on the Edge of the Voice of God

I don't usually listen to NPR.

Not that I have a problem with the station; on the contrary, I don't think the world gets enough intelligent humor and commentary anymore aside from Frasier re-runs, Bill Maher, and Dennis Miller (y'know,

before he became an asshole).

But I took my wife's car to go and pick up milk, and it was on her radio.  For whatever reason, I did not automatically change it to the classic rock station, and instead found myself listening to a story so compelling that even now, weeks later, it's still very much on my mind (and Daddy has always got a world of troubles on his mind - you have really got to rate to get that much play on my mental big screen).

It was a story about a man named James Hampton.  Born in 1909 in Elloree, SC to a self-ordained minister and his wife.  The father left his wife and children to "follow his calling" and at age 19, James left home as well, travelling to Washington, DC where he stayed with his brother's family, and found employment as a short order cook.  In 1942, he was drafted into WW2 and served in the Pacific as a carpenter.  In 1945, he was honorably discharged, moved to a boarding house back in DC, and started working for the General Services Administration as a janitor.  In 1964, he died of cancer.

Compelling, right?  Fascinating!  Amazing!

Yeah, hardly.  If you were trying to script a more mundane existence, you probably couldn't do much better than the apparent life of one James Hampton.  Couple of things distinguish James Hampton from the least interesting man in the world.  First, he believed that God had appeared to him as a real person in real life.  Second, God told him to build this - 

In 1950, James Hampton rented out an old stable building behind 1133 7th Street NW and, for the next 14 years, worked diligently for four to five hours a night after having gotten off his job at the GSA at midnight.  Every night, for 14 years he toiled in service to his Lord on this creation - and by all accounts, he still had more to do when he died.

This incredible, glittering tribute to The Creator, consists of little more than cardboard and broken furniture pieces, foil and jelly jars, desk blotters and burned out light bulbs.  Mr. Hampton would tour the streets, back alleys and used furniture shops of his neighborhood, looking for materials - one man's trash that he could transform into a holy treasure. Upon his passing, the doors to the stable building were opened, and his creation was revealed.

It is called "The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly".  It was the name that got me - it sounded like something out of a Terry Gilliam movie, but you knew it was not - that it held a much deeper meaning than could be understood by the uninitiated, by those not members of Mr. Hampton's inner sanctum - by those of us who hadn't spoken with God.  James Hampton had an extreme internal communication with the Almighty.  In his writings, he referred to himself as St. James (more specifically, "St. James, Director for Special Projects for the State of Eternity"), and recalled being blessed by visitations from God and angels alike during his time on earth - indeed, he believed that God visited the stable building regularly to direct him in The Thrones fabrication.

It was St. James' hope that The Throne would be recognized by religious leaders and that it, and he, would find their rightful places within the church structure.  That reality was not meant to be.  Instead, James Hampton died of cancer and The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly found its way to the American Folk Art Division of the Smithsonian Museum .

From the Smithsonian American Art Museum - 

Gallery Label

"Where there is no vision, the people perish" — Proverbs 29:18 (King James Version)
posted on the wall of Hampton's garage

James Hampton's entire artistic output is this single work which he called The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly. Hampton worked for more than fourteen years on his masterwork in a rented garage, transforming its drab interior into a heavenly vision, as he prepared for the return of Christ to earth. The Throne is his attempt to create a spiritual environment that could only have been made as the result of a passionate and highly personal religious faith.

Hampton's full creation consists of 180 components—only a portion of which are on view. The total work suggests a chancel complete with altar, a throne, offertory tables, pulpits, mercy seats, and other obscure objects of Hampton's own invention. His work also includes plaques, tags, and notebooks bearing a secret writing system which has yet to be, and may never be, deciphered.

Hampton's intricate, large-scale design for The Throne derives coherence from parallel rows of constructions, densely packed on several levels. A seven-foot tall cushioned throne at the rear center is the work's focal point. Pairs of objects on either side of it impart a powerful, compulsive sense of symmetry. To the actual throne's right, objects refer to the New Testament and Jesus; to the left, the Old Testament and Moses, a division that corresponds to the disposition of the saved in the Bible. Every item has a relationship to the others and most bear a dedication to a saint, prophet, or other biblical character that may have appeared in the recurrent visions that inspired Hampton's efforts.

Massive wings, suggesting angels, sprout from most components; framed tablets line the walls, and crowns and other complex foil decorations fill every available space of the assemblage. The entire complex was originally placed on a three-foot tall platform set stage like against the rear wall of his garage.

The Throne and all of its associated components are made from discarded materials and found objects consisting of old furniture, wooden planks and supports, cardboard cutouts, scraps of insulation board, discarded light bulbs, jelly glasses, hollow cardboard cylinders, Kraft paper, desk blotters, mirror fragments and electrical cables and a variety of other "found objects," all scavenged from second-hand shops, the streets, or the federal office buildings in which he worked. To complete each element, Hampton used shimmering metallic foils and brilliant purple paper (now faded to tan) to evoke spiritual awe and splendor. Hampton's symbolism extended even to his choice of materials such as light bulbs, which represent God as the light of the world.

Praised as America's greatest work of visionary art, Hampton's Throne reveals one man's faith in God as well as his hope for salvation. Although Hampton did not live to initiate a public ministry, the capping phrase "FEAR NOT" summarizes his project's universally eloquent message.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

When Meyer Wertlieb, landlord of the old stable building behind 1133 7th St. NW, opened the doors on the space following Hampton's death, he could scarcely believe what he saw.  He contacted Hampton's sister, and when she decided not to take possession of her brothers' creation, he reached out to the press.  “You can’t just destroy something a man devoted himself to for 14 years,” he told a Washington Post reporter.  ”It seems to be an example of the futility of life.”

I guess that all depends on your definition of "life".

Tony Robbins once said, "Your life is either a shining example or a cautionary tale".  Now, there's no doubt

that, under the rules of the Corporate Ladder, Married with Kids, Good Old American Dream, the life of James Hampton is indeed a cautionary tale - you don't want to grow up to be like Mr. Hampton, a poor, solitary man surviving on a meager salary in a nowhere job - a life practically devoid of material rewards.  However, in the spiritual sense, what could the life of St. James the Janitor be but a shining example?  Where one could complain, he sought to rejoice.  Where one could resent, he sought to honor.  When God give James trash, James made for Him a treasure.

Albert Einstein said, "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."  Easy to call a man like James Hampton crazy when he doesn't follow our version of reality - but when it occurs to us that we spend the majority of our waking life chasing scraps of wealth, laboring to make other people's dreams come true, driven by an almost compulsive need to purchase, to consume, to spend and that we call that "normal"; well then, perhaps his existence was much more worthwhile, much more fulfilling than our traditional, "normal" one.

Does God speak to us?  I believe that he does.  I believe that God makes a multitude of "suggestions" during our days - sometimes in the form of gut instinct or a nagging feeling, sometimes in the shape of an overwhelming passion to pursue a dream, no matter how ludicrous or impossible it may seem - sometimes merely in the guise of the serendipitous moment, or the happy accident. It's not crazy to believe that God speaks to us - what's crazy is that we don't listen nearly as much as we should.

What might happen?  If we listened, if we opened our ears to the suggestions of a Higher Power, if we allowed ourselves to be blown by the winds of Our Creator?  It's hard to imagine, largely because of the fears that society has lodged into our psyches - fears that say trying and failing at anything new would be horrible and is best not pursued, that taking time from your work to instead pursue your joy will leave you starving and broke, that diverting from what the majority refers to as normal will cause you great shame and suffering - so many fears, most of which revolve around other people and what they think of someone who no longer wishes to participate in their particular illusion of their particular reality.

If James Hampton considered any of those fears, they were apparently quickly forgotten.  St. James was doing the work of  God. Perhaps it was that higher calling, or of course direct direction from the Almighty, that had him crown the throne chair with the words, "Fear Not".  We must not fear the persistent illusion; we should, instead, let ourselves faithfully fall into the arms of serendipity, and open our sails to the winds of destiny.

I was planning on wrapping this entry with the video to The Fray song, "You Found Me" ("I found God, on the corner of First and Amistad..."), but fell into this happy coincidence when a friend posted the following video on Facebook.  Moments of divine intervention aren't always monumental, and they certainly aren't rare...if we open our eyes, our ears and our hearts to them.  Watch -

"When the solution is simple, God is answering." - Albert Einstein

Hallelujah, 

Daddy

Daddy on the Edge of Another Banana in the Big Gay Hate Sundae

Look, Mom!  A pandering idiot!  Let's see what he has to say!!




Sigh.

The asshat in the ironic "gay equality" tie (look at it again - red background, pink equal sign - what's that they say?  "Man dresses himself, and God laughs") is former evangelical pastor and conservative activist David Barton.  Daddy has got a real fucking problem with David Barton - not because he founded WallBuilders, a Texas based organization which promotes the view that it is a "myth" that the US Constitution insists on separation of church and state. Not because he is the former vice chair of the Republican Party of Texas.  Not because he has been described as a Christian nationalist and "one of the foremost Christian revisionist historians" who's work is devoted to advancing the idea, based upon research that many historians describe as flawed, that the United States was founded as an explicitly Christian nation. Not even because his buddy, Glenn Beck - referred to him as "the Library of Congress in shoes".

Whatever the hell that means.

None of that is why I have a fucking problem with David Barton.  It's not even because he's trying to get people to hate on gays.  Don't get me wrong - hating on the LGBT is a surefire way to get on Daddy's Shit List, but this douche is just the cherry on top of the GOP Gay Hate Sundae.  Honestly, after a while, you start to wonder if any of them have original thought, or if they all memorized the same script and improv is forbidden - it reminds me of children's auditions in the 80's - "If one more kid comes in here and sings "Tomorrow", I'm gonna set my eyes on fire..."

But that's Part One of the Republican Playbook - say the same stupid ass thing as all the rest of the GOP - if we all say the same stupid thing, it echoes and reverbs and echoes again and of course it has to be true because we're all saying it and the echoing and the reverb...ing and it's just gotta be TRUE!

Part Two of the Republican Playbook consists of taking a veritable smorgasbord of  truly idiotic statements and stacking them neatly, precisely until they form a seemingly impenetrable Jenga style tower of Batshit Crazy.

And then they throw God into it.

And that is why Daddy has a real fucking problem with David Barton, because David dipshit Barton did all three...David Barton went for the GOP Trifecta, the Holy Trinity of Holy Shit, and decided to just let a wad of silliness and foolishness roll out of his wordhole, and it was just too much for Daddy to bear.

Let us dissect the STOOPID, shall we?  Here's how he started...

"Starbucks is pouring all this money into destroying traditional marriage..."

Okay.  Starbucks may be donating money to efforts that support and defend the rights of the LGBT community to marry, but that does not "destroy traditional marriage".  Gays have no interest in destroying traditional marriage - in fact, in most weddings, you can be pretty sure that gays were involved in one or more of the following - designing the wedding dress, designing the tux, doing the hair and makeup, catering the event, planning the event, providing the flowers, providing the music, taking the pictures - face it dude, at the end of the day, gays don't destroy traditional marriage - they keep it alive.

Can a Christian give money to a group that he knows will use it to attack what God supports?

Hmmmm....so much stupid here, I don't know where to start.  Christ supports Peace; can a Christian give money to companies that support war and war profiteering ?  Christ supports caring for the poor; can a Christian give money to companies like Walmart that keep their national employees poor enough to require food stamps, and let their international employees (who were making slave wages) perish in a substandard building collapse?  Christ said to give away everything and follow Him, so I guess the real question is, can a Christian keep any money at all?

God supports Love.  God supports Forgiveness.  God supports Peace.  Starbucks is not attacking any of that.

"If you know that, when you buy a cup of Starbucks, five, ten, fifteen cents is going to be used to defeat marriage, can you do that?  Answer is no..."

When my wife and I got married, after we had our first dance, do you know what we did?  We went to the wedding reception across the hall and beat the holy living bejeesus out of their marriage!!!  Defeated the Crap out of it!!  Yeah!  Sweep the leg, Johnny!!  Cuz that's what marriage is!  It's frigging Thunderdome!  Two Marriages Enter - One Marriage Leaves!!!!!  THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

David, David, David...marriage is not a welter weight boxing match (sorry Rhianna baby, it's really not).  It is not something that takes place in finite space, where there is only room for one to survive.  Nothing that anyone ever does will in any way threaten, cheapen or otherwise lessen the marriage that I have with my wife.  If your marriage isn't that strong, then that is just your fucking problem, idn't it?

"Biblically, there's no way a Christian can help support what is attacking God..."

In Christianity, God is the eternal being that created and preserves the world.  He is all powerful, all knowing, He is every where, He is every thing; there is nothing in all of all there is that is mightier, more divine, more completely and utterly awesome than God.

And I attacked him.  With a Mocha Frappuccino.

What the hell was I thinking?  God could totally kick my ass!  Sounds ludicrous, right?  Almost as ludicrous as God concerning himself with the passing of currency for the purchase of java, with a bit of that spare change going to lawyers who fight for fairness.

I could go on and on about the douchiness factor of David Barton, and the pathetic pandering that he engages in to remain minutely relevant and religiously provocative, or I could thank him for reminding me of why I admire Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz as much as I do.  Howard Schultz isn't waving a Bible in the air, and calling you a heathen if you don't wave yours too.  No; Howard Schultz is openly supporting diversity in his company and the right of his employees to have the same rights as David Barton.  Can you see what he's doing here, David?  It's this thing called doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, with a side order of judging not lest you yourself be judged, followed with a nice slice of loving your neighbor as you love yourself.

And ya know what's great to wash that all down with, David?  A nice, hot cup of Pike Place.



Next cup is on me, 

Daddy

Daddy on the Edge of Memorializing

It's Memorial Day again, and Daddy on the Edge wishes to take this time to thank all of those who have worn a uniform and served our country, as well as their families.  I want to thank you by suggesting that every business that profits from Memorial Day Sales gives 1% of their profits to organizations that support the active duty military and veterans.  You can start with these folks; watch...




Watch...



Watch...



We have the worlds greatest military - let's treat 'em like it - Every Day.

Thank You,

Daddy

Daddy on the Edge of a Rebuttal

Daddy on the Edge doesn't get a whole lot of feedback.

It happens, and I've come to accept that.  While I know there are a pretty fair amount of people that come by and read the posts here, the comments section remains fairly bare (which I gotta tell you, can sometimes feel like having sex with a mime - in the dark.  You think you're doing pretty good, but it's always hard to know if you have truly "satisfied" with your "content".  Was she thrashing in pleasure, or pretending to be assaulted by the wind, holding on to an invisible rope so she wouldn't be blown away?).

But today, Daddy got a comment; here's a bit of it  -

"I read your most recent blog post from the 9th...you speak of charity and then deride conservatives for not giving to charity.

I find this humorous and uninformed since study after study (including Pew Research, whom I am sure you find more palatable than say Breitbart) have all concurred that conservatives consistently give more to charity than liberals."

I have not found a study that supports this idea - not exactly, anyway - I have found studies that suggest that "Red States" give more to charity than "Blue States", but I know lots of Democrats who live in Red States and vice versa for the Republicans, so it's not so easy for me to buy into that argument.  And besides, that's not the argument I was making.

While I did use the word "Charity" in my last blog post, what I was driving at was the idea that we should care for each other, that whatever we do for the least of us, we do for Christ; that helping the least fortunate among us is a major theme in many, many different religions. The idea of "giving to charity", while it should be synonymous with what I'm saying, can often times...not be.  It's easy to say that Republicans give more to charity, (and my critic did indeed provide me with articles - one from 2006 and one from 2008) but what are we really talking about?

From Wiki - A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on non-profit and philanthropic goals as well as social well-being ( e.g. charitable, educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good)

Like these guys - The American Family Association (AFA) is a United States non profit organization that promotes conservative fundamentalist Christian values. It opposes same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion.  It also takes a position on a variety of other public policy goals and has lobbied against the Employee Free Choice Act. The AFA defined itself as "a Christian organization promoting the biblical ethic of decency in American society with primary emphasis on television and other media," later switching their stated emphasis to "moral issues that impact the family." It engages in activism efforts, including boycotts, buycotts, action alert emails, publications on the AFA's web sites or in the AFA Journal, broadcasts on American Family Radio, and lobbying.  The organization is accredited by the Evengelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and posted a 2011 budget of over US$16 million.  AFA owns 200 American Family Radio stations in 33 states, seven affiliate stations in seven states, and one affiliate TV station KAZQ TV) in New Mexico.

AFA has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center as of November 2010 for the "propagation of known falsehoods" and the use of "demonizing propaganda" against LGBT people.  AFA has been criticized for its opposition to LGBT rights.

Annnnnd... it's a Charity.

The AFA is but one example - the Southern Poverty Law Center lists 18 Anti-Gay Hate Groups and their Propaganda that all claim non-profit, tax free status, and any donation you make to them can be claimed as a charitable contribution on your 1040's.

Then there are the environmental charities.  Nope, not Greenpeace - these non profit organizations are "sock puppet groups" put together by the Koch Heads and their ilk to counter rational, scientific conclusions regarding climate change with their own brand of...methane.

In February of this year, The Guardian posted a story that talks about these organizations, which you can read in it's entirety here - the following is a snippet of that article...

" As the Guardian revealed last week, two secretive organisations working for US billionaires have spent $118m to ensure that no action is taken to prevent man made climate change.  

The two organisations – the Donors' Trust and the Donors' Capital Fund have financed 102 organisations which either dismiss climate science or downplay the need to take action.

Among them are the American Enterprise Institute, American Legislative Exchange Council, Hudson Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Reason Foundation, Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, Mont Pelerin Society and Discovery Institute. All pose as learned societies, earnestly trying to determine the best interests of the public. The exposure of this funding reinforces the claim by David Frum, formerly a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, that such groups "increasingly function as public relations agencies"".

The Westboro Baptist Church is a charity.    The Ku Klux Klan has enjoyed tax free, non profit status.  Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network is a charitable organization, (despite the fact that Roberston used CBN money and equipment to aid his diamond mining operation in Zaire).  There are volumes of  charities, 501c3s, non profit organizations - countless groups, (all tax exempt, mind you) that, while charities in name and filing status, are in no way charitable.  Now, if you want to tell me that Republicans lead the way in giving to those types of organizations, well then I'll have no trouble believing that.

But again, what I was referring to were actual works - things that you do that directly help or hurt the poorest and weakest among us.  When sequestration was put on the table, the cuts were designed to be so unpalatable that no decent person could actually let such a thing happen, and that Republicans and Democrats would do whatever was necessary to avoid them.  Now that obstructionist Republicans have blocked every attempt at actual progress, this is what will happen to the poorest among us; 

From Mother Jones; 

Public housing subsidies:  $1.9 billion in cuts would affect 125,000 low-income people who would lose access to vouchers to help them with their rent.

Foreclosure prevention:  75,000 fewer people would receive foreclosure prevention, rental, and homeless counseling services.

Emergency housing: 100,000 formerly homeless people could be removed from their current emergency shelters.

Educational programs: Learning programs for poor kids would see a total of $2.7 billion in cuts. The $400 million slashed from Head Start, the preschool program for poor children, would result in reduced services for some 70,000 kids.

Title I Funding: The Department of Education's Title I program, the biggest federal education program in the country, subsidizes schools that serve more than a million disadvantaged students. It would see $725 million in cuts.

Rural rental assistance: Cuts to the Department of Agriculture would result in the elimination of rental assistance for 10,000 very low-income rural people, most of whom are single women, elderly, or disabled.

Social Security: Although Social Security payments themselves won't be scaled back, cuts to the program would result in a massive backlogging of disability claims.

Unemployment benefits: More than 3.8 million people getting long-term unemployment benefits would see their monthly payments reduced by as much as 9.4 percent, and would lose an average of $400 in benefits over their period of joblessness.

Veterans services: The Transition Assistance Program would be forced to cut back some of the job search and career transition services it provides to 150,000 vets a year.

Nutritional Assistance for Women & Children: The government's main food stamp program is exempt from cuts, but other food programs would take a hit. Some 600,000 women and children would be cut from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, which provides nutrition assistance and education.

Special education:  $978 million in cuts would affect 30.7 million children. For example, the scaling back of federal grants to states for students with disabilities would mean that cash-strapped states and districts would have to come up with the salaries for thousands of teachers, aides and staff that serve special needs kids.

Job training programs:  $37 million would be slashed from a job retraining and placement program called Employment Services, and $83 million would be cut from Job Corps, which provides low-income kids with jobs and education.

Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa) said that the $85 billion in cuts "would really help a long way and get us on a sustainable fiscal path."  Hmmmm...so would only fighting the wars that we really needed to, as well as not paying for antiquated weaponry that is obsolete to our current military needs (and is expensive as hell); so would abandoning your parties repeated attempts to repeal "ObamaCare" (which as of July 2012 had racked up costs of approximately $48 million) and constantly defending the Defense of Marriage Act ($ 3 million so far) -  then there's that pesky notion of paying salaries, health care, personal protection, ground, air and sea transportation, pension and rent to a bunch of Congressional jack-wads who would rather propose 694 Anti-Choice bills in three months (!) than actually sit down and work with the President to tackle the serious problems still facing this nation and this planet.  I'd much rather give that money to Head Start kids or homeless Vets than to a bunch of self aggrandizing K Street whores who don't seem to have a fucking care in the world about ANYONE but themselves.  And yeah, I'm talking about you, Toomey.  Weenie.

So, in conclusion - thanks for the feedback.  Glad you found some humor here, and I hope you come back.  And honestly, I love feedback - I would be thrilled to hear from anyone and everyone who's got something to say, but know this - this blog is the radically amplified, barely censored, oft times caustic opinion of a self proclaimed ludicrous asshole who goes by the name of  Daddy on the Edge. The fact that you call me uninformed frankly makes me giggle, but you go right ahead and call me that if it makes you feel better.  Facts are facts, and even blind guides and blind fools can see that your GOP brothers wailing for this to be a Christian Nation are about as Christlike as a post Purim nosh at the 2nd Avenue Deli.

I'll wrap this up with a few words from the biggest Liberal I know; Watch...

Go with God, 

Daddy