- Samuel Johnson once remarked: "The true measure
of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."
-
- One doesn't have to go far to witness, just who is favored,
and which folks are shunned or avoided, right in our own communities.
In New Hampshire when the politicians all descend on the place, during
the election/selection season; there are flags, red - white - and boo bunting,
and local officials and party people; stumbling all over themselves to
get near one of these 'illustrious ones' . The Republicans ( much more
moneyed ) held gala wine and cheese affairs, with plates of shrimp and
various delicacies, served in removed mansions under the glow of crystal
chandeliers and cut glass goblets.
-
- The poor gathered in a local plastic booth restaurant;
replete with dream catchers - velvet paintings - and ceramic statuary of
Indians in full head dress. The egg salad sandwiches, potato salad and
bowls of chips disappeared quickly, with many who attended; much more interested
in the free food, than a speech by Senator Leahy, who made the trip across
the bridge from Vermont to NH, intent on rallying the troops. Questions
- the few asked, focused around medical care, and the fear of Social Security
being cut. I couldn't help thinking that these questions wouldn't be at
the top of the agenda, at the mansion down the road - where our local Republican
State Senator, had no problem voting a minimum wage for our state of $5.15
per hour.
-
- Be it the citizen of the year award - chosen slots for
various committees - various boards - leadership training etc., the choices
are predictable. Same thing with churches, and the simpering and favoritism
- attentions to those with the big bucks - stained glass windows adorned
with family names, front row pews - and the most lavish of private funerals!
Various boards vie to get so and so appointed; and the country clubs /
golf links sure don't take food stamps. Nothing has changed over the years
except that today the greed is more pronounced, less hidden, and disgustingly
hoggified.
-
- Maybe it's just me, but one would think with a President
that talks with God, has prayer meetings going on all over Foggy Bottom
- and Dobson, Fallwell, and Robertson in and out of the White House like
kissing cousins; praying, counseling and blessing the President (while
they're picking up their Faith - Based Initiative checks), that somewhere
along the line they might have stumbled on Matthew 25: 31-46 which sums
up how you should treat people.
-
- This parable uses goats and sheep to paint the picture
of judgment day. There's no need for the ordinary citizen to involve themselves
in any great theological studies - seminars on esoteric doctrine; or the
need to attain some important title or appointment to a religious office.
Simply put: There were those who saw the sick, suffering, hungry, thirsty
etc, and did something about it (the sheep). The goats on the other hand
- while thinking themselves holier than thou - doing all kinds of good
stuff neglected (like New Orleans/ Gulf) the most obvious - caring about
people. Matthew 25: 32 - 46 doesn't ask anything, that even the most uneducated
amongst us can't do - feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take
care of the sick, visit the prisoner, cloth the naked, and see to the stranger.
Even if you choose not to believe in a God - this isn't asking anything
that you wouldn't want for yourself. The Golden Rule doesn't sound too
threatening - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
This sounds pretty simple to me.
-
-
-
-
- A mother interviewed on TV with her little boy age 10
months (Wed - Aug 31), was crying to the world for milk for her baby -
for help in the 100 degree heat. She was sick with worry, in that she was
having a hard time waking him up. Is he now dead? I don't know - but help
never arrived to remove those at the Convention Center, until Friday and
Saturday - days after the hurricane. Heck Homeland Security and FEMA admitted
that they had no idea that tens of thousands of people were even gathered
there! Cheney was fishing, the President was still on vacation, Condi was
playing tennis, buying shoes, and attending a Broadway show, Rumsfeld was
probably figuring who else we could bomb into liberation, and Mrs. Cheney
was shopping for a multi - million dollar estate on Chesapeake Bay. The
wealthy are detached and removed in their concerns about the poor (white
- black - red - yellow) and suffering, simply because they spend so little
time with them. In fact, the only time they hobnob with the unwashed masses,
are for staged appearances, or photo ops, of condescending - patronizing
- mimed concern, and of course election time.
-
- We are a nation of voyeurs to annihilating war - poverty
- suffering -deprivation - intolerance - injustice - and the isolating
abandonment of citizens; kicked to the curb, through the draconian domestic
- and international treaties and policies, that have the top few percent
of the populous, benefiting at the expense of the multitudes. The closest
most come to the burdens of the oppressed; is a quick glance from an interstate
highway - or a visit to poverty, with some feel good donation, or yearly
visit to a shelter - soup kitchen - or crisis situation. Others observe
from greasy armchairs, watching TV programs of famine - war - flooding
etc; damning the poor and everyone else to hell for their slothful ways.
Chomping on grinders, and slurping down a six - pack, they never move off
their fat rear ends to help anybody. If it all becomes too discomforting,
they change the channel, or turn off the radio, and get back to their self
- indulgent interests. Others cocoon themselves in removed enclaves with
like -minded people, (white) who look and think like they do. Some feel
that it's bad Karma even to hear anything distasteful that will intrude
into their bubble - world existences. True! The media and sanctimonious
fools, excuses citizens lack of compassion and attentiveness to the 'other'
- by identifying them as parasites, cockroaches, and bottom feeders who
have brought their anguish upon themselves. We all know what lap - dog
media are famous for this. They'd steal pennies off a dead man's eyes,
that's how ruthless and contemptible they are.
-
- I remember once upon a time, of having a brief acquaintance
with a very wealthy woman in Darien, Connecticut. Standing in her perfectly
appointed kitchen one afternoon, I noted the fragile Black 90 lb maid trying
to drag up a 100 lb sack of dog food from the basement. Olga (the home
owner) was totally oblivious to her struggles and made no attempt to assist
her. Later Olga bragged of how she had gotten rid of this woman because
she had dared to ask for a twenty - five cent raise to bring her hourly
salary up to $5.25 an hour. This extremely wealthy woman - who spent
the days of her life shopping and boozing, could not identify with the
living conditions and struggles of her maid, who lived in the decaying
part of town, which the white folks never saw. Those living in CT's bedroom
communities, of Wall Street brokers and bankers, never saw how the other
half lived - there was no need to. Foggy bottom politicians - and the
wealthy (indifferent others ) are just as distanced and detached - because
the days of their lives, are spent in the small spheres of their own lives;
attending concerts, cocktail parties, golfing, yachting, tennis, fat farms,
decorating, shopping at exquisite boutiques, or supping at exotic restaurants.
A generalized stereotyping and labeling of the 'others'; as the "herd
- human resources - simpletons - vermin - breeders - criminals - dope addicts
- drunks - pimps and whores "; excuses them from all bias, prejudice,
and malignant contempt. Sniff -obviously wealth covers a multitude of
sins?
-
- The tragedy in the Gulf region, destroying 90,000 square
miles, of work a day people, along with the indigent and poor; is a perfect
example of our nation's lack of knowledge or concern; of how those who
reside (along with those in Appalachia) in the poorest states of our nation,
amidst the gross greed and corruption, of local/state officials. For
a brief few days - while the administration was paying no attention, the
media pulled aside the curtain to reveal the shame of our nation. I think
what stunned most viewers as much as the destruction was that for once
reporters were not mannequins, but real people and they cried when reporting
the horrors of what they saw! And now the curtain has drawn closed, least
our emotions and knowledge of the extent of vulnerability, awaken us to
the true state of a Titanic; with those in steerage locked below decks
- with the Captain this time round; having jumped ship long ago along
with his corporate crew. He is to be seen - safe, dry, and giving photo
-ops, on the trauma of it all.
-
- Condi was shopping, playing tennis, and attending a Broadway
show. President Bush was still on vacation, and Vice - President Cheney
was fly fishing, in the pristine streams of Wyoming; and so missed the
elderly couple scrambling to escape the flood waters, when 21 hours after
the hurricane hit, the levees suddenly gave way. Residents reported hearing
a loud explosion ( MSNBC ), at 4:00 am Tuesday morning, Aug 3O. Then according
to the Mayor, the pumping station in the city's poorest section - the lower
9th ward failed, and then the Industrial canal levee gave way in the 9th
ward, a few hours later. Meantime the people who survived the hurricane
unscathed; rushed to escape the flood waters, from levees poorly maintained
by officials they trusted (all levels) to do their jobs.
-
- The water rose so quickly and most never had a chance.
The French Quarter - the Uptown Section, mansions and gated communities
- escaped any real flooding, suffering mainly downed trees and broken
signs - and roof shingles blown off. I don't know how anyone could look
at the picture of this couple, and not see their parents or grandparents?
Were they business owners, artists, or maybe teachers? I thought that
just a few weeks ago, they were about breakfast - maybe sitting on their
front porch - working in the garden - laughing and joking about everyday
things and in a moments time - they were thrown into the muck and mire,
of a catastrophe, created solely by men - due to the environmental destruction
of this entire region, and depraved indifference, on all levels of government,
in building a proper levee system .
-
- And now this couple, lost to our knowing - will never
to return to the peace of their retirement. I wondered if this were a
front page photo of George and Barbara Bush, or Lynn and Dick Cheney, if
there would have been such indifference or procrastination on the part
of the administration - FEMA and Homeland Security? I would venture - no.
-
- So it's true, some animals are more equal than others!
I don't see this as a racist issue at all - though the media's focus on
only most the Black folks in New Orleans - would have people think so.
It wouldn't do well for people to identify with this being a class issue,
of the haves and the have nots - left to drown, or buried (Mississippi)
in tons of debris. This way Jesse and company can go into their mini -rap
- racist rhetoric, which is what they're best at. Everyone knows that Louisiana/
and Mississippi have always been cesspools of wheeling and dealing - and
thievery; with the citizens stuck (poor people have little say) with this
corruption, that has left them living in ramshackle misery, these many
years. Now in rides Jesse and the Black posse - just a little too late.
-
- But then there's lots of money - per usual, to be made
off the misery of others. Billions will be thrown around to those with
the connections and clout. The poor - why, despite all the pie in the sky
promises, they'll be worse off than ever, relegated to some sterile - sea
of trailers (temporary mind you), absent their friends, neighborhoods and
their entire way of life. Many earned their livings as seamstresses and
workers who constructed the Mardi Gras floats. The rich - tied to no community;
give little, to no thought, that a cot, blanket and bowl of soup, (wow
a trailer in the future), is hardly happily ever, with a people's hometown
gone (except for the wealthy few).
-
- Not all of the greater New Orleans people - were stuck
in decaying tenements, living atop a superfund toxic dump, nicknamed Dante's
Inferno, because of its spontaneous eruptions of fire - gosh, where was
Jesse? Many lived in neighborhoods just like you and me - and now thousands
and thousands of homes are moldy - waterlogged messes. The people will
never return - the new corporate honchos with their $ visions will see
to that - they've already said it ( Wall Street Journal - Sept 8 -05)
-
- The message now is AGAIN "to learn from our mistakes"
and march into the future - putting all this mess behind us. Hey, a trailer
in every park, or was that a chicken in every pot - I get confused sometimes
with all the promises. With hug a Black week over - the lights all on
( they're not) and the smell of money in the air - it's rebuild the Gulf
(minus the poor) bigger and better, and let the good times roll. According
to reporters; as of Sept 16- 05, the bloated swollen bodies; of those
who won't make it into this Casino - Mardi Gras - Corporate theme park
- of this new Jerusalem; are still mired in the thick chemically laden
- muck and mire, of the poor sections of New Orleans, being chewed on
by rats - dogs - and alligators. Hey, but let's not get ourselves into
the doldrums thinking on negative things eh? The past is the past - bad
luck for them. Like one bar owner in the French Quarter (not flooded),
remarked after the President's speech in Jackson Square (French Quarter),
in eerie blue ethereal lighting (like a second coming), "Look, all
I worry about is ice, beer and booze".
-
- Meantime, things are getting back to normal in Foggy
Bottom - D. C., after a week of slumming with the walking wounded of Katrina;
who are sick, jobless, homeless and wandering. What a great idea (leave
it to FEMA) to send swamp people, to the ice and snow of the New England.
See what I mean by depraved indifference. The President - Vice President
- Cabinet - and other important dignitaries and politicians, exhausted
from a whirlwind of photo - ops; to prove how much they care, attended
a prayer service in the Washington Cathedral, (Sept. 16 - 05 ) to listen
to poignant Scriptures, identifying the poor, and to sing and pray for
suffering mankind; living in shelters, at rest stops, or still buried
in splintered debris, waiting on FEMA ( Mississippi).
-
- Done up in their finery; like pet - nanny goats off to
the fair, they listened as the minister comforted them with the Scripture:
"Whatsoever you do for one of the least of these, you did unto me."
Matthew 25: 45. Hmm - I was wondering why he left out the most important
part - verses 31 - 45 which speaks to things like, "I was hungry and
you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
I was a stranger and you did not invite me in ( or left me under a thruway
or the Convention Center - jm), I needed clothes and you did not clothe
me, I was sick and you did not tend me, depart from me - you who are cursed
etc." Matthew 25 : 41 -43. But I suppose this would have hit too
close to home?
-
- After the sermon and speeches, there was a thunder of
pipe organ music (not loud enough to reach the Gulf - darn ); and the
politicians - dignitaries - and chosen frozen, took their hymnals in hand
and bellowed out - "When peace like a river attendeth my way / when
sorrows like sea billows roll/ whatever my lot Thous hast taught me to
say/ It is well, it is well with my soul" - Chorus (crashing of organ)
"It is well - it is well - IT IS WELL - WITH MY SOUL !!!"
-
- I personally think, that those who did the suffering
and dying, would have chosen, 'Louisiana - 1927' ( in part)
-
- Louisiana, Louisiana, they're tryin' to wash
- us 'way , they're tryin' to wash us 'way
- Louisiana, Louisiana, they're tryin' to wash
- us 'way, they're tryin to wash us 'way
-
- But I guess this isn't a church song - huh ?
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