now, more than ever...

i discovered politics during the jimmy carter 70's...i knew who ford was...and i had heard of nixon...but i didn't really begin to grasp the concept of politics until the peanut farmer...and while times were rough...and he blundered the whole hostage thing...i never felt like any of the adults around me faulted carter for how things were...

flash forward to my first vote...the way i saw it...there were three ways i could do it...i could vote for personality...the person i liked...i could vote for politics...the party that served my interests...or...i could vote for my principles...the things i believe in...

nothing else stood for what i believe in more than the libertarian party...i understood that the libertarians weren't likely to get elected...i understood that there were things about the libertarians that i disagreed with...and there have been some libertarians that were downright disgusting...none of that mattered...the way i saw it...the only thing that i cared about was the principle of the matter...

i understand now that was madness...the american political system has always been a very pragmatic one...it goes hand in hand with capitalism...it's based on self interest...the candidate who can appeal to the interests of the most people...wins...and that person goes on to create and maintain...the best working form of government that they can negotiate...towards meeting the needs of those they represent...

ultimately...i have figured out that the libertarians don't represent me...can't represent me...because they have no practical voice in government...in order for me to have a government the most suits me...i need to support the party most likely to be able to make the changes necessary to do so...

watching what went down in new orleans...i now know that reducing government is not the answer...when you reduce government...there is no one there to pick you up when you fall...literally...so...it's long past time for some change...

now more than ever...it is time for change...

as long as the democrats stand for fiscal responsibility...i'll stand for them...

as long as the democrats stand for measured and thoughtful foreign policy...i'll stand for them...

as long as democrats stand for the right to privacy...i'll stand for them...

as long as democrats stand for preserving hard won civil rights...i'll stand for them...

notice...this is not unconditional support...the dems have to...walk the walk...the have to stand up...and be for something...about something...otherwise...i'm still just throwing my vote away...

what i've learned from the police...(pt .1)

i hate cops...and i wouldn't be any kind of man if i couldn't admit...i'm afraid of cops...everytime i see one when i'm driving...my sphincter clenches...my wife calls it...the pucker factor...in addition...i don't trust em'...

that said...

ever since september 11, 2001, most of the nation has enjoyed a love affair with...so called...first responders...i say most because, generally speaking...black folk's relationship...at least with the police...has always been loaded with...fear...hate...and distrust...my run in with the cops last month...has me thinking...why the..ahem...officer...reacted the way he did...and why i reacted the way i did...

he tried to pull me out of the car when i questioned why he pulled me over...the intensity and madness of our little interaction seemed like a microcosm of how black folk and white cops have dealt with each other since...forever...

so...let's try to take a look at how all that came to be...

growing up black in new york during the 70's and 80's...it wasn't hard to find reason to hate cops...it was in the air...all you had to do was breathe it in...and everyone knows about rodney king...but if you don't know these names...you need to...especially if you're young...and a person of color...

bumpers...

louima...

diallo...

baez

and these are just the more recent...more sensational...incidents...but don't be fooled...this is not a recent development...many of the lynchings after world war one...were sanctioned...if not led by...local law enforcement...and this is not restricted to new york...

here in denver...we have our own history of law enforcement...gone bad...

all this is the baggage i'm carrying...when i have my first up close encounter with a cop...i was in my early twenties...i was hanging out with friends at the campus pub...and someone walks in with the school security...he points at me...and they turn and leave...i thought...weird...and then went back to my beer...minutes later two cops walk in and ask me to walk out with them...my response was...why...

cops don't like that...they told me that they didn't have to tell me anything...they told me that i was the one who had to explain myself...i didn't take that very well...it turned out that i was being accused of breaking into a car...at the same time i was at a public venue in a roomful of people...i told the cops that whoever made the accusation...was full of shit...they didn't like that...they arrested me...I struggled...shouted...cursed...made a scene...no one...intervened...

later...handcuffed in the backseat of the patrol car...the cop leaned into my face and spoke to me through clenched teeth...

the only reason you're still alive, is because you're not worth killing.

i kept my mouth shut after that...for the entire 48 hours i was in custody while they ran me though the system...all i could think about was how i didn't want to die...handcuffed...and choking to death...

"history shows again and again...

how nature points out the folly of men"



i love that song...it's been playing over and over in my head for about a week now...given events lately...can you blame me...

life is starting to settle down and there's a lot brewing over here...stuff i've been wanting to say for the last week or two...living life just gets in the way sometimes...[copout]...anyway...lots of readers lately...so no time for slacking...many things of interest to come...just dropping a little musical tapas...to cleanse your palatte...you're going to need it...

the gates of san francisco...

leftover shots from the trip...i noticed the distinctive wrought iron designs on the gates of many doors throughout the city...i liked them...

in case you were curious...

heather is alive and...as well as can be expected...turns out...she's got a blog...it's a good read...

excerpt from 6/9 of this year:

"Anyway, even good historic preservation isn’t going to save New Orleans when the big hurricane comes up the river.

Maybe we should just shrug our shoulders. Maybe the city that lives by apathy should die by apathy. Maybe this town was meant to be the stuff of myth, and nothing will fulfill its fate like watery doom."

prescient...at best...

wrapping up...

thanks to hubs and rick for playing along with my silly little game...and although they didn't guess where we were...san francisco... if they want a (somewhat) fabulous gift...they can email me an address to send them to...



we had a lot of fun...we ate like royalty...we traveled everywhere...on foot...by train...and trolley...it was refreshing to be in a city that understands the value of mass transit...we went to city lights...where i found the first books i stumbled across in college...that revealed mr bukowski to me...


my idea of heaven...

walked around chinatown...walked down to the very tourista ghirardelli square...
good chocolate...and other good food...was found...all over the city...

no surprise...we're talking about moving...san francisco...is the city that denver could be...in twenty years...we're not sure we want to wait that long...



-------
the spring before i met my wife i became aquainted with a charming young lady from new orleans named heather heilman...



it's been a long time since we had contact...so i don't expect to hear from her right away...but i can't find her on any survivor/rescued list...it would be good to know that she is doing well...

random and unobtuse clues...

last round before we return home...let's see if any of these are helpful...

my own personal cistine chapel...

if art can bee considered a religion...this is one of my holy temples...



and we climbed 130 of these...to what might be the city's highest point...

our view...

a shining golden city...

where the hell am i off to...(honeymoon edition)...

it's time to play our favorite game...i post photos...and drop hints...about where i'm at...you leave comments guessing where i might be...you guess right, you get...(somewhat) fabulous prizes...it worked out so well last time i thought it would be fun to do again...

your word of the week from the journal...

cynical

"a: contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives b : based on or reflecting a belief that human conduct is motivated primarily by self-interest"

as in- i would call what's going on in new orleans shameful, but really it's just human nature in effect...civilization is an illusion...that the smallest geologic/cosmic/atmospheric event can tear it away...asteroids...hurricanes...earthquakes...ice ages...magnetic polar shifts...these kinds of things are common...on the human scale they can seem like the end of the world...so...greed...and survival...come to the fore...rule of law be damned...the problem with the concept of civilization is that it's in denial...of the human animal...we want to believe that the beast has been tamed...can be tamed...our entire culture is built around a handful of fallacies...this is one of them...ultimately...the lie will always out...