The Real Work

        Barack Obama’s selection of a certain (here to be unnamed) right wing preacher to lead the invocation at his inauguration is receiving all kinds of praise and blame and I don’t really know if I

 

care about the issue. In general terms I don’t think preachers mean a tinker’s tutu when it comes to life in the big world. I can’t get worked up about preachers anymore. They’re on my list of facts that exceed intellectual energy along with onion farming and hemp clothing. I just don’t have the time. It does strike me that no one should be surprised that Barack Obama has no taste in preachers. But I think we already knew that.

 

The thing that matters more to me than anything else at this juncture is the failure of the

United States

to champion universal human rights. Whether you’re gay or straight; abled or disabled; or whether you hail from historically marginalized and oppressed ethnic group we must address the use of prisons as warehouses for America’s poor; the horrific and life threatening conditions in facilities for people with mental disabilities; the desperate conditions of the elderly; the plight of poor women with children; I could go on and on.

 

I always liked John Lennon’s quote: “They keep you doped on religion and sex and TV…”

 

I hope the Democrats surprise me with a push toward human rights but I’m not holding my breath.

 

Last night I was momentarily uplifted by some discussions in the Senate about holding Donald Rumsfeld responsible for the

U.S.

adoption of torture. But I came to my senses. The Democrats always flirt with these things and then they go flat as ginger ale.

 

I’m slapping myself around and getting ready for post election disappointments from the Democratic Party.

 

In the meantime, while everyone is beating up on Bill Clinton for accepting 10 million dollars from the Saudis for his presidential library foundation I’d suggest that people stop to remember that that 10 million was American money in the first place. All Bubba did was bring it back home. Personally I say “more power to him.”

 

SK