A triumph of democracy

A triumph of Democracy un the United States, and a source of consternation for some of us, is that  these fine Gentlemen, founders of the Union, . . .

. . . had no notion that these men and women . . .

. . . , of all genders and races, of all religious and of none, would one day become the Sovereign, the ruler, collectively, of the Land.

I'm pleased that Everyone has replaced a Few as the ruler of this Land, though some be discomfited by this realization.  

I know that it is not so, where many of you live.  I know that there is a struggle going on in many places for political freedom.

The right of the People to rule themselves is the only public freedom worth fighting for.  I hope for you who are not free that your freedom comes soon, and I hope it comes without too much pain.           Pictured, Bahrain protests

And pain or no, I hope it comes to you soon.

Obama No. 1; Perry hacken' 10; never again Perry's world

The Guardian on 6 December 2011 noted that President Obama has

 told US officials to consider how countries treat its gay and lesbian populations when making decisions about allocating foreign aid.

Reactionary presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry issued this Statement on the president's decision:

 "This administration's war on traditional American values must stop.

"This silly idea is just the most recent example of an administration at war with people of faith in this country. Investing tax dollars promoting a lifestyle many Americans of faith find so deeply objectionable is wrong."

This "silly idea" is the subject of a  chilling comment by the admirable and beautiful blog another country:

 Iran Celebrates the End of Ramadan:

Six hanged in the City of Ahvaz,
Three of Them for "Lavat" (sexual intercourse between men)

If you ain't moved by another country's comment, you ain't my kinda folk.

The Guardian article quotes Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as saying

"I am not saying gay people can't or don't commit crimes," she said. "They can and they do, just like straight people. And when they do, they should be held accountable. But it should never be a crime to be gay."

Quite right, Madam Secretary.  You'd have made a great president, too.


I yearn for the day when Governor Perry is nominated by The Reactionary Party and is on a debate platform with Barak Hussein Obama, explaining why persons with "traditional American Values" insisted on by "many Americans of faith" would celebrate hanging young Texans from a sour apple tree.


The Guardian article notes:

The 10 countries granted the greatest economic and military assistance from the US – according to USAID – are Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, West Bank/Gaza, Ethiopia, Kenya and Colombia.

In Israel, gays are more free than in Texas, excepting Austin.  Columbia, to my astonishment, is moving toward freedom.  The rest of the countries to which we give untold amounts of money gladly murder gays.

Do you, any of you, remember John Rechy's  City of Night (1963),

http://likedreamsville.blogspot.com/2008/12/john-rechy-city-of-night.html

 or his Numbers (1967)?

These autographical novels are the moving and mad adventures of a desperate  youngman [Recy's phrase] in the Perryesque America as I lived it in the 50s and early 60s.  Rechy's depiction of El Paso and Los Angeles reminds me of Egypt today:

From Wikipedia:

Egypt is influenced by the civil law system [note from Durell:  derived from Roman law, as is the law of France, Germany, Italy, and most European countries, England excepted). As the criminal code is silent on the subject of private, adult and consensual homosexual acts, and cross-dressing, they are not de jure illegal in Egypt. However, since 2000 certain laws have been used to impose what amounts to a de facto ban on homosexuality and cross-dressing.

In 2000, police arrested an Egyptian gay couple and charged them with, "violation of honor by threat" and "practicing immoral and indecent behavior". Their lawyer asked that the charges be dropped because homosexuality is not a crime, but the judge refused on the grounds that two men had in fact "offended" religious and moral standards [1]. The incident became a media sensation, promoting various public figures to view homosexuality as a product of Western decadence and demand that the government execute homosexuals or send them to mental institutions to be reformed[2].

Within a year, the Egyptian government began a public crackdown on Egyptian gay men by raiding private parties, arresting the guests and charging them with various laws, including violating the "Public Order & Public Morals" code, enacted in the 1990s to combat "Satanic" and "lewd" expressions, as well as engaging in prostitution and "violating the teachings of religion and propagating depraved ideas and moral depravity." [3].

If the Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt's expression of Perry's point of view) doesn't prevail in Egypt, with our help, Egypt might turn out to deal fairly with brave and gay young men who insist on Democracy.

Surely not every young man who opposed Mubarak in Tiananmen Square was gay. . .

http://www.channel4.com/news/egypt-protests-spread-as-huge-demos-planned

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1351904/Egypt-protests-Internet-shut-hackers-message-out.html

A Chinese worker 

expresses support for 

mass protests at 

Tiananmen Square [differentSquare, same issue]

before the government's

 bloody crackdown.

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/revolt-02072011131108.html

. . . but Wally knows one who wants sexual freedom as well as economic and political freedom.

I'm very happy to see my government help 

Egyptian protest poster courtesy

another country

. . . freedom spread around the globe:  not only political and economic freedom, but the most valuable freedom of all:  the freedom to be as one is.

Once Perry's vision of America was the predominant vision.  Never again!