The Recreational Nihilist Articles

That’s right, buckaroos; we’ve survived another year of Republican crypto-fascism and theocratic dreams, war, economic despair,
and all the usual causes of existential malaise. We haven’t blown ourselves up. Huzzah! Hey, we even survived Christmas despite the best attempts of egotistical, bloviating Christians to ruin the holiday by indulging their persecution complex. (It really is paranoia when no one is out to get you.) I think it’s safe to say that 2007 came to as good an end as we could hope for under the circumstances. Faint praise, I know, but as a positive pessimist, I’ll take whatever positivity I can get and join everyone in the hope that 2008 will be a better year. Happy New Year, then, dear readers.

Ah, yes. It’s time for carols, decked halls, wrapping paper and ribbons; time for candy canes, Santa Claus and elves; time for red-nosed reindeer, Charlie Brown, and the snowman; time for family gatherings, conifers, and ornaments; time for right-wing rants against holiday trees and secular progressives. In short, it’s Christmas time.

And it’s depressing.

[Editor’s Note: See “The Gay Manly Men of Film, Part 1,” Dec. 3.] To be clear, the issue isn’t homosexuality in and of itself. Rather, the problem is how the male body is sexualized – through an abuse of homosexuality – and how that sexualization spills over into other elements of culture.

Writing for AlterNet, Alexander Zaitchik lobs a grenade (http://www.alternet.org/sex/68959/) towards the computer-animated retelling of ye Olde English epic, Beowulf:

­
“Beowulf is both politically and sexually unsure of itself. Like 300, this CGI-enabled parable drenches its young-male target audience in PG-13 homoerotica. Star Ray Winstone’s rippled abs and marble p­ecs dominate many scenes, and the script is a steamy bathhouse of macho staring contests, ribald jokes and tender but tense moments between friends-to-the-death. The undercurrent of gay sexual tension is so loud and proud that it’s hard to see how anyone could deny it.”

Note: There are four certainties in life: Gravity, death, taxes and Mr. Noonan’s response to just about anything I write. While his essay Nov. 19) illustrates my point (Nov. 19) exactly (not to mention his penchant for setting fire to bales of hay), I’ll offer a brief rebuttal before moving on to this week’s equally brief musings on the never-ending presidential election.

There’s nothing quite like Veterans Day to bring out the politics in everyone. I suppose it’s inevitable given how war and politics are firmly tied to each other. But it is no less distasteful to some extent. Because even as a pacifist I would not question the noble intentions of the men and women in uniform, people who put themselves at risk for the protection of others. The pacifist and the soldier may advocate and employ different means, but the goal is the same.

­“…I believe in private medicine, not the federal government running the health care system,” President Bush was quoted ­(http://ww­w.mercurynews.com) —­
as saying in regards to shooting down the SCHIP extension bill.­

And there, in a nutshell, is the fundamental ideological and philosophical foundation of the debate on SCHIP and other healthcare issues. But amidst the posturing that sees Bush and his Republican supporters painted as heartless and cruel, which they are, and Democrats as pushing “socialized” medicine, there are a number of assumptions being made that remain unexcavated by media with the attention span of a bumper sticker.

It was only a few months ago when Alec Baldwin’s tirade against his daughter was released to the media. Without repeating the admittedly mean things he said, the greater question was: What business was it of ours? We didn’t know the full context of the conversation. We weren’t (and still aren’t) involved or affected by the situation. So what business was it of the media to make the tape public? Obviously, that’s a rhetorical question.

When it comes to the intersection of religion and public education, I’ve been fascinated by Finding Common Ground, written by Charles C. Haynes and Oliver Thomas, and endorsed by groups ranging from the Christian Coalition of America to Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. From what I’ve read so far (it’s a long document), it represents a reasonable compromise between freedom of speech, including religious speech, and the necessity to avoid government-imposed religion in schools.

[Editor’s Note: See Part 1, Oct. 15.]

The U.S. is Not a Democracy

It’s an exaggeration, of course, to say that the United States is NOT a democracy. Unfortunately, it’s also an exaggeration to say that it is. Maybe we could call it democratish.