On Friday I am opening The House That Swift Built at the Atheneaum in Chicago. If you get a chance come see it.
Anyhoo...I had to make a sacrifice for the show...I offered too, so, it was not forced...
Here you see me before...
Click here to see during...
Click here to see me after the sacrifice...
Jesse Jackson, love him or hate him, he makes sense here:
Messiah's message lost in shuffle
Early returns on Christmas are up, we are told. Are these reports on an increase in church attendance? Or a decline in the numbers of homeless? The spread of peace in the world? No, the reports are about sales, better than last year, particularly in the high-end luxury stores. Christmas -- the mass celebrating the birth of Christ -- is the biggest shopping season of the year.
But of course, that's not what the Christmas story is about. Nor is it about the right's newest goofy campaign -- the hyped up ''war on Christmas.'' The ideologues over at Fox News have decided that to save Christmas, we've got to insist that stores advertise ''Christmas sales,'' not holiday sales, and that cards wish people a ''merry Christmas,'' not a happy holiday. Behind their moralizing, these folks are trying to use Christmas for petty political purposes. But that's not what the Christmas story is about either.
It's about a couple -- Mary and Joseph -- forced by an oppressive government to leave their home to travel far to be counted in the census. They were homeless in a strange land. Christmas is the story of a child born in a cow's barn and placed in a manger, a makeshift crib. This was a working barn. Jesus had straw for a floor, fouled by the animals. The innkeeper had no room for the strange couple. If he had understood who the baby was, he would have offered them his bed.
The measure of Christmas can't be about Christmas cards or holiday cards, for Mary and Joseph had no address. It isn't about buying and selling things. Yes, wise men followed the star and brought gifts to the poor child. But their wisdom was not in the value of their gifts, but in their ability to see what the innkeeper missed: the power of the infant asleep in a wooden manger. The Christmas story instructs us to treasure every child, for even the poorest child of a homeless couple has limitless potential.
Unlike the reports on the business page, the reports on the moral page are grim. Poverty is up in this country -- more than 30 million now in poverty. Homelessness is up, with mayors reporting record numbers seeking shelter each night. More people go without health care for lack of insurance -- more than 45 million Americans now. The survivors of Katrina are being abandoned once more.
Reports from the values page are also pretty dismal as well. Inequality is at record levels, yet the administration insists on cutting taxes on the wealthy, while opposing any increase in the minimum wage. College tuition is soaring, but Congress voted to cut student loans to help pay for those top-end tax breaks.
What is Christmas about? It is about an oppressed people praying for a Messiah, a mighty warrior who would conquer their oppressors. The expectation grew so high that even Herod grew uneasy. But when the Messiah came, he came as the prince of peace, not of war. He taught love and hope and charity, not violence and vengeance. He was the greatest liberator of them all, but he carried no arms and provisioned no army. His army would be the legions of the faithful.
But this year, the reports from the peace page are also grim. Our soldiers are in armed occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Our cities are girded against the threat of terrorist attack. We possess the mightiest military that the world has ever known, but we are more insecure than ever. We turn our backs on the genocide taking place in Darfur. The fake moralists howl about the labels on our store sales, not the hunger of the poor.
A mass for Christ is not about shopping, whatever the name. Christmas should celebrate family and community. It should remind us to measure ourselves by how we treat the ''least of these.'' Today in America, millions of poor children head to school not ready to learn. They suffer from malnutrition, from inadequate health care, from mean streets and broken homes. One of five children is raised in poverty. We are failing the standard he taught us.
Let us all remember the true spirit of Christmas this year. Protect the babies in the dawn of life. Care for the elderly in the dusk of life. Nurture the sick; shelter the homeless. Stop for the stranger on the Jericho Road. Work for the promise of peace. Surely that is what Jesus would want under his tree. Merry Christmas everyone.
Rep. John Dingell of Michigan gave the following speech on the Floor of the House. It is brilliant response to House Resolution 597. A resolution designed to protect the icons of Christmas. The absurditiy of it is that it does not protect the menorah or the Kwanza candles, just Christian icons of Christmas. Anyhoo...here is the speech:Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House
No bills were passed ‘bout which Fox News could grouse;
Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer,
So vacations in St. Barts soon would be near;
Katrina kids were nestled all snug in motel beds,
While visions of school and home danced in their heads;
In Iraq our soldiers needed supplies and a plan,
Plus nuclear weapons were being built in Iran;
Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell;
Americans feared we were on a fast track to…well…
Wait--- we need a distraction--- something divisive and wily;
A fabrication straight from the mouth of O’Reilly
We can pretend that Christmas is under attack
Hold a vote to save it--- then pat ourselves on the back;
Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger
Wake up Congress, they’re in no danger!
This time of year we see Christmas every where we go,
From churches, to homes, to schools, and yes…even Costco;
What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy,
When this is the season to unite us with joy
At Christmas time we’re taught to unite,
We don’t need a made-up reason to fight
So on O’Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter, and those right wing blogs;
You should just sit back, relax…have a few egg nogs!
‘Tis the holiday season: enjoy it a pinch
With all our real problems, do we honestly need another Grinch?
So to my friends and my colleagues I say with delight,
A merry Christmas to all,
and to Bill O’Reilly…Happy Holidays.
Over at Street Prophets I came across this diary. I probably should not be blogging right now because I am so angry.
If you remember back in March the President flew back to Washington DC from Crawford, TX to take care of the Terri Schivo issue. Dr. Frist had diagnosed her via a 3 minute video tape, and everyone was fighting for her. I am torn about what "should" have happened, but I think I would side with the husband, but that is not what this blog is about. This is about the classist, racist, hypocritical law in Texas that allowed a conscious woman to die. Ms. Schivo may or may not have been consious, but Tirhas Habtegiris, a legal immigrant from Africa, was, and she was told on Dec. 1 that the medical staff was pulling her life support plug in 10 days.
She knew she would not make it long, but wanted to remain on life support until her mother arrived from Africa. But that would take a little while. In the meantime she had become a burden to the Republic of Texas since she did not have insurance. You see, when Pres. Bush was Gov. he vetoed a bill that would have put the the sole decision of advance directive into the hands of the patient or proxy. Instead the bill remained the same and allows for the state to decide that they will no longer cover the patients medical expenses, and allow for the medical facility to pull the plug regardless of the patient/proxy's directive. So, because a person is poor, the state can decide when their life should end.
Where are the protesters with red tape over their mouths? Where are the high and mighty preachers? Where are the vacationing congress members flying back to Washington? Where the hell are they? Is not Ms. Habtegiris's life just as valuable as Ms. Schaivo's? Or is it less vaulable becasue she can not afford insurance? Because she is poor, and an immigrant?
If these two faced sons of bitches in Washington are going to slap us around with this "Culture of Life" mantra, they better be fighting for everyone, not just their base. White Christian good looking women are not the only people who suffer. They are the one's everyone pays attention to, but there are more. There is the poor immigrant in Texas, there is the laid off factory union member, there is the Arab American, there is the crack baby...these are lives, too! But what do we expect for a society that kills it's own in some sort of Divine Judgement.
If you care so much about a "Culture of Life", how about you proove it? Pass laws that protect the vunerable. Pass Healthcare. Ban the Death Penalty. Provide adoption outlets that do not cost an arm and a leg. Take care of the least of these. If you are going to claim the mantle of Christianity and shove it in the face of everyone you meet, you best well live into it fully. You can not pick and choose.
Noone...ever should know the day they will die.
