Progress Won't Stop, Can't Stop!

I am typing furiously right now after reading an article in The Hill discussing Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and his quest to repeal marriage equality in the District of Columbia. He claims that he is doing this in favor of “liberty and small government”. How is repealing marriage in a district you don’t live in acting in the best interest of the citizens in the District? How is that not an invasion of government? You don’t want to provide the District with better schools or voting rights but you feel it’s somehow part of your perverse idea of justice that you intervene when an expansion of rights are underway?


I love how Republicans jump on the band wagon of liberty when their sole mission in life is to make sure that white, wealthy, straight men remain the “haves” and the rest of us remain the “have not’s”. If the system somehow shifted and the playing field was made more level then where would they be? I’ll tell you, they would be left with a mirror to face, left staring at themselves and the years of injustice that they imparted on the rest of “us”. I am tired of their “take back America” bullshit. You mean you want to take it back from the people who built it? You mean you want to take it back from the people who are currently tilling the land, watching your kids, cleaning your house, checking you out at the market?


However, I don’t blame them for their warped perspective on the world. How are they supposed to understand the needs of a land as diverse as America when their party is filled with old, straight, white people, who have an analog perspective on a diverse and digital world? How can they lead this country into the future when their messages are reminiscent of the "Leave it to Beaver era"? They are not just the party of “no” but the party of regression. Someone needs to knock on Jordan’s office door and tell him the hard sad truth; your days on top are numbered. Progress is like a bullet train…you can slow it down, but it won’t be stopped!

And That’s My Two Cents

Lives Unfinished

And so, in the past few weeks several young people have taken their lives. Why? Because of all of us! Kids learn how to treat others by watching adults …and you know what we’ve shown them? That it’s OK to hate, and that anyone that is different than you is less than. Our children are mirrors of society for better or for worse. The rise in teen suicides resulting from bullying is a monument to this nation’s intolerance and scorn for difference.

We don’t allow people like me to marry who they love because they are gay, yet we allow radio hosts to call for our deaths and make jokes about gay bashing--and then let them defend their repugnant behavior with “freedom of speech”. We tell the LGBT community that they are sissys, “sweet”, fags and more, and then when they bravely take up arms and fight on the front lines of our wars we tell them “we don’t want your kind, unless you live a lie”. We are told to show up every day for work and do our best…and we do; but then our bosses have the right to fire us in the name of “protecting family values” simply because we are gay… and once we are out of work without insurance, our partners can’t protect us under their insurance if we live in the wrong state!

We teach these kids that it’s ok to bully, torment, and harass their peers to death…with each hospital visitation denial, with each marriage certificate denied, with each dead gay soldier brought home. With each “NO” shouted at the LGBT community, we tell our kids “you see these people over there, the ones that are different than you…they don’t matter their not deserving”.

So, stop with your “how could this happen, how could these kids take their own lives” sob story, and know that with each hate filled speech we tolerate from the pulpit, TV, web stream and radio, we are putting the noose in our children’s hands, placing duck tape over their mouths and telling them to jump. As far as I am concerned we all become accessories to hate crimes every time we choose to stay silent when witnessing these injustices.
So, tell me what are you going to do stop it?

And That’s My Two Cents

Re-Branding HOPE, Yes We Can?

And so, here we are 20 months into Obama’s Administration…and as the now infamous Velma Hart stated “we are exhausted and tired”. Does that mean hope is over? Shall we send hope on his way? Thank him for coming, but say “don’t let the door hit you…”? Yes, we are tired; of course we are…this recession has beaten the shit out us…like a two bit piñata! Millions of jobs have been lost, homes have been foreclosed, and the once stable middle class has now become the “shrinking class” much like the housewives of New Jersey! I’m tired, you’re tired, but does that mean we give up? Does that mean that we throw up our hands, lie on our backs, and let the Tea-Party have their way with us?

With their witchcraft, Hitler signs, and utter B.S. they have shown that they are about as capable of leading as Lindsey Lohan is of staying out of jail. It’s time to get serious and stop thinking that some white horse is going to gallop down Main Street and make everything OK. This is not a fairy tale and change, REAL change, takes hard work from everyone who wants it! Obama did not pretend to be the Messiah when he ran for President. Am I defending the Administration and their inability to communicate their message to the American people the way they did during the election…and have a cohesive plan, and have some f’ing cohones when it comes to Republican bullshit? No, I’m not. But what I am going to do is remind everyone that it did not take 20 months to get into the mess we are in…it took a freakin’ decade!

This is not the Cosby show where everything gets fixed at the end of 30 minutes so we can all to bed feeling warm and fuzzy. This is the real world and this is some real shit that we have gotten ourselves into. Politics and leadership is made for folks who take their drinks straight up without an umbrella…it’s not for the faint of heart or spineless. So, if you’re as angry and frustrated as T.C. is then don’t whine about it…do something about it; because if we don’t then the Tea-Party and the Rethugs will.

Boehner just released the Republican’s “manifesto” entitled their Pledge to America. Um, excuse me, Mr. Boehner, 1994 called and they want their book back! You see, they never have to change their ideas because when Americans like Ms. Hart become exhausted, the Rethugs get voted back in…and then the country gets screwed! The rich get richer, the sick get sicker, and when a few years pass and everyone is standing in a bread line...the Dems get to put the country back together again! It’s a cycle…a nasty one! We need to demand better, we need to express our anger and hold our elected officials accountable for their actions…but don’t think that electing some abstinence-loving witch who is going to cast a spell on all of us, and make us all straight, white, and Christian is the answer. The opposite of what we have is not always the answer to our problems.

Our government is as accountable as we make them! They listen to whoever the loudest people are…and right now the tea-party are the only ones doing all the shouting! So, take a swig of a stiff drink, wipe of your brow, and get off the ropes!!! In mass we can do great things. GET ANGRY, GET LOUD, AND DEMAND THE CHANGE WE VOTED FOR…we don’t have the time to be tired….

And That’s my Two Cents!

Thinking of a Master Plan…

And so, T.C. pleasantly surprised herself this weekend by realizing that she is not too cynical to get inspired… Let me begin by saying that like most of you, I read the news every day, and it seems to me that we are experiencing not just a financial meltdown of epic proportions, but a cultural and moral one as well!

Now don’t get it twisted, I don’t mean “moral” as in “the cross” and “clutched pearls”, I mean moral as in we as a society seem to have lost our way. We seem to have come to place where the only people being rewarded and celebrated are the people with the most hate to spew and the worst public behavior! “I’m ready for my f%cking close-up Mr. De Mille”. *I am looking at you cast of ALL the Real Housewives, Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, Pat Buchanan, Sarah Palin…and the list goes on*

The worst you are, the more fame, money, and followers you obtain. That my friends, is the New America, and it makes my stomach turn.

Last week however, instead chasing the headlines with a pack of Advil and a bottle of Pepto Bismol, I engulfed myself in something different. I decided to attend the Congressional Black Caucus’s Annual Legislative Conference. For those who are not inside the beltway, and don’t work in this dysfunctional circus we call “politics”, the conference is an event that happens annually when all the major Black thought leaders, politicians, policy wonks, and the like descend on Washington for a week of issue forums, “braintrusts”, films, and ah yes, the parties! Now generally this conference is an excuse to put on painful shoes and fabulous outfits and party hop—and yes, I still did all of that…I’m not dead! *wink* But, I also sat in on some of the most thoughtful policy forums I’ve been to in awhile. Where people were talking about issues and laying out plans…remember those, you know actual solutions instead of complaints!

The FLOTUS spoke, and the statistics that she articulated about America’s youth are still haunting me—days later. “The greatest threat to the sustainability of our society is the health and well-being of our children” she exclaimed, because 40% of our children are obese or overweight. Yet we continue to pump them full of high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and mystery meat, and call that “breakfast”. All the while locking them in their rooms with their computers and telling them it’s not safe to go outside. Then we scratch our heads and wonder why we have a childhood obesity epidemic on our hands??? Okay, I digress.

My point is that, this year’s forums highlighted headline issues in a thoughtful and eye-opening way. How refreshing!

The week’s events concluded with a gala on Saturday where President Obama spoke. He was and is absolutely captivating. As I watched him on stage (btw my seat was so close it was bananas), I had the Chris Matthews’ “tingling sensation” running up my leg, and held on to each and every word he uttered. His speech can be summed up with his final quote about moving America forward, “If you want a car to move forward, you put it in D; if you want it to move backward, you put it in R.” Classic! The President was finally fired up! And with his words I felt my spirits begin to rise.

The tea party has lulled this country into a trance—campaigning on hate and capitalizing on fear, hoping that we wouldn’t awake from our Bush-induced “my-life-is-in-the-shitter-and-I-need-someone-to-blame” stupor until they were in power—and adding anyone who disagrees with them to some neo-McCarthyist list! Yes, we are in the worst recession in decades, yes foreclosures are at an all time high, and yes millions are out of work... BUT, if you expected that the policies that this country had been operating under for almost a decade were going to miraculously disappear in 2 years, then you are as out of your mind as those lunatics with Lipton tea bags glued to their LL Bean shirts! We have become so accustomed to having everything we want, when we want it, that we forget that progress and change don’t happen just because you enter it into Google and hit search.

If you think we’re in deep “Barney” now, then wait and see what happens if you just continue to sit on your couch and wait… Wait until the headlines read “Tea-Party backed Palin wins the Presidency”. Oh you think it can’t happen??? Eight of the Republican backed candidates lost their primaries to Palin-backed Tea-Party candidates. Eight! Wake up and smell the Earl Grey my friends, they are coming… and if we don’t put down the remote and collectively put together a master plan…quickly and shake America out it’s “tea-haze”, this country could end up once again stuck in R with a bunch of crazed elephants at the wheel.

And that’s my Two Cents!

Dirty Thirties Syndrome

And so, TC has been away for a while…but I’m back in effect with a bit of a quandary; what do you do when you find yourself at an in-between stage in life? Too young for the mid-life Porsche, but too old for a guidance counselor? Evidenced by a series of conversations with friends and frienemies alike…this is the stage that we are all currently in…it’s that spot right after the quarter life crisis and before your mid-life breakdown. For so long this time has been nameless, but today it hit me like Elin with a golf club! I’m going to call this lovely little sweet and sour patch, DTS. What is DTS you ask? It is the rightfully named “Dirty Thirties Syndrome”.


DTS is that point in your life when it’s no longer publicly acceptable to get hammered to the point of vomiting and passing out on your front lawn, when your “in-your-face” Mohawk becomes a more sleek and professionally acceptable faux hawk, when the college furniture gets upgraded…a little less IKEA and a little more Crate and Barrel! In this moment you start to think about the future and all its potential…all of YOUR potential! You move from the “what are we doing tonight” to “what are we doing over the next 5 years” conversations…everything and I mean everything carries more weight, much like Kirsty Alley after Cheers! It’s not like your 20’s when you had all the time in the world to lay on the “grassy nole” and contemplate…you know “stuff”. But at the same time the world is your champagne oyster shooter (love those)!


Everything is possible...hate your job, change it…have been dating for years with no “real” commitment, end it, want to travel, live in a new city???? All of these questions and desires can be answered, why?? Because the beauty of DTS is that we are not strapped with all the baggage that begets your 40’s and 50’s but we have a hell of a lot more sense and bank than we did in our 20’s (or at least you hope)!!!! Really, we are at the perfect midpoint...and much like with your second glass of champagne, you should feel relaxed and fabulous! So, cheers to you…you are officially, almost, kinda, a grown-up! And that’s my Two Cents!

Ciao,
T.C.

Mad as Hell????

And so, I have been on hiatus way to long…so without further ado let me jump in with both feet! Let me begin by saying…where the hell is the change??? Yeah I said it! I said what we have all been quietly murmuring to each other behind closed doors…I voted for Obama not Joe Lieberman and the two women from Maine. So, can someone please explain to me why they seem to be the ones with all the power and a year in my President is still fumbling around in the dark??? We are getting ready for midterm elections and a huge freakin upset, you know why??? Because when you have no job, no retirement, and your selling everything in your house including the kitchen sink to keep a roof over your head you need to blame someone…and for a party who said they were about change they haven’t done a freakin thing worth note in 2009!!!! Ok, so you want to talk about the stimulus package they put forth??? To that I say “show me the money” where did all those billions of dollars go??? They sure as hell didn’t go to the 10% of the population who are out of work!

Now, the banks are off the hook because they are paying their “loans” back so that they don’t have to be accountable to US anymore…like they ever were. How is it that the folks at AIG made so much money off the bailout that they were able to break off and start a new firm??? Do I want to keep giving our new President a break…yes, but not at our expense…he needs to stand up and be a leader not the “king of compromise” I get it you want to show how willing you are to work with “your friends across the aisle” but understand this; they want nothing more then for you to fail and for America to fail and with that I say “F ‘EM” and move on, it’s the only way to play this game and win! I don’t want compromised legislation just because we need a win to tout for our first year…I need something that is going to work for me…like healthcare that isn’t going to send me to the poor house…sick! I need healthcare that is going to treat women like equal citizens and give us the coverage we need for all of our needs. Why is Viagra covered by most insurance companies but birth control and abortion is not???

And now for Marriage Equality…a lesson in lobbying, if you don’t have enough votes DON’T bring your measure to the floor!!! Instead of whining after the fact in the press why not…oh, I don’t know try and create some type of political strategy!!!! Rallies and marches do not win campaigns they are glorified field trips organized so you can wear a witty t-shirt and carry a sign then afterwards go to brunch with your friends and congratulate each other for how “involved” you are in the movement!

Here’s an idea if you keep losing with the same strategy over and over and over again then try something NEW!!! Putting a bunch of well-off white men in front of a camera to shout about their lack of rights is NOT GOING TO CHANGE HEARTS AND MINDS!!! You know why?? Because pretty much every group of people in this country have been at some point screwed over by a white man….from Columbus to Bush!!!! Yeah, I said it because it’s the truth! You need a two-prong approach. Political and PR… because your PR campaign alone ain’t cutting it! We are in the midst of a gorilla war with the Right and they are winning with the same playbook they have been using for decades and we are still trying to “coordinate our efforts and have meetings about it”…when you are at war there is no time for a chat! Where is the umph? Where is the gusto? Portugal just passed their marriage equality measure today and they are one of the most conservative countries in Western Europe…and we can’t manage to find the votes in NY and NJ??? WTF!!!!

It is a New Year people and it is time for us to stop waiting for the glorious knight to save us…we need to save ourselves! The fact of the matter is our elected officials don’t know anymore than we do…and they have shown us that they are not leaders at all but a bunch a high priced call girls that are easily swayed by anyone with a dollar!!!! You voted for change, well guess what YOU are the CHANGE you have been waiting for…so GET INFORMED, GET UP, AND DO SOMETHING!!!! Oh, BTW Happy Freakin New Year!!!!!

And That’s My Two Cents!

Happy New You!

And So—It has been a million years since I have laid down my two cents…So without further ado here we go. 2008 by most measures absolutely sucked! For one we found out that we had been in a recession since December 2007, the DOW dropped over 10,000 points, Sarah Palin was given a microphone, gay marriage ended in California, and so on…it was not a good year. However there was a high point…what you ask…well, America finally came to its senses and came out in droves to vote for Barack Obama!!! Who 40 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. will become America’s first African American President! Now, that my friends make all the other bullshit we dealt with in 2008 worth it!!

It is time the shed the cynicism of 2008 and look to the change that is 2009. And when I say shed cynicism—I am talking about yoursJ it’s my job to be cynical! Ok, so let’s begin…January is a fantastic time to get all the shit that has been clogging up your life in order and out of the way…so you can be your most fantabulous you! Start a new routine…like not putting up with other people’s shit. If you’re like me and are sick of the bullshit they put on the “news” then write in…blog, do a podcast… get angry, and instead of bottling that anger up where it will do ABSOLUTELY no good, but ferment (and not like a yummy Malbec) and then ooze out into other areas of your life. Put that anger to good use…if you feel like the world is going to hell in a hand basket then do something about it…you may not be able to change the world but you can change your impact on it!

Next, we need to get healthy as a country…the burgers and fries thing has got to go…I am tired of people using the excuse that they are “big boned”! Our bones are all the same size it’s the fucking meat around it that’s the problem which in turn puts crazy pressure on your bones and joints…pull yourself together this year…and say “no more excuses”! If you say “but TC I have no time”…I say “that’s bullshit” if you do not have time in your life for you…whether that be 20 min or an hour to just focus on you and your physical well being then something is wrong in your life…and you need to become a priority on your “honey do list”!

Finally, this is the year to “get up, get out and fucking do something”. Barack inspired us all to reclaim our country and say “no more” to the ideologies of the past, but this commitment to change did not end on November 4th. He created the momentum we needed to start believing and caring again…but it is up to all of us to keep this vibe going! Find something to contribute your time to this year…don’t just give money and then turn a blind eye…get involved in something…allow a cause to overwhelm you to the point of action! Here is wishing you all a Happier, Healthier, and more complete YOU this year!

And That’s My Two Cents!