Archive for the ‘Politics and Leadership’ Category

Why Again Did We Let Zimmerman Go?

Posted: November 26, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
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Remember George Zimmerman? The guy who shot Trayvon Martin? Guess what he’s done now: he’s threatened his girlfriend with a shotgun and threw her out of the house when she tried to dial 911. When the police searched his car, they found an AR-15, a shotgun, and three handguns. He’s been let free on a $9,000 bond, and he’s entered a plea of not guilty. And this isn’t his first brush with the law since he was let off this summer: he’s been pulled over three times for speeding and assaulted his wife (yeah, he’s still married). The only reason he wasn’t arrested with the last one was because of lack of evidence.

Now, back during the Trayvon Martin trial, those who supported Zimmerman were saying that he was defending himself, that Trayvon was high and unstable and dangerous. They ignored that he had a history of violence before the Martin incident, and they might just try to ignore this situation altogether. But I’m going to repeat what I said back then: that George Zimmerman attacked an unarmed teen and killed him, and got away with it because of lack of witnesses, including the victim who understandably couldn’t speak, and because of a law that makes no sense to me. Yeah, I don’t support Stand Your Ground laws. They basically say I can go into a public setting with a gun, start a fight with any random passerby, and shoot them if I feel threatened.

But the point is, Zimmerman’s proven that he’s more likely to instigate an incident than defend himself. This is his second assault since his acquittal. It’s only the first with enough evidence to actually go to trial. So I’m just going to be the first to say this: Zimmerman should’ve been convicted back in July, because he assaulted Trayvon and killed him. But he didn’t, and then he attacked his wife and girlfriend. Either of those assaults could’ve been avoided, just like Trayvon’s death could’ve easily been avoided, but we allowed them to happen.

I just hope that this time around, Zimmerman gets convicted, because honestly if he keeps getting off like this, his head’s only going to get bigger and he’ll think he’s invincible to prosecution and punishment. And I really don’t want to see the carnage a man like that can leave behind when he believes he’s unstoppable.

Let the trial begin!

Texas Women Can Breathe A Bit Easier Now

Posted: October 28, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Social Activism
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Looks like someone in Texas is actually looking out for its women.

You may recall a few months back that Governor Rick Perry of Texas called in two special sessions of the legislature to put forth numerous restrictions on women’s access to abortion by regulating everything from specifications on what sort of room an abortion can be performed in to restrictions on the doctors themselves in performing the abortions. Pro-life activists claimed that the legislation was to protect the lives of women, while pro-choice advocates said that the laws would shut down all but six of Texas’s abortion clinics.

If you ask me, the move was just another attempt for politicians to thrust their noses into places they don’t have any right to be in, and apparently a large number of Texans agree with me. During the first special session, state senator Wendy Davis went on a 13-hour filibuster that ended when the legislature forced her to step down on account of some really stupid technicalities. The outrage was so terrible that the booing crowds kept the legislature from voting before the end of the deadline, giving Texan women a reprieve. However the second session they weren’t so lucky, as the restrictions were passed.

However now a judge in Texas is calling the restrictive legislation unconstitutional and has blocked the measures from going into effect tomorrow.  District Judge Lee Yeakel wrote that his decision was based that he couldn’t find a rational relationship between the measures and protecting both the lives of women and the fetuses they’re carrying, and therefore the measures have been halted. Texas’s AG says he plans to appeal the ruling as soon as possible, but for now it seems that women’s rights and bodies in Texas are safe.

And to those who will comment on this blog and say the judge is overstepping his bounds or that these measures will help women, I have this to say: the judge in question was given the power by the federal government to determine whether or not the measures were constitutional. Therefore he was doing his job when he blocked the measures, so he’s not overstepping any bounds, he’s just disagreeing with you. And these measures don’t help women, they just make it much more difficult to get a safe abortion in the state of Texas, which will cause many women to look for alternatives, sometimes unsafe alternatives. Who exactly is that helping?

And by the way, James Holmes, Son of Sam, and several killers were all legal owners of guns. If you believe we should make abortion clinics more heavily restricted because this one clinic in Virginia was unsafe, shouldn’t you also agree that guns should be more heavily restricted along the same lines because of how many people die of guns every year?

Think about it.

We Need To Change

Posted: October 28, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
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I just read a report online that said that since the Sandy Hook massacre in December, aproximately niney-nine hundred shooting deaths have occurred in the United States. Yes, that’s correct. 9,900 deaths have occurred in the United States since the Sandy Hook massacre ten months ago. And that’s just the reported deaths. According to Slate.com, which keeps a tally of gun deaths in the United States, suicide by firearms aren’t usually reported in terms of gun deaths by police and the media, so the official number of firearm-related deaths may actually be much higher.

But still, 9,900 deaths is pretty steep. It’s over three times the number of deaths that the United States sustained during the September 11th attacks. And what has been done about it? Have any laws been passed that aim to stop gun deaths? States like New York, Vermont, Maryland, and Colorado have adopted much more stringent gun control measures in order to prevent more tragedies, and President Obama issued over twenty executive orders regarding gun control in the wake of the tragedy. However measures to fight gun violence have dried up somewhat, especially on the national level.

Why? Because a small but extremely vocal and well-funded group of people, some of whom are very out of touch with the organizations they head, believe that any measure to curb the sales or ownership of guns is a violation of the Second Amendment. Yet we still fund millions of dollars to take out terrorists overseas who in recent years have caused far less American deaths than guns have.

I’m not arguing we shouldn’t go after terrorists. But guns are causing more deaths than terrorists right about now, and it’s only going to get worse if nobody does anything. And I know that for certain Americans having a gun is a way of life. It’s consider sacred. But guess what? The United States is losing innocent lives because people are using firearms in ways they shouldn’t be used or have access to firearms that, in other nations, would be restricted to use by military personnel only.

And don’t say that gun restriction will lead to a totalitarian state. Governments are more capable of incompetence than controlling every aspect of the citizens of an entire nation. Look at the shutdown if you want proof. And don’t say gun control led to the Holocaust, because numerous factors led to the Holocaust, and so far in my Holocaust class I haven’t seen a single reference to gun control being apart of Hitler’s rise to power. And saying gun control laws don’t work because anyone determined to get a gun can is like saying traffic laws or stealing laws don’t work because people will still speed through red lights and will still take money from your wallet if they can get it.

Besides, Australia has done very well with gun control, so why can’t the United States do well? We’re both a nation that overthrew British rule, have had or still do have problems with people of certain ethnicities, and have had massacres in the past that have devastated our people.

So I’m asking anyone reading this that if you think gun violence is out of control in the United States, please say something. On your blog, to your congressman or senator, to the local newspaper or in your church/synagogue/mosque/temple/whatever. Try and make your voice heard if you’ve had enough of people dying and want the killing to stop.

We need a change. We need to be the change. And I’m not going to stop shouting about this till I see some change for the better.

The Shutdown Ends But The Idiocy Hasn’t

Posted: October 16, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership
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Oh, I wish Jon Stewart wasn’t on a break this week. I have to wait till Tuesday morning to see what he has to say on it.

The Senate just voted to end the shutdown, 81-18. and the House is expected to follow suit. President Obama said he sign the measure immediately. And Obamacare still stands.

And guess what this mostly symbolic self-flagellation of a protest got us? Absolutely nothing.

Well, not true. Apparently the shutdown cost about twenty-four billion dollars taken out of the US economy, according to Standard & Poor. Yeah, 24 billion. Plus another 200 million lost every day the federal government was closed due to so many offices being closed, which comes up to about 3.2 billion dollars added on. That’s 27.2 billion dollars lost, and that’s all we know at the moment. There may be more effects due to this shutdown, and not just economic.

Why did this happen again? Oh wait, I remember. The GOP decided that if Obamacare, signed into law and verified by the Supreme Court as constitutional, was going to go into effect, they were going to shut down the government. They said it was an evil law, and it was going to cost billions. Guess what? Stoning women for being raped is an evil law! Giving healthcare to those who can’t afford it is something I’m pretty sure Jesus would approve of. Oh, and the only thing I saw costing billions of dollars was the shutdown. So…what’s your excuse, elected Republican officials? Because I’m sure you have one.

And don’t say it was to prevent government panels from making medical decisions for you. This isn’t the T-4 program in Nazi Germany or something along those lines. That wasn’t even legal in Germany, it just happened. And don’t say it was to prevent the government from invading something that should be a private matter, because the GOP pushes for that all the time.

Whatever your excuse though, I don’t think most Americans will buy that. The current approval ratings of the GOP (and of Congress in general, mind you) is lower than it has ever been in my lifetime. They know where the blame goes on this one, and they know this shutdown accomplished absolutely nothing. So good luck spinning this one to your favor! Because what you set out to do didn’t happen. Obamacare still stands, and we just barely missed defaulting on our debt because of this shutdown meshuggas!

But if you really want to make yourselves look better, then how about doing your jobs? Fixing the economy, getting rid of the debt! Making sure Americans are safe at home and abroad, not just from terrorists but threats that occur each and every day. Oh, and here’s an original idea, how about less filibusters and working with the other party every now and then? Because let’s face it, both parties could use a little image-sprucing right now, especially since we’ll be seeing the effect of this idiocy more and more as time goes by. And I’m not looking forward to it one single bit.

UPDATE 10/16/13 10:42PM: Congress has signed the bill to end the shutdown and it is being sent to the President for his immediate signature.

UPDATE 10/17/13 9:11AM: President has signed the bill into law and the government has reopened. Federal employees can now return to work, including the idiots we elect.

If anyone tries to leave a hateful comment, please know that I’ll be deleting your comments if they prove rude or offensive. This may be a blog for a horror writer, but I don’t always approve of crude language or behavior.

We Haven’t Eliminated Racism Yet

Posted: August 7, 2013 in Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
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I may or may not have mentioned it before, but I’m a fan of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (or these days, The Daily Show with John Oliver, seeing as Jon Stewart is in the Middle East directing a drama). The show makes digesting politics a bit easier for me, the way they lampoon everything that’s happening in our broken political system. No subject is safe or free from exploration, and that can sometimes lead to some very interesting epiphanies on our society in general.

Last night I had one of those epiphanies. The show’s two women correspondents (and considering that every correspondent has at least a dozen different correspondent titles, from tax reform to royal family to fishing and wildlife to weird news, they really are the women correspondents for the show), Samantha Bee and Jessica Williams, did a segment on how people are afraid to talk about race and racism in this country, and how far we are from eliminating it. If I am successful, the video should appear below. If not, I apologize and I advise you to follow this link.

Although very funny, this video shows some incredibly thought-provoking things. For one thing, those who don’t experience racism on a day-to-day racism in New York–those with white privilege, in other words–feel that because of President Obama and other factors, racism is on its way to being eliminated. However those who experience racism on a daily basis–the members of the black panel–have a much more cynical view. And why shouldn’t they? They face discrimination, profiling, problems getting good jobs, and utter cluelessness on the parts of certain members of the white panel. I mean talking about race exacerbates the problem? Black people should be interested in your fashion-related job?

First off, does talking about the things in your life that can cause you depression exacerbate the problem? Therapists don’t believe so, and they’d advise you to discuss it rather than not talk about it. And as for black people not being interested in your job despite the job being fashion, does it seem a little stereotypical that you think that they should be? I mean, there’s more to white people than the clothes they wear, so why can’t it be the same for minorities.

And like the one panelist said, this affects more than just black people. Hispanics face the stop-and-frisk policy too, and crooked police will use this policy to intimidate, hurt, and deport Hispanics unfairly and on bulls**t charges. Muslims, particularly Arab Muslims, face a constant PR campaign to let the world know that only a tiny minority of Muslims actually have radical leanings, let alone terrorist ties or inclinations. And in many areas of the country, the LGBT community has to struggle not just for marriage rights, but for the right to housing, jobs, insurance, security, and other rights that their straight neighbors taking for granted.

And finally, to the fashionista in the white panel, even if an issue doesn’t affect you, you should still take part in it! Why? Because it’s the right thing to do. I’m pretty sure that the genocide in Eastern Europe during the 1940s didn’t affect mainstream Americans, but still it became a part of the war effort to stop Germany. And for a more modern example, though the tsunami in Indonesia, the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan, and the ongoing genocide in Darfur (yes, it’s still happening, and rapes over in that area have skyrocketed with it), we still intervene, even though it doesn’t directly affect us. Why? Because we have a moral imperative to do so.

So even if you’re not directly affected by the plight of minorities because of your race, your religion, your nationality, your ethnicity, your gender, your sexual orientation, or any other factor, you should still try to help. Otherwise, when you’re affected by an issue and nobody’s speaking up for you, you’ll feel pretty ashamed that you didn’t do a single thing to help others out in their time of need.

So let’s start that discussion about race. Here’s a start: racism is still a long way from being eliminated in the United States, no matter what race you belong to or where you’re from. What is something you can do in your community to fight against racism and foster equality?

The Pope’s New Stance On Homosexuality

Posted: July 29, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Progress Report, Social Activism
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I think, now more than ever, I like Pope Francis.

In a stunning reversal of traditional Catholic policy, Pope Francis I took a more positive approach to homosexuality than his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. While speaking with journalists on the plane ride back to Rome, the Pope was asked how he would react if he were to learn that there was a cleric in his ranks who was gay but not sexually active. His reply: “Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord? You can’t marginalize these people.”

God bless the Pope!

I’ve always been a little wary of the Catholic Church as an entity, though I know and I am friendly with regular Catholics. There’s a deep-rooted history of animosity between the Church and Judaism, exacerbated over recent years when Holocaust-denying clergy were allowed to continue practicing in positions of power. That, plus their views on LGBT and  women’s rights, mixed with pedophilia scandals have really made me and other people, if not detractors, then angry with it.

But with the election of Pope Francis, who sets out to be a reformer of the Church like his namesake St. Francis, I have had some new thoughts. This pope seems much more down-to-Earth and of the people, and he’s already instituted a number of reforms in Church policy. This latest change really makes me happy. Not only does it signal a possible change in the Church’s policy towards the LGBT community–which has regarded homosexuality as a disorder, and in recent years barred gay clerics from practicing–but it also signals a change for the Pope, who as a cardinal wrote a few papers condemning people who were LGBT.

If this is an indication of which direction the Pope might go in terms of the Vatican’s relationship with the LGBT community, it could signal a major change around the world. In several nations, from Iran and Russia to Uganda and Zimbabwe, there are laws in place or in process that would seek to rob the LGBT community of their human rights, and in countries where laws support the LGBT community, such as England, France, and certain areas of the United States, there is still an uphill battle to give the LGBT community the same rights as their straight neighbors. If the Pope’s statement signals a reversal in policy, several countries may face a rise in support for the rights of LGBTers.

And another thing that I’ve noticed is that the Pope said “You can’t exclude these people.” While I do note that calling an entire community that spans the globe “these people” sounds a little exclusionary in itself, to me the greater message sends out more powerful vibes. For years, exclusion of those unlike yourself or the main part of a group has been a too-widely accepted policy. It was believed that if you excluded someone unlike yourself–because of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc.–they would either change their ways, learn their place, or go away. But nowadays most people don’t bow so easily to the majority, and everyone from women to gays to Hispanics to everyone in between is speaking up for their rights, and it is working for the most part.

Something like this in the future would be nice.

If the Church is going to end its exclusionary policies, then that could lead to better relations between them and gays, particularly those who want a relationship with God and the Church. And it also shows that those who want to exclude gays from society or outright ban them may have lost a powerful ally in the Church. Which if you ask me, can only be a good thing.

I look forward to seeing where the Pope goes with this. Hopefully it’ll lead to more pro-gay reforms in the Church policy, making Catholicism and possibly Christianity in general more accepting to the LGBT community, and to people in general.

In the meantime, I’d like to say a prayer from Judaism that is said when something that hasn’t happened before happens for the first time: Baruch atah Hashem, Elocheinu Melech Ha’olam, Shehechianu v’kiamanu v’higi’anu lazman hazeh. Blessed are You, Lord Our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.

An occasion I hope will lead to something good.

Why Texas Doesn’t Care About Its Women

Posted: July 19, 2013 in Politics and Leadership
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Over the past month we’ve seen a great battle going on in the state of Texas, one whose epicenter is in the Texas legislature in Austin and whose influence has far-reaching implications. Twice, Governor Rick Perry has called in a special session of the Texas legislature in order to pass a far reaching anti-abortion bill, which would effectively reduce the number of clinics that provide abortions from forty-two to six by requiring each clinic to be almost like its own little mini-hospital and banning abortions after 20 weeks, despite the Roe v. Wade allowance for an abortion in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

The first session the bill was not passed, due to the heroic efforts of Senator Wendy Davis, who stood for eleven hours in a true-to-form filibuster where she talked about how dangerous this bill was to women and how it wasn’t motivated by a desire to actually help Texas’s constituents. When the GOP-controlled legislature forced her to step down because they didn’t believe talking about Planned Parenthood or ultrasounds was related to abortion, the crowds of protestors raised a fury so strong that the midnight deadline passed and the bill couldn’t be passed through all the noise.

This woman’s a hero. She will do great things someday.

That should’ve stopped the bill right there and then. Obviously if a bill is so unpopular that one woman would stand and talk for eleven hours and protestors w0uld scream and shout within the confines of the statehouse to stop it, then it should’ve been put to sleep. But no, Rick Perry called the legislature back again and issued a stern warning to all protestors that they shouldn’t disrupt the legislative process.

The result was the bill was passed. But you know what’s got me really upset? Is that the GOP and the pro-life groups claim that this sort of bill, which makes it near impossible to open an abortion clinic in the state of Texas, is “good for women”. How do they justify this logic? Well, a man named Kermit Gosnell was convicted in Virginia for doing some illegal practices that resulted in the deaths of some fetuses and one woman. Now Gosnell’s a reluctant poster-boy, a symbol of all that is supposedly wrong with the abortion industry and what is needed to “improve” it. “Improve” it.

And that’s what’s crazy. The pro-life factions and their reps in the Texas legislature say they are protecting women from horrible practices that they believe are rampant in every abortion clinic nationwide. The thing is, Kermit Gosnell was a lone example. Yes, he did some horrible things, but that doesn’t mean every abortion provider is the same. You want a whole industry with terrible practices, try the meat industry. The animals are treated terribly, the employees are working in just-barely safe conditions, and the meat is not inspected enough to insure safety, which causes a ton of outbreaks of E. coli and other diseases.

Of course, these same pro-life lawmakers have considered punishing the activists who expose the ugliness of the meat industry through legal means, so I’m not sure what pointing this out will get me from the pro-life groups. But you see the point I’m making, right?

And more interestingly, this bill doesn’t help women at all. All the clinics left after this bill goes into effect are going to be located in East Texas, which will be a pain for people living in other parts of Texas, especially communities where access to running water and electricity, let alone a good car. So these women, the women who could actually benefit from an abortion, can’t go get one, because the nearest clinic is several hundred miles away from home. Doesn’t matter if they don’t want to be pregnant. Doesn’t matter if the pregnancy will endanger their health. Doesn’t matter if the pregnancy was a result of incest, or even rape. Nope, they’re stuck with the baby because the nearest clinic is hundreds of miles away.

Or is that so? We know before Roe v. Wade, women would get abortions through illegal providers or by going through drastic measures (kitchen utensils and hanger wires, anyone?). So despite the fact that what pro-life groups really want is to save as many alleged “lives” as possible, what they are doing is actually putting women’s lives in danger.

All while ensuring that the children they think they are saving are still going to be aborted.

But if you are a woman in Texas, that won’t be a consolation. No, that doesn’t help at all. You feel upset that men in Austin are deciding your fate, and when women and activists who think like you voice their objections, the men just text or play Candy Crush on their computers, and the women who work with these men seem so willfully ignorant of the facts, it hurts.

And I could tell you a few more tales about how Texas doesn’t care about its women–including how a man wanted an escort to prostitute herself and killed her when she didn’t, but wasn’t convicted of murder (crazy, right?)–but I think I ‘ve made things clear. So women of Texas, my heart goes out to you. I’m so sorry that men who are ignorant of your lives are making decisions about your health. And I can only hope that the eventual Supreme Court trial that will occur from this–and believe me, a trial will occur from this–will end with the judges ruling in favor of you women.

God bless, and I hope the best for all of you.

Florida’s Stand Your Ground Laws Are Madness. Why Keep Them?

Posted: July 19, 2013 in Politics and Leadership, Social Activism
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It’s sometimes difficult for me to find a subject that gets me incensed enough that I write a post about it. Usually it’s related to women’s rights or gun control. Today, it’s a combination of gun control and wondering how stupid our leaders can get!

He got away with murder, and I don’t know why.

If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin. I find that hard to believe, seeing as Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watchman, saw Martin walking home at night in a neighborhood he lived in, thought that because he was black and in a hoodie he was suspicious, called the police who told him not to follow Martin, followed him anyway, got into an altercation with Martin, and then shot him. In addition, Zimmerman has had prior brushes with the law, including assaulting an ex-girlfriend and a police officer!

And yet because of Stand Your Ground laws and doubts on Martin’s role in the tragedy, Zimmerman gets off scot-free and gets his gun back, despite everything that’s happened! If you ask me, George Zimmerman not only got away with murder, he showed how dangerous Stand Your Ground laws are. These laws say that I’m allowed to use a firearm within the state, and if I claim self-defense, I can’t be punished for it. And that’s even if I go into a bar with a loaded gun and deliberately pick a fight. It’s a law that allows you to get away with murder.

I’m sorry, but aren’t we supposed to stop murderers, not help them?

And not only is the law nonsensical, it’s not applied equally. Right around the same time of the Zimmerman verdict, a woman of African American heritage was convicted. Why? She had fired a shotgun at the ceiling of her home in order to defend herself against her violent boyfriend. Under Florida’s laws, you think she would be protected and her boyfriend prosecuted for assault. You’d be wrong. Despite the defense’s use of Stand Your Ground, she got convicted and sent away for 20 years.

So a murderer get’s away with murder and get’s his gun back after killing a black teenager, but a black woman who didn’t kill anybody and was actually defending herself gets 20 years? What the heck is going on down there?

Looks about right, doesn’t it?

And despite how ineffective, unequally applied, and dangerous these laws are, Governor Rick Scott says he won’t call in a special session of the Florida legislature to review Stand Your Ground laws. Instead, he asks protestors to “talk to your legislators” and is calling for a day of prayer on Sunday.

Prayer? That’s your solution? You’re going to pray for a solution to just magically pop into your lap, Governor Scott? Why not take some action and act like a leader? Or would your NRA backers be cranky if you did that?

Honestly, I don’t blame Stevie Wonder for wanting to boycott the state. I’ll boycott it too while these crazy laws are in effect. And I hope the protestors down in Florida who want Stand Your Ground laws repealed and are the ones who are really taking action are able to enact some sort of change. Because honestly, how many more people are we going to let die for the sake of people who fear their profits will be slashed or that an all-powerful dictatorship will emerge by putting a few comon-sense restrictions on the Second Amendment?

I’ll try and write some more later. I’ve got some anger to vent over the situation in Texas, and boy, will I enjoy writing that!

Why I Can Be Proud On July 4th, 2013

Posted: July 4, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
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Whether I’m feeling particularly patriotic on Independence Day in the United States depends on a number of factors. For one, my homeland is always Israel, so although I was born and raised in America, Independence Day isn’t as big a deal for me as it is for others. Also, this country has its problems, and how those problems are being handled and who’s handling them can decide whether or not I want to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance or if I just wish it would be over so we can get on with the football game.

However this July 4th I’m feeling particularly proud. President Obama’s still in office, and while he’s not the perfect President (who is?), he’s a lot better than some other aspiring executive leaders I could name (but I won’t because I’m polite that way). Also, the Supreme Court (probably the most popular branch of our federal government) said last week that gay marriage must be recognized by the federal government, which means that I can now work for my own state of Ohio to adopt the practice. Not easy, considering that the rural communities are very conservative. But heck, Columbus is the LGBT capital of the Midwest, so that’s something to count in our favor.

And although the United States has some definite problems, including inequality, hungry children, an economy that’s constantly on the edge of another recession (seems like it, anyway), we’re a lot better off than some other nations in the world. In Egypt,  Morsi was ousted from the Presidency despite being democratically elected, and now key members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi’s party, are being arrested. While I don’t approve of the Muslim Brotherhood’s policy towards Israel, America, and religion and government, I can’t help but detect a whiff of dictatorship rising from all this.

And if you go northeast to Syria, you’ll see people still fighting after several years just to gain the right to even experiment with democracy. Meanwhile hundreds die everyday, and no meaningful action has been taken to quell the fighting.

And in other nations, democracy is marred by powerful interests, religious intrusion, rampant corruption, and several other problems. It makes me glad that I’m able to live in a nation where, at the very least, I have rights and access to things I desperately need to survive, such as food, water, shelter, and healthcare. I also have a shot at an education and maybe a job afterwards. And while I have all these things, I can work to fight for others who don’t have the same rights as me, both at home and abroad.

That’s something to be proud of, especially when strides are being made to rectify that inequality. Not many strides, but some good ones. And while I celebrate today, I’ll work to keep these strides coming tomorrow.

Happy Independence Day, everyone.

Why the Revolt Against Morsi Doesn’t Surprise Me

Posted: July 3, 2013 in Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
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A few years ago in January 2011, the people of Egypt began a mass movement for their freedom and for true democracy in their nation. The movement, the growing number of protests, and the backing of the military led to the ousting of Hosni Mubarak. Afterwards the military took control until a government of, for, and by the people could be set up.

In June of 2012, Mohammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was elected to the Egyptian presidency. In hindsight, many said that Morsi was elected because his Muslim Brotherhood was better organized than other, newer political parties that wanted progressive reforms for the country. Almost as soon as Morsi took office, he took steps to solidify his power, passing a decree in November of 2012 that would allow for Morsi’s actions to be free of any judicial action, as well as imposing harsh Islamist policies on the nation.

Another dictator had been brought into power. But I wasn’t surprised. Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood had stated as such that they were anti-Zionist, pro-Islamist policies, and wanted a government with Islam at the center. Excuse me, but it’s very hard to have a true democracy with religion at the center of it, and the Muslim Brotherhood’s policies go against most of what Egypt wanted: more freedoms, including freedom of speech; women’s rights; protections for Coptic Christians; and more government accountability, among other things.

But when Morsi created trumped-up charges against a TV comedian often compared to Jon Stewart for criticizing Morsi and went back on a number of promises he made, particularly on those of free speech and government accountability, people noticed. And this is a country that has gotten used to fighting back against their government, even when faced with death.

So now demonstrations have taken hold of the country, the military is (quite wisely) backing the protesters, and Morsi has been given an ultimatum to leave office either by choice or by force. Of course Morsi has said he won’t leave office, saying that he was elected democratically and “will protect his legitimacy with his life”.

It’s when people in power say stuff like that you know they’ve gotten too big for their proverbial britches and need a reality check. Of course, with Morsi’s supporters, particularly those in the Muslim Brotherhood, saying they would gladly become martyrs to protect Morsi’s presidency, it looks like that reality check may take a while to come. And if the military does oust Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president, things could be explosive in ways we have no way of predicting.

But whatever happens, I have no doubt that it won’t lead to a democracy similar to the United States (and to compare the US as stable when it comes to Egypt is saying something). Egypt is one of those countries that is still experimenting and trying to become a real democracy while power-hungry politicians try and secure themselves a large slice of the pie. If anything, what will result from all this will be a shaky leadership, and I doubt that whoever is in charge will learn from the lessons of Mubarak and Morsi.

But hey, let’s wait and see. I’ve been known to be wrong on occasion. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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