By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
I’ve done my best not to pay attention to politics this week, decompressing from the election crescendo. My computer devolved into a hunk of lifeless technology to celebrate the Merc-retro, assisting my news fast until mid-week, when Huffington finally loaded and I discovered that there was no honeymoon period for the returning president or congressional newbies from the rapacious infotainers we think of as ‘the press.’ With only 45 days (at this writing) before we supposedly plunge over the fiscal cliff and back into recession, time is too short for much political respite, unless, all ’emergencied out,’ you take it. I took it.
Oh, bits and pieces seeped in, thanks to the occasional browse by CNN, HSN and FOX. Fears over the ‘grand bargain’ were only somewhat allayed by Obama’s oath not to extend tax cuts for the rich and Biden’s promise not to mess with Social Security. We’ve seen this president fold quickly enough in his prior incarnation, so with a new term in front of him, we’re holding our breath to find out if he lives up to his reputation as “teachable.” It could happen, stranger things have. It seems to me that the public turned out to be more teachable than some of us (about half) assumed. We need only to look at the election result to see the breadth of it.
We are in what wordsmith Mark Morford calls “the twilight of the old white guys.” The right was depending on their surety that young folks were too disenchanted to turn out, that women had thumbed their noses at secular healthcare, that the disenfranchised would not suffer a half-day wait for the voting booth, nor would the Latinos who “should be Republicans but don’t know it.” Ahhhh, but that didn’t go as planned. All those folks showed up and voted their own interests this time around. Looks like what’s wrong with Kansas can just STAY in very-red Kansas, thank you very much (and Missouri, more’s the pity).
Lost in his own considerable estimation, Mitt still can’t believe it, reporting to his furious donors that Obama had bribed all those ‘takers’ with free food, debt relief and birth control. Such nonsense assures that this year’s loser will soon fall into the fathomless pit of seldom-remembered presidential candidates that includes Bob Dole, who famously referred to himself in the third person, and maybe even John McPoopy-Pants if he keeps up his doddering hostilities and pathetic base-pandering (YOU DARN KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!).
Jon Stewart quickly put the Romney commentary in brilliant perspective while framing the evolving nature of the nation, but the point is probably lost on the semi-hysterics in more than twenty states who are threatening secession. A thinking person, it can be said, is capable of seeing both sides of an argument; a closed mind, only the side it’s on. Perhaps the Pubs should listen more closely to their faux-pundit, Stephen Colbert, who tells us in this month’s Playboy interview that based on his experience, “You have to be vigilant to stay ignorant.”
We’re at that long-awaited moment of revelation that dances on the edge of reality, twisting from side to side like a spotlight searching the heavens, plumbing the depths, illuminating what’s been deeply buried, things we don’t speak of. This business of the straying general is just one bit of the dark cavern we’re preparing to explore. In the mythological and pristine world of virtue and goodness that comprises the PR bubble in which an officer and a gentleman resides, Petraeus had no choice but resign and retreat. That’s the code. On the other hand, if I were the general, awake at night and counting my karmic debts, it wouldn’t be straying from my marriage bed that chases my happy dreams away.
It does intrigue me, though, pondering the kaleidoscope of untried emotions this man has stepped into. His soul must have declared it time for instruction. Think about it. Occulted by the giant clusterfuck of paranoia over his comings and goings — no pun intended — Petraeus had to sneak into the capital Friday to testify on Benghazi, slipping in the back door. Considering the clout he’s used to as four-star general and CIA director, imagine the slow burn creeping through his military-mind at not being able to control a motley crew of paparazzi, mollify his furious mate, or find an adequate justification for his glaring reversal of facts on the source of the Libyan attack. This is a man of ambition and self-discipline come publicly undone. Ouch!
Indeed, the headlines reflect a sudden release of old energy, as if a giant cork was pulled from a bottle, topics we seldom mention rushing out and exposing the dark abuse that too often hides in plain sight. A giant cork — or perhaps an eclipse in Scorpio — opening the lid on what we’d rather not know that we know. It’s an amazing feat to bury our nightmare landscapes so deeply that even when they stare us in the face, we don’t recognize them. It’s a strange trick of the mind that catches up with us eventually.
This Wednesday, for instance, the United States Air Force will release a report on the sexual abuse of female recruits at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, where all AF training occurs. To date, 48 ‘credible’ complaints of sexual misconduct have resulted in the court-martial of five training instructors, sentenced to from 30 days to 20 years in prison, with six others awaiting legal process. The charges range from “inappropriate touching of female recruits to sexual assault.”
This conduct does not come as a shock to service women or their families, who most often do not report rape or violence against them because it would compromise their career path, but it is a particularly bitter pill considering the hypocrisy of the overriding evangelical presence at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. This is yet another example of radical and patriarchal leadership hostile to women, and in Colorado Springs, the systemic compromise of religious liberty and civil rights of candidates of both sexes.
The complaints at Lackland are, no doubt, the tip of the iceberg. According to the Pentagon, there is a rape every half-hour in the military. You can read about some of these events and support the service women who are bravely baring their souls and sharing their stories at a website aptly named My Duty To Speak. And so, in my opinion, it is our duty to listen.
The women of America have been desensitized to the word rape, thanks to the cavalier insensitivities of (mostly male) Republican lawmakers in these last months. In matters of sexual abuse and cover-up, how have we allowed this to be institutionalized to the point where we simply ignore its occurrence? It’s past time that we not only re-think the ramifications of these events, in terms of pregnancy and STD — and within the military, legal fallout and career concerns — but also do what’s required to prevent them.
Much like the Lilly Ledbetter “fair pay” legislation, often touted by Obama as his first victory, we can celebrate progress without pretending it is in the least complete. Ledbetter gives women the ability to sue for financial inequalities, but it does not remediate them. Women still earn far less than men for comparable work. How long is it going to take for us to acknowledge income parity as an issue of civil liberty in this nation? And how long can we go on ignoring matters of sexual assault as somehow sexual rather than criminal?
We’ve been talking about female rape today, but male rape in the military is also an issue and one equally as shame-based, if not more (because we rarely hear about it nor is it as consistently reported). But now that we’re staring down into the darkness of the abyss, we will eventually stumble upon the truth that rape is not only an act of violence, but is itself a tool of war.
3,191 sexual assaults were reported by military personnel last year. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta estimates that number to be more like 19,000, resulting in approximately 950 pregnancies. It should be noted that the military does not provide abortion services for rape or incest, but only if the mothers life is at risk.
If we are to progress into a new era, we must face the darkness we have avoided for so long and make new decisions about life and sex, death and war. To enlighten is to bring Light to the dark corners that frighten us. It’s time to look deeply into the darkness, open our hearts to healing and forgiveness. It’s time to choose a course correction for all the things we’ve been unwilling to call our own.
Veterans Day is just passed. Did you hear this conversation discussed amid the pomp and patriotism? Neither did I. We cannot hope to shape a better future until we address this topic, and so many others, waiting for us in the darkness.
Scorpio agrees with you, Judith. Excellent writing on a challenging subject. I am going to have to quote you on my FB page again.
This paragraph is so bold and passionate, it is like oracle to me:
If we are to progress into a new era, we must face the darkness we have avoided for so long and make new decisions about life and sex, death and war. To enlighten is to bring Light to the dark corners that frighten us. It’s time to look deeply into the darkness, open our hearts to healing and forgiveness. It’s time to choose a course correction for all the things we’ve been unwilling to call our own.
It’s time to be more visible, to speak out more boldly and courageously.
I get the conundrum of “warrior for peace”. My reading of Paul Chappell, West Point grad, and peace activist, makes some sense of it. It’s not that people with guns and bombs are “peace makers”. It is that creating peace requires the same discipline, leadership, and strategic smarts as waging war.
What to do about the screaming hordes who are scared of everything: sex, money, and death, heaven notwithstanding. (Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.)
“…pleasant as those terribly-tidy-constantly-smiling Munchkins were, I was better off east of ‘em”. Ha ha! Love it!
Another wonderful piece, Jude! Thank you.
Hi Jude, nicely done, and so on target.
Thinking of Zeus/war/military, I was reminded about Air Force headgear. You know how Admirals and Army generals have oak leaves on the bills of their hats? Well, the USAF uses clouds and lightning bolts instead, surely signs of the Gods and their anger. I believe the oak leaves were/are to symbolize the wisdom and knowledge of command, but the lightning bolts smack of outright ill-tempered vengeance and aggression. Nice and heathenish, even pagan though.
Why, yes, GaryB, I HAVE heard that before — Paul wrote it for Julian when his Dad went off with Yoko. Life is complicated and we all need a little encouragement, now and then.
And so, as regards your kind remarks, I just want you to know that you’ve made my day, maybe my decade. Feels like I’ve spent a lot of years doing a Chicken Little impression, not always so fun or even welcome, but I’m compelled to keep at it so nobody gets left behind. It’s my ‘calling,’ so I’m very glad to hear that it brought you something useful. Thanks for the atta’girl!
When first I moved to the Patch, I refused to visit Kansas, considering that a dicey prospect for someone with the last name Gayle, occasional braids and a little dog. When it could no longer be avoided, I found that it truly WAS Oz and that, pleasant as those terribly-tidy-constantly-smiling Munchkins were, I was better off east of ’em. I’m glad you escaped, and I trust life is now much more messy and confusing; hence, holy. (Bob Dole appears very Munchkin’esque to me, I’m sure he and his sister are very nice, indeed.)
Akin is an ass. My relief at renewing DINO Claire McCaskill’s tenure is palpable!
Hey Jude,
“don’t make it bad. take a sad song and make it better..better better..
You have probably heard that before but it just is what you DO every week! I don’t know if others have thanked you for your great uplifting service and clarity over the past looong election cycle but I want to Thank you very much! Every Saturday morning I look forward to a great read/awakening. A splash of cold water to the face— another layer of the onion peeled back. I would not be on the correct side of the drawbridge, per be, if it wasn’t for your great columns every week. Thanks for being a beacon of clarity in this time of great change and Neptunian mist. Hopefully you have spawned a thousand new open minds/eyes in the process. As a former Kansas boy I take No offense– I am not in Kansas anymore and they know not what they do. I knew Bob Dole and his sister, he is really a very nice guy. Hopefully history will look upon him kindly. As for the Show -Me state, they surely showed us some of the finest they had to offer. What will the wingnut Akin do now? Advise the military about the pregnancies in the military due to rape! Take care in the midwest land of red state crazies. Now close the drawbridge.
I confess hesitation when I address military topics, be — I don’t trust any system that requires unquestioned obedience and uses brain-washing techniques to provide pawns for use on the chessboard of geopolitical strategy. Add that I have yet to find anything to refute Smedley Butler’s analysis that “war is a scam,” nor anything to admire about hammering an enemy into pulp and you can see why I try to err on the side of tolerance. I DO appreciate the instincts that send us off into service, but I object to almost everything that follows that first impulse. On this topic, I must tread lightly as I effort to understand the ‘military mind.’ Balance, balance … what a drag!
That said, yes — Zeus, Poseidon and most surely Aries, chest-thumpers all. I think that once you designate yourself a warrior, you must always view life through a filter of danger, summoning adrenalin and testosterone in defense of all else. “Peace warrior” is an oxymoron: these concepts are mutually exclusive. We must choose. I read one of George Patton’s famous rants, recently, about how the instinct to go warring is an American virtue and … like so much else I hear lately … it felt obsolete to me. So much of this no longer reflects who we are becoming, we just haven’t attended to the cobwebs and specters, hiding in the corners of old tradition and worn out policy.
Like the conflict today in the Holy Land, so much of this feels like purge, to me. As you say, last call. I appreciate your drawbridge analogy, as well — I suspect many of us will meet there, just in the nick of time. Hugs to you, dearheart, and appreciation for your commentary.
And — off topic — my nearest honest-to-goodness town (of 10,000, where I travel to shop) had a bit of a shock today. A local kid was preparing to duplicate the massacre in Colorado at the opening of the Twilight movie. He’d bought the arms and ammo, making plans for a Sunday assault. His mother turned him in (THAT would be a tough one!) Crazy is still on the march, everybody keep alert.
http://www.wibw.com/home/nationalnews/headlines/Police-Arrest-Missouri-Man-Planning-Mass-Shooting-at-Breaking-Dawn-Screening-Walmart-179794901.html
Many generations from now, folks will read the mythology that we are living presently, perhaps even these stories captured by our own wordsmith Judith Gayle. Even as the moon occulted Pluto last night in her repeated and relentless determination to absorb the darkest of the dark, bit by bit, humanity is awakening – some from their fairy tales, some from their own private Hades. By and large, we humans are inclined to see the world “out there” as separate from us, our families and friends, and our neighbors. So many of us still see the world as a huge unknowable place. . .foreign, and not our concern. Maybe this lengthy sojourn Mercury is taking through Sagittarius (Jupiter’s sign) and Scorpio (Pluto and Mars’ sign) these last three months of the year is part of the same program the Moon is participatating in. The big wake-up call – the last call before the draw-bridge is raised.
Jupiter (under stand) in Mercury’s sign of Gemini is about to fulfill his contract to be point-man for the powerteam of Saturn (get real) and Pluto (darkest of the dark). We must know the ledge and we must stand under it to be aware of the need to find a higher and common ground. Must we be shocked out of our mass stupor?
Jude always informs us of the bigger picture. . shows us how the pieces fit together. Don’t our generals seem like Zeus or Neptune or Pluto, or randy centaurs? I’m inclined to think that this goes with the territory. Macho men have to compensate for their loss of balance; their projection of the feminine within, just as the femme fatale projects her rejected masculine traits. These are our mythic symbols – alive today and the stuff of legends for the distant future. We are in the 34th day before the Winter Solstice, just a bit over a month before the raising of the drawbridge. There is still time to wake up from the private dream or nightmare world and become part of the changing world where we are all one and we all win. Last call.
When Jupiter reaches the United States Sibly chart Uranus, a jolt of reality will be provided by the sextile team of Pluto and Saturn, a symbolic finger of God, each standing in the other’s sign, just as Jupiter and Mercury will be doing. Another opportunity for us to stand in each other’s shoes and know the power of love and that we are all one.
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