Why Can't We See It?

I read a very upsetting story two days ago in the Post-Gazette about a woman who moved from Pennsylvania to California after the murder of her three children,all under the age of 10, at the hands of her estranged husband who then turned the gun on himself. How does anyone ever get over such a thing?

They were in a child custody battle as their divorce proceedings were heating up and they'd been separated for three months, with the wife living with her sister at the time of the tragedy. In cases like these I always think that the children were never anything more than possessions to the murdering spouse-- pawns to be shifted about, withheld, or swept off the board altogether in one furious move. How awful. How unforgiveable....it's the worst thing imaginable to me.

The telling thing in this case is that the husband had changed life insurance beneficiaries three days before the murders, naming an 'undisclosed' party as the recipient. The wife is now trying to get a law passed that makes it mandatory that persons be informed when there is a change of beneficiary.

I'd like to take that a step further and make it mandatory that a person be told when someone TAKES OUT a large insurance policy on their life, and that the beneficiary be named. Too many murders happen because of greed. How often have we heard these same scenarios, so it's way past time for a change.

I wonder too-- how people with such horrible impulses pass as normal in this society? Did she have an inkling what a monster she was leaving when she left him and took her children? They were murdered on a weekend when they were in his care, and no, I don't think she knew: the mother would not have allowed it if she'd had even a hint that he was capable of that kind of atrocity-- so it's just really, really scary to me that the inside of some people's heads writhe with who knows what unspeakable thoughts. Christ. Isn't it frightening? If you want to read more about the case, and how the lady is coping with her fractured life, read the story here in the article itself. You poor, brave lady...God help you.

A New Credo....

"I pledge allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America



and to the REPUBLICAN,

for which it stands,

one nation under Capitalism-- with Liberties

seen as 'Justice' for the Rich Man."

Yah....tthat sounds more truthful.

For more big truths, pay a visit to this essay by polemicist
Tim Wise

The man truly is.

And that too, is the truth.

Blameless?

First, let me set this up.



In one of Pittsburgh's wealthiest suburbs, a young girl WAS RAPED AT SCHOOL, and the incident has been bouncing around now since February.


Since the time when the original story broke, other students have come forward with the same charge against the same student, who happened to be a freshman at the high school- and now there is a law suit against the school district. Yesterday, this story appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.


Here's some background on the school itself: Upper St. Clair High School sits atop a well -manicured rise in a suburban township whose MEDIAN INCOME is $87,500.00



"Upper St. Clair High School was substantially remodeled in 2000 under former superintendent Dr. William Pope. This renovation replaced much of the school's aging building, replaced most of its mechanical systems, improved the school's aesthetic appeal and allowed for many technological advancements such as widespread Internet access. The renovations improved the facilities, allowing for a professional sized theater, 2 full sized gymnasiums, weight room, and even a racquetball court......" and on and on, ad nauseam.


What is NOT mentioned, is that 'apparently'- knowledge of troubled students in this picture-perfect setting is pushed under the emerald sod of its rolling lawns; that it just wouldn't due to have such a scandal dropped at its door, now would it? Such bad publicity might just hurt its reputation, which does boast "that 98% of the students who graduate from Upper St. Clair High School go on to further their education at a college."



Isn't that nice?



Let's see now....... in this model 'dream school', a school which sub-contracts its behavioral intervention personnel, students suffer sexual assault by a known student-assailant. The intervention mediary, who is also a teacher, now claims 'blamelessness' because 'technically'-- she was not an actual employee of the school district. (That sound about right to you?)

And if the school district, which is now busy explaining why nothing was done after the attack by stating they'd informed the mediary, and said 'intervention specialist' submits she cannot be held accountable, then who is? The architect who designed the stairwells? The raped students- for not knowing better than to roam around in such a rambling building with so many adults around them shirking off whatever they can of supervision?-- are we to take for granted that stairwells in and of themselves are dangerous, is that it?-- and if the school farms out its mental health watchdog to a subcontracted agency, where does that leave accountability when a rogue predator is operating during school hours? Does everybody who normally would be held responsible simply get a pass?


Who' GETS' the blame when everyone looks the other way? Why didn't anyone pick up a phone and call the police? Did they truly think because the rapist was a 'minor', that no criminal act had been committed? That in-school suspension might fix things? Are they that stupid?

Or were they that frightened of exposure?


And honestly, knowing this particular socio-economic neighborhood, this wouldn't be surprising. My instincts tell me that there are more lawyers per capita in Upper St. Clair than most other suburbs surrounding Pittsburgh proper, and those fellas are very slippery: after all, if the rape victim sues the school district and WINS, who foots the bill?


That's right. The Upper St. Clair taxpayers...out of their earned income taxes, which then translate into school taxes.


The parents of other students (who doubtless are doing very well... very well indeed) and who are anxious to get on with things and get into good universities on the basis of "where they come from" (and for heaven's sake, who wants to say they've graduated from Upper St. Clair High School if.......well, you know....it's a safe harbor for rapists)- if it's a place where it's really tough to say 'what's anybody's fault' or even who's minding the store, and if the brag factor- and ultimately, the money and the prospects factor, sinks down to inner-city level-

or 'Chalkboard Jungle'? Upper St. Clair.
Yah..... that one. Creepy, isn't it?

I don't know what collection of parties or chain-of-command was responsible for allowing the rape of these young students to go unpunished, and doubtless the powers-that-be would simply like to see the bad apple carted off to a place for youthful offenders to pay for his crimes...... but I think not. In any situation where minors are being cared-for and watched over and (supposedly) supervised by adults, it's those over-21-year-olds who must be left holding the bag.

And for God's sake, try appearing a little contrite, you lawyering-up, measuring-every-word, despicable bunch of face-savers.

Pants On Fire......

Now that the initial dust has settled, the confetti has fallen to the ground, and the circus people are pushing brooms, cleaning up the park....Barak Obama is finally squaring off against some of the outrageous untruths spouted by the Republican VP candidate.

"I know the governor of Alaska has been saying she's change, and that's great," Obama said. "She's a skillful politician. But, you know, when you've been taking all these earmarks when it's convenient, and then suddenly you're the champion anti-earmark person, that's not change. Come on! I mean, words mean something, you can't just make stuff up."

It seems the lady likes to talk out of both sides of her lip-sticked mouth, and when the cheering stops, it's time to look at facts. This is absolutely correct. You cannot say "I told them thanks, but no thanks" with self-congratulatory glee in the voice, if the statement simply isn't true. You cannot say you refused earmarked money (but kept it anyway, to spend on discretionary projects)-- that's a lie, lady.

Many may love your style and strut, but they should be 'watchin' them shells in the game being shifted around the table, because it appears that's the only 'change' you're accustomed to-- and we've had enough lies out of Washinton to last into the TWENTY-SECOND century, thank you very much.

Senator Obama will call you out every time-- remaining a gentleman throughout, so your supporters need not scream "bully!" like panicked patrons screaming "Fire!" in a crowded auditorium.

Facts are quiet things, like truth.

They need no megaphone or cheer-leading, because they speak for themselves in a reasonable tone of voice.

Unlike yourself, Sarah, they are never shrill, and they need no cue cards from speech-writers. Only designated hitters need those things.

A New Set of Chops

So the stodgy old party of conservatives thought what they needed to make this election interesting was a loud-mouthed FISHWIFE- Karl Rove would be very pleased. (In fact, I'm sure he is, as so many of his acolytes have joined the McCain strategists and have been sniffing out where the party could pick up some knee-jerk votes.)

Rove was very successful with this country's fear of homosexual marriage in the last election, so this time- why not pick up all the disappointed feminists still fuming about Hillary's loss, and the Hockey Moms- that scary block of Stepford wives, the ones who are angry evangelicals and traditionalists-- especially those rabidly flag-waving enough to throw their sons to a disastrous war in order to prove it a worthy cause-- and of course the millions of blue collar voters, ever leery of intelligence or a shift in paradigm-- and who most of all, do NOT want a 'man of color' in the oval office... and... well......those who want soap-opera- and somebody better to look at than the decaying John McCain when they turn on Fox News.

Every crumb helps.

Every easily-manipulated fear and slogan-energized bit of blind patriotism helps their cause, which is- and keep this in mind- to keep the munitions industry funded, the oil flowing, the stock market healthy, and their pork barrel politics as rampant as they've been during the eight years under George Bush.

Sarah Palin is not a fresh new face, she's the tag-team wrestler brought into the match with the newest bag of tricks. This is STUDIO WRESTLING, not a presidential race.

It's only the voters who haven't figured that out yet.

A Non-Item

Oh for crumps sakes....who the hell cares if Sarah Palin's unwed teenaged daughter is pregnant? Is this news? Is this even worth mentioning? What is this..."The Scarlet Letter"?


The truth is, John McCain was pretty crafty choosing a younger woman as his running mate. Give him that at least....(and craftiness is all I'm willing to give this old Hawk.)

It seems clear as anything that McCain is certainly not the candidate of most of the people who voted in George Bush. The Republicans for McCain aren't as far to the right as the zombie religious faction who voted the second time for a man who prays- regardless of killing young Americans in his trumped-up war. No, those folks are behind the war all the way, RAH! RAH!-- but McCain hasn't made religion his centerpiece, and that's a problem.

And old time Republican 'captains of industry' are not ones who would cotton to a WOMAN on the slate- who might very well assume office if the aging candidate makes it to the White House, and then kicks the bucket. No, I believe his base is a little more toward center. And what McCain is canny enough to see is that there's a lot of disgruntled Hillary supporters out there who would have voted for him out of spite, but with another vagina on the ticket, he hopes to lock up those votes as well. (Some damn fool feminists will vote for anything without a penis) -and the Pro-Life people might also be swayed by the fact that this active mom has five children- the last one, a Down Syndrome child she chose not to abort, and now she's in in full support of a pregnant teen as well....is it Christmas? How perfect is that for those folks?

This is going to be a close election. Sway some target factions, and the road to the White House is a little less bumpy, and by choosing Palin, McCain has made steps toward capturing the older, female white vote who wanted Hillary (and if my proposition is correct, any skirt) as well as the Pro-Life faction, and...(don't forget) all the white folks, and especially blue collar- who would rather see anyone in the White House other than a black man whose middle name is Hussein.

Is it enough? I certainly hope not, but this pregnancy story 'leak', in my opinion, is just another ploy to garner more pro-life robots who will vote 'fetus' any day of the week. Pretty damn clever, I'd say, but it's not news- it's gossip. And it's political gossip to boot, straight off the campaign trail. Don't be duped. Ignore it. It's a non-item.

And if you talk about it, keep these points in mind,
because it's politics, politics, politics.