I subscribe to Rep. Dennis Kucinich's channel on YouTube, which is really nice because I receive updates in my email alerting me to new videos he has uploaded. Kucinich, who is a Democratic Congressman from Ohio, was my first choice for "mainstream candidate" for president. What that meant was: I was again inspired to participate in watching preliminary debates on television, reading and making comments on the issues discussed during these debates, and allowing myself to enjoy this rare opportunity to participate as myself in the broader U.S. political process. But the experience was cut short. The DNC and our corporate-owned mainstream media (again with the help of the U.S. Supreme Court) undemocratically forced Dennis Kucinich out of the presidential debates in a remarkable 11th hour stunt that bore shocking similarities to the stolen election of 2000. This corporate government apparatus has become so emboldened that it doesn't even try to hide its election corruption.
Kucinich is just too truthful for the powers that actually run this country. The Democratic National Committee can't allow that. He's been drawing attention to their misdeeds, and Americans might get a bit too uppity if they learn that the DNC is in bed with the RNC, or if we begin to put two-and-two together about how:
* DNC-sponsored Democrats refused to wage any real fight against the 2000 coup that denied thousands of African Americans their right to vote.
* DNC-sponsored Democrats voted for the illegal war with Iraq.
*DNC-sponsored Democrats continue to help fund this oil war with billions of tax dollars and borrowed money to keep it going (which also kills more innocent Iraqis and American soldiers - lest we forget).
* DNC-sponsored Democrats helped pass the USA Patriot Act, and, believe it or not,
*DNC-sponsored Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the most recent vote to give away $700 billion of our money to Wall Street fat cats even without the necessary safeguards for American taxpayers and homeowners or an idea of where that money will come from ultimately. Shocking? It shouldn't be.
(By the way, I also support the Socialist Worker's Party candidacies across the board, but that will bea topic for a later piece, because I do believe it's important for people to understand why the role of the SWP is so significant for our future).
So I was watching a few of the newer Kucinich videos offered on YouTube that related to the $700 + BILLION corporate bailout (aka: the Rape of the American People). The first video (link below) is a 1:39 minute-long clip where Kucinich is addressing the House of Representatives on September 28th regarding the criminality of corporate greed and the government practice of running the American economy like a drunkard at a craps table.
Kucinich:
"The $700 billion bailout for Wall Street is being driven by fear, not fact.
This is too much money in too short of time time going to too few people while too many questions remain unanswered.
Why aren't we having hearings on the plan we just received? Why aren't we questioning the underlying premise of the need of a bailout with taxpayers' money? Why have we not even considered any alternatives other than to give $700 billion to Wall Street? Why aren't we asking Wall Street to clean up its own mess? Why aren't we passing new laws that stop the speculation which triggered this? Why aren't we putting up new regulatory structures to protect the investors? How do we even value the $700 billion in toxic assets? Why aren't we directly helping homeowners with their debt burden? Why aren't we helping American families faced with bankruptcy? Why aren't we reducing debts for Main Street instead of Wall Street?
Isn't it time for fundamental change in our debt-based monetary system, so we can free ourselves from the manipulation by the Federal Reserve and the banks?
Is this the United States Congress or the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs?"
Brilliant. Of course the transcript lacks Kucinich's powerful delivery, but you can see it yourself here:
Kucinich: Is this the US Congress or the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs?
I'm convinced that had Kucinich been a politician during the corrupt downturn of Ancient Rome, he would need to give second thought to drinking from his wine goblet. I'm also convinced that Kucinich's integrity and his valor will make history.
The second Kucinich clip from September 27th, already has nearly 50,000 views and over 300 viewer comments after just three days. People are scared. People are furious.
Kucinich: And this is the system we're saving?
Of course along with the energy generated by reading insights from fellow Americans comes the inevitable commentators who still don't get it. Those tend to fall into two basic categories: the mouth-foaming right-wing thug or the compliant, ever-frustrated Democrat. The former type uses any sign of liberal lean or Democratic philosophy to springboard the discussion toward some disjointed diatribe of crude name-calling and simplistic stereotyping, à la Bill O'Reilly. The latter still believes in this system (by golly) and is a good little Democrat. This person also uses the discussion to form simplistic solutions and offer apologetic justifications for wasting yet another election prostrate to "lesser-evil" politics. Most often this hopeful Democrat repeats whatever the Democratic party puts forward - just like the right-winger feeds off Rush Limbaugh's sputum.
Now Neo, will you choose the red pill or the blue pill? (reference from The Matrix).
I came across the following comment while reading the YouTube message board for one of the Kucinich videos offered above:
mrfyer: "It is biblical what is happening now to our economy. The result of making money a false idol. Greedy Republicans have almost destroyed our country. Our only hope is to vote all Democrat in November."
Our ONLY hope?
Two things come to mind immediately: 1. At least the commenter reveals that he/she is informed by superstition; and 2. Whenever I read or hear this sort of backward rhetoric by people still deluded into believing the DNC will actually change the status quo, parts of me begin to twitch and my mood turns.
This sort of inexcusable misinformation affects me even more adversely than hearing George The Lesser (George W. Bush) muse over how great it would be if America were a dictatorship - especially if HE got to be the dictator. While the right-wing schemers certainly are an obvious threat to freedom and liberty, at least they're open about it. It's the liars who pretend to be "leaders for change" and covertly use the desperation and confusion of beleaguered working people to lead us off cliffs like lemmings that I find especially abhorrent.
I have not made - nor kept - many Democrat friends since I admonished the "Anyone But Bush" travesty of 2004, pegging it early as a dangerous and cynical campaign. My view on this was not popular. I was a party-pooper while my Democratic friends wanted to partake in the fun - don their Kerrey-Edwards t-shirts and throw back a few beers at the tailgate soirée.
The "Anyone But Bush" campaign was a directive sent down by the DNC for weary American voters to give them a free ride. As long as they aren't Bush! That was the "progressive" battle cry issued after a stolen election, a preemptive war, the USA Patriot Act and torture. And it even fit neatly on a bumper sticker: Anyone But Bush.
Wow. How easy was that? No need for critical research... No need to ask questions of the Democrats who let all this bad stuff happen. No need to think for ourselves. Just vote for the Democrats and all will be well.
Well ... all is not well. My college-aged son still doesn't have health insurance, and I'm very worried for him. This war is still going on. Many people are on the verge of losing their homes and finding themselves in ever-increasing debt. And Bush/Cheney are still not impeached for their treasonous crimes. All we got for our loyalty to the DNC was stinkin' Nancy Pelosi. Gee thanks.
Speaking of anyone who isn't Bush, didn't Lieberman run on the same ticket as Al Gore? And what of John Kerrey? All-too recently he was touted as the savior-du-jour - signed, sealed and delivered by the Democratic Party (and paid for by the souls of desperate Americans). But hey, he wasn't Bush.
And then there was Clinton (William Jefferson). He had to change his position on abortion so Democrats could stomach him, and he could win the election. But before you knew it, he was the Democrats' poster president. Super slick. And he looked so cool playing his sax with his sleeves rolled up. Apparently starving Iraqi children didn't take his breath away. William Clinton is to Democrats what Ronald Reagan is to Republicans. Clinton is simply off limits when it comes to criticism, because it's really not about him. It's about winning and losing.
Yes, Clintons' atrocities (both Bill's and Hillary's) magically fade from the memories of die-hard Democrats who make all sorts of contorted justifications for them. They may be corporate war-mongering hacks, but they're OUR corporate war-mongering hacks. After all, we Democrats have to band together or we'll lose the game (again) and only have a stickin' bag of peanuts to show for it.
Numb your mind to the fact that while we were looking toward the next election with each of these people I have mentioned, tens of thousands of Iraqis were dying. Never mind that William Jefferson Clinton pushed along the right-wing agenda better than any Republican could have. Sure it was all cloaked in Democrat-approved rhetoric, but the results were anything but progressive. What a masterful diversion. Clinton paved the way for Bush The Lesser and even weeded the cracks for the right wing advance. And I fear Barack Obama will be doing the same damn thing. He's already started with his ridiculous right-wing rhetoric about Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea ... and even Venezuela for crying out loud!
Maybe Chavez isn't Obama's friend. Has Obama taken up watching the 700 Club for his spiritual and political guidance now that he's turned away from the much better preacher, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright? Regardless, Chavez IS a friend to the people. So who's side is Obama on?
Well at least he's black. Does that automatically make him "hip" to significantly changing this criminal system?
Condoleezza Rice is black, and she isn't hip to anything at all. Does she even have a soul? Still, she IS a woman. Why not consider her for president and just get both Things out of the way now, so we can finally be free focus on substance, not surface, before it's too late.
Hillary Clinton is a woman, but she's not a candidate I want my daughters looking up to. One of the most important reasons is she voted YES to Cheney's and Bush's (and Halliburton's) oil war. Does she own stock?
(A random thought: Imelda Marcos... We could have had her as our very own woman dictator - considering she's not Bush and all. * Vetting potential future candidates for the DNC *
It's really a shame that the thing we most remember about Ferdinand Marcos' corrupt presidency in the Philippines was Imelda's great collection of shoes (after their overthrow, the Marcoses fled in exile to the U.S., and Imelda's closet was discovered to have over 2500 pair of shoes). ANY ONE BUT BUSH, AND A WOMAN TOO!)
Just think.
Over and over, round and round we go. Election after election the same old pick-up lines are used to woo the tired, the hungry, the gutted, and the trampled. They go something like this:
* "Yeah I know she voted for that war in Iraq ... and then she voted for the USA Patriot Act ... and sure, she spews threatening rhetoric against Iran ... and sometimes she tells outright lies during speeches and town hall meetings. But she's a Democrat! And it's about time we had a woman for president!"
Voting for an over-privileged, sarcastic, lying, warmongering politician (man OR woman) - no matter if she has done or said some decent things over the years - is NOT the way to seize the moment and advocate for the empowerment of women now or in our future. May we inform our daughters (and sons) better.
* "He's GOT to sound like them, or he won't win! He HAS to lie to get things done. The only way to change things is from the inside."
Yeah, I can hardly wait for the election of 2012. I've already got my campaign slogan picked out: "Anyone But Bush!"
*"We have to get a(ny) Democrat in there, because in the next 4 years, the next appointment to the Supreme Court could be at stake!"
This has been an especially effective pick-up line perpetrated by the DNC for as long as I can remember. You see, it's a perfect win-win for them. If anyone breaks rank and votes their conscience - for a candidate who tells the truth and has shown integrity over time (i.e.NOT the DNC's choice of candidate) - the DNC will absolve itself of any responsibility for the outcome of our country's rightward shift. It'll be all your fault that a Republican gotinto office, instead of the Republicrat the DNC chose for us. I can hear the rant: "Hey, we told you what would happen if you didn't vote the way we told you to, you ignorant bastard." ). The DNC would be happier if you didn't vote AT ALL than for you to vote for those Perot or Nader or Kucinich guys. On second thought, then the DNC wouldn't have anyone else to blame for its own misleadership.
* "I agree that (fill in name) is the best candidate, but he/she could never win the election, because: he's too short / she's too radical / he has a funny name (but his wife is really hot!) / (fill in the blank with any other irrelevant drivel)."
(In Season 1, Episode 17 of House M.D., -"Role Model"- House is diagnosing the condition of a black presidential candidate (Senator Gary H. Wright, played by Joe Morton), whom House is convinced must have AIDS, despite the candidate's denial.
House: "Everybody lies."
House pokes at the politician from all possible angles: insinuating that he's either not REALLY as truthful or righteous as he comes across in public (he IS a politician after all), or he's woefully naive and unrealistically optimistic about his chances of winning the U.S.presidency.
House to Senator Wright: "Some day there will be a black president. Some day there will be a gay president. Maybe there will even be a gay, black president. But one combination I do not see happening is gay, black, and dead. You need to stop lying to me."
Once House learns that the senator is NOT lying about the impossibility of AIDS,House still points out to Senator Wright that because he's black (and acts with integrity?), he has no chance of winning the U.S.presidential election. But Senator Wright puts the discussion into proper perspective for House by explaining that even though he knows he will not win, it's important that he run to pave the way for others(just like it is vital that Ralph Nader (Green Party), and Dennis Kucinich (DNC-unsupported Democrat), and Ron Paul (RNC-unsupported Republican), and Roger Calero (Socialist Workers Party) - and other independent-minded candidates run).
Senator Wright acknowledges that he won't win the election.
House: "Then why run?"
Senator Wright: "Oh I see; your point being the only way to make a difference is to win every fight?"
Excellent point, Senator Wright. Here's hoping our Democrat friends tune out the messages of disempowerment and fear eminating from the DNC and consider this thought more closely: What we do today will affect what choices our children will have tomorrow. Vote the lesser of evils, and you're still supporting evil. Continue this way election after election, and you will effectively contribute to degrading our country irreparably by lowering the bar even more each time around.
It's a slippery slope, and the lines you're willing to cross get fuzzier and fuzzier. Eventually the only candidates for our kids and grand kids will be slugs and snakes, and they won't have the same chance to save our Constitution or our remaining liberties as we do now.
... and then of course there is the ever-popular, most succinct (and brain-sucking) DNC pickup-line of all time - available in several colors and we'll even throw in the Ginsu Knives:
"ANYONE BUT BUSH!"
(Have I made my point yet? You see, I'm hoping the Pavlovian effect will cause nausea whenever you hear such a stupid slogan again. Not just by those exact words, but by the content of its message. I'm hoping you recognize it and help to reject it whenever you see anything similar used again).
_________
I recall that I also didn't earn many fans - and in fact lost a few - when I suggested that any effect Ralph Nader had on the 2000 election was a refreshing and rare sign of health in an otherwise diseased cesspool created by both the Democrats and Republicans. Conjoined twin parties,they are now coined as the Republicrats - a single corporate-owned, neo-capitalist entity that continues pulling us further and further away from our Consitutional experiment and significantly lowering the chances of resurrecting any sense of liberty or justice for all with each disingenuous election.
As much as I appreciate Michael Moore's film work (and absolutely loved his Stupid White Men), he was so much more admirable when he wasn't using his celebrity to jump on the regressive "Anyone But Bush" bandwagon. Moore's message lost some credibility with me when he joined the Dark Side as yet another minion of the Democratic Party - on his knees and begging the DNC to "just win this one, pleeease?"
So disappointed am I that I had to let me email subscription from Mike go. It was just too painful to watch. But then Kent introduced me to a wonderful cathartic outlet that more than fills the void left by the original Michael Moore, may he rest in peace. If you have stayed with me so far, you may also be interested in Ted Rall's comics and blogs. Now THERE is a smart guy with integrity and guts. Few (if any) bloggers, columnists, cartoonists, comedians, or historians come close to matching Rall's nerve and spot-on commentary. TedRall.com
While I know my ranting won't cure the condition from which the die-hard Democrat suffers, maybe in some small way my contribution will make a difference for somebody.
As for the YouTube commenter who plans to vote a straight Democratic ticket as "our only hope," I have to wonder what alert level that would be ... Red? Orange? Have the Runes been read, yet?
This person is not to blame, I know. It's just that I'm outraged that this regressive rhetoric continues because of the misleaders - those candidates who work within the constrains of the DNC (and RNC) always posing as progressive candidates for change in order to win elections by taking advantage of well-meaning people who genuinely do care and want good things for the world, such as mrfyer from YouTube and some within my own family who meekly swear alligence to the Democratic Party as "our only hope." These pretenders consciously take advantage of our fear, suffering and desperation - and therefore, I believe, are even more dangerous and culpable than the unapologetic right-wing rogues who are already identified as such by liberal-minded people.
So I felt compelled to respond to mrfyer:
esoterikgirl: "C'mon mrfyer. "Vote all Democrat"? That's "our only hope"?! We may as well kill ourselves now.
While it may be comforting for you to believe that the DNC isn't complicit in this criminal charade, it's irrefutable that the DNC and RNC are intimate corporate bedfellows. My god, this isn't the Dark Ages. Info IS available. READ! WATCH! LISTEN! While you fantasize about having power "in November," you're helping to suppress truth and effective action.
We Americans suffer from Stockholm syndrome.
_________
[Stockholm Syndrome is referred to here as a psychological condition that is expressed when hostages/slaves/the abused identify with and make excuses for their kidnappers/masters/abusers. I am using it here to suggest that too many Americans are keep servile and bonded to (wage) slavery to our own detriment and for the benefit of our "masters." They take our land and homes, deny us justice and liberty, and steal our children's futures - brainwashing us into feeling more loyal to them than to others just like ourselves, whom they cleverly scapegoat - i.e. Mexican immigrants, the Iraqi people, Muslims, Chinese, gays and lesbians, Afghanis, Cubans, Venezuelans, Iranians, the French, etc., etc.,.. and did I mention Mexican immigrants? That warrants repeating since Mexican immigrants are subject to some of the worst attacks in contemporary U.S. politics.
All this scapegoating has been going on forever, and it's directed from the top and keeps our attention diverted away from the real source of our troubles. I highly doubt Barack Obama will be helping us get to the bottom of that reality. If he did, he wouldn't win elections. But I have to ask:
How can it be a good thing to win a battle, when the tactics employed guarantee we will lose the bigger war? Sell your soul to the devil and it's pretty hard to get it back.
I am distressed by liberal apologists whose actions set back real change, I do take comfort in reading more and more comments on YouTube and on various message boards that express a rapidly growing population that understands there is no fundamental difference between the RNC and the DNC. This comes thanks most to the work of revolutionary-minded individuals and independent candidates who put themselves on the line and risk blame for"taking votes away" from "the lesser of evils." The irony is that many of those votes are from people who would not vote at all if there wasn't someone worth voting for.
Many thanks to Dennis Kucinich, Ralph Nader, Cindy Sheehan, The Green Party, the Socialist Worker's Party, and other genuinely brave and progressive souls.
True progressives are the ones who sustain abuse and take serious heat for telling the truth loudly and consistently (such as Nader and Kucinich) - truth which is never immediately popular, as it challenges the status quo - which is just as difficult for Democrats - as Republicans - to accept, even though the status quo is destroying our earth and the interconnected web of life.
To all my remaining Democratic friends, family and acquaintances: just burn those bras already, and recite the following little ditty before again believing you must choose "the lesser of evils." It's very liberating once you can.
Fool me once, SHAME ON YOU.
Fool me twice, SHAME ON ME.
So how many times will we
allow ourselves to be
FOOLED by the DNC?
United, the People can never be defeated. Don't let them continue to divide us with false fears and promises - lies that are used to keep them in power and keep us unempowered.
Defend Mexican immigrants, Muslims, blacks, women, GLBTs, and others against stereotyping.
Defend prisoners' rights, for so many have been falsely accused and convicted and others unfairly singled out.
Defend the slaves over the slave owners.
End this war.
Save our planet.
Convict Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Gonzolas for high crimes and treason (for a start).
Don't believe what you hear from the DNC or Nancy Pelosi.
WAKE UP AMERICA. DEMAND SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE NOW!
________________________________________________
Please feel free to comment.
ALSO, PLEASE Contact your Congressmen/Congresswomen immediately to demand:
NO MORE BAILOUT VOTES UNTIL CONGRESS HEARS FROM REAL ECONOMISTS and
ALLOW THOROUGH DEBATE and
PROVIDE PROTECTIONS TO WORKERS, TAXPAYERS AND HOMEOWNERS! and
All the points Dennis Kucinich made in his video! (The full transcript and link to the video of Kucinich's admonishment of the rush to hand Wall Street $700 Billion and his list of what the bill SHOULD do is provided in this blog, so it's easy!) 
.
This entry was written on 6-15-08 in another blog program. I am transferring it over here to try to consolidate my writing into one place.
Artemis was a most unique cat. She began as my adult son's pet - weaned early from her mother and offered up as a young kitten. My son wasn't always there for himself, much less for her, and so she was often abandoned and left alone and lonely.
She overcame many early-life challenges and developed strong survival techniques that involved intense selectivity, aggression, and periods of difficult testing for establishing trust. She seemed to possess a certain wisdom and intelligence that I have never noticed in other pets, almost as though she consciously studied and considered aspects about the few humans with whom she bonded.
I must have become her favorite and most trusted person at some point (though our lives together were very difficult at the beginning). She also became my favorite non-human - probably for the same reasons. I identified with her. I wanted to offer her safety and nurturance. I wanted her to trust me, and she eventually did - following me to every room, climbing into my arms. She was like my child.
Recently Artemis developed a mysterious condition that led to a rapid onset of frightening seizures. After a weekend of trips to the emergency veterinary clinic and realizations that we could not afford further expensive tests and heroic methods to save her, we decided we had no choice but to have her put to sleep. That decision was heartbreaking. I cannot see any other animal/pet ever filling the space that is left from her. I realize that her need for nurturing and my desire to give that to her was uniquely special.
What a difference a day makes.
(This blog posting was started on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 and posted today)
My daughter Sydney (who just turned 13 less than a month ago), is gone
for a week as of today. She flew out of Lincoln, Nebraska at 6:20 this
morning (August 26), destined for upstate New York (the Catskills), where she is
attending a week-long, intensive performing arts workshop called
Beginnings. (See Sydney's website for more details: www.sydneyariana.com, and follow the hearts!)
When I say she's "gone" - I mean GONE in every practical sense that relates to her inability to speak with family during this period. Due to the policy of this workshop, she cannot call us, and we cannot call her. At some point she will write, but I realize that with all of my many pre-travel lists and reminders, I actually forgot to make certain she packed postage stamps. So today I sent a card to her with some stamps - just in case.
I hope she will be well - emotionally and physically. It's a tough thing to know there is a chance she will hate significant aspects of this experience - i.e. the director, Peter Sklar, seems to behave somewhat arrogantly, operating on a belief that "his" way is necessarily the "right" way. When it comes to his business, I believe he probably and usually is correct. But he crosses lines into the areas of others' "business," and expertise.
Even though some of Sklar's points are quite relevant, his attitude is disrespectful and egoistic, disregarding that others - including parents - are also mostly thoughtful and caring and knowledgeable (and actually know more about their own children, with complexities born from years of consideration for the balance of emotional and physical health, ethics, and the holistic needs and strengths of their own family members).
At the same time, I also believe - from what I have researched and observed - that Beginnings will offer unique and life-enriching experiences for Sydney - which is why we have supported her desire to attend. She's no "weakling." She's never shied away from challenges and seems to always come out on top of them. She also just experienced a rugged kayaking camp in Alaska, so "roughing it" is not new to her. Sydney is a focused, self-directed person who prefers withstanding discomfort over giving up anything significant from herself to anyone who does not deserve it, or who tries to take it from her. And ironically that is - in part - what also worries me.
If Sklar behaves in a manner that requires Sydney to compromise herself in any way that she perceives is not appropriate or right - i.e. if he requires that Sydney (or anyone) go against her own common sense with regard to personal needs - for instance, by suggesting she cannot take her medication because we failed to adhere exactly to his contrived, self-ingratiating requirements, Sydney may shut down completely - at least on the inside.
She is not prone to subjecting herself to unreasonable people or "cult-like" situations that would say, "Do as I say, and forget about your own understanding or what your parents tell you is right." And in this case, that's good.
Sklar is not my daughter's relative or even a close friend. He is directing a mighty profound educational
workshop (from the sound of it) with experienced, industry-savvy
professionals, and selecting hundreds of interested children (for many thousands of dollars)
each year. As with most capitalist ventures, this helps him while he offers
desired goods to others.
Sklar should earn the trust of
children and their parents, not because he says he deserves it, but
because of a respect for others. Not because he's been doing this for 24 years, but because he sees each person and situation as unique. Treat others as he wishes to be
treated in return.
"Do as I do, not just as I say." That's the healthy, honest way.
That Sydney's prescribing
doctor (of the medication she's currently taking) no longer resides in
Omaha should not be a reason for Sklar to give Sydney any sort of a
difficult time about her medication, which has been a
quality-of-life-saver for her. Hopefully Sklar's assumption that he has
something to teach our kids' parents and their doctors won't manifest itself in any
practical way beyond his initial educational essay.
So, yes, I'm both excited for Sydney and concerned for her. If she
is to be considered mature enough for serious work (i.e. the business of entertainment
and performing arts), she must be able to live away from
family and trust the guidance of others in the business. But there are
appropriate lines for such guidance and a necessary amount of trust-building that should happen before we hand our kids over to anyone, no matter what their degree or past experience includes. Also, if Sydney is considered mature enough to be in such a situation as Sklar's residential workshop, there just may be a
reason - i.e. the parents and child are doing a lot of significant things right ...
right?
I am her mother, and as such I must think about the bigger picture - weighing benefits and opportunities against the longer-term ramifications of those decisions I make for my children. Ultimately, I want Sydney to be healthy emotionally and physically - to feel empowered to make her own decisions based on her own common sense and genuine self-respect, her honesty, empathy, and ethical standards. And if some of those decisions are not within the scope other people's vision, understanding, or personal points-of-view - including Sklar's - so be it.
While Sklar may know a fair amount about certain topics, he only knows so much. I want Sydney to consider this about EVERYone - even her parents, and especially relative strangers (which is what Sklar is to her currently).
Sklar's responsibility for my daughter ends at offering what he has roughly agreed to offer for the price he sets - until or unless relationships change - which requires a reciprocal connection. He knows he is required to offer no more, and he makes sure to protect himself in every regard, even from inconvenience. That's just business, but we also see him crossing lines of ethics, which causes some unease. How should Sklar expect us to believe he has our children's best interests at heart at every moment? That's what families and friends are for; not business men.
Of course I believe Sklar has an exceptionally unique program in general,
and that he does sincerely care (in general) about the well-being and development of the children
he selects to represent his program as they immerse themselves more
fully into aspects of the industry via his line-up of classes, seminars and impressive programming opportunities. That's why Sydney wanted to go and
why we helped make it happen for her.
I will even offer that I see Sklar as a visionary. He has grand ideas and he works
to make them happen. He's committed and creative and bold. But he's
also arrogant and disrespectful (or distrustful?) of the visions of
others, which - as we've learned from our Greek mythology lessons
- closes one to opportunities and experiences beyond our own comprehension. And a person who is
closed to learning from others can be unhealthy for himself and
others. I think Sydney can sense this, too.
It may be far better for establishing a useful level of trust if parents could sense that Sklar understands his own limitations in relation to their children and is willing to accede some deference to the children and their families for perhaps knowing more than he does about certain topics related to their own lives, regardless of his select research into general areas (such as nutritional habits, ADHD, depression, medications, and his (perhaps unrelated) outspoken ignorance regarding what he erroneously touts as Microsoft's superiority over Mac systems - ugh. But that's a topic I'll write more about later) ...
So, as of about 12:25 p.m. Central Time (1:25 p.m. Eastern), Sydney made
her last call to tell me she and her friend Jackie had met their
chaperone at LaGuardia airport. After that call, her phone was turned off and turned over to
the chaperone, and we will have to wait until we receive a letter to
learn any more...
... Later in the afternoon, I opened our front door to let our kitties out for a while, and I noticed one of Nature's greatest seasonal phenomena. It seems as though these annual changes literally happen over night (at least for us living in the country). My attention was first drawn to a single white butterfly fluttering about in the grass.
Butterflies seem to fly aimlessly and without purpose, if one only watches for a few unfocused seconds. But it's not true. Watching intently for a while longer, I noticed there were actually others frolicking in other parts of our yard - especially near the patches of scattered clover that has blanketed a strip in front of the house. There were several butterflies of pale yellow and white, but even with the color difference, they seemed to all belong to the same type as they were of similar shape and size.
Miraculously - after observing them engaged in what seemed to be their own solitary endeavors - I saw a yellow butterfly cover a lot of ground within a matter of seconds - playfully swooping over and around a white butterfly. They flew together in frenetic style - swirling around each other, up and down, co-mingling and lightly bumping until they broke apart and flew their separate ways. I then saw that same yellow butterfly - apparently eager for more play or perhaps companionship - move directly over to connect with another in the same fashion.
Butterflies must have excellent eyesight or selective attraction to the motion of their own kind, or else they detect "butterfly sounds" we humans cannot hear. I'm impressed that while all of these new beings emerged overnight, they already seemed experienced in their duties and pleasures, and were at once each similar and different from the others.
The one butterfly had flown so far and so quickly to meet up directly with the other two, that I had to wonder what motivated this soul's personality, inspiring it to be so bold and outgoing and desirous of company, while the others seemed somewhat disinterested in playing along?
As humans, we are generally egocentric. We are apt to believe only our own species is capable of experiencing this level of complexity in life. We see our own experiences in our subjective ways and tend to project our personal sense and limited understanding of life and love and joy and sorrow onto the world - generally dismissing the many life forms around us as insignificant and inconsequential, or simplistic and inferior.
But just in the few moments I stood watching - giving my full attention to noticing some of their behavioral and social patterns, I was able to share briefly in the joyous possibilities of these newly-emerged metamorphs, changed and freed yet again by Nature to explore our world's ever-miraculous paradox.
I was able to relate to them briefly as kindred souls subject to the same fundamental needs and wants as I experience. I was moved to consider how Nature allows for the experience of Life's Joy - even for the most fragile and the smallest among us - like butterflies.
The
life cycle for butterflies takes so many forms and is so much shorter than
our own, but our own view of time and the "human condition" is relative, isn't it? The
challenges of a butterfly are inexplicable to us mere humans. We could
never fully contemplate all that must be taken in and lived through by
such mysterious and wondrous beings. And this is why gods must also exist for butterflies.
If it is true - as I believe it is - that the Laws of Paradox provide the greatest gifts to the greatest givers, then it is plausible a butterfly experiences some of the greatest levels of joy and freedom possible during their relatively short lives.
This realization helps me to reaffirm my belief in the necessary existence and interconnectedness of Joy and Sorrow as Nature's Paradox - a paradox as one of relative experience, subject to each of our own perspectives. In other words Nature allows for both happiness and grief (living as we die and dying as we live) simultaneously and continuously.
The
possibility of either and both conditions is afforded at every moment and for every being.
It's just that some - as with the butterflies - are more aware of the sweetest clover
patches and driven by a strong desire to dance, while others flounder about in the flowerless grass, safely
avoiding the unknown risks of spontaneous interaction.
And then I thought again about Sydney. About the beauty of her
very being and of her desire to find the clover and to dance - even at
risk of discomfort or challenge to herself. That she wanted us to allow
her to take that risk means a lot. As her mom, I can only hope her
desire in this case produces some of the nectar she seeks for her life.
I'm thinking of you Sydney, and I'm so very proud of the person you are. I love you, Mom
NOTE:
(This workshop has left Sydney in debt for about $2000. If you are inspired by her life and want to support her work toward her dream of performing on Broadway, please consider donating to her "From the Heart" site. Contributions will be applied toward what she owes for her trip, and donors will automatically be treated to information updates and special "footage" and materials offered exclusively to those who support her efforts.
Any amount is appreciated (and you can donate directly from her site and watch the hearts fill in!)
For every $100 (in combined donations from any one individual or family), we also are offering:
* A copy of Sydney's workshop DVD highlighting her week full of experiences and her solo monologue performance Off-Broadway in New York City; AND
* An exclusive recording from Sydney and/or Nick of any song (within range and as appropriate); AND
* Entry into a drawing for a free, FULL-featured iFamilyWorks website*** (Ex: If a contributor donates $100, he/she will be entered once for this drawing. $500 would offer 5 entries).
ANY ONE is eligible for these gifts of appreciation, but donations over $50 must be approved by persons 19 years or older.
*** Drawing for the iFamilyWorks website will be held when all of Sydney's hearts are filled in or on January 1, 2009, whichever comes first! Please check out Sydney's site at: www.SydneyAriana.com and consider supporting her future in the performing arts!)
KEEP CHECKING BACK. We are hard at work updating Sydney's site and adding new content frequently. If some links do not currently work, it's a temporary situation. They are place-holders for soon-to-be-added content. Please visit again and frequently!