Swastikas!

[lumpy]

I posted this on my band's MySpace page recently and thought that some of you all may appreciate it....

I suspected it all along; swastikas are the great equalizer.

Lemme explain.

I've always subscribed to the idea that the best way to level the playing field when attacking hate is to simply make fun of it. Or as I like to call it the "Blazing Saddles" offense.

Director Mel Brooks took a serious problem, racism, and showed his audience just how stupid the practitioners of racism are. By the end of the movie nobody in the audience wanted to be the white guy that said "we'll take the niggers, Jews, and chinks; but we don't want the Irish!"; we wanted to BE the niggers, Jews, chinks, and Irish! I'll argue that Blazing Saddles did more for race relations in this country than 30 years of corporate mandated diversity training or another in an endless series of Al Sharpton induced boycotts on another washed up creepizoid dj could even sniff.

Which brings me to that universal symbol of hatred, racism, and general all around mischief: the swastika.

A couple of weeks ago at a big benefit The Futz helped throw for the American Red Cross, I was asked to check all the band flakes' id's and make sure they were 21+ in order to consume free light keg beer. If they were of age I was to inject their left hand and blood stream with an "X" in toxic Sharpie ink.

Most ended up with a swastika instead, including myself.

I had a blast observing the reactions which ranged from a shocked "what the fuck!" to "ha, ha, is that a swastika?".

I firmly believe that the people with something to hide and feeling guilty about it were in the "what the fuck" group.

At least we are now at the point in this country that we are feeling guilty.

And then there is always the fun factor. Nothing causes quite the same stir, even over half a century later, as a swastika plastered, Nazi uniform clad drunk goosestepping around the neighborhood seig heiling politely. Keith Moon did it every chance he got.

I read a story involving The Ramones, their friend artist Arturo Vega, and The Dead Boys. Upon their arrival to New York from Cleveland, The Dead Boys presented The Ramones with German Mother's crosses. Remember that The Ramones had written several punk classics in which they claimed to be Nazis like "Today Your Love, Tommorrow the World" and "Belsin Was a Gas". This is all the more absurd since Joey Ramone could've been the poster child for all the chosen people since Abraham; he was that Jewish!

The Ramones were like "great, Nazi necklaces". So they took their pupils to Vega's loft, which is where they were slumming at the time. The entire loft was platered with day-glow swastikas which combined two man-made madnesses: fluorescent colors and hate.

Arturo Vega has been quoted as saying that in order to conquer evil, you have to make love to it.

I got a feeling Vega was a Blazing Saddles fan too!

Lump

[brandondrury]

In order to really solve a problem, you need to be able to address it with a clear head. It's REALLY easy for a person to become pissed, emotional, and start looking for revenge when you start dealing with the heavy stuff. Of course, an emotional response to the Nazi situation is what brought about the atrocities (mostly on the Eastern side) when the 3rd Reich began to collapse.

I personally think that developing a sense of humor is the only way to get through some of this stuff. I've encountered stories in my reading that everyday life in my world did not prepare me for. I can puss out and read X safe fiction book or I can perserve and deal with it in my own way in the hopes of developing understanding and maybe even preventing it in the future. It's ironic how I balance out my intense interest in the whole Jewish persecution / Holocaust with tons of jew-in-furnace humor.

In some ways this is kind of like me with girls in high school. I was a shy kid at the time and put chicks on a pedestal (MAN has that changed!!!). By doing so I wasn't able to talk to them. I wasn't able to interact. There was nothing remotely casual about the situation. I think the people that do this sort of thing with the Nazi experience are simply unwilling to deal with the problem. Maybe it's out of weakness. Maybe it's out of the fact that they are hiding something. Maybe it's because they are too angry.

Being in Southeast Missouri, I have not once seen a Jew with one of those little hats on. I've never saw a person who was clearly Jewish. (I saw several when I was in New York City). So being around here, if a person is really uptight about this whole Jewish/Nazi thing they simply don't understand it or have something else going on. It's not like you have to hold back out of some kind of common courtesy.

So I think it is important to throw out a Swastika every once in a while. We can celebrate the fact that it's not the world thread it once was. We can openly talk about the horrible shit that went down.

Ultra conservative homes where sex simply isn't talked about never stopped any daughters from getting pregnant.

I'll argue that Blazing Saddles did more for race relations in this country than 30 years of corporate mandated diversity training or another in an endless series of Al Sharpton induced boycotts on another washed up creepizoid dj could even sniff.

Man, you may really be on to something!

[jdaug]

thats why i like adult cartoons like family guy, south park, and a bunch of other ones on adult swim. they make fun of all kinds of shit in a very politically incorrect way. and they get away with it cuz its funny as hell and you dont feel uncomfortable when you hear it because you know its ridiculing the stereotype, not condoning it.

a lot different than the vicious hateful shit that comes out of Obama's pastor's mouth. I cringe when i hear that shit, because you can tell the guy really means what he is saying. it isnt funny. it isnt edgy. its scary. like listening to hitler or bin laden.

[brandondrury]

I never really made the comparison between South Park and X hate group. I guess, in some ways they are the same. It's ironic that one is a WAY over the top comedy cartoon while the other.... well, you get the idea.

Brandon

[lumpy]

It is WAAAAAY past time for the race merchants to go. I don't care how or by what method.

All week long all I heard was Obama's minister said this about blah, blah, fucking blah blah.

Then I go to Yahoo and read this today....

Women's tour CEO Larry Scott reacts to Richard Williams' remarks on racism - Tennis - Yahoo! Sports

Now, I could give a tin shit about tennis. But I can appreciate the talent that professional tennis players like the Williams sisters have. They work hard at their profession and are rewarded accordingly.

But, riddle me this. If this country is so fucking racist, explain the Williams sisters multi million dollar contracts with Nike and Reebok, not to mention their clothing lines and West Palm Beach mansions?

HOW CAN THESE ASSHOLES SLEEP AT NIGHT?

And here's a news flash for Papa Williams: it's not that the press is being prejudiced against your daughters, it's the fact that they look like linebackers.

FUCK ME I"M SICK OF THIS SHIT!

Lump

[brandondrury]

But, riddle me this. If this country is so fucking racist, explain the Williams sisters multi million dollar contracts with Nike and Reebok, not to mention their clothing lines and West Palm Beach mansions?

HOW CAN THESE ASSHOLES SLEEP AT NIGHT?

I said it a long time ago. Micheal Jordan officially ended racism between blacks and whites. For my generation growing up in the 80s and 90s, I have absolutely ZERO doubt that he would be the most popular "hero" by kids at the time. My town is considered to be a racist town, but count the number Michael Jordan shoes, jerseys, and tshirts back then. It was an epidemic of idolization for a black dude. Racism has been over for a long time.

Those who further push the issue of racism are sickenly confused or simply power obsessed. The second blacks and whites became equal in regard to the laws, the only fight the minorities had left was to keep those laws in place or to change the minds of the people who didn't agree with equal rights. That's it! really don't see a strong group that is really interested in taking away voting and land ownership of blacks. What I do see is a complete disdain for freedom. While I 100% believe that all American citizens should be equal under the law, I can't see how I have a right to force someone else to adhere to my non-racist views. That gets into an authoritian police state situation.

That's the big link, in my opinion. Sick, power hungry assholes like to stir up emotionally sensitive issues in order to further their own Stalin-like pursuit of power. It's the foundation that communism was built on. Let's just say we could elect the black Stalin today that completely overthrough the Constitution (not that it hasn't already been done). What would he possibly do different? I have a feeling that it wouldn't help one everyday black citizen, but I'd be taking it in the ass.

I wish those black astronauts would stand up and fight against the up and coming black Stalins. Oh well. If they weren't playing the race card, they'd have to exploit some other emotional issue from the past.

Brandon

[jdaug]

Brandond and lump-you guys are both right on. except you need to distinguish between institutional racism and racism on an individual level.

institutional racism is non-existent, unless you consider affirmative action. since affirmative action doesnt negatively affect anyone except white males, we can just ignore this and say that institutional racism is long gone. the laws apply to everyone in the same way. employers cannot discriminate, business cannot refuse service based on race, home and land ownership is not determined by race, any race can run for political office (and win), voting, use of public facilities, etc, etc. Bottom line, if any company or government agency discriminates based on race, they are breaking the law and can be sued. even if there is the perception that a company or gov agency has discriminated, they can be sued. many times they lose the lawsuit even though no law has been broken. so companies and agencies are extremely careful not to even create the perception of racism or discrimination.

individual racism is still alive and well among some people of all races, and always will be. im sure we all know people who are racists. usually they are idiots who are uninformed. but its not illegal for a person to be a racist, as long as they dont break any laws in the process. this is freedom of speech and freedom of thought. what the race hustlers like Jesse Jackson and his type are trying to do is make being a racist illegal (but only if you are a white racist). this is an assault on freedom of speech. this is also the preferred method for slowly infringing on our freedoms in order to take away even more of our freedoms. its the slippery slope concept. you will notice that all the people pushing political correctness and telling us what is or is not appropriate to say or feel, are all on the left side of the political spectrum. i.e. quasi socialists. they learned from the Chinese and the Soviets that the best way to drive a society towards socialism is to start creating laws governing what private citizens can say or feel. For people like Hillary Clinton its also about power and control. For people like Jackson and Sharpton, its probably more about money than anything else. If these fools were to come out and admit that institutional racism is over and done, and that whatever problems blacks have are not due to government and whitey, they wouldnt have any more money coming into their pockets, and they would have to go out and get real jobs.

[brandondrury]

what the race hustlers like Jesse Jackson and his type are trying to do is make being a racist illegal (but only if you are a white racist).

Obviously, this is a racist idea! I've already touched on that. There is only way to make an opinion illegal. You must control and it ends up being a lot more like V for Vendetta or something Orwell came up with than whatever utopia Jesse Jackson wants to make you think he wants.

Jackson and Sharpton, its probably more about money than anything else. If these fools were to come out and admit that institutional racism is over and done, and that whatever problems blacks have are not due to government and whitey, they wouldnt have any more money coming into their pockets, and they would have to go out and get real jobs.

I wonder what percentage of their money comes from blacks.

Brandon

[jdaug]

I wonder what percentage of their money comes from blacks.

good question. probably not nearly as much as that which comes from corporations. Jackson's extortion vehicle is called the "Rainbow Push Coalition", which is supposed to be a non-profit, but which is probably just a money laundering organization for Jackson's personal gain. he probably gets donations from private citizens, but he makes most of his money by shaking down companies for money. its basically hush money or extortion. he will find some company where there was a perception of discrimination, then tell the company that unless they donate money to his coalition, he is going to get his face on TV and tell people to boycott the company's products. its more cost effective and less damaging PR-wise for the company just to cough up some cash to make Jackson go away. He also jumps on the bandwagon on high profile cases of supposed racism on the part of white individuals. The Duke lacrosse scandal was a big one. He injects himself into these to raise his profile and increase donations to . He did not apologize to the lacrosse players when it turned out the whore invented the whole story to try to extort some money from rich white kids. If i were those kids I would sue Jackson for slander and put him out of business.

Sharpton does the exact same thing. His organization is called the National Action Network.

If there is a perception of racism on the part of a black person, you will notice that both of these fools are silent, even making excuses for the black person.

Its amazing to me that some people cant see what these guys are all about.

[brandondrury]

Its amazing to me that some people cant see what these guys are all about.

Well, you have to be an asshole to be a white person and say "racism is not a problem anymore". Unfortunately for the people that are too scared to be assholes (generally liberals) they are perpetuating racism when they try to pretend like they give a damn about another individual (regardless of skin color).

If more people were secure enough in themselves to look at a problem that in the past was sickening with any form of objectivity in the present we wouldn't have our Jesse Jackson cowards pushing hate.

It's like those people who go WAY out of their way to open a door for a dude in a wheelchair in a situation where Mr. Wheelchair has done this 10,000 times and really didn't get a bit of benefit. Mr. Hero is just trying to make himself look and/or feel better about himself. It has nothing to do with Mr. Wheelchair. I hate this! It's just another dick who doesn't mind making Mr. Wheelchair feel stupid by making an enormous production out of his own "heroism". Do people in wheelchairs really want us with legs to stare at them like? I'd have a middle finger embroided on the back of my wheelchair if I had one.

In the end, some of us can accept the world isn't perfect, others can not. The only problem is the ones that can't are making it even worse.

Brandon