How many roads must a man walk down...

"You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!"

My buddy cdell just put me through the hoops with some serious interview questions. Dude, I hope the answers that follow will let you know just how seriously I took your questions and the time it took you to formulate them. (Next time go easy on an old geezer, will ya?)

1. You recently had a child, how does this affect your blogging style as well as your political views.

Why, None at all. First off, I blog for an adult crowd and I am not going to change my target audience just because I now have a child. My posts have never been geared towards children and they will not be so in the future.

As far as my political views go I am even more passionate about them. We are in a very precarious situation right now and whatever actions we initiate or fail to initiate will directly affect his future in a very positive or potentially negative manner. That said, my political views are a bit different than those of a lot of my fellow Liberal compatriots.

I am currently quite frustrated with the young liberal thinkers I see in the world around me, both in the real one and that of the blogosphere . I really believe they are missing the real issues and getting caught up in the two party rhetoric of confrontation. Too many young people are caught up in an emotional outrage in which the primary focus of their attention is the war in Iraq and a desire to see the impeachment of George W. Bush. They are an angry mob seeking what they believe to be justice but in their anger they are striking out against the wrong targets.

You see, George W. Bush is not the real disease. He is simply a symptom of a far greater sickness. Most people do not remember how hard George tried not to be a candidate for the presidency. That’s right, he did every thing he could to say no to the men who gathered in secret meetings at the ranch in Crawford and laid out the strategy for obtaining the White House and why they needed him to run. George W. Bush knew the job was out of his league and to his credit he tried to avoid the office. Do you know why the puppet masters chose young George as their candidate? Because they knew senior citizens would confuse his name with that of his father and with the votes they knew they could pull from the cognizant-conservative-base the giants of industry could finally put one of their own in the White House. It is the group of men controlling George who are the darker evil that need to be dealt with, not the simpleton they manipulate.

Just because Richard Nixon (a truly evil man and not simply stupid like young George) and the Vietnam War were the primary focus of the sixties and early seventies political movement does not mean that the current president and the war in Iraq should be the primary focus of a political movement now. The sixties and early seventies were a different time. Our problems then are not the same problems that need to be addressed now. War is not the only issue that ever needs addressing or is capable of becoming a bandwagon issue. We are missing the true rallying point right now.

The president and this war are symptomatic of a greater ill that needs to be focused upon and dealt with as soon as possible. Sometimes politics is not about which party is in control or whether policies are Liberal or Conservative in temperament. Sometimes politics is about using the power of the people to address a social ill or a broken societal mechanism that threatens the health of the entire country. Right now in the course of our nation the real issue of concern is not Conservative versus Liberal and it is not Republican versus Democrat. The greatest single danger to our democracy today is the completely out of control amount of influence the corporate business organization is wielding over the political institutions including the congressional body and the office of the president. Follow the money trail. Is it going to the White House? I’ll tell you where it is going, it is going into the pockets of the industrialists producing the goods of war who could care less whether it ever ends or not because the money they are making is just so good.

2. You have won many awards for your blog; what is the key to creating a successful blog?

Don’t set out to create a successful blog. Success in anything is a byproduct and not a goal. Be honest, sincere and true to who you really are. Don’t worry about being perfect and focus instead on being genuine. Don’t be afraid to anger someone. We live in a world of millions of people with as many opinions about twice as many topics. Someone is always going to be at odds with something you say and angry because your world view is not the same as theirs. Be human, in the long run it is what people seem to respond to the most, whether your opinions agree with theirs or not.

3. Looking at your generation and your son's; Where do you think that problems started and what advice would you give to them when it is their go at the whole running the planet thing?

Again, it does not matter how or where the problems originated. This current generation is far too concerned with finger pointing; it’s the Conservatives, it’s the Liberals, its men, its women and god only knows how many other demographics are pointing fingers at one another attempting to assign blame rather than accepting personal responsibility for finding a solution that benefits everyone. Placing blame solves nothing. Rolling up our sleeves and working together for the common good of us all does.

I would tell the future generation exactly what I said in a comment box several days ago at Wet Coast Women in response to a pretty good article posted there. In fact, I’ll simply repeat it here word for word.

I believe in the power of one human voice. It becomes even more powerful when one more voice joins in, and then another and another.

We would be achieving a lot more together if we stop expecting every voice to be perfectly in sync with our own.

So she smokes…

So he is not vegan…

So they are Mormon…

So he and his wife are (Fill in the blank)

The sixties and seventies movement succeeded because we came together in spite of individual differences or belief systems.

How often have you failed to network simply because someone did not believe exactly as you do?

Each time that happens an opportunity is missed…

The movement fails to gain strength and our voice is diminished.

They win.

And they laugh at our impotence and they revel in the power of political correctness to keep the masses from coming together and unifying into a choir of discontent.

If we can’t defeat our own personal intolerance of individual differences we will never come together as a WE, and all of us will continue living in a sick society ruled by sick and pathetic leaders.

If you can’t look past the differences in each other, try closing your eyes when you speak amongst yourselves…

Then you will begin to hear the common suffering in us all, and in that shared revelation truth will dawn upon our hearts and souls and it will set us free.

Only then will we become the army of light we must become in order to win the war which faces us today.

4. Famous endorsement of your blog who and why.

Hands down, Melissa Etheridge. She is right on target with her message and in her words I hear my own heart speaking out at it’s best. She is a voice crying out in the wilderness and I wish more people were listening to her message. When so many men are failing to stand up for truth she is a prophet who stands in the light of day and does not falter in pouring out a holy and righteous call to action by all of us for all of us.

After watching the debacle that was Live Earth I was so anxious to see what the reviews would say about her performance. Dead silence... All I’ve seen in any review of the show has been about Kanye West and the Police or Sharkira. If you want to be really politically active, stop buying music from the corporate ass clowns who only promote garbage that keeps you wiggling on the dance floor when you should be out in the streets demanding social change. The corporate music moguls don’t want you buying music that makes you think, question and rebel. They want you buying music that dulls your intellect and titillates your base pleasure zones. Stop listening to vacuous ass clowns and engage your minds in art, music and literature that enlighten the mind instead of simply tickling it.

5. If you could trade blogs with someone for a week who would it be and why.

Again, this is an easy one for me to answer; it would be Danielle over at Modern Musings. Not too long ago I acted like an ass clown myself and stepped in a big pile of hot steaming poop. Danielle contacted me to find out what was going on before she formed an opinion or jumped on the crap wagon to berate or criticize me in any way shape or form. She asked me if I’d learned from my mistake, and when I told her I certainly had, she forgave me and never brought the incident up again. She has been a friend since the very first time I ever met her in the blogosphere and she has never wavered in her friendship for any reason at all. She accepts me for who I am no matter what I do or say. I would trust her with my blog and I would do my very best to maintain her vision and her voice at her place. Danielle is another voice in the wilderness crying out for social change. She lives what I said about voices coming together... I really dig that about her.

Just a spoon full of sugar...

What a great party ice breaker.

This was such a great way to get a fine evening started. We were all given cardboard squares, provide with a variety of artistic mediums and instructed to draw our faces. Once the squares were completed holes were poked into the top and bottoms of each square and then hung together by using paper clips. It was art created by the people, for the people and it was very cool.

Okay, just a few tidbits to mull over on a Monday morning. I’m still exhausted from the emotional roller coaster that was Live Earth. Who amongst you was not moved by the finale involving The Police, who due to infighting among the band members would not come together, even to raise uplifted hands at the end of their set. Was there anyone not completely blown away at the brilliance of harmonies offered up by Kanye West during the band’s performance of Message in a Bottle? Who will ever forget his melodic and mindless stream of, “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, mes-sage in a bot-tle. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.” As he stood ginning manically at Sting as if he’d just made poopie in his Pampers. I was moved to tears... If the band members couldn’t even come together for the cause what do think the audience’s chances are?

If you think you’re upset now by the commutation of Scooter Libby’s jail sentence let me give you something to mull over. Do you remember the name Mark Foley? The cheeky little monkey who liked to eat ice cream with underage male congressional pages? Funny how he’s disappeared since entering rehab, don’t you agree? Do you think King George W. believes that Mr. Foley has served his country for a long time and that jail time would be excessive punishment for him too?

I have the feeling that as the final hours of the Bush Regime wind down the American public is going to be amazed by not only the number of pardons issued but also by the individuals receiving them. Scooter Libbey is just the tip of the slimy iceberg.

So, two republicans walk into a bar. The bartender gives them the once over and then says, “Sorry, we don’t serve your kind here.”

One of the republicans looks forlornly at the bartender and says, “Pardon me?”

I was downloading some music off of the Internet last night and doing my part to save the planet when I came across this country western song, “I beg your pardon, now will you deliver it in the rose garden.?”

One last one, I swear... This is for my new P.T. Cruiser club friends.

What is the difference between George W. Bush and my P.T. Cruiser?

ANS: My P.T. Cruiser does not smell like incompetent ass!

Cool kids at a very groovy vegan gathering.

Last but not least, thank you Amanda for inviting me to your and your housemates dinner party last night. Jen, the vegan dishes were truly delicious! The idea of having all the guests do the drawings was very cool. Indigo and Cindy, thanks for the great conversation. Lisa, I hope you survived...

Our friend, Amanda. She and her friends are very cool.

Okay, one more...

What is the difference between my penis and George W. Bush?

ANS: Nothing at all, they’re both really big dicks! He-He...