a tale of two crazies

two crazy things happened yesterday. well, more than two crazy things, but these are two that i am at least partially aware of. one, hit close to home, or rather, work. the other was on tv. one group of crazies were an ostracized number of fascist zealots, standing directly across from the high school that i work at. members of the phelps family, founders of the godhatesfags website, decided to protest outside of my workplace because our school has a gay straight alliance, and because the town i work in has a liberal reputation, whatever that means. and so they came. they were guarded by police officers stealing money from the town, making at least 30 bucks an hour to stand by and defend fascists. of course, as bad as these fascists are, they have not killed as many people as the various police agencies of this great nation. and speaking of white supremacists, it was not some kansas crazies who shouted "white power" after the massacre at attica in 1971. it was not those who tell us that aids is god's gift to gays who murdered fred hampton in his bed, bashed heads in the american south, or brutalized rodney king. something to think about.

in any case, there they were. they had children with them. one looked about 5 years old. a woman with them would occasionally burst into song. i yelled "you have good pipes. i would like to bust them!" then, i started making requests. hey, if they are gonna sing, why can't i ask for a few favorites? i asked for over the rainbow, but sadly, the tune was not in the real books they had brought with them, fully aware that such a request may well be made. a male member wanted to do it in c, but the back up singers balked. i then asked for skylark. i was met with silence. meanwhile, hundreds of students stood gazing at them, as if they were animals at the zoo. if only they were. i would have preferred a mass beat down, but cops and teachers kept that out of the realm of possibility. earlier in the day, i had casually stated in the teacher's lounge that i would personally like to see them get the crap kicked out of them. i was met with silence. "then, what is to stop them from beating up some gay guy?" well, what is to stop them from doing that anyway? why is it only the assholes that get to kick ass? nonviolence as an excuse for non action doesn't impress me.

eventually, they were led away. now, as bad as they were, they operated exclusively in the realm of words and ideas, twisted though they are. they flew no b-52's over our school, dropped no napalm on us, raided no one's houses. they were acknowledged as the fools they are, for they make the mistake of being honest. they put their bigotry out there, and therefore, their lunacy is apparent. and we rightly reject them.

later in the day, a well spoken man appeared on the television. the fascists hate this man, though he has killed many more muslims than they have. he is the physical embodiment of multiculturalism. he has succeeeded. millions respect him. no one mocks him. he doesn't speak from a pen, and is not made to feel that he is a pitiful fool. and yet, this same men, surrounded by young men who will likely kill many more people than the wackos i had protested earlier in the day, told us that he is sending 30,000 more soldiers to afghanistan. his words were not hateful, at least not personally so. he didn't once say that "god hates fags," though the bombs that will be dropped as a direct result of his decision will likely kill a number of gay people. he spoke in the liberal, sophisticated, wordly manner that excuses all manner of brutal acts. he wore a suit, was clean shaven, he looked calm. it is the facade of decency that makes it work. the appropriate language soothes us, as we proceed to destroy.

the first group of crazies command no army. they have no bombs, no marines. they have invaded no countries, stolen no resources. and yet, it is they that we fear. meanwhile, under the superficial cover of freedom and democracy, well dressed men mouthing pious platitudes, are destroying the earth and its people. one of those well dressed men spoke to us last night. he is supposedly a liberal.

and it is this liberal, and others of his ilk, operating within the american power structure, that will continue to kill with deeds far more abhorrent than even the most hateful signs held by the outcasts among us.

and we will watch the respectable ones, and vote for them. we will celebrate their victories, and fight their wars.

as we protest the crazies for their words, we will do our terrible deeds.

at least we will have nice suits and fine vocabularies.