Truth Isn’t Truth, or Is It?

Truth Isn’t Truth, or Is It???

In all my years of following religious conservatism, never would I ever have imagined that truth would be accepted as not truth, also known as false.

On Sunday, on Meet the Press, Rudy Giuliani, while defending Donald J. Trump, blurted out “Truth isn’t truth” as a means of explaining how two seemingly credible sources could so convincingly argue two contradictory accounts of the same conversation.

Without delving too deeply into exactly which truth isn’t true, I’m tempted to argue that Rudy is right. The presupposition that truth isn’t truth has been the basis of American political discourse since its founding.

The truth that the New World was dispossessed prior to European settlement is a truth that isn’t true. The truth that indentured servitude was a sovereign right bestowed upon white landowning males is a truth that isn’t true. The truth that God ordained man to be head over woman whose exclusive duty was to serve him and bear his offspring was a truth that isn’t true. That men who lie with men as one would lie with a woman and that women who lie with women as one would lie with a man would each be doomed to eternal damnation is a truth that isn’t true.

Indeed, the landfill of American virtuosity it littered with truths that aren’t truth. From white picket fences to apple pie to baseball and rock-n-roll, are all truths that are only true for a select few.

Last week, a naked truth that we all wish was not true was revealed. Scores of Catholic priests conspired to rape and abuse countless little boys and little girls over the course of many generations, exposed the truth that sexual anorexia in the name of religion is detrimental to psychological and spiritual health, not to mention demonic and may very destroy all of Christendom.

The lie that truth isn’t truth is the spiritual truth peddled by religious conservatism since it’s inception with imperial rule. Such truths proclaim that first peoples aren’t first. That black people aren’t people. That God’s chosen people aren’t chosen. And that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life.

Thus Giuliani’s revelation that truth isn’t truth is not such a radical departure from the canon of heresy that is the bedrock of religious conservatism. It is quietly preached in the halls of congress as lies are abided so that religious falsehood can be exacted in the courts.

The truth that life is sacred is betrayed by the lie that sexual violence is inconsequential. The truth that God hates fags is betrayed by the lie that the richest one percent are entitled to more wealth than the ninety-nine. The truth that global warming is not man-made is betrayed by the lie that Mexicans are murders and rapists. The truth that gun ownership is a god-given right is betrayed by the lie that parents seeking asylum for their children is not. The truth that Barack Obama was not born in America is betrayed by the truth that he was.

The lie that truth isn’t true is perhaps the truest untruth Giuliani has ever uttered for it reveals more about Make America Great Again religious conservatism than we can ever imagine.

The lie the truth isn’t truth should shock and surprise all who seek truth, justice, and the American Dream. But since so much of the American Dream is just a Dream we have become accustomed to trusting in truths that are untrue. As such, Giuliani’s lie that truth isn’t truth will soon be accepted as mere rhetorical relativism used to justify supporting an administration that is remaining true to its promises to make America hate again in the name of God!

Arrested for Justice!

Arrested for Justice!

They explained what to do and what not to do. Everything seemed so “organized.” It all made sense. I thought I understood how it was supposed to go. But my heart still pounded and my throat had a lump. They warned us about prior convictions. My mind kept wondering if I had any convictions…or even had been arrested. I couldn’t remember whether or not I had. My deep-seated distrust in the criminal justice system as a black, gay, HIV-positive man was beginning to show. All the reassurances in the world could not soothe the butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

Prior to today my record was squeaky clean, besides the traffic tickets that keep being hailed as the example of “no big deal.” But reminded me of all the times I thought I might die from a traffic stop. And all the times I thought I might be criminalized because of my sexuality. And all the times my HIV status has been used to dehumanized my black body. Yet, I chose to be arrested.

I chose to be arrested alongside the Missouri state delegate. He is a white, straight, food service worker earning $9 per hour. He is forced to chose between child support payments and healthcare. Because 50% of his pay goes to child support. He is forced to live without healthcare. Our lives could not have been further apart, but we chose to be arrested together today.

It wasn’t that bad. We chanted. We sang. We were warned. We surrendered. What I had feared all my life and sworn to avoid, was not that bad. And maybe that’s the problem. Just maybe the fear of being arrested keeps us from doing the work of justice. Perhaps the system is set up to keep the people just complacent enough to do nothing.

As I sat there on the grassy Capital lawn, behind police tape and steel barricades with like-minded strangers for justice, I thought about those who have not organized, those who did not know what to do. As I looked down at my plastic handcuffs, relieved that they were not real, even though they were….it was difficult not to act out. The meekness of the police was provocative. Their soft spokenness, their generosity of spirit up juxtaposed to the violence of state sanctioned poverty made it difficult to comply. The violence suffered by the least of these, created a deep-seated rage, prompting me to cry out.

What do we want? Justice!

When do we want it? Now!

If we don’t get it? Shut it down!

If we don’t get it? Shut it down!

If we – don’t – get – it?

Shut it down!

Trump-ed By Traitors

It’s June. June! It’s only June. Everyday since November 8 the news has been nonstop. From #pussygate to characters streaming in and out of Gotham Tower to #fakenews about crowds to failed attempts to ban Muslims to Spicers press briefing antics to crazy nonstop tweets to #fakenews about #Obamagate to failed Obamacare appeals to #Russiagate and on and on and on. It just hasn’t quit. It’s June. June! It’s only June.

It hasn’t even been six months, but already there is plenty of proof that we have been Trump-ed by traitors. A traitor is a person who betrays a friend, country, or principle. Traitors have infiltrated our government under the guise of piety and American Pie in order to rob us of our dignity for the sake of personal gain.

But the traitor is not Trump. Trump is who we have always known him to be, a self-interested, narcissistic, misogynistic, racist who will do whatever it takes to advance his own agenda. The real traitors are all 54 senators and 247 house leaders who are betraying American values by defending Trump’s self-interested, narcissistic, misogynistic, racist antics. The traitors are the white evangelical church leaders who are betraying American values by worshipping a God who is ambivalent to exhorbitant wealth, women’s rights, immigrants, refugees, extreme poverty, and racism. The traitors are the rust belt middle class pretending to be pitiful and poor to mask their fear of blacks, immigrants, refugees, and industrial progress.

These deep and subtle betrayals are what makes all this Trumpian chaos so horrific and unimaginable. Prior to November 8, I assumed I had friends who held differing views and values. Prior to November 8, I assumed I lived in a country with a constitution that states “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Prior to November 8, I assumed that my interests were being served by a democratic government that would protect me from the wiles of authoritarianism, nationalism, unrestricted capitalism.

But since the election of Donald J. Trump, I can no longer be led by such ill-advised assumptions.  Since November 8 it has become clear that those who have voted for this self-interested, narcissistic, misogynistic, racist president are self-interested, narcissistic, misogynistic, racists themselves. While Donald J. Trump is indeed problematic, the real traitors are these treasonous wolves in sheep clothing who pretend to be pious and patriotic in order to carry out their own self-interested, narcissistic, misogynistic, racist agendas against the poor, the immigrant, the refugee, and the American who still believes in Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness for all people everywhere. Such values no longer Trump all.

Locker Room Talk???

I’ve been in plenty of locker rooms in my life…beginning at age 12. I remember the horror of having to change clothes in front of my male peers in 7th grade. I remember being scared to talk to other boys while only in my skivvies, let alone threatening sexual assault against a girl. As brutal as we were toward one another on the playground, the locker room was quiet time. We were in and out. I remember being on the track team in the 11th grade, less shy about my body but still very careful about how I moved and what I said. We bragged about the speed of our sprint, or the upcoming calculus test, or whose homework to copy, or the hole in someone’s left sock, or the upcoming house party, but certainly not about grabbing females by their genitals. As an adult, the locker room at my neighborhood gym is a bit more complex. The talk ranges from protein drinks, to the latest football score, to speechless extended glances…but never do I hear men boasting about accosting another man’s wife. If anything, they are concealing that they even have wives…or desire them. Most men make it a point not to linger to talk about anything to anyone. So when I heard the GOP nominee credit his sexualized verbal assault against a woman as “locker room talk,” I was somewhat confused. In what locker room do boys say such things? At what school? In what health club gym are men openly and publicly discussing forcing women into having sex with them? Don’t get me wrong, man talk can be brutal. We say awful things when our mothers and sisters are absent. But let’s not label this “locker room talk.” Instead, let’s just call it what it is…APPALLING! Whether in the locker room,  on the golf course, at the construction site, in the board room, from the pulpit, in the chat room, or on the campaign trail, this kind of speech is deplorable. Yes, 100% DEPLORABLE. And it’s time for all men everywhere to SPEAK UP! Unlike Billy Bush, who was complicit in Donald Trump’s heinous banter, all men of ethical, moral, and spiritual esteem must denounce Trump’s alleged  “locker room talk.” All men everywhere must denounce Trump’s “locker room talk” as hate speech! All men everywhere must declare that Trump’s “locker room talk” is verbal assault against all women everywhere! All men everywhere must decry that Trump’s locker room language is reckless in that it uses the innocence of the boys locker room as a cloak for a grown ass man to dismiss his own deep-seated, self-loathing and utter disdain against, not just women, but all people everywhere, thus disqualifying him from public office.

I’m Manspreading, I’m With Her

Manspreading since 1979

Yes, I do it. I’ve been doing it since kindergarten. I don’t mean to do it. But I do. Usually, on the train when no one is next to me. Sometimes, I catch myself and close it up. Most times I only realize it when I need to square up so that someone else can sit down next to me. Why is that? I’m as queer as Christmas. I don’t require much airflow. So just why am I so wide open? I think it’s because I subconsciously (…and consciously) want to be ominous. It’s my defense mechanism. If I spread my manhood, the truth of my insecurity will be less obvious. I think this is why I am onto Trump’s manspread. It’s a defense mechanism, hiding the truth of his insecurity. He’s not a dumb man. He’s just a man. A white man. An insecure man. A man who is subconsciously (…and consciously) ominous. What he lacks in substance, he makes up for in musky posture. For this same reason, he gets a pass that Hillary will never get. Womanspread is not yet a thing. She has been groomed to sit properly. Legs closed. Within Her lane. When Her true thoughts are exposed, she will always be disdained. She has learned to lead by keeping them enclosed. This is why the leaked Powell attack on Hillary is essentially a sexy manspread that exposes his moxie but besmirches Her modesty. Should Her true thoughts and needs be revealed, she would surely be shamed…as she has been.