Goodbye to Family Values?

When I was a young whippersnapper (is that how it`s spelled?) many, many years ago, in the `80s, I remember hearing the term family values for the first time. It was, of course the height of the Reagan administration, and every time you turned on the radio, or watched the nightly news, there was some Senator, Congressman, or Reagan himself throwing around the catchphrase of the Republican party. It seemed that Republicans had found the formula for success: distort the image of the opposing party not by focusing on the issues, but by building fear of a destruction of the false image of some halcyon day when, as the Ramones put it: we`re a hapy family. All of the world`s problems, and especially those of the disaffected in the US, could be summed up by just saying that those poor people lacked family values.

Whatever that meant. The didn`t have the moral fiber, the structural basis to succeed like the Republicans knew best.

That hammering of a lie lasted for decades, somehow. No matter how much reality flew in the face of all those who tried to pretend that they were above the fray of it all, Congress member who would later be indicted would still cite those beloved words, presidents who would later be found to have sold arms to supposed enemies would continue to froth on about a thousand points of light, and their sons, who were somehow elected, would go on about personal conversations with God. Then they would oversee torture, extraordinary rendition, the allowed destruction of New Orleans, the death penalty for the mentally ill and the further destruction of the Earth...and an invasion of a sovereign nation.

All of this was excused, and not linked to a lack of those same family values.

But now, what with an ever-cascading litany of scandals in the Republican party, from foot-fondling in public bathrooms to showcasing 18-year old pregnant daughters, to mistresses from Nevada to Argentina, does the Grand Ole Party have a leg to stand on, or better a soapbox to yell from? Where are the family values? Or do some people get a pass...like the entire Congress? How can the last two decades have come to this? Where is the Christian Coalition when we need them? I don`t hear much from them these days.

I wonder why? And I wonder when, if ever, I will hear those special words, family values, uttered again. This side of never would be too soon.

Private Joke

I found out yesterday, that I'm not eligible for a rent control apartment due to the fact that i make too little money a year. Apparently, living proudly with a kid, making about 20,000$ a year, paying monthly rent of 1,200$ a month, without owning money to anyone, without the use of any social help and with a self dignity that feed this almost impossible task of being a self sufficient parent is not good enough for a rent control apartment, that can save me around 400$-500$ a month and make my life a bit more bearable.
Add to that, the absurdity on my face, hearing that from the cold face administrator (that obviously was annoyed by me making use of her precious time) was received as aggressive and rude, more than that, i have found very few people who share my view of this absurdity.....
Am i sane or maybe i am the insane in this loving world?!

And Baby Makes 3!

Isn't this a pretty picture of family values? Oh the hypocrisy... Congratulations to Grandpa!

This comment below in the NY Times political blog says it all:

"What this story doesn’t say is that Mary’s partner, Heather Poe, has ZERO rights to the child. Not as co-parent and not even adoptive rights because of the homophobic state they both CHOOSE to live. Further, the Cheney family announced that Poe had no rights to the child. I mean, at least there is Boston, just up the Northeast corridor, where the Mary-Heather couple could make its way to in a kind of underground railroad mode. It is shameful that gays and lesbians do not have equal rights in every state of the Union, and that Mary’s own father (and mother) have been chief discriminators and supporters of an administration which would turns gay people into less than second class citizens."
— Posted by HN