Last Friday, a NY Times article titled “Donors Weigh Jilting Christie for Jeb Bush” (5/2/14) reported that more moderate Republicans might be looking toward another Bush in lieu of some radical Tea Party candidate.  Admittedly, the GOP has a thorny problem.  The Tea Party and its sympathizers even go after GOP rank and file—anything to the left of fascist is anathema to these fruitcakes.  But, after our NJ guv Christie’s fledgling campaign couldn’t even leave the nest due to Bridgegate, who else does the GOP have that might appeal to America’s vast political middle?  Certainly not Ted Cruz.  Mario Rubio might be a good veep candidate, although any Hispanic would be stupid to vote for him, and that GOP budget genius Ryan has shown his black heart all too often.

Of course, “more moderate” is relative: Dubya’s brother is still a Bush, and a member of an ancient dynasty in American political terms.  He’s still far to the right, a card-carrying conservative whose progressive ideas are half-baked, half-hearted, and designed only to court Hispanics, Blacks, and women.  He, in fact, still would have to court Tea Partiers, right-wingers, born-agains, and long-time bigots in order to be nominated.  As Mitt Romney so ineptly demonstrated, to win the GOP nomination you have to move so far to the right that you fall off the eastern edge of the political world.

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The case of the botched execution in Oklahoma should never have happened.  Couldn’t find the vein?  C’mon!  Some people are wringing their hands, saying, “They made that poor man suffer.”  Well, that’s the idea, isn’t it?  Isn’t the application of any death penalty just the Old Testament form of justice, eye for an eye, etc, etc?  What kind of insanity is it to talk about humane ways to put someone to death?  What right does our government, or any government, for that matter, have to murder anyone?  What does the victim’s or victims’ families gain?  Some kind of Old Testament revenge?

That’s the first point of this post: two murders, one where the killer offs his victim, and the other where the government offs the murderer, don’t add up to justice.  Two wrongs don’t make a right.  Even if the murderer wants to die, no government should be in the business of killing its citizens.  It’s simply barbaric and grotesque.  Absolutely nothing is gained.  That famous closure victims’ families receive is a smokescreen for institutionalized murder.  No matter how it’s done, that’s what it is.

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Les deseo a todos un feliz Cinco de Mayo, especialmente a todos los lectores mexicanos.  Nachos con chile con queso, algunas  cervezas Coronas, o margaritas virtuales para todos!  Tengan una fiesta toda esta noche….

Translation for gringos: I desire for all a happy Cinco de Mayo, especially for all my Mexican readers!  Virtual nachos with chili with cheese, Corona beers, or margaritas  for everyone!  Have a party the whole night….

The tape of LA Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling allegedly ranting to his girlfriend about not wanting her to embarrass him by socializing with Blacks…the comments uttered by Fox News and Tea Party “hero” Cliven Bundy questioning why Blacks ever wanted to end slavery…these are ignorant old men who are bigots and racists, but the news about them reminded me of a comment Michael Moore made in a discussion last year at the Montclair Film Festival (that’s Montclair, NJ, where I live).  To paraphrase, Moore (no relation, as far as I know) said that we just have to wait for the bigots to die.  NBA owner, Sterling, as rich as he must be, can’t dissuade the Grim Reaper from his appointed rounds—he’s old, and we’ll soon have one less bigot.  (I’ll admit that at the time I write this, proof still has to be supplied that the recorded voice is his, but he has a track record.)  Bundy’s made his money by stealing from U.S. taxpayers, which somehow is more folksy-heroic than stealing from basketball fans and players, but he too is old and will die, erasing another bigot.

Unfortunately, Michael is wrong.  Bigots and fanatics aren’t born; they’re made.  They’re products of their culture.  Technically, these are subcultures, I suppose, but “sub” implies that we have just one or few cultures in the U.S.  We don’t.  We have many.  Every immigrant—and we’re all descended from immigrants, except for Native Americans—imports some of the culture from his Fatherland, and that percolates through the decades.  The average person usually passes through many subcultures during his or her life, but not always.  While one might be a bigot or fanatic as a reflection of their parents’ culture (they’re not mutually exclusive, of course), that can be overcome.  As the nation becomes more diverse and subcultures more plentiful, a person often adapts, realizing that the prejudices and fears inculcated in him by his parents are invalid.  Or not.  Prejudice, even hate, can be so ingrained that the personality collapses without it.

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