I Am A Recovering Racist-- Guest Post By Bruce Mulkey

It’s in times such as these that I am compelled to acknowledge my own racism. For though I was raised by white liberal parents who early on supported Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement during the Sixties, I grew up in America, in fact, in the South, and thus I unconsciously took on common beliefs and attitudes prevalent in the dominant cultural paradigm about people whose skin was darker than mine. “White people are smarter.” “Black people are better athletes.” Etcetera. And though I’ve become conscious of those beliefs, I have not rooted them all out and doubt that I ever will. At the very least, however, I can notice when my mind makes snap judgments (young black man driving a late model SUV = drug dealer) and recognize them for the falsehoods they are.

It’s in times such as these that I am compelled to acknowledge how I’ve benefited and continue to benefit from white privilege. From attending high school in my youth in a new building with relatively current textbooks while black kids on the other side of town were all segregated into one old building with hand-me-down books from the white schools to currently walking down the streets of Asheville at any time of day or night without fear of being harassed by the police, I have benefited from white privilege.

It’s in times such as these that I am compelled to acknowledge that I live in a nation that was built on a foundation of white supremacy-- from the genocide of Native Americans whose land we stole, to the enslavement and subjugation of black people for the wealth their labor could bring, to the current slaughter of people of color in the Middle East for their oil.

It’s in times such as these that I’m compelled to acknowledge that all our thoughts and prayers, conversations about race, demonstrations against injustice, voting for worthy candidates, passing laws, etcetera, none of these efforts will bring about the reconciliation we say we seek until we come to grips with our sordid past and our ongoing deadly incursions into the affairs of other nations, until we ask for forgiveness from and offer reparations to the peoples we have harmed.



Bruce Mulkey is an essayist and author. He lives in Asheville. He is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, the Good Men Project, and OpEd News. Learn more at his blog: brucemulkey.com

Talking The 2016 Post-Election Blues

-by Bruce Mulkey

On a warm Texas morning on Wednesday, November 3, 1948, I remember my mom, Sue Mulkey, a life-long Democrat, gleefully asking our next-door neighbor, “Well, how do you like our new president?” Defying the predictions of almost every pundit and pollster, President Harry Truman, who had succeeded to the presidency when FDR died, had won a full term, defeating Republican challenger Thomas Dewey in what some considered one of the greatest political upsets in American history. It was especially astounding when you consider that two Democratic factions split from the party: Henry Wallace, former vice president under FDR, ran as the Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, and Strom Thurman, governor of South Carolina, headed the Dixiecrat ticket. Sixty-eight years later, an electoral shockwave that would dwarf Truman’s surprising victory was unfolding before my eyes.

As I watched the returns start to trickle in on election night with Shonnie and our friend Carolyn, I kept saying, “The votes in the Democratic strongholds obviously haven’t come in yet. It’s just a matter of time before Hillary takes the lead in Florida.” But she didn’t. Not in Florida, nor in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, or Wisconsin. Given the almost all the polls had consistently shown Clinton leading, it was difficult to believe what was happening.

Disconsolate, I went to bed around midnight after it was clear that Donald Trump was on his way to becoming our next president. I woke up around 3:00 a.m. and fumbled around with my Kindle to see if a miracle had taken place, if some of the battleground states had flipped to the Democratic column. They hadn’t.

Let me be clear. I voted for Bernie Sanders in the North Carolina primary when hope was still alive that he could capture the Democratic nomination for president. I supported Sanders because I believed (and still believe) that he understood the necessity of addressing issues such as income inequality, lack of a living wage for many, our two-tiered justice system, institutional racism, the militarization of our police departments, world-wide militarism (800 military bases in more than 70 countries and territories abroad), government surveillance of U.S. citizens, and climate change.

In contrast, it’s evident to me that, over the past several decades, the Democratic establishment has tilted considerably to the right, and their chosen candidate, Hillary Clinton, qualified as she might be, epitomized that position on the political spectrum. Nowhere near the Republicans’ shift to the far right, but to the right of center nonetheless. Furthermore, Clinton’s sense of entitlement (It’s my turn.), the Clinton dynasty (So, now Chelsea is being groomed to run for Congress.), the Clinton’s relentless pursuit of the almighty dollar (current net worth estimated at over $100 million), and the DNC’s manipulations before and during the Democratic primaries to deliver the nomination to Clinton all made it challenging for me to get behind the Democratic candidate.

Nonetheless, I refrained from criticizing Hillary during the general election campaign and voted for her during early voting in North Carolina, though to be honest, mine was more a vote against Trump than a vote for Clinton. But what the hell, I thought, let’s elect a woman. We’re way past due. In addition, of course, I voted for the down-ticket Democrats, including Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s Governor-elect, and our local candidates for the state house and senate, Buncombe County Commission, and Register of Deeds, all of whom won.

Since Trump was declared the winner, my world has seemed surreal. I keep waking in the morning and remembering the election (“Holy shit, we really elected Trump?”) much as, a few decades ago, I’d wake up after an evening of serious drinking: (“Damn, I didn’t really say that, did I?”) I remembered Sinclair Lewis’s book It Can’t Happen Here, a novel written during the Great Depression about the tenuousness of democracy and how fascism could rear its ugly head in America. I fell into a funk from which I still haven’t fully recovered.

I’m amazed at how many folks believe that President-elect Donald Trump is brimming with high self-esteem. He is not. What Donald Trump demonstrates is pseudo-self-esteem. He unconsciously hides his fears, insecurities, and self-doubt behind a façade of hyper-masculinity, aggressiveness, belligerence, and hostility. If one were to strip away his macho mask, you’d find a scared little boy, albeit in the body of a man, who is unable to hear any thoughts that run counter to his, who meets resistance by striking back, who judges others as unworthy or less than him in order to conceal his deep fear that he himself is unworthy, incompetent, or even unlovable. Anyone or any action that might reveal his vulnerability will be met with ridicule, contempt, or even violence.

Of course, at his core, Trump is neither the blustering demagogue nor the frightened child. He is human. He is one of us. And while it may be easy to castigate Trump for his extremes, we can nonetheless acknowledge his humanity, while standing with people of color, women, LGBT people, Muslims, immigrants, the disabled, and other minorities. Nonetheless, in the midst of all of this, I sometimes find myself wondering if it really matters who the president of the United States is. Yes, the president has the bully pulpit, and beginning in 2017 a bona fide bully will occupy that pulpit, but much of what goes on in this nation does so despite who the president is.

A 2014 Princeton study that reviewed more than twenty years of data (that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues) indicates that political leaders of both major political parties listen to the economic elites, business interests, and people who can afford lobbyists (all entities that fund their re-election campaigns) rather than the citizens who elected them. According to the study:

The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.

We live in an oligarchy, a country run by the economic elite. No matter how popular a measure might be with the bottom ninety-percent of income earners in America, no matter which party holds the presidency or a majority in Congress, issues that are popular with the public-- such as federally-funded healthcare insurance for all Americans, regulating the prices of life-saving drugs, job creation, and effectively dealing with global warming, among others-- never see the light of day. Our government apparently doesn’t care what you think. Not unless you are willing to contribute excessive amounts of money to a politician’s campaign, an action that is tantamount to legalized bribery. In such a system, do you really think Congress, regardless of which political party holds a majority, will take action to deal with income inequality? To eliminate institutional racism? To provide our schools with the resources necessary to give our children a first-rate education? To support parents, especially during their children’s early years? To rein in military spending and our overseas misadventures? To effectively deal with climate change? The 2016 election has exposed the impotence of our two major political parties-- one which nominated a reality TV star, a man-child who would be king, the natural consequence of the Republicans’ decades-long practice of using bigotry and intolerance to court their adherents, and by doing so, exposed the dark underbelly of America-- the racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and Islamophobia-- long denied. The other party refused to discern the mood of the electorate and nominated a candidate out of tune with the times primarily because she was next in line. The election also revealed the mainstream media, which covered Trump’s every move no matter how disgusting and wrote off Sanders early on as a kooky old socialist with wild hair, as a tentacle of the ruling elite that values stockholder profits over true journalism.

Perhaps this is the wake-up call many of us needed to awaken from our trance-like state, to disavow the bread and circuses, to abandon our quest for the next new shiny thing, to finally grasp that the ruling elite keeps us fighting among ourselves over table scraps while they make out like bandits. Perhaps it’s time to comprehend that no one on the white horse is coming to save us (no, not even Bernie), that we’re all in this together, that we must take responsibility for our lives and our communities, that it’s time for decisive action, to take to the streets in numbers that cannot be ignored, perhaps even to put our lives on the line... before it’s too late.

Bruce Mulkey is an essayist and author from Asheville, North Carolina. He is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, The Good Men Project, and OpEd News. Learn more at his website.

We Shouted Out, "Who Killed Democracy?" When After All, It Was You And Me

-by Bruce Mulkey

As of April 28, I’ve now been on the planet for 74 rotations around the sun, almost three-quarters of a century, 30 percent of the time our country has been a nation. And I’ve seen a lot of changes during this time, personal, cultural, and political. The change nearest and dearest to my heart was my personal transformation.

Yes, there was a dark night of the soul, a bottoming out as they say in 12-step programs. I’d been sleepwalking through life for 40-some-odd years. And, of course, I’d gotten my wake-up calls-- wrecking my car while intoxicated, being called on my sexist bullshit, personal and business bankruptcy, divorce, among others-- but I’d ignored them even as they continued to intensify. Until one morning I woke up hung-over on a mattress on the floor of a friend’s home outside of Baton Rouge-- no job, no friends, estranged from my daughter, stuck in a region that seemed two or three decades behind the times. And, in that moment, I could ignore the messages life was sending me no more. It finally dawned on me: Rather than trying to change outside circumstances-- locales, mates, drugs of choice, drinking pals, etcetera-- if I truly wanted a more satisfying life, what must change was the asshole staring back at me in the mirror. And, in fits and starts, over the next several years, I made a dramatic turn away from immaturity, irresponsibility, recklessness, and my ultra-macho façade toward greater accountability, honesty, integrity, vulnerability, and authenticity.

Similar to my personal somnolence, I believe we, the citizens of this nation, have been asleep for the past several decades. We began to pay more attention to our TV shows, our favorite celebrities, our sports teams, our fancy cars, our iPhones, and making money to buy more stuff than we did to our communities and the fabric of our nation. Most of us demonstrated little concern as powerful corporations and the financial elite bought greater and greater influence in Washington, D.C. and our state capitols, and career politicians of both major political parties began to shamelessly serve the needs of wealthy campaign donors and lobbyists rather than those who elected them.

We sat by complacently as income inequality grew so great that, in 2014, members of the bottom 90 percent in this country earned $33,000 per year while those in the top 1 percent raked in $1,260,000. We sat on our hands, while in the midst of great wealth, more than 20 percent of the nation’s children lived in poverty. In a foreshadowing of things to come, we paid more attention to The Apprentice than a two-tiered justice system that insured justice would, to a great extent, evade the working class and people of color, while the wealthy would frequently escape punishment for their misdeeds through the efforts of high-paid attorneys.

There was hardly a whimper when our civil liberties were curtailed out of rampant fear of terrorism, an apprehension stoked by opportunistic politicians and the mainstream media. We were, for the most part, silent as our young men and women were sent off to senseless wars, then were essentially forgotten when (if) they returned home. Only a few protested as Band-Aid solutions to climate change, an existential threat to the entire human race, were proposed that did little to effectively address the issue. All the while, racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and other human rights issues went unacknowledged and, thus, largely unaddressed.

As our nation gradually devolved from democratic republic to oligarchy, we the people of this nation received many wake-up calls along the way—a growing number of bankruptcies by men and women overwhelmed by their hospital bills, skyrocketing costs of some essential prescription drugs, unarmed black men shot down by militarized police forces, children murdered in their classrooms, the deaths and injuries from the never-ending war in the Middle East, veteran suicides, a bloated military budget that is larger than the next seven nations combined, the increasing number of deaths of despair, one in nine of the country's bridges rated as structurally deficient, an infant mortality rate higher than 27 other wealthy countries, increasingly warmer weather, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. But most of us ignored these harbingers, even as they became louder and more frequent.

Consequently, we now get to deal with an enormous wake-up call to our nation-- an ineffective, dishonest, immoral, narcissistic carnival barker of a president who represents the worst impulses of the American people, a man who tells a radio shock jock that it’s OK to refer to his daughter as a “piece of ass,” a man who mocks the disabled, who asserts that our military men and women do not fight to win, who demonizes people of color, who promotes fear and divisiveness to his own ends, who is interested in fulfilling his wants and needs regardless of the cost to our country.

There has been much discussion about who’s to blame for the election of Donald Trump-- people who voted third party, those who refused to vote at all, the DNC’s clumsy maneuvers to fix the Democratic primaries, the Clinton campaign’s shortcomings, the Republicans’ unwillingness to halt Trump, the media’s free publicity for his campaign, a frustrated white working class, the FBI’s last minute tactics, Russians interference in the election, and on and on. But, if you want to find the person who’s actually culpable, merely take a look in the mirror. Donald Trump is the natural consequence of our indolence and apathy. And this time the wake-up call is so immense, so threatening, that it cannot be ignored.

Counterintuitive as it may seem, however, Trump’s election may, in fact, serve the greater purpose of those of us who desire a more compassionate, just, and sustainable society. For it is clear that, since his election, we the people have been awakened. Millions across the nation marched in the Women’s March, the Tax Day March, the March for Science, the People’s Climate March, and others. Elected representatives are receiving phone calls and post cards from constituents at a rate never seen before. Hundreds of thousands of citizens have turned out at town halls and rallies. Democratic Party precinct meetings in many states have overflowed with participants who have never been politically active before. Our Revolution, Indivisible, The Resistance School, and others are supporting thousands upon thousands of concerned citizens to move into action.

A powerful cultural shift is afoot, though you’ll likely not see it reported on CNN or in the New York Times. And Trump and his fellow travelers do us a great service in supporting this shift. For now, our national disgraces-- white supremacy, patriarchy, sexism, racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, xenophobia, wealth disparity, oligarchy, and others-- are brought into full focus. Now we have the opportunity to clearly perceive these injustices, and then channel the frustration, anger, and despair that many of us are feeling toward reconciliation, equality, justice, and the acknowledgment that there is much more that connects us than separates us.

Bruce Mulkey is an essayist and author from Asheville, North Carolina. He's a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, Elephant Journal, and The Good Men Project. He currently spends much of his time writing his memoir (A Tale of Two Fathers: The Memoir of One Man and His Two Daughters Born 42 Years Apart), playing handball, trail running with his wife Shonnie, and doing his best to keep up with a high-spirited six-year-old on the meandering footpaths of the Appalachians. You can learn more at brucemulkey.com.

Hillary, During The Primaries: "I don't Understand What's Happening In The Country"

I haven't read Jonathan Allen's and Amie Parnes' book, Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign and I can't imagine a circumstance where I ever would. Terrible candidate, half the country had learned to loath loses to semi-human baboon... not something I want to spend my precious time reading about it. The DailyBeast pointed out that the book is "based on interviews with more than 100 unnamed sources from within Clinton’s orbit-- each account given under the condition that the tales would be told only after the final ballot was counted-- the 480-page report relays the behind-the-scenes drama behind many of the Clinton campaign’s most embarrassing blunders and unforced errors. More damning than any anecdote of petty infighting or a deadly devotion to data, however, is the book’s verdict on the main reason for Clinton’s loss: Clinton herself." Arrogant Clintonian denialism played an outsized role in the debacle and, well... I don't need a book to tell me that.

Despite many obstacles beyond her control-- including a bitter primary opponent who refused to concede long after all routes to the nomination had been exhausted, a Republican rival whose personal attacks shattered all established standards of decency, and a Kremlin-orchestrated operation to thwart her campaign and delegitimize her incipient administration-- Clinton’s race, Allen and Parnes report, was winnable.

But despite its buckets of money, its deep bench of supporters and surrogates, a general-election opponent in a constant state of implosion, and the imprimatur of a popular sitting president, Clinton’s campaign couldn’t overcome its biggest obstacle. “The variable she couldn’t change,” Allen and Parnes write, “was the candidate.”

Maybe it goes too far to suggest that anyone who depends on the vultures at EMILY's List is probably doomed but "part of the problem, Shattered implies, was Clinton’s Cersei Lannister-like reliance on a cadre of informal 'advisers' who offered counsel that was often equal parts sage and self-serving, in the hopes of maintaining close relations with the Clinton political dynasty-- or, better yet, undercutting a rival for her attention. That same dynamic bled into the campaign apparatus, Allen and Parnes write, hampering efforts from speechwriting to debate prep as staffers feared undercutting 'protected' members of the Hillaryland old guard. The candidate’s tendency to 'favor loyalty over competence' turned the campaign into a popularity contest. 'There’s one goal here: to win the fucking election for president,' said one speechwriting source. 'It’s like, do you want to win the goddamn thing or are we in junior high school again?'" It's much easier to blame the misogyny.



A little aside: the book also exposes Chris Van Hollen for what he is, having "urged unions to not aggressively turn out the state's African American vote because it would help his Democratic primary opponent," Donna Edwards. Since Hillary was benefitting from African-American votes in her own primary, she flipped out when she heard about the arrangement. "Who gives a fuck about Chris Van Hollen?" Clinton asked one of her aides after a campaign event in Baltimore, according to the book. "What the fuck are we going to do to fix this?" Today Van Hollen is not just in the Senate, but Schumer's vile pick to head the DSCC.

My old friend Bruce Mulkey wrote an essay, A New Beginning For The Democratic Party? that is far more instructive than the book about Hillary's collapse. He writes for us regularly but you can find his work far more regularly at brucemulkey.com. For those who would rather look forward than dwell on a past many of us saw spiraling downward from miles away, there's this:

I’m a registered Democrat. I’ve always voted for the Democratic presidential candidate, well, except the two elections earlier in my life when I voted for a third-party candidate. As some say, the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. My parents, Mack and Sue Mulkey, were progressive southern Democrats who fervently supported Tennessee’s liberal senators Al Gore, Sr. and Estes Kefauver in the 1950s and 60s. And throughout their lives they voted for every Democratic presidential candidate who ran-- from FDR to Barack Obama.

After the debacle of 2016, however, I was seriously considering changing my voter registration from Democrat to Unaffiliated. The reason? I believe that, over the past several decades, the Democratic establishment has tilted to the right of center and that they’ve become more interested is serving their big donors than the working people of this nation. As I wrote in an earlier essay:

A 2014 Princeton study that reviewed more than twenty years of data (that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues) indicates that political leaders of both major political parties listen to the economic elites, business interests, and people who can afford lobbyists (all entities that fund their re-election campaigns) rather than the citizens who elected them. According to the study:

The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.

We live in an oligarchy, a country run by the economic elite. No matter how popular a measure might be with the bottom ninety-percent of income earners in America, no matter which party holds the presidency or a majority in Congress, issues that are popular with the public—such as federally-funded healthcare insurance for all Americans, regulating the prices of life-saving drugs, job creation, and effectively dealing with global warming, among others—never see the light of day. Our government apparently doesn’t care what you think. Not unless you are willing to contribute excessive amounts of money to a politician’s campaign, an action that is tantamount to legalized bribery.

Just as I was making plans to change from Democrat to Unaffiliated, I got wind of a group called Our Revolution, an offshoot of Bernie Sanders’ campaign for president that claimed they wanted to shift the Democratic Party toward more influence from the grassroots and less from the party professionals. The group’s upcoming meeting was at Odyssey Community School, only a half-mile from my home, so I walked over to check it out. I anticipated twenty or thirty of the usual suspects, and a disorganized gathering that would come to little or nothing. To my surprise, there were more than 150 enthusiastic participants there, some of whom I knew, many I did not. The founder of the group, Matt Coffay, led a lively, well-organized session. Coffay, youthful, spirited, and well-informed, presented an inspiring and clear message: Given that there’s no real path for a third party, we must work within the Democratic Party to reshape it from the bottom up and make it more representative of the working people of this nation. And we would begin at the precinct level of the Buncombe County Democratic Party.

As a result of press releases to local media, e-newsletters, texts, Facebook posts, and word of mouth, at the next meeting on February 18, it was standing room only for the meeting at Rainbow Community Center in west Asheville. Four hundred motivated people received practical information about how the state Democratic Party worked, the importance of attending the upcoming county precinct meetings, and logistical info regarding when and where the precinct meetings would take place. Then, the participants broke into their individual precincts to strategize for the February 25 precinct meetings.

On February 25, many Democratic precincts across Buncombe County reported record turnouts, in some cases ten times the usual attendance. Rather than the predictable handful of graying activists, in some cases approximately eighty percent of attendees said it was their first time at a precinct meeting, and fifty percent of those said that they were there because of the efforts of Our Revolution Asheville. Many of the newcomers were elected precinct officers and chosen as delegates to the county convention on April 8. While deep concern about the fate of our nation during the Trump presidency drove the majority of the new participants into action, they would likely not have known their way into the process without Our Revolution.

Needless to say, I am re-energized and re-engaged in Democratic Party, despite the recent selection of an establishment favorite as DNC chair. It’s exciting to realize that this grassroots activity is taking place in counties across North Carolina and in states across the nation-- California, Washington, Hawaii, Nebraska, Florida, and Michigan. I believe a new day is coming for the Democratic Party, a day in which we will eliminate corporate money, disavow the influence of the wealthy elite, retire the moribund party establishment, and again become the party of the people.

We Are The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For

-by Bruce Mulkey

In 2003, after President George W. Bush and his henchmen led us into an ill-advised, immoral, and illegal war in Iraq, I wrote a piece about how we can each make a difference even in dark and challenging times. Merely substitute “Donald Trump” for “George Bush” and “ISIS” for “Osama bin Laden,” and my essay is highly relevant today.

Around three decades ago I traveled from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. to join a protest against the war in Vietnam. My housing had been prearranged; the group I was traveling with would be staying with a family of Quakers. The weather that weekend in November tested our resolve: bone-chilling temperatures and a strong wind out of the north. Nonetheless, we marched, we sang, half a million strong we came together confidently in common cause.

Late on the final day of that weekend, my brother-in-law, Johnny, and I found ourselves with a group of militant activists at the Justice Department. I was caught up in the excitement of the moment-- until the D.C. police started discharging tear gas canisters into the crowd. We beat a hasty retreat, doing our best, but failing, to avoid the asphyxiating gases around us. Later, as I sat excitedly recounting the tale of the confrontation, I noticed a troubled glance from the elderly man whose hospitality we were enjoying, not disapproving, but gravely concerned. Years later I would remember that expression as I read the words of Marianne Williamson:

"I am of a generation which thought that we could bring peace to the world, and we didn't think it mattered if we ourselves were angry. What we learned is that an angry generation cannot bring peace."

Sometimes I’m certain that the apocalypse is upon us. My delusional president and his Mayberry Machiavellis continue shipping other folks’ kids (but certainly not their own) to Iraq to kill for peace even as things spin out of control there. The airwaves are awash with politicians who claim they care about you and me, but most only seem interested in advancing their political careers. Elected officials of both political parties dole out billions in corporate welfare while company officers make out like bandits and ship jobs overseas. The Patriot Act, passed after 9/11, is supposed to protect us from terrorists, yet many fear it leads us down the slippery slope toward fascism.

The Asian Brown Cloud, an enormous haze of pollution two miles thick and seven times the size of India, is hovering over southern Asia, and the lives of millions are threatened. Eight hundred million people around the world go to bed hungry each night, and 24,000 die. Seventy-eight million acres of rain forest are destroyed annually, and 50,000 plant and animal species become extinct. The United States spends over two and one-half billion dollars every day on the military while one of every five children in the U.S. lives in poverty. Similar to the Titanic, our planet is rapidly approaching its “iceberg,” our physical limits to growth, yet our elected leaders seem content to merely rearrange the chairs on the deck.

What then can we do to keep a level head and a loving heart in the midst of all this madness? How can we hope to bring about a more compassionate, just and sustainable world? For sometimes the temptation is great to turn away, to proclaim there is nothing that one person can do, to become cynical, to go into denial about the need to do anything, to go back to sleep. But once we have awakened, is unconsciousness ever really an option?

I believe that each of us comes into the world utterly whole, inherently worthy, entirely blameless. And I believe that each of us, as we mature and become more conscious, deeply longs to make a positive difference in the world. Now, we may lose sight of that along the way. One may come to believe that the road to fulfillment is through the accumulation of lots of stuff-- a fancy car, a bigger house, or tailored clothing. Or one may think that finding the perfect romantic partner will bring contentment (it might help). Or a great job and status in the community may appear to be the Holy Grail. But even if we achieve these things (or other similar goals), all too frequently there is still a sense that something is not complete, some element of life is missing.

Consciously or unconsciously, each of us helps to create the world we live in-- day-by-day, hour-by-hour, moment-by-moment. Every thought in our minds, every word we speak, every action we take makes a difference in our world. So then, the question is not “How can I make a difference?” The question is “What kind of difference do I choose to make?” If you choose to act out of love-- smiling at the baby in the grocery cart in the long checkout line or contributing money, food, or clothing to folks in need-- you help to create one kind of world. If you choose to react out of fear-- snarling at the person in the slow-moving car in front of you or clinging to all of your material wealth for dear life-- you help to create another kind of world.

Many of us look around today and see a civilization in disarray. Many of us believe that our leaders have failed us. But the truth is, my friends, that the situation around us is our creation. If you want to discover what you really want, look at what you’ve got. The situation in our homes, in our community, in the U.S., in the world, is our responsibility. And if you want something different, it is essential that you think, say, and do what is necessary to create that change. No one else can do this for you.

All around us are opportunities to make a difference. Life constantly sends forth a barrage of wake-up calls-- the hungry child, the neighbor with cancer, the polluted air, the dying Fraser firs, airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center, the Iraqi family terrified at the onslaught of American troops.

We ignore life’s wake-up calls at our own peril. Like the drunk who’s in denial, we may refuse to come to grips with reality. Like the pretense of a loveless marriage, we may be unwilling to confront the truth. But if we do not acknowledge the gift in even the most horrific event, discern its meaning for us, and adjust the course we are on, one thing is certain: When the Universe wants to get our attention again, to awaken us as individuals and a culture, we can count on the next wake-up call being even bigger than the one that came before it.

Cynicism, denial, and hopelessness are merely forms of victimhood, placing the blame somewhere else for that which ails us. Let me suggest another way: radical responsibility. Rather than blaming others, this path requires us to ask ourselves at every challenge, “How did I help create this situation and what can I do to resolve it?” Sometimes this is not easy, especially when we are certain that someone else is at fault. But doing so puts us, not others, in charge of our lives.

We are all here for a purpose. We each have a mission to fulfill-- to discover our unique gifts and share them with those around us. You likely have a vision for a better world, and when you fully live your purpose you help to create that world. Some may call you an idealist or a dreamer; wear that title with pride.

This is a time to surround yourself with those who nurture you, who understand and respect your hopes and dreams. This is a time to be with those who support you to walk your talk, to live your true values, not those so-called values advanced by our would-be leaders, public relations firms, and the mainstream media.

Remember that everything happens for a reason. Yet even so, you are not relieved of your duty to do what can be done to alleviate the pain and agony of others. And you have a responsibility to deal with your own distress. For while you cannot control what life sends your way, you have complete control over how you will respond to it. You can create suffering for yourself by sitting around wishing things were other than they are, or you can do all that you can do and feel the satisfaction of your efforts and the results they produce.

Pay attention to what’s going on in your community and in the world. Don’t try to hide from or close yourself off to the horrors taking place. When you see the starving children with bloated bellies, feel the hurt, feel the anguish, feel the anger. And use your feelings as a call to action.

Quiet the chatter in your mind through meditation, prayer, contemplation, or a hike in the woods. Then listen. Each of us has a gift to offer the world, and we become aware of how we might offer that gift when we get in touch with our inner self. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to write a letter to your local newspaper, but your mind’s internal editor constantly heads you off at the pass. Ignore your editor and write it anyway.

To make a difference in the world, become, as Gandhi says, the change you want to see. If you want a peaceful world, explore inwardly and find that peaceful part of yourself. Then rather than taking your anger and resentment out on your coworker for something he did or didn’t do, find a way to forgive . . . him and yourself.

Since we are all in this together, there really is no “enemy.” We all want to love and be loved. Any action that is not loving, any action that is fear-based-- abusive language, intolerant behavior, a violent act-- is a cry for love, whether it’s coming from George W. Bush, from Osama bin Laden, from you, or from me.

Service to others can present the next step on our spiritual or psychological path. If, for example, you offer a basket of food to a destitute family in a condescending manner, your gift might feed the flesh, but not the spirit-- theirs or yours. And if you become conscious of this, you get an opportunity to understand the importance of humility and how your well-being is inextricably intertwined with those whom you might serve.

We do make a difference-- individually and as a group. In fact, every loving thought, every prayer, every compassionate action has a significant effect on the world in which we live and the fabric of our existence. We might be moved to handle our own demons-- the judgments, anger, and negative beliefs that do not serve us. We might be moved to listen to and hold a friend who is hurting. We might be moved to serve a meal at the local homeless shelter or build a house with Habitat for Humanity. We might be moved to put our freedom on the line by participating in civil disobedience to stop an unjust war. We might be moved to gather in thousands, millions to say, “No more!”

Through the convergence of social movements-- peace, civil rights, women’s rights, gay liberation, environmental and others-- and personal consciousness movements-- Gestalt therapy, body work, experiential workshops, meditation, et cetera-- a new subculture has emerged millions strong. With a deep sense of the sacred in nature, a commitment to spiritual and psychological growth, and a willingness to support ecological sustainability, members of this subculture desire to live their lives congruent with their deepest values and beliefs.

Despite the fact that this entire social phenomenon has gone unnoticed by the mainstream media, we are in the midst of an epic shift in American culture. And while some may become dispirited at its pace or with the violence and turmoil surrounding it, the transformation of our cultural paradigm is unfolding just as it should. This groundswell of compassion, sustainability, and justice cannot be contained. And now is the time for those who are willing to step forward in its support.

I’d like to close now by asking you to imagine that you have no concept of childbirth. Imagine that you have walked into a room in which a mother is in the midst of labor-- with all the attendant wailing, straining, and gnashing of teeth. What would you think? What would your first reaction be?

Today we are participating in the birth of a new cultural paradigm. Our world is in labor. And being a part of this chaotic and confusing process can sometimes be scary, sometimes awe-inspiring. But have no doubt that an irreversible trend is at hand-- a movement toward greater love and respect for one another, for all living things, for the entire Earth. And, as always, we have a choice: We can let fear get the best of us and surrender to despair, or we can acknowledge ourselves for the role we play in this transformation and enjoy the creative process.




Bruce Mulkey is an essayist and author from Asheville, North Carolina. He is a regular contributor to Huffington Post, The Good Men Project, and OpEd News. His op-eds can also be found on his website-- brucemulkey.com. He currently spends much of his time writing, playing handball, trail running with his wife Shonnie, hanging out with their four cats, and doing his best to keep up with his high-spirited daughter on the meandering footpaths of the southern Appalachians.

Top 10 "Underground" House Races Party "Pros" Inside The Beltway Aren't Paying Any Attention To

Yes, Steve Israel is "reptilian," but whose side is he on?

Sarah Jaffe at Alternet seems a lot more tuned in than the DCCC or Cook. She looked at 10 congressional races this week that could spell big gains for progressives-- not reactionary Blue Dogs and New Dems or even just garden variety lockstep Democrats-- in November. She examined 10 independent-minded progressives who stand out from the pack but who the DCCC is either ignoring, sabotaging or just paying lip service to.

One of the candidates Jaffe focuses on is Patsy Keever and yesterday the Keever camp sent out a press release to local media asking them to take a look:

Two days ago Sarah Jaffe, associate editor at AlterNet, released her top 10 list of under-the-radar Congressional races to watch. The battle here in NC-10 between Patsy Keever and Patrick McHenry rated a spot on the list.
 
She writes, “North Carolina redistricted notorious Blue Dog Heath Shuler out of Congress […] But that might wind up helping Patsy Keever, who's facing off in the 10th against Patrick McHenry.” The article also quotes Alex Pareene at Salon as saying that McHenry was “born to be cheerfully corrupt: He’s a product of the College Republicans, an organization that trains little Lee Atwaters, Karl Roves and Grover Norquists in the arts of scorched-earth campaigning and wholly irresponsible 'governing' on behalf of the monied interests that bought you your job.”
 
“I think that the article is on target,” said Keever's campaign manager Bruce Mulkey. “We are running a very well-organized, people powered campaign, and Patsy is being met with enthusiasm wherever she goes. I hope the pundits are paying attention on November 6, because I think they’re going to be in for a big surprise.”

These are the kinds of candidates being supported by Blue America and if you;d like to help, you can find them all either here or here. These were the 10 races Jaffe says are "flying under the radar, where you just might see an upset." She starts with the most winnable race in America that the DCCC is ignoring, Lee Rogers' courageous battle against backward and corrupt House armed Services Committee Chairman, Buck McKeon:

1. CA-25: Democrat Lee Rogers vs Republican Buck McKeon

Buck McKeon is a trifecta of loathsome: a Republican in a district that Obama won in 2008 who got preferential treatment from housing-bubble blowers Countrywide, and who, as the Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, refused to hold hearings on sexual assault at the Air Force's training facility at Lackland. He was also one of the forces behind California's anti-gay Proposition 8, and is the co-chair of the House drone caucus (for real).

So why aren't we hearing more about his opponent, surgeon Lee Rogers? As could be expected, Rogers is running heavy on health care, leaning on his experience with the system-- he says that 75 percent of his patients (he's a podiatrist) are on Medicare-- and calling for improvements to the Affordable Care Act. He's called for keeping drug addicts out of prison, getting out of Afghanistan, and investing in infrastructure. As Blue America's Howie Klein notes, McKeon hasn't had real competition in a while, so this race could get interesting.

2. NY-23: Democrat Nate Shinagawa vs Republican Tom Reed

Nate Shinagawa is running as both the Democratic and Working Families Party candidate in upstate New York's 23rd district against Republican Tom Reed. He is one of the youngest candidates for Congress this year (just 28 years old) and a former student labor activist. He's already spent six years in the Tompkins County legislature, and has been an outspoken critic of fracking-- a practice his opponent is all for-- which New York Governor Cuomo would like to open up in his district.

In addition to welcoming fracking in his backyard, Reed was one of the GOP members of Congress on an infamous trip to Israel, where in addition to enjoying the hospitality of AIPAC's nonprofit offshoot the American Israel Education Foundation, at least one legislator copped to going skinny-dipping in the Sea of Galilee. (Reed says that he and his wife were “appropriately clothed.”) He's been cited as a possible future GOP “star” from New York, and he's a big fan of Paul Ryan and his (wildly unpopular, especially in New York) budget.

3. PA-16: Democrat Aryanna Strader vs Republican Joe Pitts

Joe Pitts's name is familiar to anyone who cares about reproductive justice-- along with Democrat Bart Stupak, the Pennsylvania Republican was the author of the infamous Stupak-Pitts amendment to the health care reform bill-- a sneak attack on abortion rights that would've restricted access to abortion coverage in private health insurance plans.

Pitts should be a huge target for Democrats, but despite a leftward trend in his district and a bit of redistricting that might make it even more likely to swing Democratic, they're not pushing very hard. But Aryanna Strader is. She's a 29-year-old veteran, a mom, and a small business owner, and she leaves no question where she stands on reproductive freedoms-- she argues that Pitts “started the war on women's health.”

There are two independents running in the 16th as well-- Jim Bednarski, a former Republican who apparently wants to win the seat without fundraising, and John A. Murphy, who called Strader the Democrats' Sarah Palin. Pitts is smoking his competition when it comes to fundraising, though-- which might make one wonder about the Democrats' commitment to electing pro-choice politicians, since there's plenty of money being funneled into other Pennsylvania races, including Mark Critz's race at the other end of Pennsylvania-- despite his support for Pitts' H.R. 358, dubbed the “Let Women Die Act” because it would, well, let women die if their doctors were opposed to abortion.

4. MI-11: Democrat Syed Taj vs Republican Kerry Bentivolio

If this district sounds familiar, it's because Thaddeus McCotter resigned from it earlier this year after a chunk of the signatures qualifying him for the primary ballot were found to be fraudulent. (Four of his staffers were charged with violating election law.) Dr. Syed Taj is one of several M.D.'s running for Congress this year on their practical health care experience. He's skipping the special election for the remaining weeks of McCotter's term (really, weeks), choosing to focus on the general, where he's facing a Tea Party candidate, Kerry Bentivolio, who's well, unique-- Mother Jones describes him as “a reindeer rancher, Santa impersonator, and political novice who once starred in a low-budget movie suggesting that 9/11 was an inside job.” A former teacher, he's facing questions about his treatment of students, and he got a chunk of funding for his campaign from a 21-year-old Ron Paul fanboy
.
Taj has spent over 40 years as a doctor, including a stint as Chief of Medicine at Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn. He's been endorsed by the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit News, Representative Keith Ellison, Senator Debbie Stabenow, the Michigan Nurses Association and the American Federation of Teachers.

5. WV-01: Democrat Sue Thorn vs Republican David McKinley

West Virginia is coal country, and any political battle in the state is likely to have Big Coal's dirty fingers all over the race. Sue Thorn's challenge to David McKinley is no exception. Multimillionaire McKinley (what is it with these rich members of Congress in some of the poorest districts?) has gotten a good chunk of his campaign cash from Murray Energy, the company whose Utah mine at Crandall Canyon collapsed and killed nine people-- and which got slapped with the largest fines ever from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (until the 2010 explosion at Upper Big Branch mine right in West Virginia, that is).

McKinley tries to claim that Thorn doesn't support coal mining and works under a big picture of a miner-- but Jack Spadaro, former head of the National Mine Safety and Health Academy, doesn't buy that:

There's no question about that, he's a hypocrite. He may say that and have that poster in his office, but he hasn't done anything to further the interests of miners and to make their workplace safe.

Meanwhile, Thorn has pointed out that McKinley's voted against stronger protections against black lung (which is having a resurgence) and better safety regulations. And she spent her Labor Day at events with actual workers, not just pictures of them.

6. WI-01: Democrat Rob Zerban vs Republican Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan's busy running for Veep, of course-- but just in case, he's also running for reelection in his House district. And Rob Zerban would like to take that job from him as well. Zerban's probably the first serious challenge Ryan has faced in Wisconsin since his election; he's raised over $1.4 million for his race so far, and points out that Obama carried the district in 2008 (and still would have even after redistricting). He told AlterNet's Joshua Holland:

I’ve lived my version of the American dream. I was only able to do that because our government was there when I needed help. I realize that being a successful small business owner-- someone who employed 45 people, providing excellent wages and benefits-- I realize that this isn’t something I accomplished all on my own. Our government helped me get an education on Pell Grants and loans, I was able to go on and start these small businesses. I want to make sure economic opportunity exists for everybody in this country, not just the wealthy and the well-connected.

Zerban's wife is a teacher and they were both part of the Capitol protests against Scott Walker's anti-union bill. He endorses a “Medicare for All” single-payer system, noting that people don't start small businesses, in part, because of the sky-high costs of health insurance.

Ryan's selection to the presidential ticket may have helped put other Congressional races in play for the Democrats-- it'd be pretty funny if he managed to lose his own, too.

7. NC-10: Democrat Patsy Keever vs Republican Patrick McHenry

North Carolina redistricted notorious Blue Dog Heath Shuler out of Congress(Shuler decided to step down after some of the more Democratic-leaning parts of his 11th district were sliced out and dropped into the neighboring 10th). But that might wind up helping Patsy Keever, who's facing off in the 10th against Patrick McHenry, described by Alex Pareene at Salon as “born to be cheerfully corrupt: He’s a product of the College Republicans, an organization that trains little Lee Atwaters, Karl Roves and Grover Norquists in the arts of scorched-earth campaigning and wholly irresponsible 'governing' on behalf of the monied interests that bought you your job.”

Keever, on the other hand, won a primary over more conservative Asheville mayor Terry Bellamy (who had the backing of the national party). The former schoolteacher is a sharp critic of the corporate education reform policy currently being celebrated at both party conventions, writing recently:

Vouchers and charter schools are not the answer. Defunding good programs and instituting unfunded mandates are not the answer. Adding more students to each classroom while decreasing support systems for teachers is not the answer.

Howie Klein notes that unlike Hayden Rogers, the anti-gay, anti-choice candidate (and Shuler's Chief of Staff) now running in the 11th district, Keever's getting little support from the Democratic party in the 10th. This, even though she strongly opposed North Carolina's anti-gay marriage Amendment One and was endorsed as pro-choice by NARAL. Interestingly, the DCCC named Rogers a “Red to Blue” candidate, which gives him additional funding even though he's running to replace his old boss, a theoretical Democrat, while Keever's running against an honest-to-goodness Republican.

8. CA-39: Democrat Jay Chen vs Republican Ed Royce

Ed Royce is a longtime incumbent who's gotten more money from the financial sector than any other member of the California delegation; he's one of the few senior Republicans to actually join the Tea Party Caucus, has said that Arizona's “Papers, Please” anti-immigrant law should be the national standard, railed against multi-language ballots, and voted against extending the Voting Rights Act. But he's in a new district this time, and this one is 30 percent Asian-American and 30 percent Latino-- creating a perfect opening for Jay Chen to take a crack at defeating him.

Chen still faces an uphill battle, but the school board member and Navy Reservist is running on the issues that matter-- making education more accessible, better health care (he's ultimately a single-payer supporter) and financial regulation. He recorded Mandarin-language ads to urge the Chinese-American community to vote against Proposition 8, and even though the DCCC doesn't see fit to spend money on his race, he's determined to keep fighting.

9. PA-03: Democrat Missa Eaton vs Republican Mike Kelly

Missa Eaton is one of many educators running as a Democrat in a time of reduced funding for schools and universities. The daughter of a union bus driver, the assistant professor of psychology is challenging super-rich incumbent Mike Kelly and mentions the student debt crisis as one of her issues to tackle. She's also no slouch on trade policy, an issue that might not be sexy but is deeply important in the era of outsourcing.

Eaton's getting union support in her blue-collar western Pennsylvania district (represented, before Kelly, by Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper) and won the “Keystone Challenge” from the state Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, Mike Kelly compared the health insurance mandate to cover contraception to Pearl Harbor and September 11. No, really.

10. TX-16: Democrat Beto O'Rourke vs Republican Barbara Carrasco

Beto O'Rourke's already won one rough race this year-- his primary, where he knocked off conservative Democrat Silvestre Reyes, in part in a battle over drug policy. O'Rourke favors marijuana legalization and bluntly calls the drug war a “failure.” The El Paso city representative argued that marijuana prohibition only fuels the cartels and stokes violence just over the border. It didn't hurt that Reyes had other problems-- $600,000 in campaign funds steered to himself and family members, say, or a vote to defund Planned Parenthood. Tim Murphy at Mother Jones notes that try as Reyes might have to make drugs an issue in the campaign, the race was really won on the economy.

O'Rourke's also pushed for benefits for same-sex partners and is pro-choice, pro-contraception, and pro-health care. The district remains largely Democratic even after redistricting, but O'Rourke still has to go through Barbara Carrasco, a Republican whose website pledges that she'll “FIGHT for America's Free-Market Economy” and “PROTECT our Children-- Born and Unborn.”

"Ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel, the head of the DCCC-- who Nancy Pelosi endearing refers to as "reptilian"-- would rather see Republicans win than watch more progressives get into the Democratic House caucus. He's not supporting these candidates and there is documentary evidence that he's personally told major Democratic big dollar donors to not give them any support or contributions. Nancy was sure right when she used the term "reptilian" to describe Israel, regardless of what she had in her heart, which no one can really know for sure anyway.


Once again, these are candidates who can win but who the DCCC is basically ignoring so they can fight for more anti-Choice, anti-gay, pro-Business conservative Democrats in the imagine of horrible Beltway hacks like Steve Israel, Joe Crowley, Steny Hoyer and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, careerists with their own corrupt agendas. If you'd like to help the progressive candidates win seats in Congress instead of more Blue Dogs, you can contribute here and here.

North Carolina... NOT A Lost Cause

Remember when Wisconsin was the model state for the GOP's jihad against democracy? Things have calmed down there a bit. And North Carolina has taken over the spotlight entirely. But wherever the cloud is darkest, there is always the most room for rays of sunshine. Our old friend Cecil Bothwell is certainly a bright ray of sunshine in the Carolina gloom right now. The Asheville City Councilmember was voted first place “Best Local Politician” by city voters in the annual Mountain Xpress “Best of WNC” poll-- for the fourth year in a row. He's running for reelection now and the special interests and ideological conservatives would love to knock him off. One of his staffers, also an old friend of ours, Bruce Mulkey, put the race into some crystal clear context:

What we’ve been witnessing at the General Assembly in Raleigh the past few months is the futile attempt by fearful, old, white men to hang on to the power and control to which they assume they’re entitled. These extremists imagine that if they can push women, gays, blacks and Latinos back to the status these groups held prior to the mid-20th century, they can hang on to their perch at the top of the pecking order.

Now don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against old white men. In fact, I am one. But I do take issue with any group, regardless of skin color, sex or age, that abuses its power in a deceitful and un-American attempt to keep others from experiencing the fruits of liberty-- equal rights for all, the unfettered opportunity to vote, a quality education for all our children, clean air and water for every citizen... I could go on.

If you look at the data, it’s clear that the demographic shift currently taking place in our nation will be the death knell of this Caucasian paternalism. The Pew Research Center projects that non-Hispanic whites will make up only 47 percent of the U.S. population by 2050, while the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that this change will take place in 2042. Already racial or ethnic minorities make up nearly 30 percent of registered voters in North Carolina, and this trend is expected to continue.

Regardless of what you think about his politics, there’s no denying we have elected our first black president, a president who is currently serving his second term. If the odds-makers are right, we will elect a female president in 2016. And surveys show that the children and certainly the grandchildren of the men who currently inhabit the halls of power differ from them significantly in their acceptance of equal rights, a path to citizenship for immigrants and protection of our environment.

Thus, no matter how forcefully the Tea Party (née GOP) shamefully endeavors to suppress the vote, strip women of their rights, push people of color to the back of the bus and keep our children from developing the skills they need in the 21st century, the appalling efforts of our state legislators are doomed to failure in the long run.

It’s obvious from their strident protestations that most of these right-wing zealots imagine they are doing God’s work (though it’s quite clear they are actually following the marching orders of ALEC, the Koch Brothers and Art Pope). Therefore signing petitions, calling or writing them, attending rallies or submitting letters to the editor will not deter the true believers who seem quite certain that the customs of their tribe are the laws of the universe.

So we North Carolinians who are deeply concerned about our state’s current backward direction have choices to make: We can sit around for a decade or two while the old guys pass from the scene; or we can stand up for our values and vote the instigators of the most abhorrent state legislation in the nation out of office. So if you aren’t registered to vote, be sure to do so. If you don’t have a government-issued ID, get one now. If you don’t know where your polling place is, find out. Regardless of your political affiliation (or lack thereof), let’s stand together to sweep Raleigh clean in 2014.