In Defense of Roseanne

I have been crazy about Roseanne since I saw her on Johnny Carson in 1985.  Her humor is an acquired taste -- or not.  Her voice is grating, she insults with the charm and bad taste of W. C. Fields.  She stood Rodney Dangerfield's "Take my wife... please" on its head when she began to take potshots at marriage and husbands.  And I loved it.

I enjoyed the first run of the sitcom, but at the time I was an older parent with my first child and pretty much in denial of any conflicts about parenting.  That meant I was uncomfortable with Roseanne's trademark insults.  Now, after having raised two kids that aren't addicts or in prison, I can step back and admit we had our rough patches.  And some of that affectionate sarcasm might just have helped a bit.

I don't follow celebrities.  I haven't followed Roseanne, although I had heard that she is a right-wing nutcase.  If you couldn't tell she was flaky and off-center right from the start you just weren't there.  Like Cosby, Franken and Van Gogh, Roseanne's genius came with baggage; her brilliance at pushing the envelope meant that she would at times go too far.

I wasn't surprised to hear that she was a very vocal Trump follower.  We have all had to distance ourselves from loved ones since that asshole came down that escalator three long years ago.  But, since November 8, 2016, I have been listening to Democrats obsess ad nauseum about what they need to do to understand and capture the trust of the Trump voter.  Too many have gone so far as to support abhorrent positions in order to attempt to win over abhorrent people.  All the while completely missing the boat.

While the pussy-grabber-in-chief flaunts his racism and misogyny and pushes through an agenda that enriches himself and destroys families, Democrats are still looking for the safe stance.  We talk about being a big tent, but instead of meaning we will try to help all, it ends up meaning we will support a candidate or issue that denies some group its rights if only we can get the approval of a Trump bigot somewhere.

I live on a shoestring, but my worries are still in the future.  I have an old car that runs reliably, a house that is nearly paid for, and never lack for food or an alcoholic beverage.  But there are working class Americans who have never had the chance I had to sock away some savings, or who lost jobs and homes a short decade ago and never got back on their feet, or whose income goes to health care or trying to educate their kids.  I am happy to say most of my friends, also on shoestring budgets, are also not walking that tightrope to survival.  And most Democratic politicians can't even fathom the fears blue collar Americans live with, or the painful decisions they have to make on a daily basis. 

So, that in mind, let's talk about the Roseanne reboot.  Because what I have heard from the majority of my Democratic friends is how they hate Roseanne.  And that they would NEVER watch her show.  Which reminded me of those Dems who just couldn't vote for Hillary, and then added, "I just don't trust her."

I loved the reboot.  I loved that her cast loved being part of the original sitcom so much that they ALL happily signed up.  And that Roseanne would happily work creatively with a bunch of liberals like Sara Gilbert and Laurie Metcalf.  Looking back through eyes that raised two kids, I loved the affection that so obviously went with the wisecracks.  I loved the twists and turns, like the cross-dressing grandson and D.J.'s marriage to an African-American woman, Gina, stationed in Afghanistan.  And it turns out that Gina dates back to the original show as well.  Where D.J. is in a play and refuses to kiss Gina; Roseanne tackles racism and sexism in one wonderful wack.

I heard a TV blowhard critique Season 10's Episode 7 because the anti-bigotry plot was simplistic.  I imagine that's a person who doesn't spend a lot of time around blue collar Americans.  No wonder they get insulted by us liberals, who turn up our noses at a 30-minute sitcom that doesn't get into the complexities of anti-Muslim attitudes.

And the last episode to air took my breath away.  If you want to understand how good people (not the Nazi sympathizer or right-wing religious zealots) could have supported Trump in 2016, there could be no better portrayal than that of Dan Connor, stuck along with too many Americans between the rock and the hard place, trying to survive.  Having to compromise life-long values to take care of his family.  In fact, the problems the Connors encounter are the ones that day after day, one by one, add up relentlessly in an America where the quality of life has declined for some forty years, where wages have dropped and education has been corrupted by profit and premiums, co-pays and deductibles have rendered health care unattainable.

I am saddened by the tragedy of Roseanne, much as I was saddened by the tragedy of Bill Cosby, who also spoke so much truth about the absurdities of life.  I am glad we got this short flash of brilliance before it blew itself up.  Roseanne Barr is a disturbed -- conflicted -- woman, one who is destined to self-destruct.  ABC was right to give Roseanne the chance despite her past bigotry, and ABC was right to cancel.

And my heart breaks for it.

ACLU -- Now More Than Ever

On October 3, I wrote about the American Civil Liberties Union, and their upcoming visit to Charleston County Democratic Women.  Then along came Hurricane Matthew, and the meeting was postponed.  And then, along came the presidential election, and the world truly shifted.  So that the rescheduled presentation by the ACLU at CCDW seems even more relevant than it was two short months ago.

It is obvious that during the upcoming administration, the only people whose rights will not be violated are those of the Trump family.  Now, don't get me wrong, Mike Pence is the religious right's version of Dick Cheney, and he deserves whatever he gets.  But I am betting he has had to compromise every day since he has accepted that unholy deal for power.

There is already a line of supplicants who have or are in the process of being humiliated by Trump.  In true godfather fashion, he publicly banished Chris Christie as a favor to the hideous Jared Kushner, his son-in-law.  He has forced Rudy Giuliani to scrape and bow while keeping him in the wings waiting for the announcement regarding his choice for secretary of state.  And the media is all over the rumor that Mitt Romney will have to publicly apologized to Trump for his (truly justified) attacks during the campaign.

But those are his friends, those with political power and status, ethically questionable though it may be.

Trump loves to push the powerful around.  But he also has a special place for the rest of us.  Donald Trump likes us to be there to work for him, to flatter him, to need him, to be at his mercy.  He doesn't see us as individuals, not even the ones who stood out at his rallies: "Look at my African-American over there."  Of course he usually has a hard time distinguishing all but our dominant characteristics, so at another rally he called another black supporter a "thug" and had him thrown out.

Donald Trump will go after pretty much all of us in the end.  We once, just a couple of months ago, could talk about groups that are getting discriminated against and vilified.  In this new America, there is not anyone outside of the Trump family that is not at risk.  I have been losing sleep over the thought of mass deportations and internment camps, journalists and Hillary Clinton being imprisoned for being considered threats.  I have worried about workers who will lose their admittedly shaky claim to wages and benefits, and those who have been covered by Obamacare, as well as the poor who have relied on what little Medicaid had to offer.  I have thought about the increased risk that union leaders and peaceful protesters will now face.  I have worried about those whose skin is darker, who already feared walking down the street or wearing a hijab, those whose sexual identities make them vulnerable to bullying and violence.

Last night, though, I lost sleep because I heard that Paul Ryan is salivating at the thought of putting social security and medicare on the chopping block.

So, we are all truly in this mess together.

Yes, there are more of us.  But the others have power, and money, and too often even the law and lawyers on their side.  Before Trump, cops killed innocent people with impunity, and resented having their actions called into question, even if more often than not, they were not made to pay.  And Trump has bragged that he will be "the law and order president."

What we need right now are the organizations who have stood by us in the past, and fought for us.  Groups like the ACLU.

On Thursday, Executive Director Shaundra Scott and Legal Director Susan Dunn will be the speakers at the Charleston County Democratic Women monthly meeting.  It will be held at the  Riverview Holiday Inn at 6:00.  The cost of the dinner buffet is $20.  If you can, please donate to both the ACLU and Charleston County Democratic Women.  These organizations will continue to exist and be strong as long as we stand behind them.

I am looking forward to this meeting, even more than I was in October.  I hope to see you there.

(RSVP to Jan Leonard janleonard08@gmail.com, or at the Charleston County Democratic Women Facebook page, under events.)

      

How Deep the Hatred

Bigotry is not new in America.  If you want to read about how politics has been shaped by fear and racism, try Limousine Liberal: How an Incendiary Image United the Right and Fractured America by Steve Fraser.  Or you may be able to, like me, simply reflect on the America where you grew up.

I lived in a little Italian community in a rural town in Rhode Island that became suburban during my childhood and teenage years.  My father, an Italian immigrant, would complain about "the frogs" who lived next door, threaten (privately) to "fix" neighbors who angered him by selling his vacant lots to blacks (I believe he said "negro"), and referred to my boyfriend as "that Jew."  For that matter, my future father-in-law, a Jewish man who was married to an Anglican, was incensed that his son was dating someone not Jewish.  In one rather hysterical family fight, he berated his son for going out with a "spaghetti-eater."  And then he threw the plate of spaghetti he was eating at the wall.

It is odd that those who were solidly members of groups who faced bigotry would be so quick to turn it on members of other groups.  Because I lived in a small Italian community, I did not hear the words "wop" and "guinea" until my first full-time supermarket job, and then it was a self-derogatory joke made by an old Italian meat-cutter.  I can only imagine the world of hate he had grown up in.

I was mostly unaware of any racial bigotry that might have been directed at me.  When I was a school psychologist on Long Island, the director once commiserated with me about Italian men, not realizing that I had kept my family name, thinking I had married an Italian. I believe she thought I was Jewish, as was she.  I am aware these days that I can pass for Jewish and Hispanic, but the features are not so distinct that it is ever a conscious part of my interactions with people.

It is so much a part of our heritage, to mistrust and hate those who are different than us, to feel threatened by their proximity, that we Americans are easy targets for anyone who seeks power.  Hence, the Donald Trump phenomenon.  Which has been brought to us by decades of right-wing rage targeting minorities.

Want to win an election?  Target a minority.

Just as in my mother's day Italians and Irish were called lazy and dirty, so have African-Americans and Mexicans.

Just as Jews have been persecuted for being sneaky and greedy, and for plotting control over whatever "civilization" happens to be feeling threatened, Moslems are now targeted as plotting to destroy "civilization."

Small people with perverse sexual obsessions have always in our society been fond of gay-bashing, when they aren't focused on what goes on in a woman's body without their approval.

As a woman who has not ever had to really face bigotry (only misogyny), I can't imagine how awful must be the threat of being targeted in America.  Show your papers.  Stop and frisk.  Driving while being black.  And Trump's outrages-of-the-day:  "We have to go and we have to maybe check, respectfully, the mosques" (six days ago).  Since he proposed the national database of Muslims last year when he was only a primary candidate, he apparently has realized that as a presumptive nominee, when he suggests taking away a group's rights he now has to do it "respectfully."

South Carolina is not the only proud state to waste taxpayer dollars on "bathroom bills" and bills that would keep out refugees and prevent Sharia Law from infiltrating our courts.  Because right wing radicals continue to foster fear and hatred, we have our own home-grown assault rifle toting paranoids to contend with.  In a totally irony-free atmosphere, state and federal legislators have caused such a panic over our rights and our safety that they have unleashed the very wackos we should be concerned about, who kill in the name of protecting the country from killers.

Fueled by the NRA which is controlled by arms manufacturers, our legislators have once again failed to pass even the most basic gun controls.  Paul Ryan, never before concerned about the rights of people kept off planes because they were wrongly put on the no-fly list is now expressing his concern for people that would wrongly lose their right to buy a gun.  And how about this pretzel-shaped rationale:  by refusing to sell a gun to someone on the no-fly list we would be jeopardizing national security by alerting them to the fact that they are being watched....  Hmm, you mean like if they are told they can't get on a plane???

Which leaves us all waiting for the next mass shooting.  And while we are waiting, innocent people continue to be killed on the streets, in bars, at home.  And the rage goes on. 

The Problem with the Debate

On Tuesday, the Post and Courier published a letter I wrote about the Trayvon Martin killing ("Blaming Victim").  Friday, I received a multi-page response in the mail.  To say that the respondent put a great deal of effort into the rebuttal would be an understatement.  This dude, named "T.B.S.", gathered up all the colored pens he owns and appears to have spent hours composing this reply:

Apparently, I touched a nerve.

So I spent a bit of time considering how I might respond, if I was similarly crazed, and came up with a few tantalizing possibilities:

*  I'm so glad that you read my letter in the P & C.  It must have been very difficult.

*  And your point is...?

*  I found your letter quite well thought out, especially the colors.

*  Well, you've certainly convinced me!

Chuckles aside, I think what we have here is the whole problem with the gun control debate.  The people who most fervently believe they have the right -- in fact, the need -- to carry weapons, are those like Mr. T. B. S.  who, apart from the fact that he apparently is not at all hispanic, shares much the same paranoia and rage as Mr. Zimmerman.

The NRA and ALEC need a frightened population in order to thrive.  They pay our gun-rights politicians substantial amounts of money to fire up the fearful.  And what we end up with is crazy people who are truly afraid that if we take away their guns they will be overrun by "those people."  The people they are afraid of range from the gub'mint to the NAACP to the A-rabs to Nancy Pelosi.

In other words, they are afraid of anyone our right wing legislators tell them to be afraid of.

George Zimmerman is the living proof of why we need to outlaw guns.  And why we need to vote the fearmongers out of office.