Ruby Bridges

Ruby Bridges by Norman Rockwell

This is the time to speak out against the stupidity of the state of Florida. The fact that that hideous armpit of America would want to bring down the study of African American History is almost unbelievable. 

Ruby is a precious stone.

Bridges are pathways that unite.

No child in all recorded human history was more aptly named than she.

The question is literally screaming to be asked: What the hell does the state of Florida have against Ruby Bridges? (or Rosa Parks for that matter (whose autobiography was recently banned by the way). 

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AFTERTHOUGHT, April 10, 2023

I need to apologize. I just realized that I never finished this piece. Forgive me, folks. My energy level has gotten extremely low lately, you know? This getting old business is for the freaking birds. I'm not kidding you.

What is Woke?

Recently, some smart-alec of my acquaintance asked me if I was "woke". My response was that it was not a word that I normally use.  Woke is a feeble attempt to compress many different things into a single word: empathy, compassion, enlightenment, an aversion to racial prejudice, and so on.. "If the question is: am I an enlightened man? then the answer is yes, I believe that I am", I told him.

Woke is really a bumper sticker word, the kind that I usually try to avoid at all costs. In fact, this is the first time I have ever used it in this context on this site since it first came into vogue a couple of years ago,

Now the right wing SCREAM MACHINE are attempting to turn woke into an extreme menace that is a tangible threat to the peace and security of the free world; much in the same way their political forebears did with the so-called communist menace seventy years ago. Governor Ron DeSantis (and 2024 presidential hopeful) recently said of his overrated state: 

"Florida is where Woke goes to die".

And I believed he meant every word he said. If the American people are stupid enough to send DeSantis to the White House on January 20, 2025, empathy compassion and enlightenment will have no place in or part of his administration's worldview. Racial bigotry will be mainstream in the DeSantis White House in a way it hasn't been since Woodrow Wilson lived there over one-hundred years ago. The difference between Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump is quite simple: Trump is a moron. DeSantis is not. The man is a real and existential threat to American Democracy in a way that The Donald - on his worst day - never was. Ron DeSantis is a radical extremist of the first - and worst - order.

The most shocking thing about DeSantis is his youth. In researching his history I was stunned (and quite depressed) to learn that he was born in September of 1978 - one month after my twentieth birthday. Can you believe that? I tend to equate such a demented and reactionary thinking to bitter old white men. How DeSantis got to this point in his thinking in a mere forty-four years is perplexing - to say the least. A woman who went on a date with him when they were in their twenties, says that while dining out she corrected him on his pronunciation of the term "Thai food". He mispronounced it as "thigh food". She says he got up from his seat, walked out of the restaurant and left her paying the bill. She says she never saw him again. What does that tell you about the man's character?

Even though (in my humble opinion anyway) "woke" is an incredibly silly and simplistic term for a very broad and complicated movement, it's a good thing that more and more Americans in recent times are describing themselves as such. "The New Enlightenment" would be a nicer way of putting it. "Woke" sounds to me like it was cooked up in the bathroom of some grammar school. 

So let's all pledge ourselves to this New Enlightenment - or whatever the heck you want to call it. This is definitely a direction that America needs to go.  

Happy Spring, everybody!

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

Tracy Murphy Needs Our Help

Tracy Murphy and I, 7 September 2013

 

My treasured friend, Tracy Murphy, needs our help.

She owns and operates a haven for animals in Newfane, NY called Asha's Farm Sanctuary. There she cares for rescued animals that otherwise would have been slaughtered. Not long ago, a couple of stray cows wondered onto her property and she provided them with compassion and food. She is now being charged with felony cattle rustling. 

Can you beat that?

A judge unconstitutionally placed a gag order on her so she is legally unable to defend herself in the electronic and print media.

WELL, DAG NAP IT, I'M GONNA DEFEND HER!

If you have some chump change lying around the house for her defense, send her whatever you can. Her address is:

Tracy Murphy

PO Box 156

Newfane, NY 14108

Tracy Murphy is to animal rights what Martin Luther King and Mahatma Ghandhi were to human rights. She is the closest thing to a saint that it has ever been my joy to know. I adore this kind and decent woman more than mere words could possibly express. Please, folks, she needs our help.

Tom Degan, Goshen, NY

AFTERTHOUGHT:

In a private message to me, Tracy Murphy wrote:

"Tom Degan, as we know I was arrested with a felony charge of up to 7 years in prison. I was stripped of my clothing and dignity and searched. I was imprisoned in a filthy and disgusting jail cell where I was subjected to ridicule by various guards. The initial cell I was placed in was very cold which caused me to shiver, and yet I was denied even a blanket to warm myself. I was put in shackles around my wrists, waist and ankles as I was brought before a judge.

There I was robbed of my rights this very country fought for with an unconstitutional gag order forbidding me to tell my side of the story on social media. Since then I have been the target of a massive smear campaign orchestrated by the powerful beef industry and severely harassed by people within my own community and across the country including direct death threats.

I was offered numerous plea bargains which I have flatly refused. One of which where they offered me a violation if I made a public statement that “It’s wrong to steal cows.” I am innocent of these charges and again I refused. I would rather risk going to prison again than to compromise my values and principles. I am innocent of these charges."

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Mind you, Tracy Murphy has been given a gag order by the judge presiding over her case. My name is not Tracy Murphy. My name is Tom Degan. Nice to meet'cha!

SUGGESTED READING:

I first wrote of Tracy Murphy nearly fourteen years ago. Here is a link to the piece I wrote at the time:

"The Rant" by Tom Degan: A Plea from Tracy Murphy 

The lady is the real deal.

The word is spreading!

What a Drag!!

Jackie Gleason and Bob Hope, Central Park, 1975

 

Tom Hanks

I don't know why this would be so, but it seems that in every generation - going all the way back to the beginning of the twentieth century - America's extreme and paranoid right wing has always needed a boogie man to get bent out of shape about. At the beginning of the century it was the suffragettes; then it was the Bolsheviks; later it was the Jews; then it was the Communists (which was merely an extension of Bolshevism); then it was the Blacks (Ah, hell, just admit it: it's always the Blacks!); then it was the Hippies; then it was the Muslims. Today, the newest threat to come into the crossfire of the guardians of Idiot Nation? ARE YOU READY FOR THIS, KIDDIES?

Syd Chaplin

DRAG QUEENS.

I kid you not, campers. Fucking drag queens.

The two governors of Florida and Tennessee have really thought long and hard about this apparently. They are both of the belief that the very sight of men donning ladies' clothing will be enough to severely traumatize generations of innocent children. They have made it their silly mission to prevent this national obscenity from continuing for another minute. They want to make it illegal for drag shows to take place in any venue where children might be present. The fact that this sort of entertainment usually takes place in nightclubs where liquor is served and that children are never present failed to occur to these two knuckleheads. 

`

Isn't life strange?

Uncle Miltie

I would imagine that their next move would be to ban all seventy-plus-year-old kinescopes of The Milton Berle Show. Uncle Miltie (as he was known) was television's first mega-star. Although I was always of the opinion that the man was hideously overrated, audiences of the late forties and early fifties adored the guy. One of the gimmicks of the Berle program was that he had a tendency of coming out on the stage dressed completely in women's attire. Although it is my belief that the joke would get boring really fast, men and women (and their kids) never got tired of it. Week after week they kept coming back for more. They ate it up! Go figure.

Jack Benny

To those of you who are in the psychiatric profession and might have spent years - many decades even - pouring over psychiatric periodicals: can any one of you come up with a case where some poor little boy or girl were driven mad from watching the Milton Berle Show? Get back to me.

I've got an idea: the most progressive cities in the states of Tennessee and Florida should organize two mass drag parades to occur simultaneously. Make them both an international affair and invite every drag queen on the entire planet to attend the festivities. That would show the bastards a thing or two!

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

In 1941, legendary comedian Jack Benny made a film called Charley's Aunt in which he appeared in much of the film in drag. It's a fun film that should be seen by all lovers of classic American comedy. Show it to the kids; they won't be traumatized by it, I promise.

(5) Charley's Aunt 1941 (Comedy) Jack Benny, Kay Francis & Anne Baxter - YouTube 

Jack Benny (1894-1974) was a giant of radio, television and film comedy. The man was as good as they get.

SUGGESTED READING:

For more recent postings on this site, here's a link to go to the main page:

"The Rant" by Tom Degan

Shameful left wing propaganda. Shame on all of you for even reading this stuff.

POST # 1,108: Ramdom Observations

The Cover for the LP I Never Made

The following are a series of random observations that are unconnected to any particular theme.. The fact of the matter is that I have quite a bit of time on my hands these days. Any similarities to any persons, living or dead, is purely intentional. 

1. Fasten Your Seatbelts:

People lately have been whining about the "inactivity" of Attorney General Merrick Garland in not bringing a criminal indictment against the most overtly criminal president in American history. What they need to understand is that the guy is walking a virtual tightrope. Criminal charges against a former president of the United States is something that's never been done before, and it isn't something that one haphazardly jumps into - like bringing marijuana charges against a high school senior (Does that even happen anymore? I sure hope not!) The word I hear is that serious charges against Donald Trump are only days - if not hours - away. Relax, folks. Just relax.

2. DANG MIKE PENCE! DANG MIKE PENSE!!

It is now apparent that Trump is now using the old bugaboo of "Executive Privilege."  to try to keep Mike Pense from testifying against him in any hearing that might lead to his conviction. Pense, himself, is also desperate to avoid any hearing that might force him to testify against the man who tried to have him lynched - so terrified is he to avoid the wrath of the half-witted MAGA base. Pense has got to understand something: he is never going to be president - not in  this lifetime or in any other. It just ain't ever gonna ever happen, kiddies! A lot of us were pleasantly surprised at his bravery on January 6, 2021 when he refused to subvert the Constitution by not illegally turning over the election to Trump. Bravery Schmavery! As it turns out, he wanted to do just that. He even sought advice from former Veep Dan Quayle, asking him how it would be possible to do so! Quayle told the Vice-President not to even think about it. When you've gotten to the point in your party where Dan Quayle is the voice of reason, you know you're in one hell of a fix.

3. We've Got to Get Out of this Place: 

Marjorie Taylor Greene has recently been suggesting a "national divorce" where the "red states" and the "blue states" would permanently disassociate themselves from each other. This was the type of language that was being used by extremist slave-holders on the eve of the civil war. While I believe this sort of rhetoric is just a bit extreme, I believe it forces us to look at a nasty reality in American life in  2023. We've gotten to a place that I never would have thought possible a mere twenty years ago. America needs to wake up and turn itself around. Seriously.

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED VIEWING, 3/6/23, 3:00 PM:

A couple of nights ago, MSNBC's Chris Hayes had an interesting little essay on why Fox Noise is one of the most dangerous organizations in America today. Here is a link to watch it on YouTube:

(11) Hayes: Why Fox is 'the most destructive institution in all of American politics' - YouTube 

The FCC really needs to be taken off of the air Rupert Murdoch should be stripped of his citizenship and sent back to Australia.