Jamal Khashoggi's Murder Reminds Us of Our Presious Freedoms

Jamal Khashoggi wrote in the Washington Post “The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices. We suffer from poverty, mismanagement and poor education. Through the creation of an independent international forum, isolated from the influence of nationalist governments spreading hate through propaganda, ordinary people in the Arab world would be able to address the structural problems their societies face.”

Jamal Khashoggi’s murder highlights the threats to a global free press.  Journalist become targets around the world when they challenge power, whether that power is political such as leaders of countries or economic as in drug cartels.  Between 2010 – 2018 twenty-four Mexican journalists have been murdered some say by drug cartels.  Two Reuters reporters in Myanmar, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were arrested December 12, 2017 for political reasons.   Khashoggi in the Washington Post piece where he writes “What the Arab World Needs More is Freedom of Expression” reminds us that freedom of expression is linked to freedom of the press and freedom of the press is linked to independent thinking of ordinary people.

In a democracy ordinary people need to think independently to be an informed voter to address the social issues of the country.  Where do you get the ideas that form your opinions?     Issues of our country today and where you get independent unbiased information is tied to freedom of the press.  Is there such a place in today’s media gluttony?  What newspapers, radio stations, news TV broadcast, podcast, or YouTube, do you listen to has straight fact news.   When I wrote for gay newspapers I always had in mind what I wanted to say, I just needed to find someone who I could quote who agreed with me and sometimes someone to quote with an opposite opinion to make my point. 

Today I am lost in a sea of information.  Depending on where I go to find statistics I get conflicting information. I have taken the progressive side on the social cultural divide. I look at websites such as the Brennan Center for Justice, State Initiative Exchange, and the South Poverty Law Center to get what I consider accurate information.  This furthers my polarization on solutions to solve social problems and I am stuck; frustrated and think I am right. The current tone of news casters such as Fox News and MSNBC banter back and forth on who’s reality we should believe.  What was it like for Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia?  Do the people struggle with a he said the government said in the same way we struggle with accurate reporting in a climate of accusations of fake news drawing lines of separation among us.

When we say freedom of the press, do we also mean freedom of editorialized ads on TV?  In this midterm election season, the ads on TV hunt me, particularly the ones by unaccountable PACS.  I first noticed them during Sessions’ nomination for Attorney General then during the Kavanaugh hearings, and now they demonize the democratic party. Where does freedom of the press start and where does it end.  Where are the dependable facts?  I know that if two people go to the same event they will have two different ideas of what happened, so how do we get a consensus on what reality is or is it just in the eye of beholder.  Then there’s the question of what facts we get from media that are nothing but propaganda.  Both sides of the cultural divide wrestle with this question, I know this because of what my republican friends have told me about what they think about what is going in our politics today.

As we mourn the loss of Jamal Khashoggi a person who gave his life to be able to stand up and say what he thinks, let’s remember we need to do the same thing in our lives, in this way we take advantage of our constitutional freedoms and not let those freedoms slip away in obscurity.  Voting in the up coming midterm elections express those freedoms more than any other action we could take.  Get out and VOTE!

Don't Dismiss Kanye's Message to Trump

Kanye West seems to have drunk the Kool-Aid of Trump this maybe what got him an audience with President Trump and why Trump praised the rapper. Hopefully Kanye West’s innovative ideas were heard between the worshiping and praise and crazy side bars.  Many of you may have had a hard time listening to Kanye’s important message because it was hard not to focus on the manic talk of the hat, or his reality show presentation that you have to admit out did Trump’s normal take the conversation over.  Trump sat back with folded arms for a lot of the meeting which we don’t see him do very often.

As much as Kanye West’s worship of Trump distracted me Kanye shared many good ideas. Starting with Kanye not denying that Trump is racist, his response “Racism can not control me.”  Kanye expounded examples of bad racism in the way he believes Liberals use racism to try to control black people.  I never thought I would see Trump listening to a conversation about racism, maybe it's all in the way you talk about it.  Calling someone out as racist stops any kind of constructive conversation that follows. Kayne by turning the conversation on him and his push back on racism I have to admit was inspiring.

Halfway into the Fox News interview Kanye got the opportunity to layout his ideas he had come to talk about.  Starting with his number one issue “Stop and frisk” he unapologetically told Trump does not help his people in the cities saying several times “Stop and frisk” has got to stop.  Kanye and his wife Kim have a clothing line and want to open up factories in Chicago Kanye advocated for new tax breaks because manufacturing here in the USA costs too much. These taxes could create Trump factories because he’s a master builder Kanye again sandwiching his ideas between praises for Trump.  

Kanye’s ideas sprang out fast fragmented between reality show bits and praise for Trump.  He did have a good idea in block leaders creating curriculum in the schools for people who came from the streets not just people who want to set us up to go to a work or go to the prison system.  These ideas from Kanye on schooling are no new messages but Kanye managed to an audience with Trump and seemed to be listened to.  Kanye started by saying school is boring we have to make school more interesting than a cell phone, we need to have mixed curriculum students need to learn about music while meditating in the morning, we to have bring back a mix of mental health and art programs into the city schools.  Good for you Kanye you got national media coverage airing great ideas so let’s don’t dismiss these ideas because of the presentation.

Kanye put out good ideas for prison reform when he used Larry Hoover, as an example of a person in the prison system who started turning his live around when he was hit with 7 live sentences, pointing out our harsh prison system. The Chicago Sun Times recently published an article call Larry Hoover’s loudest advocates believe that imprisoned Gangster Disciples leader would be a voice for peace in Chicago.  Kanye in his backing of Larry Hoover’s plight brings a strong message to prison reform and the victimization of African Americans.

When asked about gun control Kanye pointed out Illegal guns are the problem, we have a right to carry guns. He went on to send a message to stop worrying about the future, black people have a problem with “again” all we really have is today because of the idea of racism it hurts us today.  Kanye brought red hats for Trump that read “Make America Great.”  Yet another example of sandwiching in praise for Trump while talking about a serious and personal issue.

What got to me more than Kanye’s part of the talk was Trump's positive responded to Kanye saying “I’m open he can speak for me any time,” Trump said as he praised Kanye saying he has been a fan of the rapper for a very long time. Trump’s history of saying one thing one moment and contradicting himself the next I found this statement hard to believe in contrast to Kanye’s sincerity.  

This is Not the Time to Coward

Testifying in court as the victim of a rape took its toll on me.  I had never talked openly about wearing a bra or not wearing a bra, never talked about my sex life to anyone but intimate friends but on the stand, I was forced to reveal these intimate details of my life.  This is the memory that ran through my mind as I watched the vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.  The confirmation of this Supreme Court Judge warns all women who accuse men of sexual assault to think twice about coming forward because you will be asked intimate details about your life as you are degrades and scorned in public.

In the confirmation process opportunist Trump furthered his agenda to put women back in their place as second-class citizens.  This agenda started back during Trump’s presidential campaign when used assault after assault on woman after woman starting with Hilary Clinton and today Dr. Ford.  If verbal assault doesn’t work sexual assault can always put women in their place.  We may think that telling someone about a personal sexual assault experience today with the #MeToo movement has made this telling easier.  Women in fact are still terrified.   Dr. Ford’s testimony, brought out Senators’ attitudes towards women and rallied men in this country.  Trump’s ridiculing Dr. Ford at a campaign rally topped off the campaign to discredit Dr. Ford and was backed up by the media who found woman after woman to interview who stood up for Kavanaugh.  This latter technique we all know, conquer and divide a group to get the group’s members fighting among themselves which ultimately discredits the group.

All the degrading talk about women got hard to take for me and I witnessed women having to take a moment to deal with emotions giving men an opportunity to power grab.  At that moment men built up Kavanaugh to further their wider agenda of demolishing worker rights, to get people to stop questioning presidential powers, and to assure the future of corporate influence in our elections just to name a few.  THEY played the Kavanaugh confirmation process to benefit their larger agenda and it worked. 

The way Dr. Ford was treated is how rape trials play out for rape victims as I know too well and the perpetrator is praised just as Kavanaugh’s victory is being toasted for his success.  The victim’s sex life is gone over in vivid detail, her dating history, what she wore, why she was there while the perpetrator is seen as being accused unfairly it’s his word against hers after all this all took place behind closed doors and men have a strong code of ethics consisting of a cone of silence.  These attitudes toward the victim of sexual assault fueled the #MeToo movement taking sexual assault allegations out of the courts and into a forum of public opinion.  Well these hearings brought us back to reality.  The Kavanaugh hearings indicated to us that women still will not be heard, will be called liars, and like Monica Lewinsky and Anita Hill and now Dr. Ford will wear a scarlet letter on their reputation for the rest of their lives. We as women have to ask how far have we really come in today’s era of #MeToo.

Women have so much to lose.  Gains made around access to birth control, and other family planning practices, women being respecting when reporting sexual assault, equal pay for equal work, the list is endless are at risk with Kavanaugh as the last member of the court to support right wing causes creating a majority.  Small gains in the last 100 years could be lost in this one Supreme Court Justice confirmation.  Unfortunately, women need to take the punches and come back into the ring for yet another round just to hold our ground.  We need to reach out to Dr. Ford to let her know we hear her and she is not alone.

Now that they have destroyed Dr. Ford’s life Kavanaugh can carry on his career goals to limit women’s access to reproductive health and complete the conservative agenda.  The message the GOP has for women is don’t stand in our way or we will destroy you and rally men and women to our point of view.  This scares me after what I lived through as a young woman in a rape trial and the difficulties to access birth control and other reproductive health care. My hope is that women will come out in groves in the midterm elections to stand up to the powers that be and show our strength as a political force.  Just remember a 2019 Women’s March has been called for January 19, 2019 let’s rally to stand up and fight back.  Women Unite!