Today is the 4th of July, Independence Day, the day we celebrate Independence and Freedom in America. Trump had a parade in his honor which anyone who really respects what America stands for should be ashamed of - and Yahoo shared an article titled "Thanks to the Democrats Americans are more ashamed to be American than ever before." Because we are calling out the evil that Trump has revealed America can be - he doesn't represent America, he doesn't "only" represent White America - I'm white and many other white people agree with me that he doesn't represent us. What Trump DOES represent is White Supremacy. We may have not all realized it yet but many of us have - Trump has made America Evil just as the original Nazis made Germany evil. I wanted to comment on that article, "How Proud were Germans in THEIR Nazi years?" but didn't want to bother signing in. At least I will say it here - and I want to say some more then I want to turn to the original focus of this edition of the gagablog.
Just the other day i was banned from Facebook again for 30 days, again for criticizing Nazis. This time it was an admitted Neo-Nazi whose comments and profile were all about supporting Hitler and Nazis - I met him in "Tulsi Gabbard's Dank Meme Stash" and posted a screenshot of his profile there which had a pro-Hitler video link and a meme that was racist against black people. He is probably the one who reported the post and while I got a ban (requested a "review" but won't hold my breath) and his original posts, with the offensive content, are still there so I reported them. I made some memes but need to make more about how Facebook ONLY censors to protect White Supremacists.
This week it made international BBC news that a Facebook group of 9,000 current and former border patrol agents was exposed for them mocking the deaths of immigrants and other white supremacist activity. While it is true that anyone can be added to Facebook groups so not everyone in the group is guilty anyone who actually interacted with the group IS guilty and should be exposed for their hate speech and the whole agency should be exposed if literally half of its members are gleefully KKK, Nazi, or otherwise White Supremacists. That is ALL Trump stands for and this evil IS his responsibility - but also something that was probably going on before he took office, too.
But it's our responsibility to do something about it. AOC went to the detention centers and reported overcrowding and other abuse including that the women were only allowed to drink out of toilets. This confirms the Facebook Racist Group story and confirms everything we need to know about Trump and his supporters being actual Nazis. When they try to defend the Kiddie Koncentration Kamps they say they AREN'T as bad as Nazi Concentration Camps and are more like the USA's Japanese Internment Camps during WW2 - some of them are the same camps. But the truth is that those camps were one of our country's great shames, too, and so will the Trump camps be - and they ARE all concentraiton camps and everything Trump and Trumpers do and say proves they are Nazi.
Carson is talking about an earthquake last night in California, in the 80's or 90's, and there was an Earthquake in California today
But let me dispense with the evil of Trump and his perversion of the 4th of July and the country itself - I did a spell to end all the evil which surely will have to effect him. "What the 4th of July means to Nancy and Me" is what Carson is talking about, now, an article by Reagan, which makes the earthquake not the only tie-in with this episode. Gary Hart was the Democratic frontrunner. Sharks are chewing at AT&T underwater cables. Danny DeVito is on. (30 years ago, being introduced)
So I decided to write this a few days ago during the NPR coverage of Stonewall. I felt it had a particular Gaga connection for two reasons: She was at the 50th anniversary of Stonewall celebration and gave a speech which made the news and social media news. Then I saw her and Bradley Cooper on a tabloid magazine with the headline implying they were "finally" dating but I hope it's not true because he doesn't seem to be nearly good enough for her by half, he's not half the man she'd choose to be with if she knew the choice existed. But the important thing is Stonewall, is Freedom, true freedom, and I only mention that magazine cover because it was further emphasis I need to write this "now" when I saw it yesterday.
But the real inspiration came from Judy Garland and Stonewall. It stood out to me when they were playing readings of first-hand accounts of the Stonewall riots. One point they made was that for the queens and other people on the scene, Stonewall wasn't the "start" of the liberation movement because they had been fighting for liberation in the streets for years, on a daily basis, just to survive. But it was the Symbolic beginning, the event that sparked the organization of the movement - though I believe it also coincided with the first anniversary of an original parade (?). The interesting thing that really stood out to me was when one of the writers, Judy Woodlawn, wrote "It was a hot night, Judy was dead, and the cops were out busting balls." When I heard that I thought "Judy? Judy Garland? Dorothy?" - because I'm an Ozzite, a Fairy. And I just knew it was her - I thought it could have been any Judy - there is a St. Jude Commercial on as I type this, with Marlo Thomas talking, whom I watch on The Joey Bishop show any night/morning they show that era - I knew it was Judy Garland. Gaga says her name, "Judy" and she is one of those people known by one name - but it COULD have been another Judy, i didn't know the history. It could have been someone she mentioned who was known to the community. I've been thinking about writing this for days, since the anniversary where they played those readings, and just looked it up before writing this:
here is the link to the book The Stonewall Reader where the quote appears: https://books.google.com/books?id=-llnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA164&lpg=PA164&dq=stonewall+%22Judy+was+dead%22&source=bl&ots=ZXIfDWageU&sig=ACfU3U347MpQBGkNvuzlZrykqgzASkr3Mg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiB7JDG2pzjAhXOLc0KHTUuBWAQ6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=stonewall%20%22Judy%20was%20dead%22&f=false
In the context you can see other ideas suggested -that "Personally, I think that some queen took too many Tuinals, started ranting and raving and before he knew it, a revolution had started! When people are feeling fabulous, they don't want to take any crap from anybody, particulary the cops. And it was a hot night, Judy was dead, and the cops were out busting balls. Well, they went to far this time, and before they had a chance to get a grip on the situation, it had snowballed into the gay movement" - Holly Woodlawn, "The Stonewall Reader" page 164-165
So it was partly drugs, whatever Tuinals are, partly feeling fabulous - but another element was the heat, which makes people more prone to conflict - and another was the death of Judy. I looked it up, since I didn't know, and she died a week before. It made me think "why did she write that? If she was remembering this days, or years, afterwards, why was that an important thing to mention?
It set the mood, the time - but it also meant something. I don't know exactly what - I know Judy was a gay icon but I don't even know why, I'm not part of any gay community to ever learn about that, I just always knew she was. So her death meant something, effected the community. Her spirit was part of the riot, was part of Stonewall, was part of the start of the movement, according to someone who was there, reporting on the atmostphere *atmosphere thanks typo fairies.
But also according to my instinct - "maybe" no one will read this but that IS the reason why I am writing it, now, because she wrote "Judy was dead" because I could tell that it was Judy's Spirit who helped animate the movement - as I typed that the cook guest on Carson said "who" at the same time I typed it. His secret ingredient is Stock. Oh he's the bandleader.
If Judy was part of the spirit behind Stonewall then it isn't necessarily her Ghost who helped inspire it, who helped start it - actually it IS but it is also more than that. I'm going to watch fireworks and will return to finish this soon!
Well there is what seems like a small thunderstorm which may delay the fireworks show but hopefully only by a few minutes and not until tomorrow. But I decided to finish this if I can before the show starts.
It made me think of her "ghost" helping start the movement but it seems more accurate to say her Spirit which includes her spirit when she was alive and after death, into the future, to Now and me talking about this with the rain on my roof and dogs howling downstairs, the rain lessening, the fireworks soon, I hope.
It's not just The Ghosts who tell us what to do, or seek justice, it's Spirits from the past AND from the future. I've been planning a book, for a few years, now, about Ghosts and Angels - and Aliens and Fairies - and I guess I dance around some of the things I know I want to say in that book - but there is no sense avoiding or postponing things when I DO write this.
Angels and Ghosts are two ways of looking at the same thing, they are ways of looking at our own spirits before and after our life - but that also influence our life. It's time to go see fireworks, after all, so I will finish this when I return, again.
The rain stopped and held off just in time that we saw the fireworks and it started raining at the end but didn't really pour just made the finale extra exciting. Its now July 5th at 2 PM and I want to finish this up - I realized all the "differences" between ghosts and angels can be better discussed in my book and I will just focus on what I wanted to say about Judy and Freedom and Gaga.
As I turned on the TV it was "What's Happening!" and Dee was talking about their friend who had died, who was a baseball player and said "you can't get hurt sliding into a cloud." But I will talk about angels and ghosts in my book - the important thing is to mention how our Spirits can be instrumental in causing events on earth.
Our spirits are concerned with Justice, whether they are Ghosts who want redress or Angels guiding us to a more just world. Our spirits are into Justice as evidenced by a sense of Justice being a great, early concern of children and a passion of people throughout life. Our spirits cry for Justice, the spirits of our ancestors, of Angels, "and" the spirits we have in our lives - they all want Justice, they ALL KNOW what Justice is - it's like a basic part of Spiritual nature: Justice. They Live for Justice, WE Live for Justice.
And even though our spirits call us to atone for Injustice in the future, remind us of Justice lacking from the past, and just give us that sense throughout our lives, SOME people misunderstand the call for Justice or get confused or misled. But we all CAN sense what true justice is. Maybe some people get some quirky "thrill" from trolling, from seeking More injustice, against the wishes of their own soul and their place as part of everyone's collective soul. But people like this aren't real heroes. Their spirits, now or after they die, won't inspire Justice because they aren't coming From Justice but working against it - and everyone can tell. They aren't ever going to honor Milo Y. for leading the "Straight Pride Parade" because straight people weren't oppressed, there is no Injustice he is making anyone aware of, he is just being a cheerleader for more injustice. So he won't be remembered.
Even if Trump has managed to postpone the Harriet Tubman 20-dollar bill all he really accomplished by doing this is showing how deeply racist he is - "they untied us as are letting us walk around free" - Pete just said on Benson. And now the media anointing Biden in the midst of his racism being exposed just drags them down with him. Harriet Tubman will actually become more powerful after he "struck her down", will be more well-known because of the discussion Trump's racism causes.
The point is that you know people are good because they have Good Spirits. One of the best signs of a Good Spirit is the sense of Justice, and the Best, Most Powerful Spirits, with the greatest Power, Love, are the ones that are so in tune with True Justice that they are ahead of their time - they are, we are, in touch with The Future, when things are Better and even Wonderful - even like Oz: no money, no war.
But protesting the "loss" of Straight, White privilege is not Justice - because you aren't under threat in any way. Protesting violence against people due to racism and transphobia IS Justice because so many people are the victims of oppression. I saw a bumper sticker, a few collections of bumper stickers today. One collection was on a big personal truck: "Oil Lifestyle" and an "OL"-labeled Calvin pissing on "Jared Polis (POS)" - our first gay governor who promotes Green Energy, supposedly, but as far as I know hasn't done anything to "threaten" the Oil Industry or Oil Lifestyle yet - except hopefully lead to better Green jobs. Another on the way back had a sticker about "My rice-burner is better than a rickshaw" which I don't entirely understand except it sounds racist and "Proud American" and "If you don't stand behind our troops you're welcome to stand in front of them" or something that means support our troops or we will kill you. These bumper stickers were on two cars but were the Trumpiest ones I've seen in months - you kind of know those drivers share that same Nazi worldview.
And they are just wrong complaining about the "loss" of their lifestyle or whatever. If anything their lives suck because they are losers but it's not anyone else's problem or fault, it's not an injustice. Their whining and bootlicking and electing fascists completely diverts our attention and time away from fixing actual problems - and causes and worsens the worst problems we already have.
I should learn what Judy did that made her such a gay icon. I should watch her version of "A Star is Born" and see if her man is just as abusive and terrible and if you believe in Love you would just hope she moves on as soon as possible, like in Gaga's version, or if that is the Modern Twist. And I should listen to Gaga's soundtrack - I liked HER in it, she was amazing, and I wanted to hear more of her songs.
Even without knowing the details, even before I found out she had only died a few days before Stonewall - I just Knew that's what "Judy was dead" meant - thanks to her Fame, thanks to her Spirit, and thanks to my own sensitivity. This is how Spirit works - it seeks Justice and Remembrance and Honor.
There is No Honor in being evil, no matter how many parades you order - which got rained out, by the way, thank the Goddess. (The trend of the 4th of July 2019, in response to Trump's first speech by a president on this day for 70 years, was for veterans to film videos about how Trump is a disgrace to the military.) But there IS honor in speaking up for the spirits who have been "lost" - who have been mistreated even without their story being told. And the stories we DO know, even before we KNOW them, calling to us to find out more, as Judy is doing for me, now, will stay with us and take on the power and cause of others, even those whose names are forgotten.
For me Judy is Dorothy, more than anything - but Dorothy is more than anything, too. Gaga is Dorothy, and You and I are Dorothy - Dorothy is the Inner, Sweet Child version of Us who goes to Oz among the many things she does. She goes to Oz and ultimately shows others the Way To Oz.
I promised I would not spoil any Oz stories, until I write my better Good Government edition - and I halfway finished another one about Gender, being Feminine, and Toxic Masculinity - all masculinity being Toxic - which I will publish soon - but after that I will be speaking, soon, as if everyone already knew the Oz books so PLEASE read them!
Sondra has a new perfume on "227" and she says it is so strong she sprayed it on in the store and six mannequins followed her home - an Oz-like reference - and then they made a joke about Rose's blind date growing long fangs and claws at midnight like a werewolf.
The Point is that Good Spirits, Good Guides, come back to us in many forms. We can call them Ghosts, or Angels, but they ARE with us, as People, for periods of time, too, and we can recognize them and help them and BE them. "How you show up for the world, that's what's real" Liz Slyter "The accidental Icon" just said on her Go Daddy commercial I've seen hundreds of times.
If you don't know why bringing mannequins to life with a bottle is Oz-like you haven't read enough Oz Books - again, if you don't have time to read more than one just start with the Marvelous Land of Oz because all I have to say about Good Government will spoil that book if you haven't already read it.
"I thought you were about to screw your head off" Rose's blind date just told her - another Oz reference from a much later book.
Reading over this I realized I forgot to say that I first heard about Stonewall from the TIME-LIFE books which had some pictures - the same book series that I first saw hippies in that was so influential to me at a young age, probably 8 or 9. And it reminds me how powerful images are for telling stories, for connecting, for magic - and reminds me to make art, too, and finish writing that edition about gender. Here's to Liberty, and Justice, for ALL - not Just "Us". Because we are All part of All.
"Follow That Unicorn on the Road to Love" as Gaga says - the unicorn takes many forms but can always be recognized by her Uniqueness!
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