Blue Label Questions Side B

Greetings, true believers (please don’t sue Mr. Lee)!  Someone once said, all you need is a handful of good friends to get you through life.  I agree with this fervently because entourages are for celebrities and mafia bosses.  A man I greatly respect writes his own blog to try and input some of his adventures and advice into this world.  Not to embellish but it is a smashing success and he has a large fan base.  Some time ago, he implemented a running series for his blog entitled, “Blue Label Questions”.  This consists of an interview of close friends and family over a glass of Johnny Walker Blue Label Scotch and to open up about life experiences, friendly advice, and ultimately a portrayal of what makes the particular interviewee tick. 

Over the course of Labor Day weekend, I had the privilege to interview the creator of Blue Label Questions to find out what makes him tick and what kind of person he is.  I have known this man most of my life. 

Clearly we refuse to grow up

He has always striven to do the right thing and he has dedicated his life to teaching.  Without further ado, here is the interview I conducted with my best friend and one of the best men I have ever had the privilege of knowing.  I give you the man we call El (as in The), the myth, the legend, Sergio Espain. 

 

 

Lil blue label. Cheers. Ahh.  Let us get started

Tell us, where did you grow up?

I was born in Modesto, CA.  We lived in Turlock until I was 9.  Had some good memories there but did not make very many lasting friends and then we moved to Bakersfield. I have a rule if you spend the majority of your life in a town then it becomes your hometown.  Bakersfield became my hometown.  I grew up here.  I went to Laurelglenn Elementary. I went to Tevis junior high and it was two very forgettable years. Went to Stockdale high in the fall of 2001, met Tyler, and became best friends.  I honestly believe I didn’t grow up till I got out of high school. 

Snicker from me. I think that was 90% of our graduating class. If that.

Right, haha.  Once you get out of that safe warm blanket of adolescence and then you’re faced with the real world, which was a wakeup call. Having to get a real job. Go, oh man I have bills to pay. I grew up here and it’s hard because I used to have dreams of leaving Bakersfield but the more I stay here the more reasons I find to stay here. Part of me doesn’t think I’m going to leave while there’s another part of me yearning to leave.

How do you handle the dichotomy of those two sides?  How do you feel about both of them and does one tug at you more?

Yeah, I want to stay because this is my community. I am a product of Bakersfield; negatively and positively. I want to stay because I know if I stay I will make a difference.  But I know that in order to truly test my mettle I will have to leave the city limits. To truly test myself and implement my theories I would need to leave…comfort.   I’m more of a take me wherever the wind goes.

Who is your hero and what did he or she teach you?

Cliché answer, my first hero growing up was my dad. He was a hard worker. Hardly took any days off. He instilled a method of madness in me that hard work and drive will get you anywhere and everywhere. He instilled this in me before I could learn any different.  This started with chores, homework, and the idea hard work will pay off. The older I got the more I watched him succeed in his field and became evident he was very well respected in his field.  He is the MAN where he works. That prestige and reputation carried over to the home, where he is the man. He was the end all be all, this is the way it’s going to be.  He showed me the importance of having an opinion and backing it up. He is my hero because in the wake of his own mortality during his sickness he was and is still more of a man than most people I have ever met.  When you realize your father is human and not superman, that is when you start to re-evaluate everything, but that did not happen to me. He was still hard working, do the right thing, and always tells the truth. My dad is my hero.

Nice. Just to touch on something you mentioned, you did mention your father’s illness and not going into detail that was something which took a long time and was a big emotional strain on your family. Did you find yourself becoming more of the head of the household during that time, out of necessity of course, but did you find you fit the role well or did you feel it was too much of a burden. Did you feel like you were measuring up to your father?

My dad first got sick when I was 17. He was at a downtown hospital and I went to visit him after school.  He tried to be calm and cool. He said, while I’m here you’re the man of the house. Take care of things. Do as I would do. When I was 23 he got sick again and it was the same thing. While I’m here, take care of things, you are the man of the house. Then it happened again in 2012. He had very high expectations of me. He always had a list of marching orders. Do this. Pay this guy. Get the car smog checked. I took the place of his authority. Do I feel I lived up to it? I don’t know. When it came to doing the right thing and taking care of the house, I think I probably met them. As far as handling the stress of it, it was very stressful. I went through some dark emotional times. I was the rock of the family but I had no one to lean on myself. Not my dad. No one. The stress was back breaking but I found an outlet in my writing. I found an outlet in poetry, reading, and any fictional escape I could take I would.  I watched a lot of movies. Whatever I could do to say you know what, the terminator doesn’t feel anything. Rambo is a machine and whatever I could do I needed to feel that way. You know what I mean? I needed to not show weakness and I did that. Do I think I lived up to the expectations? I think so. I worked hard. I learned a lot about myself. I learned about growing up and about being a man.

I liked how you mentioned how pop culture gave you ideas on how to get through the moment. Let me ask you a follow up question to the hero question, who is your favorite superhero?

It’s going to be fairly obvious, haha…

Really? I could never tell haha

Superman has always been my favorite superhero because he is infallible. He is un-corruptible. He is strong. He always does the right thing and I feel I have the same sense of morality. Doing right and wrong and Superman always does what is right. He is always truth justice and the American way. He is strength on a spectacular level and I applied that mentality to the way I lived. You punch him, nothing happens. Oh whatever, I’m the man of steel! I always felt a strong connection to that because you hit me, I bleed, but only if I let you see me bleed. This is the same way I dealt with my dad’s sickness. I only cried if I wanted you to see it. That is the way I approached my life from a very young age and how I live now. I believe emotionally I have a lot of strength now. He is my favorite because he is an idol and a role model incarnate. I relate to him a lot.

It’s interesting you mention Superman and all those things you mentioned are true but if you read works like Kingdom Come or New Earth you realize that Superman is this godlike figure but he still cannot be everywhere at once and this weighs on him.  Does it almost feel to you like, just save the ones you can?

I have some special people in my life who have told me many times, Sergio you cannot do everything. You have to pick and choose your battles. Now that I have graduated college I see the toll it has taken to try and fit everyone in and trying to do the right thing every single time in every situation.  It’s hard to say sometimes, I can’t help you today. I understand his struggle but I learned it too late.

What is the proudest moment of your life thus far?

Thus far, this is going to sound strange…

We’re all for that.

…at Chicano commencement for my college graduation I gave a speech to my parents telling them they were my heroes for always putting up with me. That was a proud moment because I got to speak directly to them. As great as graduating was with my class and friends…I skipped out 45 minutes early! I skipped out so we could get to breakfast. I could not wait to get out of there! For the Chicano commencement though, my mom, my dad, my girlfriend, and my uncles got to see me on stage dressed in my royal blue graduation garb with my championship belt and they got to see me thank them. I would not be able to do that at the traditional graduation.

Going off on that, did you at first want to do the Chicano commencement?

I did not want to do it because the application was awkward. On the application I had to answer which flag do you want to wear?  It was almost a question of which culture do you choose? 

Sorry to interrupt but can you clarify what you mean by flag?

Oh sure. When you apply for Chicano commencement you are given a sash and you can choose a flag to be on it. You get to choose between Central, Southern, and North American countries.  My dad wanted me to choose the red, white, and green because that is where my lineage comes from but I wanted to choose the red, white, and blue.  I relate more to the United States of America than to Mexico.  The U.S. is my home, this is where I grew up, and the culture I accepted. If I had chosen the Mexico flag over the U.S. flag I would have felt like a traitor. I did not want to do Chicano commencement because I did not want to have to make that decision.  In the end I chose red, white, and blue and I got a lot of grief for it. Quick story, I was one of the only people wearing those colors at Chicano commencement and a guy behind me in line asked why I wasn’t wearing different colors.  My honest response was, “have you been to Mexico”? No, that is not my home. That is not my culture. I had to be talked into it but I’m glad I did it.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Ponders this question for a few seconds…uhm…in ten years I want to be teaching remedial English at the university level. Part time.  I want to be teaching high school English because that is where you can mold the minds to accept a certain method of instruction and theory.  You can tell them commas go here and they remember that. The problem I have noticed doing my classroom observations is the teachers have around 240 students and I’ve been told by someone more wise than me that if you reach just one of them then you have succeeded. A lot of the students I have tutored at the college level don’t have the basic English skills they should have been taught in high school.  I don’t want to teach the same student in high school and then at the university level.  I want to impart a level of instruction that can be passed on.  Does that make sense?

Makes perfect sense, but, it also sounds like you want to catch the kids you missed in high school who did not go to your school or simply were not in your class.

Yep, that is it. You said it better than I did.

That is extremely interesting…

I see myself having something published as well. Whether it is a poem or an essay or a story, just something to my name printed somewhere.

Now we’ve gotten through the vegetables so, let’s get to the dessert and ask some fun questions.

Tell me, what sound or noise do you love?

It’s two fold.  The first is the sound of sizzling meat when I’m cooking. The next sound is an empty glass of scotch being filled.

Cheers to that! *clink glasses

Now that I’m hungry, what sound or noise do you hate?

I don’t like negativity. It does not help anyone. With that being said, I do not like the sound of someone saying no.

What is your favorite cuss word and why?

I’ll give you two. Damn, because you can get away with it.  You can say it just about anywhere and it will be okay.  My other favorite word…fuck. It is so versatile and same as damn. You can use it once and you have proven your point and you can say it in a PG-13 movie…just once.

Use both of those words in a single sentence.

Dammit, stay the fuck out of my way!

Haha! Sounds like something you would say at Lowe’s to a really annoying customer service person.

I know what I’m looking for dammit!

Good one.

If heaven exists what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

You did your best.

Very wise, solemn, answer from God. Almost the Catholic answer.

Now, if God were a prankster he would ask, why did you bet it all on red?!

Hysterical drunken laughter ensues.

What would your last meal be?

Takes forever to decide as if he is on death row and then says…..

 No, wait!  Pound and a half cut of the best prime rib, cooked just to pink. Green beans. Mashed potatoes.  Appetizer, my mom’s nachos.

Room left for dessert?

Dessert would be a slice of New York cheese cake from New York…with a glass of blue label which would be the last thing I would taste.

Last query, what advice would you give to you ten years ago?

This isn’t the end. You are going to do so much with so little. Always take risks and don’t be afraid to say yes.

That’s advice we would all like to give ourselves and take ourselves.  Anything else you want to mention last minute?

Nope, not unless you want to know where all the bodies are are buried…..?

This interview was discovered several months later. The author’s body has not been found.

Mexican Standoff

According to Holy Scripture, God blessed Texas with his own hands (Maybe. I don’t know I’m not a creation scientist).  I mentioned in an earlier piece how I have come to enjoy living in this state and how nice the people are here but, occasionally some jackass will ruin the moment.  This time it is not some late to the party state representative but the Governor of Texas himself, Rick Perry.   I am not going to talk about the “questionable” things he has done before.  Like his failed Presidential run or his racist ranch decorations.  This is a different matter all together and I encourage you to finish or this will not make sense and make me look like a fool (I know it is not hard to make me look oafish but shut it).  Here it is: Rick Perry allowed the state of Texas to execute a cop killer. 

In 1994, officer Guy Gaddis arrested Edgar Tamayo Arias for theft outside of a Houston nightclub.  While in custody (I.E. handcuffed in the back of a squad car), Edgar pulled a firearm he had concealed in his pants and shot officer Gaddis three times in the neck and head.  What happened to officer Guy Gaddis is a senseless tragedy and cannot be forgiven.  Shooting someone in the back is a cowardly act and I wish nothing but the worst of times in every circle of hell for Edgar Arias, which he is probably getting a feel for after his execution was enacted on February 19^th.  Let me be even more blunt, I hold no sympathy for this human piece of garbage and I do not feel bad he is no longer with us.  Which begs the question, why am I upset the state of Texas put him to death?  Interesting question and an even more interesting answer waits.

Edgar Tamayo Arias was a Mexican national.  He could barely speak English at the time of his arrest and did not understand the rights afforded someone who has committed a crime on American soil.  The Mexican Consulate did not learn of the situation until a week before his trial.  Keep in mind, he was charged and held in custody for months before his trial date.  One week is not nearly long enough to prepare for a capital murder case, especially if you are not a citizen or speak the language of the country you are being tried in.  Still do not sympathize with Edgar? Good.  We are fresh out of sympathy and this is not the point.  Now, what could the Mexican consulate have revealed at trial were they given the proper time?  It would have been revealed Edgar Arias had an IQ of 67 and possibly other mental illnesses.   Here is the kicker; this does not excuse what happened but it does matter.  Why?

If this information was introduced at trial and verified on the United States side, the worst that would have happened was Edgar Arias would still have been found guilty and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.  That is it. Biff bam boom.  If this still does not sound like justice then maybe this will help.  There is plenty ofresearch on the subject of the mentally ill in prisons and it is not encouraging.   There is no standard for the screening of mental illness upon induction into most prisons so prison personnel have no idea why an inmate will not cooperate or follow the rules except that he is a problem inmate.  This can lead to the revoking of privileges or being thrown into solitary confinement.  Many inmates who spend copious amounts of time in solitary confinement are believed to suffer from one or more mental illnesses.  Isolation in a concrete slab with nothing but an itchy blanket is not pleasant and there is reason to believe this drives inmates (normal ones) insane.

Again, why does all of this matter?  It matters because the state of Texas violated the only rule of international law no one ever violates; if someone is arrested and charged with a crime in a foreign country you contact the country which they are a citizen of.  You allow them a proper defense and nothing more is required.  When all is said and done, Edgar Arias probably, again probably, would have received life in prison without the possibility of parole and spent the rest of his life being shuttled back and forth from general population to solitary confinement.  Growing more isolated and confused everyday with no allies and no privileges because corrections officers don’t do cop killers favors.  Instead, he was housed in a special cell for sixteen years with privileges, guards taking good care of him, and no chance of running into other inmates.  

American citizens should be worried about this because it affects them as well.  Who among us has not been down to Mexico and made a few bad decisions?  Lord knows I have and now there is retribution to be had for annoying Americans who get arrested in Mexico on real or fake charges.  This is not just me blustering:

Mexican authorities have a duty to the millions of Mexicans who live in the U.S. to turn on the political and diplomatic pressure. 

Texas has executed a Mexican citizen and Americans may suffer as a result. Americans can now be executed without receiving access to their consulates and the U.S. lacks the moral standing to complain.

Those were editorials from two of the highest selling newspapers in Mexico, El Universal and La Jornada.

The United States of America is a part of the world community or not.  We either abide by international law like the rest of the world or we do not.  We cannot have it both ways and we are quickly losing our moral standing in this world and the ability to be what John Winthrop hoped our fledgling nation would be, “a city upon a hill, watched by the world”.  I do not know what justice really encompasses and I do not know what would have been just in this situation.  What I do know is Edgar Arias deserved to die in anonymity and we as a nation deserve better.

The Christmas Truce

Note: This piece was written during Christmas time and some of the language is extremely present tense.  Just pretend it is still Christmas time and enjoy the feeling it brings.

Alas, it is Christmas time once again.  Christmas is the one time of year where you are discouraged from acting like an asshole for at least 48 hours and most people do.  Also, it is the one time of year where we are constantly asked what our favorite Christmas time mediums are.  What’s your favorite Christmas song?  What’s your favorite Christmas movie?  What’s your favorite Christmas location?  As a society we have come to accept there are a handful of activities and interests which are only relevant to one month out of the year.  Seriously, have you ever heard someone listening to Christmas carols in June and not thought they were out of their mind?  You know who I am talking about.

I had to work for most of the day on Christmas Eve this year and my coworkers and I were extremely productive while everybody was already on vacation.  By productive, I mean we ate Chinese takeout and watched Ghostbusters, so, best Christmas Eve ever?  While being “productive”, I was comparing my Christmas favorites with one of my coworkers and I was asked what my favorite Christmas story was.  This question is not asked often and I had to think about it for a few minutes.  Most people might pick works of fiction such as A Christmas Carol or a Charlie Brown Christmas.  I find reality to be more interesting than fiction and my favorite Christmas story is a large dose of reality.  Before continuing, please know while this is a happy story it does have a depressing context and ending.  If you do not want a slice of anguish to ruin your Christmas palate then please stop reading.  My favorite holiday story takes place on December 25^th, 1914 and is called the Christmas Truce. 

In case you do not have a grasp of dates, this story takes place on the Western Front during World War One (told you this would ruin your day so stop complaining).  British troops along the front were removing the bodies of their comrades who had fallen during the month long Battle of Ypres in Belgium.  This was the largest battle the British army had engaged in since the war began in August and was an utter disaster.  British soldiers were senselessly mowed down because of their commander’s lack of understanding of modern warfare or how to change tactics which clearly were not working.  The bravery and the tenacity of soldiers left a large impression on the German army and one commander famously commented, “never have I seen such lions led by such lambs”. 

Every major power fighting this war promised their citizens the troops would be home by Christmas.  After five months of brutal fighting there were eight millions casualties and an entire front where the armies measured advancements by feet instead of miles; no one was going to be home for Christmas.  British soldiers had these thoughts in the back of their minds on this Christmas day when they were locating the remains of their fallen brethren.  It was during this time they heard something which was not gun fire or artillery shells flying through the air.  They heard their counterparts on the German side singing “Stille Nacht” (Silent Night).  German soldiers as homesick and battle weary as the British were celebrating Christmas the only way they could with the only family they had.  In a well defined military manner the British responded in kind, by singing O’ Come All Ye Faithful.  A dare by the Germans for a British soldier to brave No Man’s Land to trade a bottle of wine for a big cake led to a truce along the lines for the duration of Christmas Day.

An unofficial truce began taking place among the line troops and mid-level officers on both sides.  These were soldiers who had been trying to wipe each other out for months and all of a sudden they were shaking hands and wishing each other a Merry Christmas.  Troopers were trading items both sides needed such as cigarettes, coffee, and other food items.  There are several accounts of British and German soldiers swapping stories (mostly personal stories about families) and conversing as if they had known each other for years.  Several impromptu soccer matches sprung up even with a lack of basic equipment, like soccer balls.  Empty corn beef cans for balls and spiked German helmets for goal posts would be used in small games but there was one professional match which would put them all to shame and provide some extra flair for this historical footnote.  A soldier appeared out of nowhere with a real soccer ball and a match between an elite German unit and some Scottish soldiers took place with officials keeping the game civil. Should be noted the Scots were playing in Tartan Kilts.  The Germans found this amusing when gusts of wind would reveal they were wearing nothing under their kilts. 

Ack! There's no shame in what God gave me ya Puritan pukes!

 

The German side of me is happy to report the Germans won that game 3-2. 

 

 

The truce would end as amiably and as suddenly as it had begun.  Commanding generals on both sides were furious when they learned of the truce and ordered an all out offensive on both sides to take place at midnight. German soldiers sent their British counterparts notes detailing that the violence was about to begin again and it was their honor to warn them of this. Alright, you have had your dessert and now it is time for the damn veggies.

Problem? Didn't think so.

 

The Germans and the British share a common ancestry and were not historical enemies which is why they could share Christmas together, for the most part.  The truce was not universal even among those lines.  A Scottish regiment warned German troops they would be shot if they crossed the lines.  A truce did not break out on the French lines because of their history and the slight fact one-third of France was under German occupation.  There was no truce of any kind on the Eastern Front because the Russians were constantly being rolled back, also they do not celebrate Christmas until January 7^th (in Soviet Russia, Christmas celebrates you!).  One Austrian corporal who would later author Mein Kempf was quoted as saying, “Have you Germans no sense of honor left at all”?

The truce would last for one day and would never happen again.  Fraternization among the lines was never supposed to happen and the military leaders on all sides would see to that.  This is why major military offensives during that war would take place around winter time, so the soldiers would not have a chance to think about crossing the lines.  Many of the accounts of this truce were written by soldiers who would never make it home and would never celebrate another Christmas again.  What is the point of this you must be asking now?  If it was your intention to ruin my Christmas then mission accomplished jack-hole! 

 

More soldiers were killed in this war than the previous three hundred years of European wars combined.  This is was one of the first instances in modern history where people actively believed we were living in the end of days.  During this blackness and unspeakable violence, there was one moment of light.  Soldiers on both sides who simply wanted a reprieve from this evil were willing to break bread with their enemies over a common cultural belief. British and German soldiers understood they had more in common with each other than the leaders of their nations who had thrown them into a fight they could not understand or adapt to.  This one small, bright, moment in one of the darkest periods of modern history proves we have more in common with each other than with the leaders who represent us or we ourselves would like to admit.  I think about this and hope I can be as humane as possible to my fellow man.  Merry Christmas. 

SEX!!

Now that I have your attention let us talk about…okay sex.  Specifically, sex scandals.  This is a fascinating topic because it is the only legal way left to kill a king. Don’t believe me?  Think about every politician from the last fifty years who resigned from office (Nixon don’t count) and if you can name one which was not the result of a sex scandal then you get a cookie.  Anyone?  I’m sure there are a few who have resigned because of corruption or fraud but they are not the ones you remember.  Embezzling money from public funds is not as sexy as getting caught accidently tweeting a picture of your junk to all of your followers.  This has become the biggest breach of ethics for a politician to commit, but why?  No politician was forced to resign over the collapse of the economy in 2008 or for voting for the resolution to invade Iraq in 2003 by using misleading and false intelligence (Oh burn! What a timely joke). 

 In a recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, Bill’s mid show guest was former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner aka Carlos Danger.  They of course mentioned his sex scandal, resignation from office, and his losing bid for Mayor of New York City.  Bill made a point how sex scandals should not be an issue and we should not be focusing on politicians personal lives.  Bill then mentioned how we keep losing smart politicians to scandals and a few politicians he mentioned were Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Eliot Spitzer.  Let’s pump the brakes for a second because I have a thought.  Maybe politicians step away from office for various criminal and immoral reasons but the scandal is the smokescreen designed to fool us.  To turn the tables and ridicule us for judging them.  Let’s unzip this and get to the meat of…what did I just say?  I will try again and look at the recent examples I mentioned earlier to show why the problem is not always sex.  I will grab this by the haunches and get to the bottom of…sigh.  I guess Freud was right. 

 I am going to quickly get rid of the old dogs mentioned earlier; Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy.  Obviously, Prez Billy Jeff did not resign from office but the fallout from his affair with a White House intern effectively destroyed whatever political clout he had left in his second term.  Putting this in perspective, Clinton was overwhelmingly voted into office and the Democratic Party was in control of both houses of Congress.  Fast forward to 1996, the Republicans are in control of Congress and Bill Clinton became the first president to undergo impeachment proceedings since Andrew Johnson.  At this point, Bill Clinton must be pissed the TV show Scandal is not based on a true story.  Ted Kennedy was also mentioned on Real Time but he clearly stayed in office till his death in 2009.  Teddy was described as forever acting like a drunken frat boy and is probably the reason why he was unable to run for President in 1972 and 1976 because his personal life would kill any chance.  I respectfully disagree with this and all I have to say is Chappaquidick. ‘Nuff said.

 Arguably the two biggest political sex scandals of the last decade involved former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner.  Mark Sandford would have made the cut if it was not for the fact he was legitimately in love with his mistress, married her, and won a seat in the congressional district where his political career began.  Mark’s hike off the beaten path actually worked in his favor and is living proof that sex alone is not always the real scandal.  

How about we start with age before beauty (which is which in this scenario?) and talk about the “luv guv”, Eliot Spitzer.  A highly popular New York state Attorney General, Governor, and widely expected to be one of the ranking contenders for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2008.  At least he was until his unusual banking habits led federal law enforcement to his rabbit hole.  Spitzer’s activities led to his indictment and the indictment of several employees of the Emperor’s Club in New York City.  The Emperor’s Club was considered by many to be the highest paid escort service in the world and catered to the most influential people in entertainment, industry, sports, politics, and even royalty.  Spitzer was known as Client #9 in the account book of the service and you know others were named as well.  Think about it, he inadvertently brought down this escort service and simultaneously pissed off the most powerful people in the world.  Spitzer bumble scooted his way into enforcing law without order. 

Finally, let me say a few things about former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner and his alter ego, Carlos Danger. 

The name's Dangah. Carlosh Dangah.

 

There has been a millenniums worth of blogs, articles, and tweets about the adventures of Carlos Danger and the Lost House Seat.  His indiscretions have been covered from every angle on every news and entertainment show in this hemisphere.  You can read his texts to certain women while he was in office and running for mayor of New York City at your own leisure.  Personally, I find them strange and confusing which means they are the hottest things I have ever read. 

Whoops! My shirt fell off.

 

As amusing as those stories were it is now time to explain why everyone who believes sex was the primary factor was wrong.  Bill Clinton’s fall from grace and impeachment proceedings was because he lied under oath to a congressional committee.  We can argue all day if this is the business Congress should be involved in (Nope. Not even a little bit) but this is the fun of politics.  They can determine what they investigate and waste time on.  Teddy had a party boy reputation which would not have slowed him down if he had run for president.  The Chappaquidick event by itself would not have slowed him down but both his reputation and the scandal were a fatal stumbling block.  The American people were willing to accept Jack Kennedy’s shenanigans because he represented a new youthful generation and he was a genuine war hero.  Robert Kennedy was a war hero as well and had a stellar reputation.  What this means is that the people would not have accepted a younger Kennedy brother who had not proven himself at anything except being a Kennedy and a human distillery. 

You cannot talk about the rise and fall of Eliot Spitzer without mentioned the elephant in the room; prostitution.  It does not matter what your opinion is on the subject.  Does not matter if you think it should be illegal for moral or ethical reasons.  Does not matter if you think it should be legal because it is a matter between two consenting adults or regulation will make the business safer.  The only fact that matters is that currently, it is illegal.  Also, Sptizer is a hypocrite and terrible with finances.  Spitzer made the push from Attorney General to Governor because of a high profile bust on a different New York escort service that he led and vigorously prosecuted.  What got him caught with his hand in the honey pot (I can’t stop at this point can I?) was a $15,000 withdrawal from his bank account to pay for a weekend with an escort which was a violation of the Banking Secrecy Act.  The financial watchdog of New York got caught making a stupid financial transaction.  How many lives and careers did he destroy to become governor and why are we to blame because he got caught doing the same thing? 

As for Anthony Weiner, he did one thing wrong and it was not sending pictures of his genitals to random women.  Let me explain.  He did not have sex with any of these women and never cheated on his wife (that we know of).  This situation is embarrassing and disgraceful for a Congressman and that was it.  This situation did prove one thing, Anthony Weiner is a coward.  He did nothing which required him to step down from office.  He played the same old game where you step down, beg for forgiveness, and then resurrect your character and career.  Shockingly, it did not work.  He left office because it was easy.  Out of office he began blaming the public for thinking about his personal life and tried to guilt New Yorkers into making him mayor of New York City but they saw through his arrogance and he lost.  For that, he is a coward who showed his true colors. 

If you did not know any of the information above other than boys will be boys, do not feel bad.  No one ever remembers anything beyond the headlines and people love a good sex scandal.  Hell, I could not even get past the second paragraph without devolving into a drooling monkey.  When a story like this breaks our minds immediately go to the juicy parts, the media plays on it, and scandalized politicians try to play it to their advantage.  Keep your minds open next time and see what they are really being chastised for and I guarantee it is not always who they are boffing on the side.  If you will excuse me, I am going to put my shirt back on and get some real work done.  

Common Notions

I have been reading ancient philosophy the last few days because I have that kind of time.  What sparked this personal revival, if you will, was a past discussion I had with a professor of mine in graduate school.  The chair of the department would teach a course in the summer titled, Advanced Research and Statistics.  The purpose was to make students better researchers and how to use a statistics program.  One of the course readings was, “The Philosophy of Research”.  The purpose of the reading was to show how the rational investigation of questions about existence, knowledge, and ethics is essential to research regardless of the topic.  Hang on; I’m coming to my first point. 

The discussion with the chair involved the writings of Plato.  He theorized that Plato had proven the existence of God over two thousand years ago.  Plato accomplished this through logical reasoning.  No fancy mysticism or prophecy, just logical reasoning.  Plato was able to logically prove the existence of God by asking himself two questions.  Just two questions and some down home logic.  Plato began by asking himself:

1.       Is there a God?

A perfectly sane and logical question.  I am going out on a limb and stating that every person who has ever existed has questioned the existence of God or of some divine creator.  We would not be human if we did not ask this question at least once.  Plato followed up with his second question:

2.       Am I God?

He began his reasoning with the idea that if you have to ask then you cannot afford it.  If you are questioning your own divinity then you are probably not a God.  Plato reasoned that because he is able to ask these questions and think on these matters, then he must be part of an imperfect situation.  If there is an imperfect situation then, logically, there must be a perfect situation and if there is a perfect situation then there must be a perfect being.  Guess who Plato theorized was the perfect being? 

The remembrance of this discussion got my creative juices flowing and I decided to re-familiarize myself with the classics.  Eventually, I stumbled onto Euclid’s Elements.  Euclid was a Greek mathematician from around 300 B.C. and his book details early mathematic principles and axioms (yes, ladies I am single).  His works are still used today because we still hold them to be true.  The first book of Euclid’s Elements is titled Common Notions and one of these notions set off a mind grenade in my brain.  Common notion one states, “Things which equal the same thing also equal one another”.  By now it should be obvious what I am really talking about.  Yup, gay marriage.  Ha!  Didn’t see that coming did you?!

I will make this quick and I will not be too preachy.  There is a raging debate going on in the U.S. Supreme Court and across the nation on the topic of gay marriage.  Most people do not change their minds based solely on logic, but, I am going to lay out a logical argument without appealing to raw emotion, prejudice, or guilt. 

There is an important passage from the Declaration of Independence which is the basis of our society and legal system.  The passage states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”.  Remembering Euclid’s first common notion, let’s loop this through the current issue.  If you believe in the premise of America, that all men are created equal, then we are all deserving of equal protection under the law.  The arguments before the Supreme Court are discussing if gay marriages can be recognized under federal law which would determine tax statuses, inheritance, last wills and testament, and wealth transference.  That should be the entire argument.  No morals, religion, or family values.  If you agree that all are created equal then we are all deserving of equal protection under the law and no one idea or religion should be favored above all else.  That should solve this dilemma and should be the sole basis for any argument on the topic.  You are welcome America and where is my Nobel?