Saturday, August 15, 2015

“The Bishop is Crossing aka We Don't Need Another Hero: Why Movement Politics Are Best When Leadership Is Decentralized”


Tina Turner' Classic "We Don't Need Another Hero" 


When we teach our children history we tend to center pivotal moments in time around strong historical figures. Names like Lincoln, King, Roosevelt, even Adolf Hitler are credited with shifting events and shaping history as if these people existed in a vacuum.

The "Great Man" theory permeates our culture. This dishonest, dangerous and lazy method of teaching of history has stagnated human evolution. Conventional history is coupled with Abrahamic dogma which has given mankind a a "savior" complex. Traditionally we wait and sometimes suffer until a “leader” comes along that will inspire us to act in our own best interests. But he or she never does and the people collectively take matters into their own hands.

Every so often the people awaken from their slumber and remember that the Man or the woman doesn't make the movement but it is actually the reverse. The people produce the right person for the times always.
It doesn’t take everyone, not even a majority of the populace. History tells us 20 to 30 percent of a strong dedicated member of a population can change a society. When enough people wake up they will inspire the fearful and apathetic into action. I believe we are witnessing another "great awakening" and the establishment is both scared to death and fascinated at the same time.

If you kill the black lion then Voltron cannot be formed...

The modern movements of today are organic & decentralized which in my opinion is a great thing. In the past the “enemy” has been able to stop civil rights or economic justice movements by directly attacking the leadership of said movements. They have successfully been able to kill off our leaders and subsequently the movements either died or went underground.

A leader or figure head is extremely vulnerable, They can be destroyed, marginalized, corrupted or discredited. For this specific reason the #BlackLivesMatter movement and before them the #Occupy movement was structured around no real central leadership. However this does not mean an absence of any leadership or organization nor are they devoid of a clear and concise position.

The danger of course is the potential for outside agitation is increased and opportunists may use the mantle for their own personal glory. There is also something to be said for large coordinated efforts and a clearly defined hierarchy that would make negotiation with political leaders easier.



So the tension is what do we do? Find a leader or continue with this new "insurgent activism" approach?

Men & Women of integrity are few and far between so picking a leader may be problematic. In addition celebrity is a drug. Many people enter into the public sphere with perfectly good intentions but the allure of the cameras is intoxicating and eventually personal status at times leads to compromises of core principles. With that said however at this point and time it isn't necessary for a "Moses to lead us to the promise land".
Continuing the analogy we all know way to “The Land of Milk and Honey”. Our problem is we are really just afraid to go, we know all too well the path to victory but we also know it isn’t necessary assured or achievable without personal pain and sacrifice. So we wait for “that” person to come along and say “It will be okay, I know the best and safest path”. Essentially to quote John Mayer: “We’re waiting for the world to change.” The world won’t change until we the people change it.


The "new way" is the best approach.

The enemy is too large, too entrenched, and too powerful. They have all if the resources; control of the mainstream media therefore the ability to shape the debate. Control of the judicial system; they have bought and paid for politicians who write the rules in the oligarchs favor. But most important of all “might makes right”; They control the police and military; this enables them to take out any infrastructure or institution they want to. They have a weakness however; they can't hit what they can't target...


They can't squash what they can't catch.

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Friday, August 7, 2015

The Bishop Is Crossing.. aka The Hunger Games have begun but who is on the menu?: Time to get money out of politics


Record numbers of American tuned into the GOP Fox News Debate so now the election silly season has officially begun. Watching the “debate” which was really an exercise in “soundbite-chasing” or “viral-whoring”, meanwhile true issues facing the nation were not addressed in any substantial manner.

The political discourse in this country is more and more becoming some sort of a dog and pony show and less of an exchange of ideas. Of course the start of the night was the ultimate celebrity whore Mr. Donald Trump.
Donald is leading in the polls and it is reported by several media outlets that he won the debate. And the reason he is doing so well is because the American people know that the politicians are bought and paid for and thus beholden to special interest groups.  “The Donald” despite his faults is for the most part his own man.

The truth came out when Trump went on his egotistical rant about how when he pays people they do what he says. Furthermore he admitted to giving large sums of money to virtually every one of his opponents who shared the stage with him. The highlight for me was when Ohio Governor John Kasich said: “Not me but I would like some!”. This is the state of affairs in our nation we no longer have a democracy we have something close to feudalism. The culture of “political brotheltry” on both sides of the isle leads to the political debate being restricted to the margins while basic foundation of our way of life is ready to collapse.

With so many pressing issues in our nation where do we begin?
There is no shortage of crises or looming questions that desperately needs our attention. But for many Americans it is hard to choose which is more prominent. Is it climate change? The high levels of carbon emissions threaten human kind’s very existence. Should the electorate’s number one question be how do we adapt? I would say that is probably for me at the top of the list.

What about police overreach and brutality? For my people police terror goes back to the slave patrols and fugitive slave act. The GOP debate gave only passing mention to the #BlackLivesMatter: movement. The was an interesting exchange between Chris Christie and Rand Paul on civil liberties and The 4th Amendment, but of course it was framed in the context of fighting “terrorism” when average Americans of all races are living daily with 4th and 5th Amendment violations.

What about jobs and income inequality? Our economy is in desperate need of restructuring due in part to globalization, technological advances and several other factors.

The remedies for all of these issues require political courage and statesmanship that is virtually absent in both the two major parties. Real substantive change in fact is if not impossible, it is highly improbable due the increasingly common practice of corporate capture of regulatory agencies and of course the influence of “moneyed” interests on candidates both Democratic and Republican.

It’s time to #MoveToAmend:

So the number one issue facing the United States and by extension the world is money in politics. If the GOP did nothing else it did highlight inadvertently the problem. You have 17 people running for a position that all but maybe 3 have no chance of winning or have the qualifications. The only reason they can participate is they have the money or the connections to the money to essentially “pay to play”.

The solution is simple folks, we need real campaign finance reform and ultimately publicly funded elections. It will take a constitutional amendment to do it too. Due to the nature of the Supreme Court and congress’s inability or unwillingness to reign the court in the only option we have is an amendment that says two things. First “corporations are not people” and secondly “money is not speech it is property”.
        

How did we get here??

Saturday, August 1, 2015

"The Bishop Is Crossing.. aka The Bull Moose Verses The Lion: What If Black Lives Mattered as much to Liberals as Cecil the Lion?"

It is time for the white liberal progressive establishment to embrace the #BlackLivesMatter Movement or the progressive agenda and America will be no more..

My favorite President and arguably the founder of the Progressive Party Theodore Roosevelt did a lot of great things that helped create the lifestyle in America we take for granted. He spoke of economic equality worker rights, a living wage, universal healthcare, old age and poverty insurance, etc. Roosevelt’s “Square Deal” Programs brought to a newly industrialized nation, things like food and worker safety, health standards, sanitation, curtailing the rise corporate oligarchy by proposing and ultimately getting congress to pass anti-trust legislation and banking reforms.

Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican at a time when Republicans understood the tension between the ownership class and the labor class, and regulations on business are essential to keeping the “playing field” level for the average working citizen and protect the public sphere. When his party moved “to the right” and began to favor the wealthy over the average person Teddy left his party. He started the “Bull Moose Progressive Party” and ran for a third term as President after he left office. Teddy ultimately lost his bid for The White House but he changed the political landscape for the next 100 years or more. Progressive members of the GOP left and found a home amongst the Democratic Party.

Roosevelt was also a celebrated "Big Game Hunter", America and the world marveled at the former President's safaris. The Museum of National History here in New York still has the spoils of T.R.'s “great hunts” as part of the Theodore Roosevelt exhibition. Yes Teddy was “a man’s man” and was for the common man despite being a member himself of the upper class of society. For of all of Teddy Roosevelt’s greatness he was a racist, but at that time in the early 1900s most Americans were racists. Today it seems that America is no longer accepting of hunting for sport. It is okay to hunt if we plan to eat our catch apparently, and the death of animals at the hands of factory farming is also okay. When animals are born and then grown only for consumption never having much of a life it is just fine for us but big game hunting is considered something we have "evolved" from not something civilized people do. The entire thing to me is hypocritical and I am a proud lover over red meat and chicken, however if I had to actually kill and skin for my dinner I know I would probably switch to fruits and berries very quick.

 Why doesn't Sandy matter as much as Cecil??

The outrage from all spectrums is absolutely an exercise in hypocrisy not just because most of Americans eat meat but because in the wake of the weekly, almost daily news stories of police brutality and deaths of unarmed citizens you would think the same people calling for the humane treatment of animals would also call for the humane treatment of well “humans”

To read the rest please log on to TheBishopIsCrossing.com

The Bishop Is Crossing aka "The Silent Majority: Where are the "Good Cops"?"

If not all cops are bad why are they not calling for a house cleaning of their departments?


When President Richard Nixon coined the phrase the "silent majority" he was at the time referring to what he believed was the true political "center" of this nation, which was of course "conservative"

At the time he believed that "America" was tired of of all the protesting,  "riots" and political bickering about racial discrimination or the war in Vietnam. Nixon felt the majority of America's citizens were "silent", they simply wanted to be able to to work and raise their families and live out the American dream.

Nixon's critique of America was not only wrong, but he was being extremely disingenuous. Nixon used this perceived mandate to focus on "law and order" and this is when in many minds the law enforcement industry shifted from being a part of the community to being some sort of "sentinel" or "centurion over-lord" who oversees the community. For the African American communities especially in the south this was always the case..

Nixon aka "Mr. I am not a crook" was "the law and order" President and for all his faults his term "the silent majority" was a great catch phrase, and is still used by conservatives to this day. Maybe not always in those words but when politicians and pundits say things "most people just want to work and take care of their families etc. that is the meme they are referring to Nixon's silent majority. What these folk are really saying is that the majority of Americans live in apathy, and we should let them live in peaceful obliviousness.

Today we have a new silent majority the so called "Good Cop". I have my entire life said and believe that there are no good cops; there is no such thing in my opinion. My position is "politically incorrect" I know, I have been called short-sided, ignorant, prejudice etc. Some people would say that grouping all officers together is the same as when racist say all black people are criminals. (The fallacy of that analogy shows the depths of people’s apathy)...

To read the rest log on to TheBishopIsCrossing.com

I'm Back !!!

It has been over 4 years since I blogged. I have been considerably busy and frankly the rise of Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram has allowed "micro-blogging" to takeover my my literary venting.. With that said I'm back! However with a small caveat  this is my unofficial blog my official blog is www.TheBishopIsCrossing.com . There I will "Cross" weekly sometimes twice a week but daily you will find news, new music from major talent as well as independent artists and our events. I put a great team together and we will begin to do some good things. to my former regular readers I am sorry I been away for so long but I am back..

peace - J-Didda