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America’s Chance To Shine Fizzles Out
By Michael Boyajian
America had a chance to shine recently. It had an opportunity to show the world everything we were supposed to stand for in the land of the red, white and blue with the beacon of the Statue of Liberty shining so brightly for the sake of freedom.
Privatizing Social Security Is Pure Nonsense
By Michael Boyajian
The Republicans’ plan to privatize social security has raised its ugly head again only this time voters know it’s a stinker of an idea. If social security had been privatized during the Bush Administration then many of our seniors would be out on the street because the financial meltdown would have erased most of their investment in an instant.
The President Stands For the Mosque
By Michael Boyajian
The President of the United States, the leader of the free world, Barack Obama, has weighed in on the building of the mosque in lower Manhattan and rather than blowing in the wind with the opinion polls he made a firm stand in support of the mosque and American Muslims wishing to practice their religion in peace. His command of the bully pulpit was reminiscent of another strong leader, Theodore Roosevelt.
India
By Michael Boyajian
I remember in the early 1980s when the Psychedelic Furs landed in the U.S. with their big hit India. That song, that musical arrangement hypnotized me and carried me away to that far off country.
Then there was the photograph in the New York Times Book Review a couple of years ago of Alan Ginsberg feeding a monkey on the balcony of his home in India. The hazy luminosity of the light made you feel that it was the early morning of what would be a very hot day.
The Sailor Who Kissed The Nurse
By Michael Boyajian
The New York Times today had a story about the iconic photograph of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square at the moment World War II ended. This picture symbolized that generation’s journey from the Great Depression to ultimate victory over Fascism. A moment of instant joy, relief and triumph.
This leads to a question when does my generation, the Baby Boomers, have their moment of joy, relief and triumph? When do we get to kiss the nurse? Is it not enough that we have fought wars on and off for 60 years, landed a man on the moon, revolutionized American society with the Woodstock festival, launched the ages of the PC, Internet and Cell Phone, brought a criminal president to his knees while elevating another, an African American, into that white house?
Not A Book In The House But A Rifle By The Door: Voter Trauma In Fishkill
By Michael Boyajian
I recently went door to door in Fishkill with New York State senate candidate Didi Barrett and listened and made observations as she spoke to a diverse group of voters in one neighborhood. First of all we visited voters of all enrollments but the nicest person was a Democratic woman who loved cats. She smiled attentively and asked good questions of Didi as three kittens played around her feet. Didi in the end told her she had some beautiful kittens and she smiled and said thanks pledging to vote for Didi.
Islam Not A Religion of Hate
By Michael Boyajian
Many Americans today feel Islam is a religion of hate. This is due to 9-11, our war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the Iraq war itself. Some Americans have become so frenzied in their false beliefs that they are against the building of mosques in their communities. This is sheer madness and in part due to the fear induced by opportunistic politicians.
Xenophobia: Human Nature or Character Flaw
By Michael Boyajian
Matt Bai in a New York Times Op-Ed piece makes the claim that anti-immigrant fervor is not an American character flaw attributing it instead to human nature. Well, we Americans are supposed to stand above human nature so this xenophobia of late is indeed a character flaw in many but not all Americans.
The American Brain Drain
By Michael Boyajian
Bob Herbert writing in the New York Times reports that America is suffering from declining academic excellence among other things falling to 12th of 36 nations with people having college degrees.
This my friends is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s more than Americans idly sitting in front of their TVs watching reality television while munching on a bag of potato chips without a book in the house. The real problem is the reverse brain drain that will relegate the country to Third World status.
GOP Civil War Brewing in Fishkill
By Michael Boyajian
It may not match the GOP battles between Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki where the two goliaths battled for top billing in the Empire State for years letting nothing get in their way including 9-11 but with all the troubles in Fishkill of late this battle between the Town Supervisor and the Village Mayor could have repercussions across the state with a new GOP guard’s ascent to power.