Common Sense	Common Sense Archive

What is the state of our union? Which union? Union is a word with numerous definitions. The union -- as in E pluribus unum -- is so vast and so full of so many different peoples. I grew up in Ohio, but live in Boston. My friends here in the East often confuse Ohio with Iowa; in fact, just the other day, on a well-known national public communications channel, one bloviating gasbag, while addressing recent political events in Iowa, referred to that state in the union as "Ohio." I've always regretted that they no longer teach geography, grammar, rhetoric, or good manners in the public schools.

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Some of them may be overlooked or unattended, but the union has many facets. The political side is a matter of daily commentary. The current administration -- while it lasts -- seems to have done its best to ruin everything it touches: the union's international rep, the economy, the Constitution, even its own political party. For nearly eight years, what's left of the citizenry seems lobotomized. It started back with RayGun, of course, the cascade of lies pitched as the real thing, on and on, and the volk got schnookered.

The economy? Same story. Thirty years of lies and dereg and fucking over everyone but the top tier of the strata. The popular culture of the union? Same old same old, just uglier and louder. The pornography has gotten better, but I doubt our union's President will note such a development in his speech before the assembled Congress (and others).

I was just on the horn with my friend Bill, a gent about my age, who wants the gay world to be infused with the spirit of the times when we both came to the barricades. Bill made it clear he is not happy with the state of the gay union, or, I suppose, the GLBTQ union, or is it the LGBTQ union? (Any more letters on that Scrabble rack and it'll wind up looking like the top line of your computer's keyboard! Or a program out of the New Deal on acid!)

Anyway, Bill hasn't taken well to the drift of events on our union -- same-sex marriage, gays in the military, the usual litany. I was sympathetic. But this is where it's at -- as some used to say in the 1960s. It all makes you wonder. The assault of celebrity and stupidity can turn any discourse fetid, a long tradition in our union. And so designed.

These things come and go. Too bad we only have one lifetime to live; it might be fun to hang around another lifetime or two to see when it goes. Of course, by that time, the poor planet will be so awash in plastic trash -- water and soda bottles doomed to outlast the fabulous human race -- it might not be very interesting. The big brain and the opposable thumb -- many millennia on the long trek of what is quaintly called natural selection -- lets us pop the tops of beer cans, open the soda bottles, and thenƒ?

In this time when narcolepsy seems to be the central theme, where can we go for rejuvenation? The various regimens change from decade to decade. Was it true that Somerset Maugham, as well as others, back in the 1930s had goats' glands implanted into his body to reinvigorate his sexual prowess, so he could make it with his various boyfriends? Poor goats. Slaughtered to give old Maugham another chance. Now there are the various pills for the gentlemen who want to be goats. Billions of dollars spent to make the cock hard. Get the blood flowing. Move that sperm.

Think of Hugh Hefner, our buddy, clad in his informal attire, still at it after all these years, his daughter running the media empire, a great family story in the union. There's Hugh pushing the bosoms and gash, in a wholesome and All-American way. I've never understood the sexual longings of my straight brethren, but, at that time, I guess Hef had it all to himself. But then the union changed. I recall Gore Vidal's comment when Viva first arrived on the publishing scene (Viva was a rag aimed at the ladies featuring lots of men and their stuff). Gore: "Women haven't had the opportunity to see a lot of cock. They're going to see a lot of cock now." And have for 35 years. The hard state of the union.

Has the union got better in our lifetimes? Yes and no. My friend Bill should be more compassionate about the same-sex marriage issue and about gays-in-the military. Fact is: these demands have been kicking around since the '60s and '70s. These are simple equity issues and the couples can come to union and the folks in the military will, soon, I presume, with a new head of the union, not be drummed out of their selected career. But amidst the general decay, such victories seem small stuff. All of which makes our state of the union seem somewhat tired.

Author Profile:  Mitzel
	Mitzel was a founding member of the Fag Rag collective, and has been a Guide columnist since 1986. He manages Calamus Books near Boston's South Station.
	Email:	mitzel@calamusbooks.com
	Website:	calamusbooks.com