Kenneth B. Kay

A Navy veteran of the tumultuous Vietnam and Nixon years, he served his country from inside that chaotic White House. I cannot sing his praises enough! As a writer and a brother, a mentor and a friend, this man has had a life-long effect on me and so many others. Enjoy the spell he weaves with his mastery of prose and attention to detail that only his style surpasses.

MY RANT

Kenneth Kay

08/13/02

Ok boys and girls, fasten your seat belts, put your seats and tray tables in the full upright position, and get ready. I am going to try my hand at this “rant” business.

First a few ground rules: Number one – I don’t really care whether or not you agree with me. This is purely an exercise of self-gratification. My sole objective is to let my hair down (what little is left) and get some things off my chest. Number two – If you are easily offended by strong language and raw imagery, do yourself a favor and read no further. And finally, if you are offended by anything I say here, tough; it is your problem not mine. With all that having been said, lets get to it.

I firmly believe that I, nor anyone else for that matter, was put on this earth to kiss ass or lick boots. Conversely we were not put here to have our asses kissed or our boots licked by our contemporaries. I feel the same way about being fed a line of crap or having a load of sunshine pumped up my skirt. These last two activities always seem to precede the first two and are therefore I believe used in preparation for them by the perverted few among us who get off on forcing their opinions on the rest of us.

This concept of “world citizenship” is one of the biggest lines of crap I have seen come down the pike in my lifetime. As far as I can tell it is a PR attempt on the part of our misguided liberal European brothers (among others) to shame us United States citizens into the abandonment of the basic principles and precepts this nation was founded on. We are asked to believe that our supposed responsibilities to the “community of nations” some how supercede those to our nation of birth.

Will some one please tell me why in Heaven’s Name I as an American should care one iota about the opinions or seek the approval of a collective populace that twice in less than thirty years kissed, licked and appeased their way into two major worldwide conflicts dragging the rest of humanity with them? Lets not even mention the pure agony they directly forced on uncounted millions through their imperialism and national greed in the preceding centuries that directly set conditions that resulted in these conflicts as well as led to the cold war. I claim the right to be skeptical of this load of sunshine by virtue of the American blood, sweat, and tears that were expended in rectifying these conflicts.

In this “World” I am supposed to be a citizen of who or what entity do I look to that will define the benefits and responsibilities I receive from, and owe to them or it? Show me a Constitution, Bill of Rights, or Declaration of Independence and not a line of crap! You can call my attitude arrogance, isolationism, or any other stupid uncomplimentary adjective you will. Common sense has often been so maligned by those who do not posses it or fear its power.

Leadership; and especially political leadership, is and should be viewed as a form of servitude. This principle was well understood by the Founding Fathers and is no small part of the genius of the political system they devised. The idea of political leaders with specific real powers granted them by the people they govern but at the same time held truly accountable by those same people through a specified scheduled voting process codified in set laws is at least a radical if not difficult to grasp idea. It really sends shivers down the spine of would-be dictators and those who “build constituencies “.

Am I saying America is politically perfect? Of course not! But what exactly is “perfect”? We are imperfect creatures in an imperfect world struggling to attain a perfection we cannot even define much less understand. Does this excuse us from making the effort to effectively govern ourselves anyway? Absolutely not! We are both compelled and constrained by our humanity in our efforts to govern ourselves.

What I am saying is that so far in recorded history ass kissing and boot licking have proven at best to be remarkably ineffective. Why not try a little political activism for the correct motives and use the system our forefathers designed to meet our challenges rather than to tinker with it and thus weaken and dismantle it.

There is no doubt that our native peoples and those who came to these shores against their will have endured shoddy and shameful treatment. We have as a nation fully recognized these problems and have addressed them as best we can while maintaining our basic principles. No other political system on Earth protects the rights of its minorities to the extent that ours does. It effectively does this by granting them the full rights of citizenship as defined by the afore-mentioned documents. How they choose to use and maintain those rights is up to them as it is for all our citizens. That is as close to “fair” as it gets folks.

There is no justification for slavery but it can come in several forms some of which are voluntary or at least accomplished through use of trickery or subterfuge on the victims. To avoid being such a victim requires constant vigilance and awareness of daily events and their impacts. And while we are on the subject of slavery lets clear some more air.

I certainly hope that my fellow black citizens are astute enough to know when they are being feed a line of crap or having a load of sunshine pumped up their skirt no matter whether the hand holding the other end of the spoon or working the pump handle is white or black. This “reparations” line of crap should be seen for what it is – a demeaning insult to a proud and noble people. You have already received meaningful reparations in the form of your title as citizen.

If you think that that is not enough then I propose you take this little mental exercise. Imagine yourself back in Mother Africa. Strap on a loincloth, pick up your set of primitive weapons and tools, start dodging the local wildlife and AIDS, and try to eke out an existence for yourself and your family on less than a dollar a day all under the benevolent guidance of this month’s neurotic dictator. That should sharpen your perspective a bit. Those who have gone before you have left you a priceless legacy. I beg you don’t cheapen it by trading it for a fist full of smoke. ‘Nuff said.

Now to this phony contrived controversy about religion in government, I think the true objective of the spoon and pump handle brigade is to remove or cripple spirituality in the governing process. Spirituality is not religion but an element in the nature of man and as such should be an important and essential part of the practice of religion and I might add in wielding political power fairly and correctly.

Organized religion in its many forms is a human invention the initial purpose of which was to establish ground rules for formulating man’s relationship to God. It was intended to first make men aware of the spiritual aspect of their natures and then provide an atmosphere for their spirituality and other more positive aspects of their characters to be developed and to grow. As with all human institutions religion has been used in a perverted, warped and bent way to serve the selfish purposes of the few among us who seek and then misuse power.

Apologists may say that their intentions may have been good at the start but we all know that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Trying to deny God’s role in the earthly affairs of man is worse than stupid. It is like telling the landlord you aren’t going to pay rent anymore.

I am about done now so you can start drawing your own conclusions on the validity of my rant. As you may have gathered, I have a strong aversion to kissing ass and licking boots. I came by it honestly.

My father was 1/32 Creek Indian. His facial features and complexion weathered by years of work outside showed it. One night in the company of a young lady he was dating at the time he was accosted on a lonely country road by two carloads of White Knights of the KKK. A brother of the young lady was among them. My father took his stand in front of his cars headlights with a .38 pistol in one hand and a .32 pistol in the other and calmly asked the “gentlemen” who wanted to die first. After some half-hearted verbal insults, which my father laughed at, they departed and my father took the young lady home without further incident.

He lived well into his 70s and though I saw him cry at times I never knew him to demean himself to another human being by kissing their ass or licking their boots literally or physically. He gave respect to those who earned it and courtesy to all even if they did not deserve it or respond in kind. I aspire to honor his memory in kind to the best of my ability. He deserves no less.

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Ken’s Page Archives

Negro Mattie – “Perhaps the greatest testament to Mattie’s capacity to love was the fact that we were not the only white family to pass by her casket with tears in our eyes.”

Doc – “To say our family respected and trusted our family doctor is an understatement.”

Little Sisters - “I was her foil and scapegoat . . .”