Roseanne Reviews N

 This is a set of reviews of Roseanne episodes. My general thoughts about that show are here. I will focus only on the political aspects and will mention what percent of lines spoken by non-family members are spoken by people of color.

“Santa Claus” Episode 12, Season 4. Wikipedia summary is: “Roseanne and Jackie are the new Santa and Mrs. Claus at Rodbell's; while on duty, Roseanne meets Darlene's new friend Karen...and Karen's son. She is resentful that Darlene refused to open up to her but has shared her writing with Karen.”

Out of about 25 lines by non-family members none are by people of color.

There are two sort of political things.

1) Darlene’s grown-up friend is a Star Trek fan. Nothing is said about the politics of ST, but it IS a very political franchise, as I explain here.                             

2) Darlene comes out as an atheist.

“Bingo” Episode 13, Season 4. Wikipedia summary is: “Crystal, Roseanne, Bonnie, Anne Marie, and Jackie attend bingo for their girl's night out, while Becky and Darlene look after Little Ed. Roseanne wins a game and quickly becomes addicted, which sparks a fight with Crystal. But Crystal's real story is that she is pregnant again and already feels overwhelmed raising Little Ed and her teenage son while Ed is often away on business.”

An unpopular character makes a stupid but not really offensive comment about Indian casinos. He was acting like the idiot that he is. He’s not a role model like most characters are.

Out of about 45 lines by non-family members, about 1/4 were by a person of color.

“The Bowling Show” Episode 14, Season 4. Wikipedia summary is: “Dan and Arnie struggle to bring their bowling team out of last place, while Roseanne feels shut out of Jackie and Nancy's new friendship. Darlene meets Mark's brother, David for the first time (although he is referred to as Kevin in this episode).”

Out of about 55 lines by non-family members, about 10% are by people of color.

“Less is More” Episode 16, Season 4. Wikipedia summary is: “Roseanne's doctor recommends she get a breast reduction to reduce stress on her back. She agrees in spite of a nightmare (featuring a cameo appearance by Neil Patrick Harris as Doogie Howser, MD), in which her breasts are accidentally enlarged to gigantic proportions.

Out of about 30 lines by non-family members, about 20% are by people of color.

“Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” Episode 17, Season 4. Wikipedia summary is: “When Becky breaks up with Mark, Roseanne and Dan can finally relax.”

I think this is the first time we hear that Darelene is a vegetarian. Although I eat vegetarian and some vegan meals, I’m an omnivore and eat a fair amount of meat. For whatever it’s worth, I occasionally think of becoming a vegetarian (and if I did I wouldn’t eat eggs) but I don’t think I will and I will certainly never become a vegan. I’ve heard that there’s an environmental argument in favor of vegetables over meat because the latter requires more water to produce. I responded to that by cutting back a little on how much meat I consume and replacing it with vegetables.

Out of about 20 lines by a non-family member, none were by people of color.

Two New Poems: "Mass Incarceration" and "Iraq"

 I wrote two new poems. For more about my poetry, see this. Both of these are based on songs I don't like.

You can see all the poems by clicking on the "lyrics" label at the bottom.

“Mass Incarceration” based on “Justice” by Skrewdriver. Original lyrics are here.

1. This is about the mass incarceration of Blacks in America. It was the result of “law and order” laws like the 1994 Crime Bill and racist cops, DAs, judges, witnesses, jurors, and the poverty that prevents many black people from getting a good lawyer instead of an over-worked, underfunded public defender. I am not saying that all cops, judgers, jurors, etc. are racist, but many of them are
2. I am not a fan of the kind of gangs that are based in communities of color, but I know that in the past there was a lot of guilt-by-association involved with how law enforcement decide who to arrest. Also, in the movie “Set It Off” a working-class black bank-teller is suspected of being the inside-woman in a robbery because she sort of knows one of the robbers.
3. I think this has changed in the last 10-20 years, but for a long time crack convictions came with a longer sentence than cocaine convictions, and to a large extent cocaine was more popular with whites than blacks and crack was more popular with blacks than whites.
4. I can’t remember the figures and they varied over time, but Blacks were much more likely to be in prison than whites were. Blacks were more likely to be in prison than in college. The rate of incarceration for blacks was very high and America’s general rate of incarceration is very high compared to other countries, maybe all of them, I can’t remember.
5. 44% of this version is me, 56% is the original.

6. I give this poem 2 stars out of 5.

Their knees feel weak as they’re dragged from the court


Convicted because of with whom they consort


One by one, the judge locks them all away


Trumped up charges is the game the DA plays
 


Chorus:


Call that justice, well it just ain't fair,


How much longer before we care


Call that justice from a racist judge


The cop’s testimony was a total fudge

 

Stripped in a cell, they’re shackled in chains


Lost all their dignity, but trying to keep sane


A longer sentence if you happen to be black


their excuse is that instead of coke it was crack


(Repeat Chorus)


Call this a democracy and “the land of free”


They say there’s equality and meritocracy 


Here's the reality, a racist state


Warehousing Black people behind prison gates

**********

“Iraq” based on “They Stand Alone” by No Remorse. Original lyrics are here.

1. This is about the occupation of Iraq.
2. I think another reason for invading Iraq is that it provided multiple opportunities to give money to corporations. Besides arms contractors and those doing privatized work for the military (security, laundry, food, interrogations, etc.), corporations getting money for reconstruction spent about half of what they got doing actual reconstruction (often a contractor would keep half and give the rest to a subcontractor and sometimes THAT corporation would keep half and give the rest to another subcontractor).
3. Black gold is another term for oil.
4. There was a lot of corruption in the Iraqi government.
5. Haliburton was a company that Dick Cheney had been a leader of before he became VP. It got a lot of US Gov’t contracts to do stuff in Iraq.
6. Laos was bombed as part of the Vietnam War.
7. Although the original is supportive of the Palestinians and sometimes fascists are anti-intervention, this is basically in conflict with what the authors of the original lyrics believe because a lot of American Nazi skinheads joined the US military during the Occupation of Iraq and volunteered to go there and because I think that a lot of white supremacists and fascists in America were pro-war during the Vietnam War.
8. 59% of this version is me, and 41% is the original.

9. I give this poem 2 stars out of 5.

A tank rolls out on the sun bright sand.
Gunfire's heard in an occupied land.
People run, scared for their lives
The sounds of death, sounds of screaming wives

chorus
US Army man, you must go.
Your humvees and your CEOs
Iraqis you must make a stand.
You must work to free your land

A nation, full of black gold
In the minds of American oil companies, it’s already sold
Propped up by pillars, of corruption and graft
An occupation supported by ground attack aircraft

Millions for Haliburton, while Iraqis die.
World-wide news media frequently ask why.
Headquarters of Satan, in the Bush White House
It's an imperialist project, just like the bombing of Laos

Law and Order: SVU Reviews M

This is a set of reviews of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes. My general thoughts about that show are here. I’ll often do no more than make brief notes about an episode, although occasionally I’ll go deeper. Also, often there are dissenting main characters on almost any political issue, but you can usually tell what the general position of the show is. All the rest of the reviews are available by clicking on the l&osvu label at the bottom.

 

“The Burden of Our Choices” Season 21. Summary is here.

This is more about abortion than it is about a sex crime (in this case sexual abuse of a minor by her step-father). Until the end all of the pro-lifers are more concerned about the girl having an abortion than they are concerned about the abuse that resulted in the pregnancy. One refers to abortion as a “modern-day genocide” which should be seen as an insult to those who have seen their population almost wiped about. There’s the tiniest bit of dissent but in general the main characters are pro-choice.

One says that money is a factor, that women with money can get abortions easier than women without. And that’s true in multiple ways. First, it’s usually not a free procedure and there is great opposition among pro-lifers to using federal money to pay for abortions. Second, in many states only a minority of counties have an abortion provider and that means women have to travel, some times great distances, to get an abortion. And some states have a waiting period which means spending days in whatever city they have to travel to for the abortion. Poor women can’t afford the gas money and motel room needed.

The 13-yo rape victim (and that’s another thing, the pro-lifers in this episode are the sort who don’t make an exception for rape) tries to kill herself. In the Republic of Ireland, abortion is about 99% illegal. In the 1990s there was at least one court case that decided that if the woman is suicidal and that’s certified by two psychiatrists, she can have an abortion. In 2002 a referendum almost over-turned that by constitutional amendment but it was narrowly defeated. Although Sinn Fein was more or less pro-life, they believed in making several exceptions and the woman being suicidal was one of them and they not only called for a NO vote, they joined a coalition for that purpose with the Green Party, the Labour Party, and a feminist organization.

“At Midnight in Manhattan” Season 21. Summary is here.

A big chunk of this is about transphobia.

“Murdered at a Bad Address” Season 21. Summary is here.

This is about clearing an innocent man who spent 16 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Although it’s not clear, I think that when the detective who originally investigated and arrested the man is interviewed by SVU, he refers to the wrongly convicted as PRs and I think that means Puerto Ricans (both of them have Spanish last names). An SVU detective suggests a class and racial dimension to the original investigation, hence the episode title (they lived in the housing project the murders took place in).

The Queens Assistant DA who gets the wrongly convicted man (his alleged accomplice died shortly before SVU started investigating) out of prison is a gay man. So are/were the two wrongly convicted men and the homophobia of our society kept them from explaining that they were having sex with each other when the rape/double murder took place- they probably could have gotten out of the rape charge and therefore the murder charge as well just by telling the truth about their sexual orientation.

“Counselor, it’s Chinatown” Season 21. Summary is here.

There’s one bit that pro-immigrant. When they raid a massage parlor that involves sex-work, they offer the women working there help with immigration.


“The Longest Night of Rain” Season 21 See this for a summary.

This is about a cop who was raped by a superior in the NYPD.

Trump's Loss and COVID-19

Below is first what I submitted to CNN when they asked people to respond to Biden's win, and below that is another note about Trump and COVID-19. The first one hasn't been edited by me since I submitted it to CNN.

1. I'm really glad. I had a lot of anxiety about it, which won't completely leave until Trump either concedes or it's clear that he's isolated and alone. But Trump is worse than George W. Bush and Bush was worse than his Dad and most republicans. In addition to everything else, Trump has been a disaster in relation to the pandemic. He would actually make fun of people for wearing masks. We have suffered disproportionate to our numbers as a nation. At the end of May we had lost 100,000 people. At the same time, at that point Israel had lost just 284 people- in America, 30 times bigger, that's 8,520 people. As much as I dislike Netanyahu, if he were our President in the early months of the pandemic, we would have lost 8,520 people instead of 100,000. I'm sure something similar can be said about the time since late May. He predicted a pandemic while Trump was calling it a media hoax, he was putting his foot down about social distancing while Trump was prematurely talking about re-opening. I write at greater length about this at- https://theblackandthegreen2.blogspot.com/2020/04/trump-netanyahu-and-covid-19-coronavirus.html     But the main thing is that we had a horrible President when we needed, more than ever, a good one, and now (what will hopefully be) the final months of COVID-19 will be more bearable and less anxiety producing if we have a President who encourages mask-wearing, who doesn't seek political favors in exchange for desperately-needed medical supplies, who doesn't push us too far as far as re-opening, who will allow the scientists and doctors to develop a vaccine that is safe and effective without political interference, etc.

2. Somewhere in my COVID-19 posts I need to put something. I am a very strong believer in masks and I also respect Dr. Fauci. Trump likes to point out that in the very early weeks of COVID-19 Dr. Fauci opposed the idea of encouraging the general public to wear masks. Dr. Fauci's main or only argument was that there weren't enough masks for medical personnel AND the general public. Now, in hindsight and maybe for some people at the time, opposing mask use by the general public was a stupid mistake. There would have been fewer deaths in the Spring if we had all been wearing masks. I understand that medical personnel were a priority, but this is another example of Trump failing to use the Defense Production Act like a sledgehammer. We could have had enough masks in early March if he had. I don't know how Netanyahu did on this question, but Trump failed. Before he started making fun of people for wearing a mask, at one point in April or May he made some half-hearted suggestion that people "might" want to wear a scarf over their mouth and nose. And he seems to think that masks are primarily for the benefit of the wearer, when it's for the people around them. He also doesn't understand that you should wear a mask when no one's around but there's a decent chance someone will come up to you unexpectedly, instead of just when there ARE people around you. We all forget sometimes to wear a mask when we go out, but if you plan on putting one on when you leave the house instead of just when someone unexpectedly comes up to you outside, it’ll work out better.

An Example of Irish-American Anti-Racism

For about 10 years now I have been linking from this blog to a group called the Irish American Unity Conference. I was vaguely or fairly familiar with them about 20-23 years ago when I believe they were a moderate version of Irish Northern Aid, who were basically supporters of Sinn Fein and the IRA. Now they seem to primarily support SF. Although their links list contains nothing radical that isn’t also Irish (i.e. SF’s web-site), they surprised me when I found a June statement in response to Black Lives Matter activism that was taking place at the time. I am reproducing their statement below but you can find it here.

“We, the Officers of the Irish American Unity Conference, express our outrage at the ongoing, deep-seated, brutal racism that is destroying the fabric of our country. We condemn in particular the recent cold-blooded murders of African-American fellow citizens, including children, in Minnesota, Georgia, Texas, Florida, New York City, Cleveland, Chicago, Baltimore, East St. Louis, and Louisville. We stand in solidarity with our African-American sisters and brothers not only in this time of crisis but at all times. There are disturbing parallels between America’s racism and the state-sponsored political and religious discrimination and violence imposed for over eight hundred years on native Irish people in the north of Ireland. It is not a coincidence that the Northern Ireland Civil Rights movement took its inspiration and strategies from the Civil Rights movement in the United States to fight for justice and an end to oppression. We are painfully aware that recent racist events in this country are not an anomaly or aberration, but rather are a continuation of the violence perpetrated against people of color for hundreds of years, often state-sanctioned, to intimidate and deny equal citizenship to a significant segment of our society. We declare our resolve that the United States must once and for all acknowledge and stop its endemic racism or fail its founding principles of equality and justice for all. None of us can be silent, for if we are not part of the solution then we are part of the problem."

Peter Kissel, President


George Trainor, Vice-President


Kevin Barry, Treasurer


Sarah McAuliffe-Bellin, Secretary

********

It’s really good. Although it’s common for SF supporters to refer to how Black Americans inspired the N. Ireland Civil Rights Movement and we get something out of that, it’s still worth pointing out that every time it’s mentioned, there’s potential for it to get some racist or semi-racist Irish-Americans who care about N. Ireland to change their thinking about race. And this statement goes well beyond simply mentioning the two Civil Rights Movements. I have occasionally suggested to SF members and leaders that they should be in solidarity more with people of color in America and although I have no reason to believe it’s connected to my work, I’m really glad to see that the leadership of the IAUC have done that.

My blog is largely dedicated to the intersection of N. Ireland and fighting racism in America. One of the top three individuals who represent that intersection (along with Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey and Angela Y. Davis) is Bill Fletcher Jr. Bill is a long-time advocate for Justice and Equality on a range of topics. He has held MANY positions, some very senior, in America’s Labor Movement. From about 1995 to about 2001 he was Assistant to the President of the AFL-CIO (John Sweeney). Starting in 2001 he was, for a small number of years, a National Co- Chair of the Black Radical Congress, a coalition of Black people and organizations on the broad Left in America. For about two years starting in 2001 he was the President of TransAfrica Forum. An example of his Irish Republican activity is here.

After reading the IAUC statement he commented on the similarities between British Imperialism in Ireland and white supremacy in America: “When the English conquered Ireland they instituted a racial-colonial domination over the indigenous population.  They, in fact, constructed a settler state, the legacy of which is Northern Ireland.  The English introduced this system when they invaded the Western Hemisphere, constructed racial slavery for Africans and succeeded in beginning the expulsion of the First Nations."

The posts on my blog that are at least partly about that intersection, what some call “the black and the green,” are here.

Law and Order: SVU Reviews L

 This is a set of reviews of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes. My general thoughts about that show are here. I’ll often do no more than make brief notes about an episode, although occasionally I’ll go deeper. Also, often there are dissenting main characters on almost any political issue, but you can usually tell what the general position of the show is. All the rest of the reviews are available by clicking on the l&osvu label at the bottom.

“Info Wars” Season 19. Wikipedia summary is: “The Special Victims Unit is called to a brutal crime scene after a violent protest in the city results in a controversial, right-wing female pundit (Rhea Seehorn) getting viciously sexually assaulted. However, with many people in the crowd during the protest, the squad has a hard time catching the victim's assailants. When the case is taken to trial, Barba and Benson fight with each other after struggling to keep their political opinions about the case quiet, which leaves the squad clashing over sides in the case and raises tension between the detectives and Barba.”

The title is taken from one of the web-sites associated with Alex Jones, although it’s not clear if the survivor is supposed to be a female version of Jones or is she’s supposed to be like Ann Coulter. She is at least more right-wing than left-wing and attracts people who I believe are supposed to mirror the Proud Boys (see this). She also attracts counter-protestors including Antifa. Although there is some dissent, for the most part the main characters don’t like her very much.

“Send in the Clowns” Season 19. Wikipedia summary is: “The Special Victims Unit is called in to investigate the disappearance of a teenage prodigy (Mallory Bechtel) during a spring break trip. The prime suspect is a butcher (Eric Tabach) who was seen leaving a club in a clown mask with the girl and she was last known to have been at his apartment. However, the case becomes extremely difficult to close. When the detectives try to find her body at a dump, they find that the dump has been emptied. Stone tries to get justice for the girl and lock up the butcher as the chances of the girl being alive become extremely slim. However, towards the end, the case takes a shocking twist and the detectives discover that the real culprit is someone they least suspected. Stone reveals to Benson that he moved to New York to take care of his sister who is mentally ill in a home upstate.”

At the beginning we are reminded that Finn’s son is gay. Also, while he’s Black, his husband is Latino. It’s not as significant as inter-racial relationships where one person is white, but it’s still inter-racial and what I would call multi-cultural- more multi-cultural than a German-American and an Irish-American. And there IS some conflict between Blacks on one hand and Latina/os and Chicana/os on the other hand.

“Service” Season 19.Wikipedia summary is: “When a female escort (Morgan Taylor Campbell) is found sexually assaulted and brutally beaten, the Special Victims Unit is called in to investigate. They soon discover that she was in a sleazy hotel with three soldiers from the military. However, the case becomes complicated when one soldier (Marquise Vilson) refuses to talk and another (Jack DiFalco) confesses to the crime, even though it is clear that he is lying. Eventually, when the real rapist is found and the DNA comes in, the case takes an extremely shocking twist and a huge sacrifice is made by one of the soldiers who has been hiding a secret from the world for a very long time. Meanwhile, Rollins' unprofessional work on the case leads to her revealing a secret from her recent romantic life, having taken the case too personally.”

One of the suspects, one of the two who is completely innocent, is a transgendered man in the US Army. He’s convinced to testify against his guilty colleague even though it will involve outing himself. Although it’s not critical of the military, it IS critical of Trump’s transphobic policy about transgendered people in the military. Also, the man is Black.

“Remember Me” and "Remember Me, Too” two parter. Season 19. Wikipedia summaries are:

“The Special Victims Unit is called in after a woman takes a man hostage, the incident being live streamed on a phone he left behind. While police search for the woman and the man, who now appears to be the woman's rapist, Benson enters the apartment where the two are located and is herself taken hostage. Benson then becomes a witness to unfolding events. The hostage situation takes a twist when Benson discovers that the man being held was actually a vicious pimp and kidnapper who abducted the woman a while ago and held her captive. As the hostage siege gets more dangerous, Benson tries to put it to a stop before lives are lost.”
 

“As the situation comes to a resolution, the Special Victims Unit investigates the chain of events which led to the hostage siege. After the detectives start doubting the kidnapping and hostage victim's testimony, an extremely dangerous criminal network is discovered by the Special Victims Unit, which is prepared to do anything needed for justice, leading to the squad investigating the criminal network. Whilst investigating, Stone's sister is abducted by the criminal network in an extremely brutal shooting at the psychiatric hospital where she lives. The detectives frantically search for her, ending tragically for Stone, his sister, and the detectives involved.”

(I often don’t read the wikipedia summaries but I read this one and it’s wrong about something. He wasn’t a pimp and he didn’t kidnap her. He was a “coyote” and helped some Mexican women get from Mexico to NYC)

This is kind of about immigration. First, there’s one moment when a detective makes it clear that SVU is not Immigration.

Second, there’s the role of the coyote. I have always gotten the impression that most or maybe all of those who, in exchange for money, help people cross the border are bad, and a political friend who is very familiar with the immigration issue has confirmed that for me. Although Joe Biden is pro-immigrant, when Trump, in the second debate, attacked coyotes, Biden didn’t say anything positive about them. But I wouldn’t be surprised if anti-immigrant people like to say that pro-immigrant people LIKE coyotes. Since they are bad, it would be good for the anti-immigrant argument. But Law & Order: SVU, a very pro-immigrant show, used this show to demonize coyotes (at no point is anything positive said about them). I doubt that many pro-immigrant people like coyotes and most of those who do probably just need to be educated briefly.

“Down Low In Hell’s Kitchen” Season 21. See this for an episode summary.

This is only sort of about homophobia. it turns out that the serial predator of closeted black gay men is closeted himself, and in other ways it’s a little muddled. But it features two scenes with the gay son of the Black detective and it seems that Benson’s supervisor is a gay black man. Which brings up the most substantial thing. It’s not the first time the show has focused on homophobia in the Black community. And although I get this mostly from this show, I get the impression that it IS a bigger problem in the Black community than it is in the white community. I think that might be because of the strength of homophobic churches, but I’m not real sure about that.