December 11, 2014 by Michael A. Ventrella

The battle is over

One of my most common posts was the “State Joins the 21st Century” whenever another state reached marriage equality, but it’s been happening so quickly now that I’ve missed quite a few.

As I said way back when, this is inevitable. Admittedly, I didn’t expect it to happen so fast, but I’m glad it did.

Hopefully, the reactionary Supreme Court won’t ruin everything. It’s doubtful they will, since it was their decision in striking down the “Defense of Marriage Act” that led to this … but I am a pessimist when it comes to the Court, which seems determined to help turn our country into a religious oligarchy.

In general though, the battle is over. Republicans have given up arguing about it except for the most radical religious nuts who think that allowing people in love to get married will lead to the apocalypse.

Editorial cartoon: It’s torture to read it

December 9, 2014 by Michael A. Ventrella

Obama shows his sense of humor on the Colbert Report

Obama showed his sense of humor again when he appeared on the Colbert Report last night to prove he could do Stephen’s job, by taking over “the Word” (which he called “the Decree”).

You don’t have to be an Obama supporter to appreciate good humor. (Heck, I thought Ronald Reagan was a pretty funny guy, too. So was G W Bush, except we mostly laughed at him instead of with him.)

Obama has shown his humor before, especially at the annual correspondence dinners. (Read the best lines from the 2013 and 2104 dinners!) And it’s always nice when our leaders don’t take themselves too seriously.

Editorial cartoon: How not to get shot

December 8, 2014 by Michael A. Ventrella

Remembering John Lennon

On December 8, 1980, my fellow disc jockeys and I were gathered up in the WVCW studio. Exams started soon, so we college kids were having our radio station Christmas party early. I was the Program Director and proud of our station — we were the only station in Richmond playing that “new wave” music (Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Ramones, Clash) but even then, you would still find plenty of Beatles in rotation. “You can’t go wrong with the Beatles” was a phrase I’d say to my DJs.

Suddenly, one of the DJs came rushing in. “Lennon’s been killed!” There was a shocked pause. I ran into the control room and turned to the news feed. It was true. We switched over to the news feed so our listeners would know.

I was in a daze that night. The party had crashed. Why would someone want John Lennon dead?

As Heidi and I silently walked back to our apartment, we saw our friend Craig Evans heading the other way, hands in his pockets, looking dejected. Craig is a musician who now leads the band The Taters. He and I had jammed together a bunch of times and I knew how much of a Beatles fan he was.

“Craig!” Heidi yelled. “Lennon’s dead!”

All my frustration exploded at that point and I screamed at Heidi. “That’s not how you break bad news!” I was irate, and wrongly took my anger at Lennon’s death out on my girlfriend (now my wife).

I slept on the couch that night and dreamed that my father had died.

The next day, I prepared a list of Beatles songs that John had written so the DJs wouldn’t say “Here’s another song to tribute John Lennon” and then stick on “Yesterday.” I also told them which songs not to play because they referenced death (“Yer Blues”; “She Said She Said”; “Happiness is a Warm Gun”; etc.) I had no classes that day so some of the DJs let me take over their shows. I played Lennon and Beatles all day.

Lennon’s death affected me like no other celebrity death (until Jim Henson’s), not just because I am such a fan of his but also because of its suddenness and senselessness. When George Harrison died many years later, it did not affect me the same, because it was expected; he had been fighting cancer for years.

Even today, I get a bit choked up about it.

Editorial cartoon: Also blind

December 5, 2014 by Michael A. Ventrella

It Happens All the Time

My office manager’s husband was once more pulled over and stopped without reason. “Uh, OK, I’m going to give you a ticket for tinted windows. Mind if I search your car while I’m at it?” I give him credit for remaining calm in these situations.

This is normal. This happens all the time. I see it every day in my job, representing people who are pulled over for Driving While Black.

This particular man is a dark-skinned latino who owns and manages properties in New York city. He has no criminal record, and none of these stop and searches has ever produced anything illegal. The police never have any probable cause to search his vehicle, but he agrees to do it anyway because if he said no, they’d hold him and search it anyway (especially since the Courts have now held that they no longer have to get a warrant to do so).

And this is “normal” for him.

I get plenty of cases where the police search and find some marijuana or something. I don’t get the ones where they don’t find anything, because then there is no case. I often wonder how many searches like this happen — are arrests made in 50% of the cases? Does that mean 50% of the time, people are being stopped and searched for no reason and we just don’t hear about it because nothing major is filed?

That’s why it is so frustrating to read comments from white people who think that the anger dark-skinned people have right now is unjustified.

Editorial cartoon: Famous last words

December 4, 2014 by Michael A. Ventrella

#Not All Cops

I deal with the police every day. The vast majority of them are good people who are trying to do good things.

But it’s important for these good cops to speak out against the bad ones and not protect them, else they all get painted with the same brush.

The same goes for lawyers, judges, preachers, Muslims, Christians, bikers, smokers, vegetarians, blacks, latinos, asians, men, women, dogs, cats, and every other group — remaining silent when members of your group do bad things only helps people to say, “They’re all alike.”

As my friend Carl Davies said, “When I was an investigative reporter I met many police officers who performed their jobs in an extremely professional manner. They knewhow to diffuse difficult and dangerous situations without having to summarily execute anyone. Many of them got though an entire year without even firing a gun. Officers who take seriously their obligation ‘to protect and serve’ are in the majority. We need to thank them for their service. And they need to speak out against the murderous minority of police thugs who are killing innocent civilians — mostly blacks — for no legitimate reason.”

In the two most recent cases, the problem was the DAs who refused to get an indictment — protecting your own only fosters distrust of the good cops.

One of the hardest things to do is to stand up to your friends and to risk the anger of your peers. We need to encourage good people to do that, and realize that by remaining silent, they are also harming their own reputations.