Lunatic fringe, I know you're out there.

Ahhh, there's nothing like a little NATO summit to stir up the wackos. In case you have been in a coma for the last few months, yes Chicago is hosting the NATO summit this weekend. And lest you think the GM is going to get all political on you, think again. I couldn't even tell you what the World Leaders will be talking about. The local press is all agog over the influx of protesters, occupiers, anarchists, activists, Black Bloc-ers, and every other nutjob out there, who's sole intent is to disrupt the lives of everyone in their path. We even have the NATO 3, sure to go down in infamy with the likes of the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground. What binds all of these people together? Love of their country? Hatred for the government? Probably a little of both. But the one underlying factor? To quote another famous movie line, well to me anyway, "...he's out of his gourd."

They come from every corner of the country, with one goal in mind. Anarchy. Disruption. Well that's two. But in reality, what happened along the way? How did their warped minds decide one day that they would forgo a sane line of work, such as being a CPA or a bus driver, and instead become leaders of the revolution? It still

makes me laugh when I read about someone like Kathy Kelly. She has done it all. She was on the "Audacity to Hope", part of the flotilla of activists raging lunatics trying to get through the Israeli blockade. She defied U.S. sanctions to sneak into Iraq, surviving the Baghdad bombings. She was arrested for trespassing on a military training base, and again for planting corn on the site of a nuclear missile solo. Mmmm, give me some of that for dinner. ("Daddy, why is the corn glowing?") And lately, she walked from Madison to Chicago, to build support to stop the war in Afghanistan. I seriously doubt the President of Pakistan is saying right now, "Gentlemen. We cannot continue this path of destruction in Afghanistan. We must listen to Kathy Kelly and replace ours guns with bouquets of flowers. Or poppies." More likely he is saying, "Pass the hummus please."

And it's worse when people like Kathy are championed by the likes of columnist Mark Brown, who applauds her courage. Clap all you want Mark, but to me she is nothing but the lunatic fringe. A life wasted in pursuit of windmills and activism. Like the loonies just arrested in Chicago now called the NATO 3, she should be put in a padded cell and given milk toast. You are not in my mind contributing to society. On the contrary, you are draining from it. Every time some protester is arrested here, police have to waste their time hauling his ass to jail, a judge has to pass a meaningless sentence, and so on. Every time an American is arrested abroad somewhere, the government has to get involved in trying to secure their freedom before some Sadaam-like despot cuts their head off. Every time we host world leaders to actually sit down and try and get something accomplished, money and resources are wasted to keep the bomb-throwers at bay. And where does it get them?

Was Kathy Kelly instrumental in freeing Iraq from a crazed egomaniac? No. Are the Palestinians any better off from the actions of the peace flotilla? My bet is they don't even know of it's existence. Are the world leaders here for the NATO summit taking into consideration the demands of the protesters? Doubt it. Did the NATO 3 really think a few Molotov cocktails were going to shut the city down? You bet. And there-in lies the rub. These people actually think they are doing some good. But the reality is that they are wasting their time, and their life. So go ahead and hike into Iran and see where it gets you. Extend your middle finger to a bunch of cops in Chicago. Does that make you feel better? Hitch your star to the plight of a bunch of oppressed foreigners half a world away, who don't even like you or what you stand for. If it makes you breathe easier at the end of the day, do it. But to me, you are just a wacko with no job.

Make a Stand

So, if you take my title literally, then you may assume that this is one of those how-to-do-it-by-yourself-without-cutting-off-an-appendage blogs, and they ARE out there. I would start by having you decide upon the type of stand you want to make, choose your wood, call Bob Vila for advice, etc... But I don't want you to make that kind of stand. I want you to make one like the President of these here United States did today. I want you to make a stand on the issue of gay rights.

Before that day last year, I didn't know. Before that day, I was fine being in the shadows. Before that one day, I had not taken a stand. Innocuous joke here or there, unfettered opinion on this or that. It didn't pertain to me. But since that day, my eyes have been opened. The jokes, it turns out, were not so innocuous. My opinions, weren't opinions at all. You see, that day, was the day my son told me he was gay. Did it change my life? You betcha. In a good way? Undoubtedly.

Gay, straight, bent, happy, sad, black, white, rich, poor, with, without...it doesn't matter. One should be entitled to the same freedoms and rights as the guy in the house next to you. And how do we define those rights and freedoms? With a thousand year old book, or with a constitution? Me, I go for the constitution. It's too bad that half of the country sees it the other way around. Like the good folks in North Carolina. And one dubious individual named James Komaniecki.

If you haven't heard of JMK, let me fill you in. He is the president of a little group called RestoreAmericanLiberty.com And he likes to sign his emails with the following signature: Defending Freedom, Judeo-Christian Values and Conservative Principles. Well, I'll give him the conservative principles part. But defending freedom? What a joke. Who's freedom? Not my sons that's for sure. Being an outspoken homophobe intent on keeping freedoms away from a percentage of the population isn't exactly what I would call a "defense". And the Christian Values part? I'd like to invite all of my Christian readers to weigh in with a comment below answering the following question: do your Christian values equate more to my view on gay rights, or JMK's? Do you side with the outdated ramblings of the bible on this issue, or with the principles this country was founded on? I want you to make a stand.

I wish I had the time and space to share with you the email stream that I have had going with JMK for a while now. I can summarize here by saying that he believes that being gay is a lifestyle choice, and that one can be cured from this "malady." He even had some of his Komaniecki-ites weigh in with their opinions. They feared that I had given in an allowed my son this immoral behavior. Well I will tell you this. It is not my son's future that I have any fear about. But it is the future of the offspring of these homophobic hate spreaders that I fear. Afraid that one generation is passing on their bigotry to the next. Afraid that among them, lurks a gay teen too brainwashed by his own parents to come out and be who he or she is. Imagine a young gay child, coming to terms with his own sexuality, that in itself being a mountain to overcome. But also knowing that if his or her parents knew, they would at best try and convert him back, or at worst, abandon them. That is the person I am afraid for. Why do you think the rate of suicide among gay teens has reached the epidemic level that it has? Bullying for one. But I am pointing right at the parents for that one.

I will admit one thing here, that the bible is the reason we have marriage in the first place. But somewhere along the way, a country was born. Rights and freedoms were established. Somehow, though, one seemed to have an effect on the other, and throughout the years, has had its foot on the throat of the other. What is it exactly are the JMK's of the world afraid of? Nobody wants to turn you into a gay man. They just don't want you to tell them how to live there own life, a life you can't possibly comprehend. At one point, I couldn't either. But now I do, and I will go to my grave trying to put people like James Komaniecki in their place.

I want to end this by doing what I do best, quoting a line from some movie I have seen too many times. At the end of Along Came Polly, one of the characters pulls aside a guy and tells him something like, "It's not about where you're going or where you've been. It's about the ride for Christs sake." Enjoy the ride. Be happy. Be yourself. It's the golden rule, do unto others. That's in the bible, right? And for Christs sake, be kind to thy fellow human being. After all, God made us all in His image, not James Komeniecki's.