I discovered Daily Kos from a Huffington Post link In mid-2007. Totally random, as Adriana pretty much had a large list of links at the bottom of the page. I just saw the DK name, and thought, “WTF is “Kos”?" I never read that word, or heard of it. So I clicked it. Then, slowly, I dug into it; and checked out the articles written. Political experts, Science, animals, gardening, art, quilting, home improvement, Native Americans, Cars, Photography, Nature, and other geopolitical things. I liked what I read, as I’m a leftist in 90% of my ways.
Now, I am not a closed-minded person. My whole life was about coming of age in a turbulent time in Los Angeles, in the late 60’s & early 70’s. Protest and upheaval, among other things, had been happening since 1965, after Martin & Bobby were murdered because of their words and thoughts, and the Watts Riots, which I watched on black and white TV with my Dad in the den. I had already tried marijuana at 12, and enjoyed it from time-to-time, when a friend had spares. I, suburban boy, heard about the Black Panthers, when I was 13. Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, and Angela Davis; I saw the pictures of them, and admired their cause and warrior spirit, as well as their whole vibe, as I had first read about them in articles in the Herald Examiner, and the L.A. Times, which my Dad subscribed to. I have my copy of “Soul on Ice" I bought back then, to this day. Quickly, after hearing her speak on a news broadcast, I developed a Huge crush on Angela Davis, after focusing only on blonde-haired, blue-eyed surfer girls at my Junior High. My very first protest was a Free Angela rally at UCLA, after she was arrested, which I went to with my sister and her friend, Darryl. I still have my pamphlet, which contained copies of her first two speeches as a Professor, at UCLA. It cost 50 cents at the rally to help pay for her defense fund. After that, Angela had to compete with Janis Joplin, because I had an idea that I was going to run away up to the Haight and somehow meet her, and that she would love me forever and ever. A short time later, at a local Head Shop, I picked up a copy of the Los Angeles Free Press for the first time; and it blew my mind. Blew my mind, because in that rag, I read a completely different journalistic outlook from the newspapers and common media on what was happening with various movements happening all around the country, and the truth about the war from G.I.’s who had just returned from combat. Same year: my best friend’s brother, who was the older brother I never had, got killed in Vietnam. I was fucking devastated; he helped me learn motorcycle mechanics and was a good role model about common sense, just like my Dad, who was in both WWII & Korea.
I became involved with my sister’s friends in High School, who were antiwar activists, hippies, athletes, and scholastic geniuses. They were associates of the SDS, and all had brothers and sisters in the SDS, who went to UCLA. So, by 9th grade, I was going to secret meetings when Tom Hayden showed up, I organized antiwar protests, sit-ins at lunch, and finally, with my associates, a General Strike, in support of the teachers at school, who were on a wage/benefits strike at the time. All of the replacement teachers were substitutes. We disrupted, and successfully, emptied all of the classes at school. There were fires set in all of the bathroom waste cans; (boys & girls), someone even exploded a toilet with an M-80, (Terrorists? Weathermen?), and the LAPD got called. After we spotted the first police cruiser, everyone, (Hundreds), split from the campus; running into an adjacent orange grove, and into every different direction on the streets surrounding the campus. It was mad. Us ringleaders had a safehouse, beyond the orange grove at a fellow student’s home, and her hippie Mom and Dad were totally cool with us previously, when we showed up randomly for meetings, or, just to get stoned after school and listening to albums. We suddenly showed up after the turmoil, in dire escape mode, and the parents made us some iced tea, let us smoke some dope, and “Tripsat" us in the living room, as we tried to wind down, discussing events of the day. They were so cool; (I Love You, Mr. & Mrs. C.; still!). Thanks to the SDS knowledge, and Abbie Hoffman’s disruption tactics, (Some learned from "Steal This Book”, some learned from the Free Press), our strike worked beyond our wildest dreams. It worked so good, (Moratorium Week), that 90% of the students did not attend class for the remainder of that week.
Just days later, I was out of breath, sprinting from the LAPD Riot Squad, white helmets with face shields and long hickory clubs, in a huge formation, going after us protesters at an antiwar protest at San Fernando Valley State College. Everyone was fucking running for their lives, as we had already seen a few stumble and get beat. Their were a few Junior High and High Schoolers, but most of the huge crowd were older students at the college. “Fuck” I thought, "If I get caught, I will get pounded, go to Northridge Hospital for stitches, and get taken to jail after that. And my Dad's going find out. Can’t ever let that happen." I kicked my sprint into afterburner mode, got away with my friends, and we all caught up in a cul-d-sac, safe from the cops, completely exhilarated that we didn’t get caught, and survived it all. We all had profound sadness for the ones that got bloodied and arrested. Someone lightened things up by producing a joint, which we all shared, walking, on the way home. We liked being 9th Grade role models, and we were Seniors at school. Everyone at school was on board, even the Jocks, Lowriders, and Nerds from the Chess Club, (I was a member, but I swear I wasn’t a Nerd, just more athletic! I learned chess when I was 7 or 8 with my sister on rainy weekend days). One other kid, besides my friend, had lost an older brother in the war. Fuck that shit from now on.
When I was a Senior, I was in love with a girl whose brother just got back from Vietnam, safely. He and his twin were pretty hardcore in vetting me on behalf of their sister. No approval from them, no girlfriend. They put me up to all sorts of tasks to prove it, and of which I will not go into here. What I wound up doing after High School, was volunteering for the Army, even though Saigon wouldn’t fall for another 2 years. I wanted to marry her, and Jimmy, (The Vet), said it was the best way going forward, if I wanted to marry his sister. Plus, at that time, I was still pissed off about my “older brother” getting killed, so it was not a problem, and off to Fort Ord I was shipped to from the Wilshire Boulevard depot.
After I came home, I became an apprentice Carpenter, Unionized, and, after four years, became a Journeyman Carpenter, and made good money. Later, in 1981-1982, the bottom fell out of the homebuilding industry because of the sky-high interest rates, and I had no work. I applied to the Fire Department, because I knew wood frame construction completely, had been a young teenage Junior Firefighter and Lifeguard, and would be perfect. They hired me on standby, meaning I would have to wait 18 months for the Academy. Fuck, what else could I do? I moved back to Mom's house, broke, thinking about my future.
A friend suggested that I join the Police Department, and I said, “Fuck, no. I hate pigs. I hate the LAPD, they beat my best friend in front of me, (another story for another time), and I will continue throwing oranges at the squad cars from the grove. No way." And a few short months later, there I was, (WTF was I doing?), and they hired me immediately. I told them I "tried" Marijuana, but nothing else. I didn't mention every natural psychedelic in the book I had taken multiple times, (always good trips in the mountains and desert), to them. I knew all about drugs, (My best friend O.D.’d on Heroin between 7th & 8th grade), and stealing cars, (Only once, got arrested. But, Juvenile, so I didn’t have to disclose it).
I was good at Police work, because I knew all sides, trained in Martial Arts for self-preservation and with the mindset: “I’m not going to get sued for doing stupid shit, getting sued for it, and costing taxpayers millions in payout cash, and still go back to work after all of that. Plus, I would rather go hand-to-hand in a fight; it is much more fair, pure, and challenging, than gunning someone down”, like so many asshole cops are doing every day, documented on video, all the time, now. I worked stations all across L.A., became a street gang expert, and learned about every demographic community in the same area. When you spend 25-plus years in a car, in the street, you get the real big picture; the pulse, if you will. I got along with everyone, and every culture. Little things matter; like taking your boots off before entering a Samoan home before discussing the problem they called you for, even though it’s a hassle, and you might all of the sudden get an emergency call which has you sprinting to your car in your socks, and trying to drive fast while you put your boots back on. Never touching a Thai kid or any Thai, on the head with your hand. Speaking German with elderly Yiddish Grandmothers in nursing homes who had survived the Death Camps, and hugging all of them at the end of the conversations. Learning basic sign language, so I could speak with the deaf. Learning basic Spanish phrases like “Drop the Weapon", so you don't get into an unnecessary shooting incident because homeboy didn't understand you. Respect in dealing with gang leaders, and having decent conversations, rather than angry, confrontational ones. I was dubbed “El Heuro del Norte” by Eastside gang members, and it stuck. That was my "gang moniker", because I got respect as I gave it. And then I had my car accident which almost paralyzed me and ended my career after so many years.
Anyways, I just wanted to give you all an idea of my background a bit, so you get an idea of the many things I have been involved in during my past life, before I conclude. I later found out, after digging around, just before the 2008 election, that Markos, the website developer, was a U.S. Army Veteran like me, (Left-wing Vet, what’s not to like?). So that sealed the deal, I logged in, and threw up my first diary, just after Obama was elected. www.dailykos.com/... Silly me, I didn’t know about publishing times and fast-cycling articles coming fast and furious throughout the day, so I posted real early on 11-08-08, at 0600 hrs, thinking I would be ahead of the deal, and not many people here read it. And then I learned. So that’s how I wound up here, wasting my time. ;)
I may not agree with everyone here on B vs.H, but I love you for everything else; Umm, mostly primarily. Also, I hate this flag business, preferring the face-to-face HR method. So, if you piss me off somehow, I may type a comment like this; "HR'd, for blah-blah-blah”, instead of flagging. (I have done it once, the other day, since, ahhh, the “DK5 New Change". I like that better, kos I’m Old School.
(P.S.: I’m beat, been up all night, going to sleep now. So, I probably be MIA for 5-6 hours, if your noticing I’m not responding to comments. But, in the meantime, donate some dimes to your favorite candidate; up top, or downstream).
Peace & Resistance; we can have both...SSK