Tuesday, May 23, 2017

We are soldiers in a war. We the entertainers. This is the new normal.

It's official. We can no longer remain silent about a truth that lays bare before our raw sleep-deprived eyes. We, we the entertainers, we are soldiers in a war. And this is the new normal.

Every time a terrorist strikes innocent people in the world, first responders, intelligence departments, police, military, they all jump into action. They don't hesitate. They don't cower in fear. They act, both to protect innocent lives and to hunt down the evil people who commit these cowardly unthinkable acts. As an artist, I have often felt helpless in this fight. But over the last few years, the terrorists have begun to strike at US, and at our fans. And guess what? We now have a new responsibility. It isn't writing a new song. It isn't praying for the victims. We are soldiers now, the risk to our lives is very real, and our mission has never been more clear nor more critical.

We are entertainers. Our job and our fight against terrorists who would seek to destroy us is simply this: TO ENTERTAIN. We must show up. We must be brave. We can pause and comfort those lost in this long battle. But as soon as possible, OUR fight must continue. Concerts must not be cancelled out of fear. Tours must not be cut short. Our world has become a black hole of misery, death, hatred, & destruction, led by dictators who thrive off war. Our job is to bring whatever light we can to all corners of our world. And now it has become crystal clear, we do so at great personal risk to ourselves and the public. We might be killed in the line of duty, but, and hear this loud and clear: THAT IS THE GIG. It might not be what you signed up for, and if you can't stomach it, then by all means, stay home. But if you are out there as an entertainer, you are personally a soldier in a war against terrorism.

Other soldiers know their mission, to hunt down and kill terrorists, to locate cells before they strike, to destroy training camps and stop indoctrination before it takes hold, both online and in person. But OUR job as entertainers is just as essential to the survival of humankind. We give the world hope. We bring people together. And to do this, we put ourselves out there in a VERY public way. Some of us will be hurt. Some of us will be killed. But this is war. And sadly, our army is not immune to those losses.

Stay strong, my fellow soldiers. Be brave, and live to fight another day!

#ArmyOfLove

Thursday, May 4, 2017

NSFW (like at all): Open letter to GOP, conservatives, and other fake christians...

Hello America,

This will not be a nice letter. If I seem a little off this week there are a few damn good reasons. 1. I am in the process of uprooting my life and relocating to the last glimmer of hope in this lost cause of a country. (California). 2. A personal tragedy occurred I will share below that feeds into... 3. You have once again shown yourself to be liars and selfish, devious racists, hiding your hate behind the terms 'christian' and 'conservative' to achieve your goals.

What goals am I referring to today?
Taking healthcare away from 24 million Americans because you 'shouldn't have to pay for someone else'.

Who are the someone elses?
They are your fucking neighbors you disgusting bigoted scumbags!

They might not look like you. (But many do) They might not pray to your god. (You know, that same god who tells you NOT to be the hateful piece of shit you are, but you do it anyway). They might not have as much money as you. (Let's face it, they don't, and you resent them for it... why should good hard working christians like YOU have to pay to take care of THEM?) They might have been raped and might need an abortion which is NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS YOU STUPID ASSCLOWN WHO, BY THE WAY, DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A UTERUS!!! Take care of your own family and get your own house in order and then, when YOUR daughter is raped and pregnant, YOU can chain her up in the basement and forbid her from getting an abortion. That is up to YOU. Praise Jesus! (But you know you wouldn't do that, would you? You would quietly find a Planned Parenthood 100 miles away, if you haven't shut them down yet, and you would get her the help she needs, you hypocritical slime ball).

But who really needs healthcare right?
I'll tell you who... me... you... your parents... your children... people with pre-existing conditions... and the MENTALLY ILL! You remember them, right? They are the reason for the 33,000 gun deaths in America every year. Remember what you said? It's MENTAL ILLNESS, not the unfathomable availability of guns with little to no background checks. So, you want us all to look away from common sense. We are not fucking idiots. We know it's the guns. But ok, let's play it YOUR way. Guess what? YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKER!

When you remove the affordable care act, you lose the option to call yourself a christian. That ship has sailed. When you do the least christian thing in the world, you should be shamed, not rewarded. You are literally sentencing innocent people to die. The sick and the poor. The mentally ill. Good luck on Sunday after church. I'd recommend a bloody mary with your brunch. Blood is already on your hands, so you might as well start drinking it too.

But what  about the MENTALLY ILL! Yeah, remember them? Surely there are no consequences by making it harder for people to be healthy. Surely nothing bad can come from taking meds and proper treatment away from depressed people, right? If only they found Jesus before they found that gun...

Every day is mental health awareness day for people with depression. Some days are mental health wakeup calls. But this week was a mental health baseball bat to the crotch! I didn't talk about this much, but now it has become more public. A terrible tragedy:

This week, a friend of mine's husband passed away. He was young. He was on his way home and was supposed to pick up their daughter. But he never made it.

That would have been awful enough. But it got worse... Questions began circulating. Answers started coming in. A trickle at first, followed by a stream, then finally a flood. It turns out, this man, this father, this incredibly brilliant, funny, and successful doctor, had in fact taken his own life.

And inexplicably, the story gets even worse. He had been suffering from depression most of his life. He had been hospitalized a couple of times over the years. What people just learned this week is that he had been hospitalized 4 times in the last 8 months. His last day alive, he was heading home, having just been released from the hospital yet again. He was to pick up his daughter. But instead, he threw himself in front of an oncoming train. No warning. His daughter left waiting for him. Her Bat Mitzvah is coming up in a week and they will still have it. I don't know how, but they will go on. My friend and her family have been through so much over the years and they are among the strongest people I know.

All of this to say, I have been very distracted emotionally and mentally. And when I think of YOU [YOU the smug conservative, YOU the self-righteous christian, YOU the greedy republican, YOU the smiling white face about to take away healthcare from the sick, the poor, and the mentally ill], all I can think of is YOUR hand on his back, throwing him and so many others in front of an oncoming train. YOU did this. YOU made healthcare so difficult to afford. YOU made mental illness a stigma so that society can be sympathetic to someone suffering from cancer, but flippant about someone suffering from depression. YOU held the razor that sliced the wrists. YOU sold the gun that pulled the trigger. YOU tied the noose that ended the pain. YOU opened the bottle that contained the pills. YOU created an environment where people suffering from depression have to be so ashamed of and secretive about OUR illness that some of us never get the help we need, lest we become ostracized in our own communities and lose our jobs. This is YOUR hand at work. I hope YOU are proud of yourselves.

I don't know if this new vote-to-end-life (yeah that's right, good luck continuing to champion a pro-life stance) will succeed in taking away healthcare from 24 million Americans. But I do know that YOU want it to. And shame on YOUR disgusting soul. Life may be too short for us to see the karma that awaits you, but may you rot in hell in THIS lifetime. May you reap what you sew.

Namaste!