Make America Great Again: Resist!

How does Trump intend to make America great again? By the abrupt and extreme hard right course adjustments made this week, we're in for a long, wild and whiplashed nightmare ride. We have a President who has a dysfunctional relationship with Truth. Those who know him well report that he really thinks everything he says or tweets is true - or should be. What would Descartes say? "I think, therefore I am... right, about everything, and anyone who disagrees is a pathetic loser, they're really quite weak. Sad."

(This is bad-ass)

His closest advisor, Steve Bannon, is the owner of Breitbart News, a far-right news aggregator that welcomes and promotes Alt-Right (white supremacists/Nazis) and xenophobic Nationalist viewpoints. I suppose you could call him "The Trump Whisperer": Bannon is the guy who articulates to The Disrupter-in-Chief the "truths" he's attempting to say. Among his wishes is to radically reduce immigration to the US so that economic opportunities improve for non-immigrant citizens. He also wishes to begin deportation of immigrants/green carders who receive any public funds. He appears to harbor deep Islamophobic ideas - he crafted the recent "Muslim Ban" executive order, and there's more where that came from. And though he isn't necessarily a xenophobe, his desire is to detach the US from most economic and security international alliances.

In fact, he has described himself as a Leninist; from an interview this summer, his stated goal is destroy everything that has sustained American stability and hegemony since World War 2:

 “Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment.” 

Oy vey. Remember, this guy is Trump's Brain. He has been made a permanent principal on the National Security Council, something unprecedented for a political strategist. He is a clear and present threat to the nation. For a fascinating look into what he believes, check out this terrific interview with him from a couple of years ago:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lesterfeder/this-is-how-steve-bannon-sees-the-entire-world?utm_term=.inya5OP46#.ujWeyV1jx

So yes, Bannon has a Huuuuge agenda. And he has found the perfect collaborator to make it all happen. He is going to ram his wish-list through a pusillanimous Republican Congress. Oh woe! What can we do?

RESIST! Make every action attempted by Trump & Co. as difficult for them as possible. They've got it all wrong! Immigration means Diversity. Diversity means Innovation. Innovation means Economic Growth!! Sign up for Daily Action, an excellent "moderate" (sane) website that provides suggestions for quick and easy efforts you can do from home.

https://dailyaction.org

It will make you feel good about yourself and your country. My wife and I have certainly stepped up. Spontaneously deciding to protest the recent travel ban, we drove to Dulles Airport on Saturday night. It was a great experience, welcoming those who got past the Customs block-out, and giving loud voice to allow the detainees to meet with immigration lawyers who were there :

Just a few of the hundreds who were there.

Then the next day we found ourselves among 20,000 of our closest friends, outside the White House. Again, spontaneity ruled: this fairly unplanned protest became too big for Lafayette Square, spilling out onto 15th St, which police closed down, then it flowed out to Pennsylvania Avenue for a street-wide stroll past Trump Plaza to the Capitol Building! A reverse Inaugural Parade! Check it out:

All very inspiring! It helps that we live near the epicenter of this whirlwind. But even if we weren't, we'd be participating in similar events in Chicago. My wife is an immigrant. Her family are immigrants. At best, these executive orders may have been conceived with good intentions in an extraordinarily clumsy way; however, they represent the first steps onto a very slippery slope towards widespread societal tumult and breakdown. It's going to get much worse before it gets better again. Be prepared and give a damn!

What I Learned At The Women's March

The word "awesome" has lost much of its value over the years and I resist using it at nearly every opportunity. But after having attended the Women's March on DC, I find few arrows in my vocabulary quiver that can approach the target of defining this event.

Gobsmacked. That's it! Yes, I was. And here's why. Apart from the astonishing crush of protesters filling the center of the capital, there was the sense of renewed possibility - even inevitability!  Over 500,000 souls converging through a singular catalyst to give voice to many issues. It was a great glorious mess of an event that truly captured The Big Tent of widespread political activism.

I learned that as an older white guy, I thought I knew a lot about What Women Want. But I've been spending my time wading in the shallow end of the pool. A new term has entered my mindset: Intersectional Feminism.

And though the turnout was primarily White Women, a diversity of race, religion, politics and age was definitely represented. There was a ready acceptance there for many causes. (In fact, Trump-voting women would have been welcome there, despite some social media accusations that they had been denied access - this would have been impossible. Anyone could have streamed in. There weren't even any security checkpoints!)

And what were some of these voices seeking expression?

National Domestic Workers Alliance    Planned Parenthood    Criminal Justice Reform

Astrea, Lesbian Foundation for Justice    DREAM Action Coalition    Moms Rising

Native Organizers Alliance   Juvenile Delinquency Prevention   NAACP

Natural Resources Defense Council   NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice

Council on American-Islamic Relations    American Federation of Teachers

And a host of other organizations, activists, authors, educators and celebrities, most of whom were eloquent and erudite in their addresses. America Ferrara. Gloria Steinem. Mayor Bowser. Scarlett Johansen. Ashley Judd. Michael Moore. Angela Davis. Alicia Keys. Van Jones. Janet Mock. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris. And the proverbial More. Oh, and Madonna and her "blow it up" rhetoric.

There were entertainers such as the sublime Janelle Monae, who captured it all when she took the microphone, gazed out upon the multitudes, and called out, "Hello, Future!" Her remarks struck me as consciously appropriating and turning around the conceits of Ayn Rand and her John Galt-loving acolytes when she suggested that women can stop the nation if they choose. At the very least, her movement vision conjured a Lysistrata-like resistance.

Give her a look, especially the first couple of minutes. After speaking on Abuse of Power, she gets into high political entertainer gear when she brings out the mothers of slain black american men Trayvon Martin, Dontre Hamilton, Eric Garner and Jordan Davis for a sing-along. Invoking the murdered Sandra Bland, she implores the crowd "Say Her Name" and then hands the mic over to the moms on stage, saying their dead children's names and the crowd responding "Say His Name!" Powerful stuff.

The outraged anger and indignation provoked by our new President's words and actions was present, but not in any negative manner. Instead, the outrage was manifested by a hundred thousand signs, mostly expressing wry and witty language of protest.

In fact, the entire atmosphere surrounding this gigantic gathering was marked by a high-spirited energy, a sense of fun, and even happiness. I believe there was a surprised relief that so many like-minded strangers had come together seeking community to push back against the administration and the mindset it represents.

In the end, I was left with a renewed sense of hope and possibility against Long Odds. Imagine what has happened over the last year, if viewed from only two years ago. An extreme long shot wins the Presidency (with some outside help). The political stars were aligned in this act of destiny. The course of our nation has turned hard. But it is not irrevocable. It is not permanent. And it is not impossible to imagine that We, The People can turn it back around, and more! How would Dr. King react to our situation?

And as my wife and I made our way through the majestic throngs, mere specks in a vast and sprawling George Seurat-like pointillist masterpiece of humanity, I recalled the words of the Greek dramatist, Euripides, who wrote at the conclusion of Medea,

"In heaven, Zeus holds the balance.

Expect the unexpected.

What mortals dream, the gods frustrate;

For the impossible they contrive a way.

So it was with what happened here, today."

"A Few Words in Defense of Our Country"

In preparing for the upcoming peaceful transition of administrations, I have sought solace in the works of Great Minds. And after sifting through the panoply of their assorted wisdoms, this particular 3 minute nugget says it all. It was written as a coda to the Bush/Cheney years. But the past is prologue, compounded.

A Few Words in Defense of Our Country

I’d like to say a few words

In defense of our country

Whose people aren’t bad nor are they mean

Now the leaders we have

While they’re the worst that we’ve had

Are hardly the worst this poor world has seen

Let’s turn history’s pages, shall we?

Take the Caesars for example

Why within the first few of them

They were sleeping with their sister

Stashing little boys in swimming pools

And burning down the City

And one of ‘em, one of ‘em

Appointed his own horse Consul of the Empire

That’s like vice president or something

That’s not a very good example, is it?

But wait, here’s one, the Spanish Inquisition

They put people in a terrible position

I don’t even like to think about it

Well, sometimes I like to think about it

Just a few words in defense of our country

Whose time at the top

Could be coming to an end

Now we don’t want their love

And respect at this point is pretty much out of the question

But in times like these

We sure could use a friend

Hitler. Stalin.

Men who need no introduction

King Leopold of Belgium. That’s right.

Everyone thinks he’s so great

Well he owned The Congo

He tore it up too

He took the diamonds, he took the gold

He took the silver

Know what he left them with?

Malaria

A President once said,

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”

Now it seems like we’re supposed to be afraid

It’s patriotic in fact and color coded

And what are we supposed to be afraid of?

Why, of being afraid

That’s what terror means, doesn’t it?

That’s what it used to mean

[To the first eight bars of “Columbia The Gem Of The Ocean”]

You know it pisses me off a little

That this Supreme Court is gonna outlive me

A couple of young Italian fellas and a brother on the Court now too

But I defy you, anywhere in the world

To find me two Italians as tightass as the two Italians we got

And as for the brother

Well, Pluto’s not a planet anymore either

The end of an empire is messy at best

And this empire is ending

Like all the rest

Like the Spanish Armada adrift on the sea

We’re adrift in the land of the brave

And the home of the free

Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye.

Oh boy, that's good. In fact, it's so good that we should revisit a Newman classic from 1972, another time of uncertainty for our country. In a secured foreign policy briefing during the election campaign,  Donald Trump asked three times in an hour about our country's nuclear weapons stockpile and why we can't use them.

Think about that. Then give this a quick listen. It's 1:55 minutes of Blissful Irony.

Happy Inauguration Day!

Thoughts on flying the flag today

When I was a youngster, growing up in a prosperous white suburb during the mid-60's, the civil rights movement seemed like something from a different planet. Protests and civil strife were reported on the Chicago media, but did not translate into the day-to-day homogeneous world of Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

However, I recall when Dr. King announced that he and his family would come north. They moved into an apartment on the Chicago West Side. Of course, everyone knew of his work in the South, and his Nobel Peace Prize. And everyone had an opinion of him. There were some in my extended family who expressed less-than-charitable ideas about him. Comments like "Why does he have to move here?" and "He's just trying to stir up trouble with The Coloreds." were overheard by us at the Kids' Table during Holiday Gatherings (far worse expressions were also heard).

And trouble is what he got. King was seeking to use Chicago as a Northern City template for social change across the country. He organized manifold fair and open housing actions that would strengthen black renters and embarrass white landlords and politicians. After months of increasing tension, his Chicago alliance marched through the all-White Southwest Side neighborhood of Marquette Park. It did not go well:

Dr. King and his allies had sought to confront the entrenched White neighborhoods of Chicago, and the political machine that represented them. But he was shocked by the level of hate and resistance he encountered. After arriving at a verbal agreement for justice and social progress with Mayor Daley, Dr. King declared victory and left Chicago. He did get the Chicago Real Estate Board to end its opposition to Open Housing ordinances. However, his template for sweeping change in northern cities never really materialized.

When I think of that time, this is what I remember:

Rev. King after being hit in the head with a thrown brick

The flower of American youth in Cicero, 1966

It was all a dreadful time of social tumult. The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 had opened the lid for all sorts of repressed energies to emerge into public view. Inhibited racial change and justice that had been restricted for a century sprang forward while established white privilege pushed back hard.

And as I wade further into memories, I can't help but reflect on the life my family led in the Jim Crow town of Williston, Florida from 1959 to 1962. For me, it was a kid's paradise. A white kid's paradise. Everything was good, and separate, for Whites. In fact, I rarely remember even seeing "colored people" in town, except maybe on a weekend.

Even as a little kid, it seemed like blacks were invisible people. They had their own section of town, never seen by us. They had to use their own stores, never visited (though owned) by whites. They had to sit in the balcony at the movie theatre. My grandfather owned a bar/liquor store that had a special back door he used for selling booze to "coloreds". Out of sight.

One day my mom was driving a black worker from our family's motel over to his home outside of town. We happened to drive past my school. I was shocked! It was after school hours, but there were lots of kids playing outside, like in recess. I peered closer as we drove past and shouted to my mom: "Look! There's a bunch of n****** at the school!!" My mom was horrified by my surprised outburst. I can only imagine how our motel worker must have felt.

It was such a thoughtless statement to make, even for a first-grader. I said a term that most white everybody used. I had no idea of its terrible connotations and the hurt it wielded. My mom quickly explained that the kids I saw were using the school, too. White kids got the facility in the morning and early afternoon, black kids got it later.

I don't remember being reprimanded for my blurt, but I suppose I must have - the word never became a part of my working vocabulary. And I don't remember asking my mom why it was that the black kids had to use the school at a later time. It was just accepted by "everyone".

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. devoted his life towards changing the established mindset of people like me. When the awful news of his death swept across the TV, and Robert Kennedy's wrenching speech was televised, I was devastated and lay sleepless in my room. Two months later, the national trauma happened again.

Race relations in our country today are not so good; but they are not nearly as bad as they once were.  I believe that, like the Civil Rights Acts, the promise of a Black President created an overly high ceiling of expected social progress. Much needed change took place, but not nearly enough. And white privilege pushed back again, hard.

I feel that Dr. King would understand what has been happening. He would be saddened, but he would not slacken his commitment to a better, more just world. The best things need to be fought for, relentlessly. I think this is what he would say, from his last recorded words:

Is it Past Time or Pastime?

Someone once said that Baseball is Life. This is particularly true as Metaphor. So while we wait out the cruel winter and hold our breath for the new Dark Age to begin, let us take a brief look at some baseball images and their relation to our lives.

This is how the Trump Administration will make America great again.

As you may know, a ridiculous tradition is popular among fans of the North Side of Chicago Baseball Club. When an opposing team's batter swats a home run into the Wrigley Field bleachers, fans will contemptuously heave the offending ball back into the outfield. This used to be done with relentless regularity when the Cubs were dependably awful. Outfielders don't like it because a ball coming back from the stands could hit them on the head; also, they don't like having to needlessly run down the ball in the field. Then there is the odious HiveMind reaction to anyone who doesn't comply. "Throw it back! Throw it back!!" the crowd chants over and over, louder and louder, until the peer pressure becomes so ugly that the ball is returned to the field. This is the fandom that turned Steve Bartman into a Witness Protection kind of guy. Anyway, this is all just a setup for the following gif:

Trump Base as Oblivious Cubs Fan (pick one, any one). 

The following is what happens when you mix too much alcohol and passion for the baseball. I believe this is a former girlfriend of mine. I was probably trying to hold her up/back. Did that a lot, I recall.

America trying to get the promised Greatness

Now here's what the world really needs: The Washington Post has a new twitter feed that provides "context and corrections" to our President-elect's preferred form of communications/governance. It's really good! And you don't need to have a Twitter account to read it. Just click on the link regularly and you'll get fact checks on any of his latest tweet pronouncements!

https://twitter.com/realDonaldCntxt

Finally, as we look for more light in lengthening days, let us remember the words of our old friend Albert Camus, noted novelist, playwright, essayist, philosopher and White Sox fan:

"We can't make it here anymore"

As we continue in our lives seeking truth and meaning, an occasional bump along the way rips the veil a bit and we see things, briefly, as they truly are. That's how I feel when I listen to James McMurtry. His father, Larry, prefers his own work to center in the past, as in such great books as Lonesome Dove and The Last Picture Show. James shares his father's gift for observation, but distills his epiphanies into penetrating song lyrics that highlight the here and now.

Much has been said about how Trump voters, particularly the non-urban, working class and "poorly educated", are misunderstood and neglected by "elites" of both political parties. Repubs have used them for their 'family values' votes. Dems used them for what remains of Union-related votes. Neither seem to really care to get into the heads and hearts of this socio-economic strata. It's one of the reasons Trump swept them up.

Although McMurtry wrote this song in 2005, it plays like a soundtrack to November, 2016. His characters have been on the losing end of the national stick for a few decades. Through no fault of their own, manufacturing jobs went away and communities cratered.  Static or declining incomes over 30 years animate the long-brewing resentment of these affected people. They're pissed off.

Listen to James McMurtry as he stares into the cold, hard, black sun of the American soul:

"We Can't Make It Here"

That's a whole bunch of Truth. But wait, there's more!

"Choctaw Bingo" is a relentless, revealing, stream of consciousness roller-coaster ramble through the Great Midwest Plains fueled by moonshine, meth and Chuck Berry. It's a wild road trip that goes deep into the heart of red meat Trump country. Quite an American song (and funny, in a horrifying way).

So here we are, waiting for the rough beast, its hour come round at last, as it slouches towards Washington, DC to be born. The Greeks had a word for it, and we'll get to that in a future post!

Happy New Year?

The year 2016 was seen by many as a supremely rotten year. And in ways it was. America shocked itself and the world by electing its incoming disruptive president. Unseemly, demeaning and disturbing points of view were manifested by him and some of his supporters. Such mindsets were remarkable because of their widespread geo-socio-economic nature. These prejudices somehow, alarmingly, have exceeded their bigoted shelf life. 

A majority of Americans came to loathe 2016 partly because of the unwelcome surprises that came along as the year developed and revealed itself. It was a year that held much promise for them in the beginning. But by the end, the world had seemingly been turned upside down.

In contrast, 2017 holds no such sunny promise for these folks. The country's path has been determined, for better or worse, for the next four years. 2017 won't be considered as a pariah year that 2016 is now because the path is clearly set. The expectation of social progress has been diminished. The game is seen, ironically, as rigged.

But the world didn't really change much on November 9, 2016. The march towards enlightenment is not meant to be a smooth one. As our current president has said, "The path that this country has taken has never been a straight line. We zig and zag, and sometimes we move in ways that some people think is forward and others think is moving back."

We've been here before. Think about other Big Zigs and Zags like the Januarys of 1861, 1933, or 1969. On New Year's Day, 1941, John Steinbeck wrote as if it were today:

“Speaking of the happy new year, I wonder if any year ever had less chance of being happy. It’s as though the whole race were indulging in a kind of species introversion — as though we looked inward on our neuroses. And the thing we see isn’t very pretty… So we go into this happy new year, knowing that our species has learned nothing, can, as a race, learn nothing — that the experience of ten thousand years has made no impression on the instincts of the million years that preceded.”

“Not that I have lost any hope. All the goodness and the heroisms will rise up again, then be cut down again and rise up. It isn’t that the evil thing wins — it never will — but that it doesn’t die. I don’t know why we should expect it to. It seems fairly obvious that two sides of a mirror are required before one has a mirror, that two forces are necessary in man before he is man.” 

Pretty good, that John Steinbeck...