Culture and Politics

Risky Business

America’s not ready?

Was America ready

For Trump?

For the Pandemic?

For an assassination attempt?

For Biden’s exit?

For Harris’ ascendance?

The Veepstakes

are on

and everyone 

is buzzing.

I hear

the fear

that America

isn’t ready

for two women

at

the top.

Too risky?

Seriously?

Democracy

could lose

if Harris

would choose

a woman?

I suspect

that those

who reject

a two- woman

team

would 

not seem

to lean

D.

I know

it’s the 

indies

and uncommitted

that have 

everyone

twisted

in nots.

Firsts

are tricky,

and then

prove

not risky

quickly

after 

we see

them.

Bill Clinton

defied

what many

decried

to be 

the “rules”

that always

should be

applied.

He selected

another

similar

young,

Southern,

white guy,

and they got

elected

to two 

terms.

The first

(real) Black

president

also spent

8 years

serving,

preserving

and 

advancing

the best

that could

be.

The disruption 

age

in which

we live

creates

such rage 

and fear

that what’s 

so dear

can be lost

overnight.

So the plight

of two women,

or a gay man

or a Jewish man

along with

a mixed race

woman,

creates 

a sense

of insecurity.

With maturity

and sobriety

we’ve had

to face

changes

unexpectedly.

Were we

ready

then?

And if not,

when?

No one

predicted

the last 

few weeks,

much less

the last few

days,

And yet

we are rising-

not flailing 

or failing-

as the right

thing to do

was the best

thing to do

and feels

as exciting

and good

as it is

new.

We weren’t

ready

for Trump,

or Dobbs,

or mobs

storming

the Capital.

Mass deportation,

no abortion,

diminished

education,

and the rest

of the Heritage

Foundation

stuff

is exactly

why

two tough

women

could be

possibly

the key

and what

America

is ready for.

Patriot Acts

“I know how

to tell

the truth,”

declared

the POTUS

the day after

the rest of us

saw 

he couldn’t claw

his way out

of a debate

with a liar

lying

about 

everything.

Telling 

the truth

for the uncouth

MAGA man

is seen 

in the ways

he conveys

fears and aches.

The stakes

being grilled

have filled

our capacity

on this anniversary

of America.

Patriotism

on display

today,

waiving in 

red, white,

and blue,

hate and fear

is still clear

while professing

love

for America

above everything

except embryos.

I chose

anniversary

instead of birthday

because a union

was created

and debated

since 1776.

America

is not

biological;

it’s philosophical

and ideological, 

though sometimes

with 

the logical part

missing.

We are all

patriots today,

celebrating

this anniversary

of possibility

for humanity

to live decently

in democracy,

once 

associated

with liberty

and justice

for all.

Truth

has been

spinning

for winning

elections.

But reflections

of  acts

of patriotism

reveal

less cynicism

and criticism

than truism,

until the era

of MAGA.

Now,

truth telling

is telling.

Claiming

to be

a patriot

with mendacity

and audacity

to blatantly

lie

is the truth

this 

4th of July

of one party

claiming

the future.

The truth

is grim,

but patriotism

for US

has meant 

a system

dependent

upon

truth

and accountability.

A patriot

acts

for 

a more

perfect union,

not for

a savior

or

not with 

a diety

but with

democracy,

where 

the truth

is not easy

to accept.

The Challenger

All those 

missions

to the moon

soon

felt so 

ordinary.

Everything

else

was a moon

shot

as we forgot

rocket science

challenges

until

The Challenger

explosion.

No longer

cavalier,

the fear

drove

decisions

more than

ambitions,

and understandably

so.

The aptly

named 

Challenger,

famed

for spectacular

disaster

is plastered

in our psyche.

Since then 

it seems,

that doing

big things

like moon shots

have become

too hard.

But that’s 

a story 

(with all

it’s gory

glory)

that fuels

(sorry)

that narrative

of the incentive

of the genius

billionaire

who will 

save us.

They profess

government

fails us;

and billionares

are us

because

the tell us

they are.

Huh?

When  the vaccine

saved us

from COVID-19,

that was a

moon shot

that landed.

The increasing

access

to health,

wealth,

education,

and participation

of all sorts

is distorted

as some sort

of assault

on individual

freedom.

Meanwhile

actual 

assault

weapons

are holier

than thou.

Now,

fear 

is the sphere

in which

we all orbit,

and 

restoring

democracy

as it used

to be

feels like

a moon 

shot.

The Challenger

this election

is Biden,

despite

his current

position.

His world

was blown up

before 

our eyes

and the

surprise

is the

seeming

inability

to completely

clean it

up.

But we 

can still

do hard

things

beyond

challenging.

It feels

like a moon

shot

if you forgot

that we

got

to the moon

many times.

And The Challenger,

which

brought 

with it 

fear,

also made

clear

that rigor

and resumed

vigor

and a program

reconfigured,

meant 

it didn’t

have

to end 

in disaster.

Heat Wave

Desantis

cut

all grants

for arts

in Florida.

This is not

merely

the display

of Tom Delay

opposing

a nude

sculpture.

This is culture

war 

gone

nuclear.

Aside

from 

refuge

from the deluge

of the monstrosity

of absurd 

political

verbosity,

the arts

engage 

with less savage

rage

and elevate

hearts

and minds.

Thinking

critically

is critically

necessary,

and increasingly

lacking

in society.

Not merely

criticizing

the opposing

position,

but juxtaposing

division

for consideration

is the job

of the thoughtful

democratic

citizen.

Of course

arts 

are 

not exclusive

to democratic,

inclusive

societies.

All cultures

create

culturally 

great

works,

that work

to showcase

impressions,

expressions,

confessions,

obsessions

beyond

politics

or religion,

or economics

or any statistics.

Art 

is part

of being

human,

if only

to be

appreciated.

No reason

was given

as to what

had driven

Desantis

to defund

grants

for arts

across

the great

state

of Florida.

How about 

opera

in Tampa?

Or the Miami

City

Ballet?

Or the New

Word Symphony

or every gallery

from Tallahassee 

to The Keys?

More importantly,

these sacred

places 

not

for profit

benefit

the public—

educating,

celebrating,

debating,

and creating

connections

anew.

He won’t

undo

what he 

threatens

to,

despite

his defunding

veto.

It’s abundantly

clear

he’s sincere

about 

being a

rage 

machine.

He won’t

be outdone

by anyone

except

by himself.

Should

we be 

outraged

or disengaged?

Which

would be

most effective

against

the invective

and incentive

to be incensed

by the lack

of sense

and every 

pretense

and policy

to lash

back

against

culture

and history

since 1960?

Adding fuel

and heat

to compete

for VEEP

may be

a steep

conquest,

but my best

guess

is that

this wave

won’t 

save

him.

Heat

waves

have begun

not just

in the Sunshine

State. 

The first 

debate

will ignite

the fight

that will

get overheated

as MAGA

acolytes

on the right

like to 

make waves

and heat

things up.

The boiling

point

is the point;

to foil

any opposition

even if

the position

is to defund

all arts.

Don’t let

the heated

rhetoric

and waves

of crazy

keep you

lazy.

Support

the arts.

Buy and read

banned books.

Help women

access care

as needed.

Ignore the 

debate.

Help create

access

and accountability.

It’s your responsibility

in this 

heat wave.

Umpteenth

Juneteenth 

is a reminder

not just 

of the commemoration

of the Emancipation

Proclamation,

ending slavery

at the end

of The Confederacy,

but

of African

American

History

itself.

The first

Juneteenth

ended the horror

and sought

to honor

the new freedom

from enslavement.

But derangement

followed

as Jim Crow

swallowed

The South.

The Great Migration

still meant

segregation

for decades

until Civil Rights

advocates

political, 

social,

educational,

and economic

freedoms

as whites

had always 

had.

The attention

to celebration

of the Emancipation

Proclamation

was not

yet seen

on the American

scene

as an American

holiday

for the country.

Willfull

ignorance

maintains

intolerance,

though

we like

to maintain

the pretense

of innocence.

Black history

is not 

just February

or Kwanzaa

or MLK

Day.

The 1619

Project

is not

about 

white

feelings.

Diversity.

Equity.

Inclusion.

These are

now regarded

by some

as the exclusion

of fairness

in the world

of white

expectation.

The critics

of Critical

Race Theory

have a different

theory

than the actuality

of CRT.

Who stole

history

from whom?

The American

womb

gave birth 

twice;

birthdays

we now

celebrate:

July 4th

and Juneteenth,

both days

of observance

of independence.

We still

struggle

with freedom,

racism,

and even

imperialism.

Juneteenth’s

immediacy

connects

the history

to today

in a way

that few 

other 

observances

do.

So observe

and celebrate

this date

with no

number,

and stay

awake

to the umpteenth

number

of ways

in which

distortions

and lies

compromise

all of us.

Locked and Loaded

On the right,

the rights

of states,

corporations,

and each fetus

treats 

the rest 

of us

as peripheral

or collateral

damage.

The carnage

from gun

violence

in America

is grotesque.

And the focus

on the second

amendment

(not commandment)

as a right

to protect

even if death

occurs

is somehow

more important

than a woman’s

life.

The lock

on the court

and the loaded

rhetoric

of states’

rights

as an excuse

for the inexcusable,

undoubtedly 

championed

by the ones

who refuse

to recuse

themselves

for the case

of abuse

by a president

who rallied

an insurrection

despite 

objection

by the citizenry,

is dizzyingly

maddening.

How could

this be

happening?

In lock

step,

the right

falls 

in line

and the left

is left

not even

falling

in love.

Legality

should

contain

morality

of the most

basic,

unspecific

to theology,

sort.

Children

post birth

should

be worth

more

than unfortunate

circumstance.

The court’s

stance

on bump

stocks

mocks

the concept

of a supreme

justice.

Each day

more 

revelatory,

the story

that emerges

is loaded

with history

and those

who want

to be locked

in position

regulating

the regulators.

It all 

feels so

irregular

and anti

secular

while

profaning

a once

sacred

democratic

system

that seemed

poised

to better

all of us.

Separation Anxiety

Wait…

Are we

breaking

up?

or down?

I thought

you taught

me 

everything

I knew

without

knowing.

I threw

myself

into 

you,

believing

the conceiving

was a

how-to

create

fulfilling

life.

Strife 

is inevitable,

but this

is incredible

in the worst

way.

Our 

ancestors

split

into the pit

of war

and tore

themselves

apart.

The scars

inflamed

but were

tamed

until

recently.

The cult 

of personality

of indecency

is claiming

it’s all 

about

policy.

You want

to be

free 

from 

Me?

You,

who insist

on Christ

first

as a

gun toting

misogynist

and homophobe

in a judge’s

robe,

without

limit

to prohibit

that which

you deem

oppressive.

You

are

overtaxed?

It’s impressive

how simple

minded

people

like

to be

told

day and night

that they

are right

to be

aggrieved

and wanting

to be

free.

A civil 

war?

A cold

war?

A revolution?

It feels

like dissolution

of the evolution

of what could

be 

a better

future;

a more

perfect

union.

I see

the enemy

of the good.

We should

be able

to reconcile,

but the infantile

bile

has been

weaponized

to legitimize

some fantasized

perversion,

while an infantilized

conversion

has materialized

before

my eyes. 

I’m still surprised

by this uprising,

making

it seem

like our thing

was a long

fling.

But truth

is enduring

despite

luring

attempts

to 

undo

US.

We have

much

work

to do;

not just

to protect

and defend,

but mend.

I can’t 

pretend

it’s just

one

election

to be

won.

But it 

could be

the last

of the past

248 years.

Hunter Gatherers

The Biden

hunters

now get

their turn

as they 

yearn

for retribution

for the prosecution

they claim

for their famed

MAGA leader

was in search

of a crime.

But crimes

were found,

(34!!),

around

falsifying

documents

in order

to thwart

the election.

As jury selection

for Hunter

Biden

commenced,

I sensed

a sobering.

What we

are really

confronting,

is the affronting

behavior

not of hunting

and gathering

evidence

unfounded,

but of unbounded

people

of wealth

and power

and those

who cower

to prevent

being

devoured

by 

the Former

Guy.

Most

important,

though,

is not

the hunting

game

(particularly

of fame)

but the gathering

of evidence

and its relevance

to greater issues. 

The Biden

pain

is unimaginable

yet felt

every day

by parents

who aren’t

presidents.

And the drug-

crime

intersection

deserves

reflection

as does

the application

process

to possess 

guns

in this

country.

The Biden

hunters

who investigated

Joe

know

there was no

there there.

But sadly,

his son

admittedly

had done

what those

who didn’t

get caught

often do:

he lied

when he

applied

for a gun.

Bad behavior

was always

assumed,

and now

we’re

consumed

by those

who presume

it doesn’t

matter

and 

that laws

only apply

to some.

Hunter’s

father—

President

Biden—

did not

cry,

“Sham!”

or try

to shut

down 

the trial.

The Whataboutism

prism

seeks to

deepen

the schism

and screams

of victimization.

But the reality

shows

that to merely

oppose 

and compose

fake theories,

electors,

and more

to score

points,

disjoints

and points

to a party

lacking

veracity,

morality.

or substance.

The abuse

is profuse

on  one side

as they deride

endlessly.

But watch 

which 

Hunter 

gatherers

contribute

to retribution

and which

seek a just

solution

to the real

scams

and shams

that are

damning

us.

Read: Flags

The idea

of heaven

is appealing,

particularly

when reeling

from life

that cuts

like a knife

with a 

serrated

blade,

alternating 

spiky

and smooth.

Alito’s

flags

read

as symbols

of dread

pledging

allegiance

instead

to Trump.

“Freeing”

speech,

to the 

Capitol

breech,

is more

than 

disrupting

norms.

From 

the first clue

of Q

to 

Brandon,

the cult

has landed

on a key

way 

to unify

with 

the former

guy

through

linguistic

gymnastics

and symbolic

semiotics.

The insider’s

guide

to being

outside

is to hide

in plain

sight.

More 

than a club,

a cult

will sub

established

lingo

for the 

nouveau

so that

only

the committed

are permitted

to use it.

The abuse

is willful

and intentional

to distill

and distinguish

in an english

riddled

with subversive

political meanings.

The political

leanings

are clear

even when

vocabulary

is a mere

game

to reframe

and blame

and hide

inside

their 

own web

of deceit.

The cult’s

conceit

is to repeat

anew

a slew

of symbols

and words

no matter

how absurd

to herd

together

the once

stirred,

lonely,

and aggrieved.

The perceived

connection

with objection

to the status

quo

always

motivates

change.

Linguistic

analysis

provides

the structure

of  culture

and functions

as the glue

and cue

to the cult

of Q anon

and beyond,

supporting

the vibe

of the tribe

who imbibe

the kool aid.

Et tu

Nikki Haley?

I know it’s

scary,

but cults

never

deliver

the heaven

they promise,

no matter

how

appealing.

America, Pure and Simple

We tell

our early

history

like the purity

of Eden,

as though we

began

in the 50s.

Our garden

was victorious,

and thus,

we were born

as us

in the glorious

nation

of Perry Mason.

The wrongly

accused

used 

the best 

defense

to reveal

the pretense

of the guilty.

Mid Century

Modern

beyond the 

aesthetic,

was the 

Cold War

ethic,

pure,

and 

simple.

The 60s revolt

was jolt

after jolt

to the preceding

calm

and conformity.

The enormity

of change

and a lost

war

tore

us apart.

The politics

of identity

was the new

purity

test,

while testing

nukes

against

or from

Soviets

remained

the most 

deadly threats.

After the fall

of the wall,

our Eden

seemed 

on the verge

of restoration

until 

the devastation

of 2001

took us on

an odyssey

of 

and against

hate

and crazy.

We have 

an affinity

for purity

despite

reality.

It’s practically

our DNA

to this day,

whether

individually

or societally.

It’s how we

see,

unless

we profess

to look

beyond

or respond

with inquiry.

It’s messy,

and unsatisfying

to have what

you don’t 

want

or like.

Evil

exists

just

as gravity

persists,

even though

we can

go to 

the moon

or across

the earth

through

the sky.

Our history

of purity

did not

make

America

great.

Like too much

Purell,

we lose

our ability

to quell

super 

contagions.

Our actual

history-

factual

and blistery-

is a longing

for purity

while

being

very messy.

Long before

the 50s

and the trials

that we’ve

endured,

we’ve been

lured

by purity

as morality.

Confronting

evil,

pure 

and simple,

is maybe

the purest

thing 

we can do.

No need

for perfection

or purity

test

to vociferously

and actively

object

to those who

detest

democracy,

diversity,

and the reality

that makes

America

great.

It’s not

a unified

reich.