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Miss America

I miss America;

the beautiful

dream

of e pluribus

unum.

Out of plurality,

union/

out of many,

one

nation 

for which 

it stands

in liberty

and justice

for all.

I miss America,

the leader

of the free

world.

I miss America

who self corrected

and connected

the world.

I miss America

whose history,

at many times

ugly,

was acknowledged

and reconsidered,

now withered

if not cancelled,

like rights

once 

won,

now gone.

I miss America

imperfect

yet aspirational,

now confrontational

against

one another.

We’ve been

mired in divisions

and poor decisions

at various

times 

in our history,

but it’s no 

mystery

now

how 

the dictator 

from day one

will shun

anyone

perceived

as a threat

to the agenda

he set

for himself.

The difference

this time

is 

the party’s

over-

whelmingly

behind

him.

I miss America

before

curation,

when dedication

to shared

education,

not disinformation,

was assumed.

I miss America

the beautiful

body

politic,

now very sick,

if not a relic.

I don’t miss

America

the hideous,

whose insidious

hating

there is no

debating,

but seemed

abating

although

too slowly.

The zombies

and trolls

have exacted

their tolls

upon

us.

I won’t miss

this

America.

We must

all help

her heal.

The real

America

is all of this,

and because

of this,

we can’t just

miss 

America,

but we

must be

her promise.

ICEcapades

Before

the lure

of a military 

parade,

Trump unleashed

an escapade

of Immigration

and Customs

Enforcement.

Without endorsement

from 

Governor Newsom,

the ICE raids

then 

had shades

of authoritarianism 

when,

without state’s request,

at the behest

of the Trump administration,

The National Guard

was deployed

so ICE could raid

where immigrants

have been 

long employed.

The showdown

in downtown

LA 

with marines

on their way,

had it’s day

in court

yesterday.

Gavin won

round one.

But we know

how Trump

likes to play.

He’ll ask

for a stay

and go

all the way

to the Supreme 

Court.

While that

was unfolding

Kristi Noem

was holding

a  presser

on Homeland

Security.

Feigning purity

of purpose

against 

the “Socialist”

governor

and mayor,

the California

senior Senator

posed a question-

or tried to.

Abruptly

and aggressively,

he was whisked

away,

manhandled

and cuffed,

as Noem

bluffed

her way

around

and through

this new

way

of silencing

opposition.

Such escapades:

ICE raids,

and parades

of military,

while roughing

up a dignitary,

and anybody

deemed

a foe

can quickly

grow

worse.

Five months

in

to this administration,

look where 

we are.

Is this the tip

of the ICEberg?

Right Guard

In that arid,

extra dry

city

of angels,

a legal

and  peaceful

demonstration

met recrimination

by  the criminal

White House.

Sure,

it’s no secret

that any rally

in blue Cali

makes Trump

go bat-bleep crazy.

He picks ICE
to make 

all immigrants

pay a price

which won’t

suffice.

Fake video

seems

to show

the protests

becoming

violent.

It’s the pretext

for

the pretend

savior

to call

the National

Guard.

The guy

who ignored

the pleas

for order

restored

at The Capitol

at the 1/6

insurrection,

has decided

that at 

his direction,

LA

needs

the National Guard

to prove

how right

he is.

But the right

guard

is not hard

to see

particularly

as the citizenry

is mobilized

to demonstrate

for democracy.

The whole 

immigration

situation

needs 

an overhaul.

But not at all

what we’ve 

seen thus far

by this 

White House

reality star.

What’s next?

Will the new

LA Law

be 

martial law

or some straw

man

argument

against

any immigrant

regardless

of how innocent?

There’s more

in store,

you can 

be sure.

It’s enough

to make

you sweat.

Our perspiration

is his

satiation,

and he’ll go

to the nth

degree

as he

disregards

constitutional 

rights,

much less, 

humanity.

Strong Ending on a Weekend

Sovereignty 

won again.

Then,

Good Night and Good Luck

had me watch CNN

and I sobbed

uncontrollably 

at the end.

I pretend

that this

National Guard 

bit

won’t hit

hard;

that Trump

expels verbal

gas,

lighting

the mass

appeal

of his zeal

to troll.

He stole

our sovereignty

and dignity.

No sense

of decency–

not just

McCarthy.

I know

there are more

of us

who stand

for progress

and for 

the good. 

The indecent

are not 

so recent;

but the exponential

potential

of social

media and 

incredible wealth

have threatened 

the health

of the republic

and the world.

It always seems

more dangerous

and ever

more outrageous,

but we’re

also able 

to see 

the most contentious

among us

as the weakest.

So,

though it

seems utterly

terrible,

if not practically

unbearable,

let’s not get

hysterical.

Sovereignty

won again.

So shall we

with integrity.

We see history

more clearly

and the need

for participatory

citizenry.

I will do

what I can

next Saturday

(and every day)

to stand

for democracy.

Will you?

Freedom Fighters?

They are all

terrorists,

claiming

to be

anti colonists

or anti zionists

or whatever

the latest 

version

of subversion

and inversion

may be;

but to me,

yelling

freedom

not while 

holding signs

or hands,

but

while

in the midst

of shooting,

burning,

attacking,

threatening,

beating,

etcetera,

is meeting

the criteria

not for 

legitimacy,

but for

criminality

of the worst

kind.

Yell

all you 

want,

if you

want 

to yell,

but the hell

we see

daily

it seems,

of innocent

lives

made

a prize 

or some

token

for a cause

because

someone

decided

that jews

(or fill

in the blank)

are the problem

and always

have been

and always

will be,

I guarantee

find 

their hate

channeled,

but 

insatiable.

Hate is 

like

that little

shop

of horrors.

It feeds

its needs

unendingly.

The spate

of antisemitic

violence

against

innocents

just 

this year

alone

should

sear

the heart

of anyone

and everyone,

but does it?

Any group

maligned

or assigned

problematic

in the way

antisemitic

hate works,

just like

any (and every)

form of

bigotry,

isn’t some sort

of existential

symmetry.

It does

not affect

the actual

oppressor.

I can be

pro-Palestinian

and pro- Palestine

without being

a philistine.

I have no

interest

in killing

those 

with whom

I disagree.

Sadly,

we forget

that a government

may not represent

its constituents.

The innocents

are everywhere

and have always

been 

the forgotten.

Spare me

the faux

freedom

fight

and claim

of right,

even if

believed.

Ill conceived

when needing

purpose

or cause

for ineffectiveness,

the subjectiveness

subjects

us less

to righteousness

and freedom

than to destructiveness

and endless

heinousness.

It’s ridiculous

that we aren’t

beyond this.

We seem

to use

more tools

to enable

than to 

disable

the weaknesses

of humans.

Or maybe 

they are just

more accessible.

Urgent Care

Crisis centers

focus 

upon disaster

faster

than the usual

perusal

of a concerning

issue.

Discerning

misuse

or abuse

from the obtuse,

while trying

not 

to confuse,

we use tools

of expedience

for the 

triage experience;

a quick

fix,

if temporary.

Contrary

to ordinary

problems

of persistence,

when resistance

to change

allows for a range

of ways 

to cope,

the end of 

the rope

of crisis

invites us

to pivot;

to  apply

a tourniquet

to stop

the flow.

The distinction

between

an emergency

and urgency

may be

unclear.

The fear,

however,

is whether

or not

we’ve got

enough

stuff

to manage

the damage.

Just how deadly

is this?

The persistent 

quality

of urgency

insistently

demands

attention

for mitigation

of a critical

situation.

An emergency

emerges

more quickly

than urgency,

yet

both insistently

demand

intervention.

But convention

sometimes

clouds

the urge

to purge

the toxic

ways

that delays

imagined

discomfort.

With no

more room

for emergencies

or crises

imposed

upon us,

we retreat

in defeat

and claim

self preservation,

without realization

that earth’s

land, sea, 

and air

can’t self

repair

without

urgent care.

Urge your legislators:

Home

Habeas Corpus Kristi

So 

Homeland Security

Director, Kristi,

didn’t know

that habeas

corpus

is for

all of us.

It is not

Trump’s 

decision

to imprison

or deport

anyone 

he chooses.

But Kristi

refuses

to acknowledge

(did she learn

this in college?)

that we are

a constitutional

democracy.

While some

heard 

defiance,

others heard

reliance

on

the  Constitution

as the enabler

of the singularity

of authority

of the presidency.

The controversy

isn’t really

about understanding

habeas corpus.

It’s the torturous

logic 

of torture

and detention

when the pretention 

of 

executive order

that suggests

the border

of emergency.

From enhanced

interrogation

to undoing

immigration,

by 

denying

due process,

the crisis

excuse

for justified

use

is nothing

less than

constitutional

abuse.

Fast and loose

with interpretation

or not 

understanding

the definition

of habeas 

corpus,

Krsiti Noem,

Director of Home-

land

Security,

defined

the meaning

of this

presidency:

Because

he says

so.

Return Policy

I doesn’t 

match.

It clashes.

It doesn’t

work.

It’s uncomfortable.

It doesn’t fit

right.

It needs to be

bigger.

Or 

it’s too

much.

I thought

it would

be different.

I can only

receive

credit

to get

something

better.

But

it’s mostly

sold out.

Meanwhile,

what’s left

here

is nearly

a mess.

So much

spent

that went

toward

the return

policy.

A Classless Society

A decade ago, 

when Trump

made a go

at politics,

the heretics

rose

to close

the deal

to reveal

the fault 

lines

beneath us.

It’s been

everyone

else’s fault

since then;

never

a mia

culpa.

A witch hunt,

political stunt,

or cries

of lies

no matter

how it defies,

now

no surprise;

Nonetheless appalling.

The most 

galling

is no longer

name 

calling.

It’s to be

expected.

Protected 

speech,

unless you 

teach

or learn

about

oppression,

is a matter

of opinion.

The dominion

over everything

that power

and money

can possibly

bring

is ushering

in

autocracy

in a now

crass

and classless

society.

I don’t

mean

the kind

that Bernie

and A.O.C.

have 

in mind,

but the 

cheap 

and tasteless,

undignified,

rapacious,

Trump

brand

that his

command

has forced

us to

withstand.

Checking

privilege 

and elitism

is unfolding

into quite

a schism

suggesting

that the

evolution

of civilization

has been

a hoax,

folks.

Proof

that money

can’t by

class,

the ass

in chief,

like a thief,

takes

whatever

he wants.

His taunts,

now dangerous,

and increasingly

outrageous,

threatening

to deport

citizens

after the precedents

of sending

legal residents

to Salvadoran

and Libyan

prisons.

The callousness

of this classlessness

as with everything

else he says 

and does

does

harm 

to all of us.

Our classless

society

with faux

piety,

now run

as an

oligarchy

with remnants

of democracy,

can’t wait

for half

to discover

decency.

This is an

emergency.

This class

is pass/

fail. 

May Day! May Day!

Signal 

of distress;

SOS!!

Help 

rectify

this mess!!

Contact

Congress!!

It’s work,

and feels

less 

than compelling

when the MAGA

contingent

has bought

what

Trump’s been

selling.

But maintaining

democracy

requires

sustaining

the doing

of democracy.

Giving up

on living

up

to imperfect

but just,

is just

unimaginable

for a habitable

US.

May Day! May Day!

This May Day

may be

an ideal opportunity

to stand in solidarity

for dignity

and democracy

with workers

internationally

and certainly,

locally.

Don’t let the perfect

be the enemy

of the good.

In fact,

that’s caused

our situation.

Infatuation

with mere rhetoric

allowed a heretic

with a flare

for the dramatic

(and toxic)

enter the real

politic.

But resistance

matters now.

And then

when 

history

looks back

and asks

what happened,

“May Day! May Day!”

it will say.

People resisted

and insisted

on democratic

process,

under duress,

as multitudes

did the work

of making

progress,

in the face

of the disgraceful

president.