United States

Making Ago of It

MAGA

became

a party

to insanity

with no

real

vision,

just 

division.

The sense

of impending

ending

of what 

we treasure

is the measure

by which

we react.

Humanity’s

mortality

(and certainly

Democracy’s)

is what we

tend

to see.

At least

let’s not

go further

but add

some fervor

to be the

preserver

of this

life

now.

The party’s

over

so let’s 

stand

our ground

into the ground

this time

around.

Screw

decorum—

a forum

for repression.

Bring

obsession

and regression

to the fore

and the floor

of our House.

Hats off

to 46,

who wants

to fix

so much

that is broken.

The Center

of Gravity

has normalized

depravity,

self serving

and unnerving.

Calling themselves

Conservative

is interpretive

at best.

Suggesting

Great

while exhibiting

hate

is actually

reflecting

our past.

We’re better

off

and on 

a path

forward,

certainly

since

COVID.

But what

we thought

was outmoded

has a devoted

following.

Wallowing

in grievance

and demanding

allegiance

will not

forward

us.

Looking toward

what was

is blurry,

leaving out

the worst

and worry.

But many

feel 

more confident

in the current

fever dream.

The wish 

of 4 years

ago

is merely 

to hold

on.

Making

America

Great

Again,

as though

it’s something

we only

know

from long

ago,

is oh so

hollow.

Track and Field

I track

my body’s

expenditures–

tallying

steps,

REM,

and deep

sleep.

My  convenient

device

provides

advice

to keep 

me resilient.

Physically,

it’s working;

I’m doing

better 

than expected.

But my

field

of vision

is narrowing,

as the harrowing

crises 

overwhelm these

data points.

In order 

to prevent

sleeplessness

and foster

resilience,

I need 

to care

less.

But I can’t.

We need 

to engage

in ways

that are 

interactive

and creative;

that address

the mess

from fossil

fuels

and plastic.

Truly drastic

measures

require

forgoing

pleasures

to which 

we have

become

accustomed.

Losing

trust,

witnessing

those 

intended

to see a

democracy

upended

is exhausting

to track.

And depressing.

The alienation

in this nation

is in part

caused by

a conflation

of news 

and entertainment

—infotainment—

and cruelty

so that duality,

not plurality,

is insisted

upon.

We are lost,

and the cost

is literally

killing

the country

(and others)

and the planet. 

Helplessness,

more than 

sleeplessness,

is the urgent

and important

crisis to meet.

As we track

our daily

routines,

we are 

far

afield

from living

from what

we’ve been

given.

We have 

retreated

to repeated

tasks

when what

is actually

asked

of us

is to heal

each other

and our

environment.

Liberty Mutual

Liberty

is a statue

commemorating

a virtue

welcoming

into our harbor,

absent

on the southern

border.

Insecure

from escapees

and refugees

seeking

asylum

after 

an insanely

difficult

trek

under stars

and the blazing

sun,

overwhelming

our broken

system,

we no longer

talk of liberty

or freedom

from dangerous

or injurious

conditions

except 

in Gaza

despite 

Hamas.

The explosive,

corrosive,

divisions

pushing

boundaries

at the borders

within several 

democracies,

while atrocities

unrelenting,

remind me

that 

Lady Liberty

is a statue

from long

ago.

Our experiment

in liberty

has always had

an element

of hypocrisy,

sometimes forgetting

responsibility

and accountability

to others

that accompanies

her.

Don’t tread

on me:

it’s my liberty

for me

to be as free

as can be

unless

I’m powerless,

which often

means

without means.

(or a woman,

or person of 

color;

or queer

or any other

minority

denied

liberty

because

it’s been

historically

otherwise

until

recently.)

But history

is being

written

anew 

with old

conventions

and oppressions.

It’s as though

some want

liberty

to be an old

statue.

They will 

demand

what

they please

ignoring pleas

that counter

their own

misperceived

threats

or preferences.

Their defenses

of god 

and liberty

(and possibly 

immunity)

are sculptures

of a culture

long dominant.

But liberty

stands

alone,

prominent,

as a definer

of human

beings.

Despite 

Putin’s

war 

to dominate

Ukraine,

the sane

understand

the demand

that liberty

is not merely

a statue,

but an evolution

itself

of self

and other

reckoning

from the beckoning

of the torch.

Elder Care

Some don’t 

care

about one

candidate’s

age

or

gaffes

or (potential?)

crimes,

because:

demeanor.

The meaner,

the better;

such

a go

getter.

His vim

and vigor

and ability

to trigger

libs

is his

super 

power,

despite

his dour

countenance

and incompetence

at everything

but delaying.

He’s playing

the game

to win

at all 

costs,

which,

as of now,

costs him

about a half

a billion

dollars

plus interest

each day

he doesn’t

pay.

“So what?”,

they say,

“He’s here

to stay”,

because

he’s the

Mr Fixit.

But if

the fix

is in

unless he

wins…

oh there is

no

logic

to the diabolic

hyperbolic

sclerotic

neurotic

chronic

liminal

criminal

chief

cheat,

other than

to serve

himself.

And the slow

moving

Joe

is suffering

from low

approval

ratings

despite 

succesful

governance.

But media

presence

presents

a problem

for the elder

statesman.

Looking

frail

on the campaign

trail

is worse

than the prospect

of going

to jail

in our current

democrazy.

Will stopping

Biden

be easier

than stopping

Trump 

from running?

This could 

be stunning.

Write

to your 

pols

regardless 

of polls

and tell

them how

much

you care.

A democracy

is not 

a one man

capability.

We are much 

more

than this

sore

spot

of old

white

guys

clinging.

Never Mind?

Lemme just say

that one 

should pay

one’s bills.

The latest

threat

to NATO,

though,

we can’t ignore

as a sure

bet

to upset

yet

again 

the anti

MAGA

as the saga

continues.

The irony,

as Andy

Borowitz

reminds us.

is that

the guy

who never

pays 

his bills

somehow 

instills

a sanction:

a sort of

permission

for Putin’s

aggression

and obsession

with expansion.

Trump

is playing

quarterback,

wanting his

own

Super Bowl

back;

treating this

as the halftime

show

Ushering

in 

the third

quarter

after ordering

House

Repubs’

ignoring

the border

deal

that could

have helped

our immigration

situation,

and also

Biden.

And who 

could forget

Hur’s hurling

insult

at the aging-

before –

our-eyes

POTUS,

who 

side steps

stepping aside.

Designed

to undermine

Biden’s

candidacy,

Hur’s report

tends

to distort

his role.

Now 

what’s on

everyone’s

mind:

Who’s

mind

is more

demented?

The tormented

one 

who foments

aggression

and hate

with a spate

of indictments

and trial dates?

Or the decidedly

decent,

accomplished

statesman

whose

lack

of alacrity

walking to

pressers

has had no

bearing

on his

ability

to engage

in serious

matters

at home

and abroad

with some

of the greatest

successes

despite

what impresses

the minds

of voters

most.

It used

to be

“It’s the economy,

Stupid!”

Now,

it’s just 

stupid.

And we can’t

never

mind.

So Much Winning

The big surprise

was not 

the primary

prize.

Although

a disappointment

for her

and now less

of a contest,

the best

is not

necessarily

who gets

voted in.

What does

BE BEST
really mean

anyway?

But I digress,

as the mess

of us

is made

by the few.

Even in

The Academy

where Barbie

revived

the biz,

The Ms (es)

who delivered

something

new and

bright,

light 

and true,

were ignored.

The women

who created

a phenomenon

and actually

united

diverging views

emerging

over decades,

dividing

us,

somehow

found

the sweet spot

and got

snubbed.

Is Barbie

really

us?

When is it

Kenough ?

The competent

women

are still

driven

but can’t

win.

I actually

read

a comment

today

in the NYT

complaining

about

Nikki Haley’s

teeth.

Her actual

dental

appearance

was too

grating

for this person.

I won’t 

lower

the conversation

to her

rival’s

looks,

even if

it’s one

for the books.

Back 

to The Academy

which now reflects

the tragedy

of us…

Like Dobbs,

this too,

will soon

not be 

news,

and we’ll

proceed

as we bleed,

(too female

for you?)

in desperate

need

of the

Gerwigs

and Robbies

and even

Haleys,

Cheyneys,

Hillarys,

and Pelosis,

and so many

of the smart,

bold,

talented,

and yes, 

flawed,

but not 

frauds.

Among 

the many men

(Ken!)

who deserve

rewarding,

the easy

ignoring

of the women

who actually

require

much more

to compete,

is a defeat

of understanding

or simply

a retreat

to the familiar.

Is this winning?

Heart Failure

Dis-ease

was becoming

chronic.

We became

fatigued.

Politics

became nauseating.

Ego edema

created swelling

that made

us 

unrecognizable,

as we 

itched

and twitched

for something

better.

Our organ

for filtering

waste

became wasted

on itself,

the damage

progressive

with conservative

treatment.

But conservative

now means

conserving

the dis-ease,

not the balance

or flow

to ensure

functionality.

And with

a sick

body

each organ

of the organization

becomes

compromised

without compromise.

This

is what 

being

seriously ill

feels like.

Our heart

is failing

us.

Waste

and bile

are no longer

filtered,

and our heart

is giving

out.

The heart

is our

center

with right

and left

sides

that need

each other

to fulfill

its task.

Our heart

is the core

of our

life.

Our heart

is our 

purpose.

History

is our brain.

It stores

the stories

that give 

meaning.

We have always

had a mean

history 

alongside

lofty aspirations

and accomplishments.

Our heart

and brain

contain

us 

but strain

us 

when either

is drained

of functionality,

no longer

self regulating.

History

(and therefore

life)

is a spiral.

But viral

contagions

can attack

various parts

of the body,

as we learned

in 2020.

The most

essential

part 

of us,

the heart,

is failing

us

from abuse

and under use, 

as it has

and hasn’t

before.

We can

restore

our functionality

without

the cult

of personality

and criminality

or sentimentality.

We see 

our own

banality

of evil

and those

who have

lost

their humanity.

Our heart

was attacked,

and the walk 

back

to recovery

is painfully

slow,

a feature

and a bug

of democracy.

But now,

the enemy

of the good

is not 

imperfection;

it’s insurrection

and rejection

of our heart. 

We must

reject

the heartless,

no matter

how taxing.

Don’t

just sit

there.

It’s bad

for

the heart.

Poison Ivies

There’s something

toxic

in the climbing

ivy

all the way

to the top

of the higher

education

totem pole.

Three ivies’

presidents

we heard

as defendants

of free speech

on their private

campuses

regardless

of threats—

documented

effects—

of anti

semitic

rhetoric.

No counter

to the hate

expressed.

No one

suggested

context

or debate;

just hate.

Why not

call out

those who

shout

genocide

as a remedy

for 

decades of war?

Unacceptable

admissions

of tolerance

that would

not

be tolerated

if other groups

were targeted.

Free speech

can be

ugly.

But why no

expression

of condemnation?

Isn’t education

supposed 

to develop

the ability 

to envelop

new ideas

and hold

more than

one view

at a time?

This war

in Gaza

has made

the campus

a plaza

for hate.

No longer

a 2 state

solution

discussed,

but disgusting

intentionally

careless

speech

that promotes

violence 

as much

as freedom.

Free speech

can be hateful,

so when grateful

for the right

to verbally smite,

the intention

is inspiration

for action.

And what action

follows

hate?

Legislate?

The lesson

from the Ivy

Presidents’

defences

is that 

the poison

released

is sickening

and could

prove deadly.

It’s not merely

the verbal

venom

spewed,

it’s the silence

ensued

in response

to free speech.

Mike Drop

News dropped

yesterday

about

the fateful day

of January 6th

nearly  

three years 

ago.

Pensive Pence

considered skipping

the election certification

proceedings,

noting 

that there were

“too many questions”

and it would be

“too hurtful

to 

my friend.”

His friend,

the fiend,

brought him

along 

for the ride,

and now 

it was getting

even bumpier

and Trumpier.

Pence’s book

notes,

“You know,

I don’t have

the authority to change

the outcome,”

but later

he contended

that the comma

never should have been

placed there:

“You know I don’t 

have the authority

to change 

the outcome…” .

Dropping the comma

changes the insinuation

about the situation

causing consternation

almost three years 

later.

His son,

a marine,

sought

to intervene 

saying,

“Dad, 

you took the same oath

I took….

an oath

to support 

and defend 

the constitution.”

Ultimately, 

Mike supervised

after

his life

was jeopardized

as the Capitol attackers

chanted

“Hang Mike Pence!”.

He survived

and certified

the election.

But to now get

an inkling

into his thinking

and the sprinkling

of information

almost 3 years

hence,

proves that Pence

was no better

despite 

knowing better

than the rest

who didn’t 

want to be

dropped. 

Post Impressionism

Vermin.

From the river to the sea.

Globalists.

Confederate flag.

Noose.

Ok gesture.

Welfare Queens.

Real Americans.

Law and Order.

America First.

MAGA.

Speech

can be

a weapon

that kills

the bodies

politic

and civic.

Let’s not

pretend

that words

may offend

without 

consequences.

Posting hate

through images

visual

and linguistic

is intentionally 

antagonistic

and characteristic

of the most

objectionable

among us.

Proudly

bigoted,

they promote

identity-based

appeals.

These signals

of utterly

inappropriate

appropriations

are coded 

language

that convey

affiliation

by othering

while intentionally

demeaning.

The Dog Whistles

that may have

once been

mostly political

are predictable

and critical

for everyone

to hear.

This coded

communication 

provides 

information

and plausible

deniability.

Hate speech

may be free

to post,

but the cost

of expression

that leaves 

an impression

of hate

and threat

as code

for action

is not 

an abstraction

or mere

distraction.

There is no

innocence

in a call

to violence

without

saying as much.

The impression

says it all.