Marvel Us

As Comic Con 

descends upon

the city

I call home,

super heroes

will be 

in line

for days 

at a time

to get inside

the convention

center.

What a marvel

we get to 

see

as thousands

agree

with decency

and civility

to 

continue

the tradition

with whatever

addition

moves the

conversation

at the convention.

I think you get

where I’m going

here.

It’s clear

the marvel 

happened 

yesterday

when Biden

announced

he’s stepping

away,

so Harris

can earn 

your vote.

The Marvel

Universe

is always 

threatened

by destructive 

forces

and ego.

But the hero

and shero

know

they must go

forward

for

more

than their

own selves.

How marvelous

for us

to witness

what fitness

really means.

The courage

and strength

and great 

length

it took to be

our superhero

of democracy,

without

a stage lit

like a show,

showed

the world

our marvel.

I imagine

his grief

will not be

brief,

but his 

legacy

will be

an inspiration.

I’m so grateful

for this

moment,

and moved

by a torrent

of emotion.

Excitement,

relief,

new-found

belief

that good

could

still

win

over spin,

but also 

compassion

for what must

have been

excruciating

for Biden.

So now

the comical

Comic Con

that will soon

surround me,

will oddly

ground me

in knowing

that real

heros

and sheros

and so much

fantastic

is not made

of plastic

or on green

screen.

It’s democratic;

at times,

dramatic,

a universal

marvel

that is US.

Confidence, Man

“Look, Folks”,

as he

would say;

“C’mon, Man!”,

he would

inveigh

that he’s

the best one

and should

and could

finish the job.

So why the 

defection

despite

affection?

Everyone knows

the torch

gets passed,

and sees him

past

his prime.

Losing confidence,

questioning

competence,

begging acceptance

of the optics,

is just

not

a good look.

Look, Folks,

he appears

knowledgeable

yet weak

week

after week.

Each moment

on screen

we screen

his condition,

with increasing

attrition,

despite

a great

3 years. 

It sears 

the heart

and mind

that such 

a kind

and effective

politician

against 

the definition

of a Confidence Man,

could lose

the coalition

of confidence.

It’s not 

the platform

on which 

he stands

that demands

change.

He can’t 

defend

his own

success,

and we’re

supposed

to pretend

to address

his strength?

The length

of this standoff

between those

with confidence

and those

without

will without

a doubt

be resolved 

soon.

(It isn’t yet

because

we can’t

forget

what we

all saw

and fear

each time

he appears.)

I suspect

we can 

expect

that after

the RNC 

Convention,

convention 

will be

upended

and the intended

outcome

of restoring

confidence

will come about

not 

with a lout,

but

with a more

youthful

and vigorous

substitute.

As the ever

astute

Confidence Man

who literally

and figuratively

dodges

bullets,

shows strength,

and dare 

I say,

discipline,

the energy

and unity

on display

each day

this week

makes

the weakened

opponent

each moment

weaker,

and his party,

now

the one

of

fear 

and loathing,

is seeking 

some confidence,

and preferably,

a woman.

Add Vance

I knew 

he’d add

Vance

to advance

his mission.

But I 

was more

surprised

by 

Cannon’s

timing

her decision

to throw out

the documents

case. 

Boy,

that Cannon’s

got balls!

And 

probably,

really,

really,

really

wants

to be

Trump’s next

AG.

Confronting

his own

mortality

as recently

as the 

last few

days,

his invincibility

is convincingly

aiding

his legacy

with the next

generation.

The son

he wished

for

is his ticket

and more

for 

avoiding

accountability

permanently.

I believe

he now 

believes

himself 

to be

an extremely

stable

genius.

What once

were schticks

now sticks

like crazy

glue.

It’s a truly

crazy,

newzy

week

after the freak

out

about Biden.

But next week,

the week

after

the mega

MAGA

convention,

JD 

as VP

will be

as normal

as whatever

normal

can possibly 

be.

Will he 

debate

Kamala?

Or will

she be

the one

to advance

beyond

the Hillbilly

Elegy 

of JD 

Vance?

Let dem

leaders

know

that Joe

should go

out 

on top,

and advance

someone

else

or else

this race

is done.

What Hump?

Now, everyone can

see it;

it’s obvious 

to us,

regardless

of excusing

and refusing

to say

what may 

be scary.

Delay,

delay,

delay,

is now

the Biden

way,

forcing us

to traverse

this hump.

But,

unlike Igor,

we can’t

ignore

what 

we see,

as it’s

as plain

as day.

Biden’s persistence

and

his insistence

maintains

he’s the 

best one

to win.

It’ll be 

just fine

if Dems

fall 

in line,

because 

the alternative

will be punitive

and much 

worse.

Although

pragmatic,

the suggested

tactic

is coming

under

scrutiny.

Not yet

a mutiny,

or destiny,

but a growing

bounty

of voters 

now

can not 

see how

they can 

vote for

Biden

or the team

that’s hidin’

what’s in

plain sight.

He might

change course

later,

despite

current posture;

I think

there’s still

some time

to mitigate

this torture.

But we’re

not sure

that he can

beat Trump,

which makes 

this hump

feel like 

a mission

impossible.

Hearing Aids

It’s hard

to regard

calls

to step 

down

as 

the sound

of success.

But two 

things

can be true

at the same

time. 

Not everything

must 

rhyme.

Biden can be

his legacy

now,

taking 

a bow,

with a vow

to make

us all

better.

Fearing

a worse

defeat

that

would

seem like

a complete

disaster,

I understand

the reticence.

I imagine

the pain

and belief

that Biden’s

relief

is the best

shot

we’ve got

going forward.

He’s always

bounced

forward

but now

must

fall back,

knowing

he’s slowing

down

along

the way

down.

How cruel

the circumstance

of his

last chance

that may

be ours.

I have to

think

his aids

are hearing

what 

is happening

here.

It is clear

he is losing

a losing

battle,

and winning

the election

won’t

be the correction

for the ravages

of aging.

It’s torturous

to witness

declining

fitness

and not

having

access

to more.

I understand 

the seriousness

of the iffiness

of Harris

at the top

the ticket.

Fear of losing

is confusing

issues:

winning

and delivering

for the future.

Biden 

is not

winning

now,

and the 

trajectory

is not

good.

Would

that his

aids

are listening

and that

he can hear

that we

see

his legacy

cemented 

gracefully,

which

is utterly

anti

Trump.

Before 

the 4th,

the irony

of the immunity

of the presidency

decision

did not escape

me. 

Washington

stepped down

when he could

have remained

in office.

He distinguished

the presidency

from a monarchy.

For different 

reasons

but still

guided

by pride,

if Biden

steps

aside,

it will

be 

for the

better. 

Be who

we say

we are.

Conventional Wisdom

When RBG
supposedly

was doing

planks

while ill,

I still

thought

she ought

to have 

resigned.

After several 

bouts

of cancer,

the answer

was not

not

stepping

down.

Of course

I could

not have

dreamed

of the esteemed

Mitch

to bitch

and moan

that the election

had thrown

confirmation

hearings

off 

the calendar. 

And we know

the result

of all that 

tumult.

Going back 

in time,

history’s rhyme

may 

be LBJ.

Did his

resignation

lead to 

Nixon’s 

election,

or was it

the chaos

at the Dem

convention?

This is the fear

as the convention

this year

to nominate

Biden

again

seems

doomed.

But he’s

resumed

his vigor

with

a teleprompter,

so maybe

we should

all exhale?

No way!

I say

with great

dismay.

When did

the individual

become 

indispensable?

The debate

was telling

us what

we knew.

He is kept

from view

for a reason.

This season

is rough

and the tough

decision

is not a revision

of Biden’s

vision

of and for

democracy.

It’s for winning

without 

spinning

his ability.

Ladybird

encouraged

Lyndon

to resign.

We seemed

resigned

now

to go

off a cliff

rather than

riff

on (the) convention.

Energy Crisis

I couldn’t watch.

I wouldn’t watch.

Governance

is not 

a debate.

Yet our 

tradition 

of performance

of endurance

to provide 

assurance

is the substance

we use

to  choose

the POTUS.

By all 

mounting

accounting

in real

time

and thereafter,

I glimpsed

the sad

theater

of our absurd

election.

A weak-

voiced

Joe

seeming

slow

against

each

blow

no matter

how false

the statement,

was a statement

of fitness

to those

who witnessed

what should

never

have taken

place.

Sad 

to say

that the

job

at bay

is partially

appearance.

The grievance

guy

with

each lie

conveys

energy.

He may 

be cruel

but his

fuel

is addictive

despite

being

convicted

so far,

34 times.

We are

addicted

to energy

at all

costs.

But

thoughts

of being

slow,

embodied

by Joe,

are dreadful.

Last century’s

model

seems

on the way

out,

as autocrats

plow through.

But 

dictators

playing

orators

is also 

old

while selling

retold

as something

new—

or at least,

something

strong.

A power

fueled

by desperation

supported

by

exasperation,

cannot

trump

our democracy.

This is crazy.

Alternative

energy

seems necessary

now

more than

ever,

while

voters

still

have power.

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.