culture

The Late Show

Defund PBS.

Extort CBS

to obey

in advance

and pay

in advance

to dance

with 

the devil.

Making 

a show

of 

The Late Show

just 

to let you

know

that speech

won’t be 

free

even in

comedy.

The dissolution

of an institution 

of American

culture

shows how

the culture

of cancelling

is now cancelling

culture.

And:

each branch

of government,

and education,

the Kennedy Center,

public radio 

and television,

in addition

to science-

the environment,

weather,

and medicine.

Let’s not forget

women

who have lost

the right 

to legal

abortion.

Everything

is being 

scrapped

and crapped 

on,

as of late,

making a show

of how great

America was.

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.

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.

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. 

Getting Credit Where Credit is Do

I kind of 

love

that

Trump

is hocking

Teslas

to his 

base.

Hardly 

shocking

as the 

mocking

of libs

now taking

dibs

on the  EV

car

that has

so far

transformed

the American 

auto

industry,

forcing

the history

of fossil

fuel

combustible

engines

to reinvent

if not

the wheel,

then the 

real

possibility

of environmentally

cleaner

driving.

Once

the province

of mostly

progressives,

now the

MAGA

obsessives

are trying

to help

the  other 

aggressive

billionaire —

the richest

man on 

the planet,

the unelected

co-president,

who still

wants to

be a 

bazillionaire.

It’s fair

and sensible

to protest

the indefensible,

much less

the incomprehensible,

but I’m kind

of glad

that the ones

who once

saw the 

Tesla

as a liberal

symbol

are nimble

enough

to huff 

and puff

about 

now choosing

an electric

(well,

a specific)

vehicle.

Let’s not

forget

the climate

crisis

is environmental;

our natural

world

needs all

the help

it can get. 

Tell your

reps

to vote 

for EV

and clean

energy
tax credits.

The Enemy of The Good

Forget

perfect.

The enemy

of the good

stood

in front

of the world

and hurled

lies

whopper

size.

The prize

denies

safety and

security

and the maturity

of institutions

for the immaturity

of the delusions

of grandeur.

To be sure,

the loyal

opposition

is in no

position

to continue

the sad

display

of cosplay-

so yesterday.

The enemy

of the good

has withstood

nearly

everything,

and the best

we can bring

are pink

and mini signs

and yelling?

We could

learn 

a thing

or two

from those

who

craft

creatively.

The artistry

is in the policy,

not the display

of crazy

on the floor.

We may be

our own 

worst enemy

unless

you forget

the enemy

of the good.

When people

forget

to bet on

the good,

for the sake

of the image

of strength,

the length

he’ll go

could forgo

what we know

and depend

upon.

For one

whose

encouragement

rests upon

punishment,

we can imagine

the torment.

But mere

lament

is losing

our way.

Who’s to

say what

will work?

But I know

what doesn’t.

It’s not a good

look

to use

the old

playbook,

when the guy

who reads

the room

better than

you assume,

suggests

the good guys

are the enemies.

Much 

has been said

about what

has lead

to now. 

How 

could

we maintain

the good

when the enemy

of the good

is the status quo?

Center for Performing Arts

The current

administration

warrants

defenestration

not just for

politics,

but for culture

appropriation.

Aside

from turning

words

inside

out,

their clout

is about

hostage

taking,

faking

concern

with slash

and burn

to turn

our

government

into a lean

machine

while they

reap

the green.

It’s obscene.

At the center

is the artist

formerly

known

as mogul,

notable

for 

obnoxious

behavior

and practices

questionable

at best.

Now,

at his behest,

names 

have been

changed

to protect

the indecent,

while 

the innocent

and efficient

are bought

out

or let go.

His compulsion

for attention

has led to

the extension

of presidential

execution

into 

realms

not typical

of such

purview.

Recently,

he 

replaced

the name

of the Kennedy

Center

for the Performing

Arts.

Oh the smarts

on that guy,

to try

to buy 

enough

power

to be influential

in a universal

way.

He is the center

of performing

arts

if there’s 

an art 

to his performance,

or a brilliance

to his overhaul,

including

the hall

where the gifted

beyond the grifted

have exhibited

exceptional

grace and skill.

His will

will instill

worse than political

turmoil,

and foil

our best

prospects.

His “art”

of performance-

enhancement

of his enormous

lack-

is his ability

to hack,

backed

by big bucks

to buck

anything

and take

everything.

Entertaining

is his thing

as much

as purchasing.

If that’s an art,

he is at

the center;

performing

on stage

right,

while

the conforming

chorus

is ignoring

us.

If he’s

the center,

it will not

hold

forever.

He’s clever

and has

his 

minions

with 

bizarre

and hateful

opinions,

and a brash

way

that has

cultural

sway,

but his

curtain

will close

some day

anyway.

That day 

won’t come

soon 

enough.

Pique Performance

In winter, 

the state

of our union

is televised

and glamorized 

by

spectacle,

political

and sartorial,

along with

a few

surprise

guests.

The congress

of Americans-

not bipartisans,

but football fans-

entertained

but not sustained

by each

30 second ad,

had their wings

and things—

what the neighbor

brings—

to the Super Bowl

party.

The game

is the same

as America;

unrivaled

in extravaganza.

Brutal

and balletic,

overtly athletic,

aggressive,

possessive,

even regressive,

while somehow

always

most impressive.

The big game

adds a name

to it’s half-time

show.

Is it possible 

that spectacle

could get

boring?

Ignoring

real lives

to ensure

the game

survives

as the 

brass

contrives

some

current

theme

for a 

social

media

meme,

has become

a fever dream.

Peak

performance

is measured

by pique

performance;

a curiosity

turned

monstrosity

destroying

our democracy.

This is not

a sporting

event. 

Do not relent.

They are hell

bent;

committed 

to their pique

performance

of  slashing

and retribution.

Your calls

and emails,

posts and shares

are expressions

of constituent

cares. 

I learned yesterday

that an excellent

defense

was the winning

way. 

Change of Life

Get rid of our Tesla.

Get rid of our Kindle.

Drive much

much further

than Whole Foods,

which is closer

than the other

grocer.

Get rid

of delivery

from Amazon

Prime,

though

I can’t find

basic stuff

as there 

isn’t enough

stock;

and what is 

present,

is

locked

away

in every 

brick

and mortar

store.

Get off 

Facebook,

so the Zuch

can’t monetize

what I publicize

only to

my friends.

The ends

may justify

the means

against

the mean

guys,

but I realize

the compromise

has already

given them

the prize. 

Blue Sky’s

attraction

as the alternative

faction

needs

to be

fun,

which,

in the long

run,

is why

we comply

in the

viral

virtual

spaces.

Meanwhile,

with traces

of plastic

everywhere

in everything

we are consuming

and doing,

abandoning

plastic

may seem

drastic,

but it’s fantastic

to think

we’ll not sink

further,

as we murder

our only

home.

Our way

of life

that you

see dismantling

quickly

by Elon’s

Department

of Government

Efficiency

is theatrical

cruelty

and insufficiency,

when 

the way we

live

is also 

driven 

corporately.

The real

collusion

is the intrusion

of his

and his

and his

and his………

businesses

in our government

when they

have no 

business

doing so.

These seemingly

adolescent

guys

with whom

we’re forced

to compromise,

have their

eyes

on the prize

of unending

wealth 

and power.

But they

won’t stay

fertile

forever.

Their periods

will stop.

They’ll get

the sweats,

as is characteristic

of the climacteric

time.

Past

their prime,

they’ll decline,

but we must

begin

to refine

and change

the way we 

engage

while

they’re on

and in

the current

stage.