Current Events

Hope Against Hope

The devastatingly

beautiful

Trump advisor

gave

devastating

testimony 

for the people

versus

Donald Trump.

The stunning

witness

stunned

those present

when

she broke down

and cried

after she

testified

against 

her former

boss.

At a loss

facing

cross

examination,

she seems

to have 

been

conflicted.

She knew

right

from wrong,

and yet

stayed along

for the ride

until

2022.

She maintains

some

affection,

despite

his deception,

as so many

loyalists

do.

We can

hope

for the best

for the rest

of this trial,

but 

I confess

I’m still

rather

nervous.

So far

impervious,

this should

concern

us,

and disturb

us,

as Hope

springs

eternally

grateful

despite

how

distasteful

the candidate

and president

was.

And I 

still hope

for the best

for the rest

of us,

that those

who know

better

will ,

at least 

privately,

opt

decidedly

for democracy.

Ms. Hicks

seeming

conflicted,

(despite

testimony

as predicted),

depicted

our hope

against

hope.

Just Us?

When is liberty

and justice

for all?

The story

and dream

of America

is a chimera,

but still

a worthy

intention.

The tension

between

rights

of different

types

has always

caused strain

and dissension.

More importantly,

it has caused

reinvention

of what was

to what could

be.

With liberty

and justice

for all:

we saw

and see

the reality

of necessity

and difficulty

of application

with humanity

and humility

and equality.

Each generation

thinks

they are

smarter;

above

and beyond

the harder

times

that preceded.

They won’t

be defeated

this time.

Times

change;

but do 

humans?

The same

needs

and wants

feeds

and taunts

people

throughout

the ages.

Hubris

is

perhaps

the one

that keeps

us 

repeating

mistakes.

Like 

the addict

who is

convinced

of being

invincible

or just

not caring

enough,

we think

this time

we’ll

do it

and it

will be

better

because

we are

more 

clever.

It’s sad

to think

that we

already

peaked

as a generation,

or nation,

or world

order.

The need

for recognition

and even

retribution

in the guise

of contribution

to something

better

is worse

when we 

lose sight

of the reality

of humanity

always

needing

attention

and to

break

convention,

forgetting

the contention

that liberty

and justice

for all

continues.

Take a Message

When is protest

beyond

a request

to suggest

an alternative?

What do you

hear

and fear

and why?

Is memory

from history

your guide

or a side

to which

you decide

shall (not)

be

again?

The rants

and chants

feel scary

when

we know

mob

mentality

easily

becomes

destructive.

It is

perhaps

instructive

to consider

the real

terror

within

ourselves

and  potentially

each community

where disunity

is weaponized

such that

some

feel

terrorized.

We now

take

a message

as what

is not

stated—

but rather

interpreted

as meaning

something

else.

So whether

distortions

are heard

rather than 

said

by the herd,

however

absurd,

the message

left

or right,

may be

wrong

to some

who hear

what’s not

there.

The Pro

Palestinian

protests

on campuses

are not

called

anti-Israel

or anti-war

or pro

Hamas.

The silent

message

left out

is potentially

concerning

to the discerning

ones 

still learning

from history.

Likewise,

most recent

movements

have

messaging

intending

to claim

the same

rights

as others

have gained

with feigned

innocence

despite

incidents

to the contrary.

But being

contrary

is the message

that leaves

us in a constant

state of fear

of terror.

What do you

hear

from fear?

What message

do you take

when what’s

at stake

feels

existential?

The answering 

machine

is an automatic

response

to feeling

left out.

But what

about….?

Protests 

succeed

not merely

to dismantle-

try to

handle

lost

battles-

but to expose

and propose

solutions.

The struggle

for power

is now

or never

for those

who endeavor

to demonstrate

in the current

state

of leaving

a message

after 

the tone. 

Saur/Dough

Trump’s appearance

looked dour

in Judge Juan

Marchan’s

court

for election

interference

with payments

to hush

any nasty

report.

Meanwhile,

the Supreme

Court heard

the absurd

case for immunity

for the Presidency.

Actually,

the impunity

seems exclusively

to apply 

to 45,

despite endless

questions

of future

hypotheticals,

antithetical

to the institution

or Constitution

that has served

for over 230

years. 

Trump’s Supreme

lawyer,

D. John Sauer,

seemed

to find favor

with the males

who love 

power.

They found

plausible

deniability

for immunity

regardless

of constitutionality.

Alito feigned

the whole

thing was 

offensive

and sought

to dispense 

of it

by refusing

the facts

of this 

current 

case.

Likewise,

Kavanaugh

stated his

stance,

deflecting 

from the here

and now

of the case,

to his concern

about 

the future.

Surprisingly,

Amy Coney

Barrett

quite seriously,

challenged 

Mr. Sauer

on official

versus 

private 

actions. 

Sauer’s 

concessions

that some

of Trump’s

situations

required

prosecutions,

at least

conferred

some reality

check.

The triple

named

conservative

woman

on the 

high court

reminds me

of another

one,

Sandra

Day

O’Conner,

who surprised

those who

surmised

her ties

to the right

would

compromise

her jurisprudence.

But the women

so far,

have displayed

much more

affiliation

to the Constitution

and institutions

than conciliation

to power. 

As the 

hush money

trial

has already

revealed,

concealed

monies-

whether

to subvert

an election,

or protection

of ideology

while serving

as a Justice-

is basic

corruption

always.

Speech Pathology

The right

to speak

freely

and to protest

peacefully

are hallmarks

of democracy.

Yet

the threat

of actions

from aggressive

factions

in reaction

to passions

inflamed,

has sustained

fears

of violent

incidents.

When 

the former

President-

defendant

posts

quotes 

and

anecdotes 

or notes

his

rants

against

individuals

he claims

are against

him,

he goads

and corrodes—

even erodes

codes

of ethics

and possibly 

laws.

Meanwhile,

the protests

at Columbia

etcetera,

are confounding.

Sounding

off 

on campus,

while camping

out

as classes

are in session,

is practically

tradition.

But the current

condition

of free speech

transmission

raises

the proposition

that the exhibition

is potentially

physically

dangerous

to any 

of those

who might

oppose.

Many 

have mentioned

Skokie,

the would-be

Nazi

march

through a

community

of survivors,

as an example

of ugly,

yet free, 

speech.

We live

in an ugly

time of

pathology

where 

speech

is not

merely

a trigger,

but the

ammunition

for the 

dissolution

of civil

discourse.

This pathology

is antithetical

to a functional

democracy

even when 

the speech

is free. 

Do the Right Things

Now

a days,

the craze

on the right

is amazingly

cynical.

And yet

in spite

of spite

from the wing

on the right,

Speaker

Johnson

held tight.

An aid

bill 

was passed

long past

due

due to

bogus

focus

on spending,

practically

upending

alliances

with defiance

and reliance

upon

noncompliance.

In an ecosystem

governed

by climate

change,

creating

crisis

after crisis

after

crisis,

invites

us

to assess

how we 

address

this long 

term

condition.

What 

long

ago

was our

nature

has become 

abused

when 

government

was accused

of being

the problem.

Both right

and left

have

at times

been

reckless,

and feckless

leaders

or worse

have worsened

us.

But now

the right

can not

claim

righteousness

or

correctness

or validity,

much less

acceptability.

A country

of rights

abdicating

responsibilities

and civilities

creates 

possibilities

for horrible

vulnerabilities

and instabilities.

Reclaim what 

is right!

Our climate

crisis

requires

innovation

and

restoration

of what 

is right

and wrong.

The warming

of the planet

is overwhelming

us

just as 

the heated

rhetoric

in politics

is stifling

us.

Worse,

it is killing

us.

We know

what is

right,

but

complain

it became

too hard

to sustain.

Tomorrow

is Earth Day

and soon

Mother’s

Day,

sentiments

that deserve

acknowledgements

all year.

As

our democracy

needs us,

so does

Mother Nature.

The climate

crises

among us

and around

us

need us 

to do 

the right

things.

Mother

nature,

inside

and out. 

I mean,

as a verb:

to curb

what 

has been

unfathomably

disturbed.

Nature 

needs

mothering;

nurturing

to thrive.

Our twin

climate

crises

demand

each 

of us

to do 

the right

things-

even when

difficult-

to nurture

what’s

left.

Asleep at the We’ll

The cult

of personality,

regardless

of criminality

or venality,

reveals

a mentality

of those

who follow

their hollow

leader.

With a wink

and a nod,

and a facade

of leadership,

it’s actually 

worship

of dictatorship.

He feign’s

populism

while always

the victim

of a system

that seeks

to convict 

him.

Needing support

to pay 

bills

(which he won’t

pay),

he shills

to thrills

of Magaworld.

To them,

he 

is “we”;

he is their

guy

who will

defy

and deny

endlessly.

Aggressively

fomenting

without 

literally

saying,

the wink

and the nod

are  conveying.

Outside

the courthouse 

he boo 

hooed 

his plight,

lying

that his

right

to live

freely

has been 

taken

from him.

Yadda

Yadda

Yadda…

it’s all

so exhausting

and seems

to be costing

him.

Day one

of the first

trial,

he was

caught

nodding

off–

unfortunately,

off camera.

Asleep

at the

“we’ll”,

he’ll

be revealed,

but it 

remains

to be 

seen

when,

and if

it will be 

enough.

Dead Battery’s Afterlife

The battery 

of trials

of this century

are upon 

us, 

just as

we are

reminded

of the last

trial

of the century

(of the last

century).

The guy

got away

with murder,

after repeatedly

battering

his 

by then

ex wife.

A generation

has passed

since that

fiasco,

that exposed

problematic

policing,

racism,

celebrity,

privilege,

wealth,

and,

oh yeah,

what happens

to women

all the time.

Nicole Brown 

Simpson

has been

all

but forgotten

upon the death

of her batterer

and murderer.

In the 30 years

between

trials

of the centuries,

women

are worse

off.

Women’s lives

are not 

prioritized.

Any juror

with an agenda

can upend a

conviction.

The best 

prediction

may not 

detect

the one

to reject

the facts

in lieu

of that

which attracts

support

for the guilty 

one.

Battery 

doesn’t die

when 

the big lie

persists,

which requires

assistance

and insistence

on innocence

and no

remorse.

What died

with OJ

yesterday?

It seems

as though

a battery

of issues

have been

recharged.

Raising Arizona

Figuratively 

speaking…

dropping acid

on women

seems 

to be

the new

altered state.

Swallowing

the acrid 

pill

of swill

against 

the will,

now of Arizonan

people,

is despicable

yet

predictable. 

When 

a miscarriage

of justice

over miscarriage

of pregnancy

and anything

other than

unassisted

birth 

or conception

is conceived

as pro

life,

we know

it’s a lie.

Letting

women die

gets a sigh

on the court,

while citing

precedence

in the Comstock

Act

that preceded

the last

century.

The South 

has risen

again,

using 

the states’

rights

excuse

to abuse

others.

Now

the canyon

is grand—

more than

they planned—

between

those who

understand

the demand

and need

for reproductive

health

and the destructive

power

that has risen

in Arizona.

Looking Upward

Partial

was still

magnificent.

And significant

amount was seen.

Looking upward.