Democracy

Off Spring

This Spring feels way, way off.


Weather aside, 

this season of renewal 

has been one 

of oppression,

even for what has been

a years-long pattern.

The blooming of authoritarianism

and the reemergence

of overt and repressive

racism and misogyny

seems to have started

with the former

guy.

But of course, 

we know,

that like Fox,

the crazy

needs the audience.

And the audience

has been around

for a long time.

The former guy

became known for

Birtherism,

spreading lies 

for the sake

of stirring up

not merely

opposition,

but

racism

and all manners of hate,

against 

President Barak Obama. 

Trump didn’t invent

Birtherism. 

He saturated the media

with false claims

and false questions.

He wanted to be

the guy 

who wrestled

in the ring 

of public discourse,

coarsening 

the conversations

for everyone.

And this birthed

a candidate

which birthed 

a movement 

front and center

of grievance,

lies, oppression,

even violence,

while raising money

and hoarding

and never-ending

shamelessness

(and crimes)

upending 

and threatening

until….

This climate change

has already devastated,

and the pandemic virus

of authoritarianism

is spreading

around the globe. 

Forget 

RINOs,

now there are 

dinos—

democracies

in name

only.

Well, we see

crocuses of justice

beginning to blossom,

but fear

an off-season

frost

may impede 

healthy blooms

of justice

(despite Thomas, et al).

We thought

a Garland

would braid so much

evidence together

after Trump was

leaving such

an obvious mess,

but the pathetic

and yet 

successful

power grabs 

and conspicuous

cruelty 

and despotism

from every level

of government

flagrantly unleashed

upon the 

innocent,

makes me want

to stay

in the fetal position.

But birth

takes labor.

A LOT of labor.

And pushing.

This Spring

feels off, 

and I want

more than 

a break.

The push

toward justice

and accountability

will require

our insistence,

not merely 

watching or

scrolling

news with nausea.

Do something

to let your reps

know that

American democracy,

racism,

misogyny,

violence,

gun safety,

healthcare

(especially for women),

ethics,

justice,

and more,

matter.

This is Spring

training. 

It’s past

time

to get in the game.

Un Tuck It

Letting it all

hang out

doesn’t suit

an outfit

that dresses

up

the truth.

While displaying

contempt

for Dems,

they actually

deride

their own

antidemocratic

followers.

Beneath

the smug

mug

of the elite

of Faux

News,

a frayed

Tucker,

insisted upon

giving

the people

what

they want:

b.

s.

Taking stock

in losing

stock 

in case

the base

flees

from Fox,

the show

must go

on while

the truth

remains

tucked 

away

on the air.

But the Dominion

suit

has exposed

the intentions

to deceive

the Fox

audience,

sustaining

The Big Lie

with no

accountability

unless….

until….

there is more

demand

to Un Tuck It.

Work

It’s

Working

For

Now.

Fear 

Is

The combustible

Engine

We drive

Barely

Navigating

This dirt

Road— 

Narrow,

Bumpy, 

Endless.

Dead

End

Signs

Everywhere,

Looking

For

Off

Ramps,

Seeing

Nothing

But

Torment.

Exhausted,

Thirsty,

Without

Appetite

Being

Responsible

Despite

Everything.

Is

This

Being

Responsible?

Barely

Surviving;

Constantly

Depleted?

Objects

In

Mirror

Are 

Closer

Than 

They 

Appear.

Difficult

Choices

Increasingly

Limited,

Seeing

No

New

Options.

Not

A

Path

But

A ditch

From which

Wheels

Spin.

Ditch

The vehicle

Transporting

Nowhere

As this fear

Feels

Safer than

Others.

It’s 

Familiar,

Albeit

Amplified.

Convinced

That

Alternate

Routes

Do

Not

Exist

Now,

And

Alternate

Facts

Prevail,

Stop

Believing

This

Stuff!

Doing

Something

Else

Can work. 

Queen of Hearts

News of The Queen’s death evoked a separation of hearts and minds. Her mere longevity provided continuity and some sort of steadfastness that was somehow comforting in its familiarity and otherworldliness. 

The Queen, of course, was Elizabeth II, whose reign approximated an average human lifespan. She was emblematic of life as a constancy. She sustained her throne as her empire shrank.  Her seeming sense of loyalty, duty, grace, stoicism —and yes, longevity—seemed to be the embodiment of the United Kingdom. She personified the UK. Well, she personified the aspiration or cultural myth of the UK in the way that the cowboy (and reality star) personified the USA.

She was feminine and strong. Hearty, hale, maternal and carrying a purse everywhere, she also exuded grace and dignity as power. In our minds, she was Claire Foy and Olivia Coleman, only after she was Helen Mirren. 

When news broke that The Queen had died, I was initially surprised, which surprised me. She was 96 and apparently in failing health recently. Not a great surprise. But because of The Queen Crafting, the news of her health was rather vague prior to her passing, and in no way indicated anything imminent. Like her life, her death was a matter of statecraft. 

Whatever attributes were associated with her stirred hearts and minds. My second thought upon the news of her death was how strange it is in this moment to grieve for the queen. The reflections of The Queen—Elizabeth II—as a towering figure who believed in her duties and service, and who I believe lived her life truly dedicated (whether or not is was self preservation), understood that she provided something necessary. Ironic, isn’t it? Monarchy is not necessary, yet she made it seem too important to discard.

I thought of how she manifested not just that with which we identify as British—that stiff upper lip, keeping calm and carrying on—and a country with deep history evidenced by relics of the Middle Ages, but how her maternalism has been so embraced. The one who was scorned for being the cold mother-in-law at a time of profound grief when Diana was tragically killed, somehow became the beloved old lady who was heartier than many people who were decades younger than she. (Of course, she didn’t really have to multitask that much.)

Hearts across the world yearn for steady, hearty, graceful, dignity. She maintained her depth of service and ability to keep calm and carry on through wars, terrorism, economic pain, loss of empire, Brexit, the COVID19 pandemic, and profound cultural changes that seem to accelerate each decade…not to mention her family soap opera that preceded her coronation and will undoubtedly follow her funeral. 

Americans gush over the pageantry that the Brits do magnificently. Americans adore it! The emotional reaction to all things The Crown/The Queen is somewhat bizarre to me at this juncture in our unfolding history. It’s easy to love competency and longevity in the face of unsettling events. And there are so few women leaders, much less of the stature of The Queen—THE Queen—that I had sadness that there are so few women of importance on the world stage. One more gone. Of course many saw her as irrelevant and the ultimate symbol of not only income inequality, blind privilege, and an indecent structure, but as the embodiment of imperialism and an anachronistic anti-democratic system that has no place in the modern world. 

I appreciate (and reacted to) those assessments almost simultaneously. What if the monarch were (a) Trump? I am profoundly anti-monarch. Elizabeth II may have been The Queen, and she certainly completed her life as The Queen of Hearts, beloved and admired. But in this moment, when authoritarianism is on the rise globally, and our own democracy is threatened daily from within, we need to check this gushing of absolute power. 

We have had what was once a unique, yet still magnificent, tradition of peaceful change. Our continuity was not displayed by gilded carriages (or buildings), or by DNA. Our political DNA includes change and oversight. Change is the constant here. Change every 4 or 8 years at the highest level demands broader and deeper thinking, participation, commitment to principles that must be shared (or at least driven by some level of consensus), where all people are represented and take part.

Never before have I felt such profound love and grief for the USA. Even 21 years ago, when the most terrifying and devastating event shocked us along with the rest of the world, I was in fear of instant annihilation, not a slow moving coup from within. Both are terrifying and also terribly sad. But this moment in our history makes my heart ache daily. I grieve not for The Queen, but for the loss of all that I cherished for humanity and that I thought was nurtured, if not born, here in the USA. 

The end of a regal woman’s life deserves appreciation. You may feel sad. I appreciate that. But be wary of loving The Monarchy. If we are seeking cultural myths and figures to uplift us, much less political solutions to current problems, then get busy participating in American Democracy and growing it, not watching it be dismantled. 

Righters Block

I haven’t said much here in quite some time. It’s not that there isn’t anything left to say. It’s just been a horrendous case of Righters Block.

Righters kvetch about freedom while blocking access. The righters block loves walls and barricades, obstructing processes and others. Righters tear down that wall of Democracy that is the foundation of freedom. It’s a party of destruction that is punishing all that’s left.

Disruption is their right, while blocking safety for the rest. Facts remain on the side of what’s left, exposing truth and lies that righters tell. It’s insanity. Crazy like Fox, anything goes because they have rights, no matter how wrong.

We live in an era of storytelling. Maybe we always did. Now, everyone is a storyteller. It’s even encouraged and platformed. Meanwhile, righters block evidence as having any meaning, and ideate strategies to the contrary.

Righters claim populism and patriotism and nationalism and supremacy, redefining and insinuating with hopes of defeating. Righters block responsibility feeling entitled to anything and accountable for nothing.

There is no contest when suffering righters block. Being left alone to anguish and expose reality, those seeking to conserve Democracy have been flailing. Institutions have been weakened by righters block, but are not yet left for dead.

Too many weapons of mass destruction fired off by boys who are proud and keepers of an oath, automatically arming themselves for….?

I have no idea.

….Other than the notion that power trumps and powers Trump. Left to their own devices, righters block. This is the unbearably sad, scary, true story of our time.

Conventional Wisdom

I don’t remember ever enjoying the Conventions, and the last several prior to this year’s, I forced myself to endure. Sure there were the rare soaring moments, (Obama 2004), but I generally find them tacky and mostly outdated and useless, except for the nominee’s speech. Yes, people get fired up, which is the point. Then the campaigns go into high gear and bombard us with hyper-intense messaging—usually negative, or idealized. It’s obnoxious and exhausting and usually turns off many voters.

In an attempt to change the game, Obama’s campaigns were mostly positive and summoning Americans’ better angels. He was criticized for his “Yes We Can” bromide. The stakes in 2008 seamed existential, as the economy was in free-fall and we were embroiled in those seemingly endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And Sarah Palin was unleashed and the viciousness that was until then unimaginable, was released. 

The expansion of communications and media throughout the 21st century has made each Presidential campaign a bit different from previous ones. (The Citizens United decision of 2010 allowed unrestricted corporate spending on election communications.) As much of the ways in which Presidential campaigns were being run were changing, the party conventions remained relatively conventional (and largely insufferable).

Then came 2020. This COVID-19 Pandemic that has destroyed over 170,000 American lives and crushed their families (as of this writing), and over 5 million cases of the virus in  5 months (that we know of at this writing) has been a disaster that none of us have seen before, which includes a nightmarish economy, not to mention the reckoning with systemic racism that has made enduring the pandemic that much worse. And climate issues are even harder to manage with this pandemic. There is no Presidential leadership–only corruption and division. We never imagined we would be living in this America. The virus has been a threat around the globe, but American exceptionalism has taken a new and dreadful form. The Trump administration has nothing to offer but lies, hate, and distraction. His abdication from his duty to protect Americans is stunning and yet after 4 years of his cruel absurdities, we know we can’t expect anything else. Meanwhile, this extremely horrific pathogen (I mean COVID-19), has upended life for the next many months to come. 

How could there be a national party convention when people can not gather together? Conventional wisdom would suggest that it would be a rare substitute this cycle, and we could return to normal next time. BUT…..necessity birthed an invention that showcased some of the greatest American beauty. I didn’t watch the entirety of the event this week, but saw some key features and speeches, and despite some conventional cheesiness, the necessary format Zoomed into our essence: The cross-country roll call must be the new format. The absence of a live audience somehow created a more direct and intimate experience for the viewer. We were each being addressed. The cross section of every demographic represented a truer us. US. The emphasis on decency and having a plan for action, for each American’s participation, was urgent and in this moment, authentic. It was less lofty and idealistic, and more about basic goodness and actions that we all need to take to ensure that we all can move forward. It was incredibly powerful in a most unconventional convention. 

Everyone has a role to play, even from a distance. We have much that needs addressing just to be functional, and for a just recovery for all. It was important to pause and celebrate the milestone of Kamala Harris’ nomination, and admire the steadfast decency of Joe Biden, and so many people who were featured who stood for decency and dignity.  The pain and loss is profound now, but this unconventional convention provided us with the wisdom that seeing so many who look and sound so varied can be united in purpose and take common action. This is US. This is our Democracy that insists on each one of us to pull together. Conventional wisdom? We needed the reminder! 

Our Lady

What a week! It is Good Friday today and Passover Eve tonight, following the release of the somewhat redacted Mueller Report, which followed the Barr Presser/Spinner. Earlier in the week we were aghast as we watched much of Notre Dame engulfed in flames. 

I know you are still digesting the Mueller Report, and perhaps anticipating family and religious celebrations this weekend, but think a bit about the extreme events and emotions of this week.

We shared sadness while watching Notre Dame burn, and relief over what didn’t burn. While much was discussed about the incredible history of the cathedral, and the brilliance of architecture and art that it represented as well as religion, the burning emblem of Western Civilization seemed metaphoric to me. 

What was painstakingly built from a breathtaking idea, with mastery, knowledge, beauty, reverence, guidance,  for the public for the ages, was burning down. To some, the story was the raging fire; to others it was about the remains and rebuilding. It was not only about Notre Dame. It was about our lady as well.

We have been losing our Democracy for some time. It has been in serious need of repair. Then, as though engulfed in an uncontrollable fire, we’ve been watching with horror as “norms” that have buttressed our Democracy have been burned down. In our case, it’s been arson.

Yes, we can save much,  and we can rebuild. And we shall. But the embers are still sizzling here, and some are even reigniting.  

We need more of the lady-ness, not the raging. More than a statue of liberty, we need our lady, our elegant Democracy, to be restored and renewed and built for a healthier future. Whatever your celebration, I hope you are inspired toward participation. And Vote! It’s the most Ladylike thing you can do.