election

Border Crossings

Imagine 

a climate

scientist

as president

who is

a woman

and is

Jewish.

Mexico,

you know….

the place

that sends

its worst

first

across

our border

in order

to rape

and murder

before 

taking

all 

the beautiful

jobs here

nobody

here

wants,

has elected

a she/her

who practices

science

and governance

more than

religious 

observance.

We 

have done

none

of the above.

We are

exceptional

in our

deception

of greatness

again

and again

as we profess

with success

a succession

of limited

qualities.

No question

the exception

of America

has been

our freedom,

once 

unparalleled

and profound.

But the grave

wave

of regression

in freedom’s

name

feels 

insane,

not to mention

the election

that has 

2 very old

white men

running

again

and again.

The possibility

of American

democracy

has never 

been more

clear.

And yet

Mexico’s

new president

is a precedent

we have not

yet set. 

In fact,

we are

the exception—

the odd one—

with the highest

glass ceiling.

It’s revealing.

An anti-

science,

anti-

climate change,

anti-

woman,

anti-

Semitic

sizable

demographic

is anti-

democratic

in this country

that gave

the world

democracy.

It’s crazy.

And will

ultimately

be 

an uncomfortable

chapter

of our

history;

not merely

a record

of what 

was,

but 

of what

could be

again.

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.

Old Spice

It stinks

to holy hell-

the old man

smell-

that leaves

the future

behind.

Like bad

body spray

that won’t go

away,

the redolence—

the prominence

and dominence

of intolerance—

is fetid.

Shamelessly 

reeking

while constantly

seeking

money

and political

support,

intent to 

distort

and contort

the law,

I remain 

in awe

that he can

clench

the nomination

with the stench

of abomination.

Ballot removal

has found

approval

in some states

thus far.

His odor

persists

as he 

insists

he’s clean

as he vents

his spleen

on the rest

of us.

Meanwhile,

the elder

once fiesty

pol

needs to call

a life line.

He smells 

fine,

but too benign

and in

decline,

which is sad

and also

terrifying.

Gimme that

Old Spice

as when 

he was

Vice,

or entice

someone

else to run.

Voters want

vim

and vigor,

(and some 

want vinegar);

we can’t 

let it

all

come undone.

The new year

upon us

when we’ll

vote for 

the POTUS

should be

one for 

the ages.

And their

ages 

will play

into the fray

with a bouquet

of toilet water. 

So hold

your nose;

here it goes:

2024 is here.

Volunteer.

Persevere.

Be sincere.

And vote.

Here’s 

to a high note

ending

with all

that’s impending:

we’ll be

sending

the offending

away.

Whine and Cheese

We have come to expect

Elections 

As traditions

Despite each one

More existentially

Significant

Than ever.

We know 

The show

Must go

On

And on and on

So money

Can roll

The dicey

Game of politics

That is performance

Without art.

It’s a total 

Drag,

(And that’s

Not allowed

Anymore

In some places),

Watching candidates

Dress up 

And exaggerate,

Mugging

For cameras

At cheesy events,

Whining about

Who’s

Destroying us

And how

The stakes

Have never

Been higher.

Do voters want

The Cheese Wiz?

Not just the ersatz 

Savory goo topping,

But a master of faux

Sentiment?

Or the whining

About witch hunts

And hoaxes?

The Deep State

Pedophiles

And Alien

Invaders

Across 

The boarder?

As candidacies

Launched,

Horrible Haze

Enveloped

Much of the 

Country.

Toxic air

Emanated from

Canadian fires,

A result of dry 

Earth, 

A result of

Climate Change. 

Our political

Climate has

Changed 

Profoundly

While the same

Whine and Cheese

Is served

As though

They will persuade

Or reassure

Donors 

If not

Voters

That politics

Ages well

Like

Whine

And cheese. 

Resignation

Why has no one called for Trump’s resignation? His commuting Roger Stone’s prison sentence, despite ample evidence of Stone’s guilt, provided the familiar dyspepsia of horror without surprise.  Trump’s gall is endless. As is Stone’s. (I’m sure there’s a gallstone joke somewhere….)

But even Mitt Romney, who dared to vote to convict Trump, and called Stone’s commutation “unprecedented, historic corruption”, didn’t call for Trump’s resignation. Why bother? Americans can vote him out in November.

We heard that argument before the Impeachment proceedings. It’s too risky. We can just vote him out. Meanwhile, what could possibly be worse than what lead to the Impeachment?

Amidst the heinous policies against immigrants, that includes family separations still, and caging children, Trump has withdrawn from our allies and has continued to cozy up to autocrats. He is unconcerned with the plight of Americans, or those who seek to live as Americans, unless he benefits personally. 

Meanwhile, the only one who has not begun to confront the hideous, systemic racism embedded in our American being, is Trump. As the country is pained and seeks healing and transformation, he wants to restore the statues that glorified the Confederacy—that seceded from the U.S! As statues came down, literally all that’s left is the base.

And yet, while we as a country have been resigned to racism in insidious forms, we are being lead once again by a movement toward dignity—Black Lives Matter. The overt brutality caught on video has been effective in showing what most White people don’t see or experience. There is profound concern that the resignation that has endured for so long in this country will continue without dramatic change. 

And the concern about November….besides a rigged system of gerrymandering that has persisted and expanded for decades disenfranchising voters, especially Black and Latinx voters, we are losing a battle against COVID-19, that has us sequestered to stay healthy.

Trump’s abdication of responsibility to keep Americans safe should have demanded calls for his resignation, but we have been too resigned to his crazy. His recklessness and laziness, not to mention an ability to govern or be a serious human, has actual repercussions. His demand to re-open schools without adequate policy proposals or funding so that they are safe is simply cruel. 

It’s hard to list the top most egregious displays of flagrant abuse, but I still can not wrap my head around the Russian bounty on American troops in Afghanistan. Trump claims to not have been briefed. Still, there has been no effort to do anything about the fact that Russia has put a bounty on American troops in Afghanistan. No calls for resignation. 

Vote him out? We started with Russian interference in our elections. Here we go again. Resignation? Voter suppression. Resignation? A PANDEMIC that makes going to the polls a personal and public potentially life-threatening situation. And he seeks to limit mail-in ballots. Vote him out?

We are the ones who have been resigned. We have been resigned to injustice for too long. We have been believing that institutions and norms are too entrenched and difficult to change, and yet Trump has easily trampled and dismantled. 

We have revered traditions, institutions, and norms, even ones that have outlived their use, and have become afraid of big changes. Yet here we sit at home, if we are able to and are considerate, forced to change our behavior. We can’t be resigned to not take responsibility now. (I know–doubly negative.) We can’t be resigned and await guidance, hope, support from this so-called POTUS. Our representatives should have called for his resignation, but we have all been too resigned. 

Absent calls for Trump’s resignation, we must confront our own. 

Sweatin’ to the Oldies

Bernie Sanders is 74; Donald Trump is 69; Hillary Rodham Clinton is 68. I wish I had a fraction of their energy, and I am significantly younger, although no youngster myself. But I’m really sweating this election.

Besides their ages, this election cycle is fraught with a “Back to the Future” sense of direction for our country. The Trump and Sanders campaigns have motivated followers to get excited about undoing. The Clinton Campaign has been rather uninspiring, but has been attempting to veer left, while remaining centered on the importance of strengthening our institutions, rather than upending them.

The Trump and Sanders campaigns feel unconventional, not just because no one initially expected either one to go to the Conventions, but because they have aroused the energy of anger and outsider status, ironically of mostly white males, who seem to relish the “outsider” candidate who says what they are thinking, and maintains a steady sense of chutzpah.

And HRC….she maintains that her entire life has been chutzpah; the boldness to work hard and achieve in various leadership positions, and get knocked down over and over, and keep pushing forward. The media has not captured inspiring snippets of her. Mostly, she’s talked about in the media as being disliked and around forever, which has become a serious negative in this cycle.

Her quality of being guarded tends to fuel suspicion, and of course, she’s had a history of cozying up to the rich and powerful, and then having a private e-mail server as Secretary of State. None of which is unique to her, or illegal; just not okay either. These issues that continue to plague her feed the narrative of the Clinton Chutzpah (as opposed to her own lifetime of experience and service)— not the audacity of hope or of dismantling the status quo, but of getting away with what they can at the time.

Both Hilary and Bill Clinton have great intellects, yet do stupid stuff all the time. Both Hillary and Bill Clinton can be shrewd and competent, and create long lasting alliances across demographics and across the world, yet still manage to generate ire at home. Hillary Clinton, unlike Bill, does not seem to enjoy the political campaigning, but she has created an amazing resume that has her in most ways uniquely and historically qualified to become POTUS.

But in 2016, experience is the enemy. It’s a narrative of what is wrong with US, and although 3 candidates who occupy all the air time are all Senior Citizens, this country seems to be suffering from Senioritis. Enough with the plodding along and policy that can be worked on by those with different ideas.

In fact, the parties themselves are in disarray. Will we end up with the party of the affected and the party of the disaffected? It’s getting to be more perspiration than inspiration. Being inspired by being disaffected and angry is a dangerous path.

So is the only way that these old timers can inspire is to invoke old stories and old grievances? Somehow, it’s been a sweat inducing exercise thus far.

Miss Spoke

It was a YUUUGE night in little New Hampshire, after a spectacularly crazy week of words heard everywhere.

Prior to the primary primary, Madeline Albright, campaigning for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, declared, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.”

Gloria Steinem, when asked why Hillary does so poorly among younger women said, “When you’re young, you’re thinking, ‘Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie.’ ”

HUH??

That even trumps Trump’s repetition of one of his supporter’s sentiments that Ted Cruz “is a pussy”.  Trump considered the impact of those words before quoting his supporter. He knew he wasn’t supposed to say that! Eh….what the heck….

We hold Madeline Albright and Gloria Steinem to a higher standard (and they are not contenders for POTUS).  I was cringing when I heard each of them. These are public figures who know the impact of words. They have forged not only careers, but changed the landscape through their words that inspired actions. They understand consequences–intended and unintended. They are seasoned. They have contended with difficulties and experienced breakthroughs and tremendous success. And they are merely insulting now.

I read an article about how we shouldn’t diminish Albright and Steinem based on this past week’s comments. Their long and distinguished lives and careers are testaments to their iconic statuses, and their work has been profoundly significant, not only as feminist leaders, but as principled, inclusive, democratic, encouraging women whose influence is (was) global and intergenerational.

Well, sorry….that all ended rather abruptly. Shaming women (or anyone) into voting for a particular candidate is shameful. And it is a losing strategy. Younger people are generally more attracted to idealism. In general, people want leaders who inspire. Even Bill is beginning to repeat the 2008 over-the-top attack dog bit that bit the Clintons in the behind. Hard to see how their being offensive while feeling defensive will win hearts or minds or votes.

The obvious reaction to Albright’s admonition is: REALLY??? Sarah Palin. Michelle Bachman. Carly Fiorina. Because they are women?

And Steinem….the ulitmate Feminist icon…sounding like Connie Francis: Where the Boys Are. My brain still hurts from trying to figure this out. It’s actually rather tragic. These two (3?) ladies seem so sadly out of touch with not just this generation of female voters, but with the last few decades.

And the response to the justified outrage and backlash? Steinem said that she misspoke.

No. Miss Spoke just didn’t consider that idealism is more interesting (especially to youger people) than pragmatism; that women and any other demographic group are not necessarily homogenous; and that thinking critically means evaluating beyond gender or race or generation or any other category.

Miss Spoke was not only insulting, but inaccurate. Trump’s appeal to many is that he is acutely aware of his rhetorical choices, and disregards accuracy or respect with the intention of garnering support by appealing to baser instincts and emotions.

There seems to be a different set of rules for the one who claims Miss Spoke (whichever one): we expect a different sort of discourse and program–one that appeals to our aspirations with critical thinking; our better angels and productivity. Miss Spoke needs to think and speak more broadly. And we know more than one Miss Spoke recently.