politics

Locked and Loaded

On the right,

the rights

of states,

corporations,

and each fetus

treats 

the rest 

of us

as peripheral

or collateral

damage.

The carnage

from gun

violence

in America

is grotesque.

And the focus

on the second

amendment

(not commandment)

as a right

to protect

even if death

occurs

is somehow

more important

than a woman’s

life.

The lock

on the court

and the loaded

rhetoric

of states’

rights

as an excuse

for the inexcusable,

undoubtedly 

championed

by the ones

who refuse

to recuse

themselves

for the case

of abuse

by a president

who rallied

an insurrection

despite 

objection

by the citizenry,

is dizzyingly

maddening.

How could

this be

happening?

In lock

step,

the right

falls 

in line

and the left

is left

not even

falling

in love.

Legality

should

contain

morality

of the most

basic,

unspecific

to theology,

sort.

Children

post birth

should

be worth

more

than unfortunate

circumstance.

The court’s

stance

on bump

stocks

mocks

the concept

of a supreme

justice.

Each day

more 

revelatory,

the story

that emerges

is loaded

with history

and those

who want

to be locked

in position

regulating

the regulators.

It all 

feels so

irregular

and anti

secular

while

profaning

a once

sacred

democratic

system

that seemed

poised

to better

all of us.

Triage

No more

space

in the emergency

room

filled

with demanding

needs

commanding

immediate

attention.

Rarely a mention

of the ailing

failing,

yet still

magnificent

grande

dame,

mother

to all,

left

aside

hiding 

in plain 

sight,

frighteningly

sick

but still

looks good

until

she storms

away

flooding

us 

with concern.

Whose

turn

is first

when systems

that nurture

require

sutures,

and fractures

compound

all around

us?

Stabbed

in the heart,

we realize

we must

prioritize

this immediate

wound

stat.

Inside 

this ER

that we 

now are,

we mostly

just take

in 

information.

I see you

already

know

the urgency

each

emergency

requires.

But mired

in crisis

since 

the time

of Isis

is narrowing

our arteries

and capacities

for healing.

We can’t

simply

be 

angry,

fearful,

and depressed.

Nor 

can we

ignore

what’s in store

with more

of the same.

Crises

of democracies

and the climate

across

the earth

are worth

your efforts

beyond

news intake.

What’s 

at stake

demands

urgent

care-

a bit

here 

and there

in addition

to the 

momentous.

What

are you

doing—

not just

reviewing—

in order

to make us

better?

Separation Anxiety

Wait…

Are we

breaking

up?

or down?

I thought

you taught

me 

everything

I knew

without

knowing.

I threw

myself

into 

you,

believing

the conceiving

was a

how-to

create

fulfilling

life.

Strife 

is inevitable,

but this

is incredible

in the worst

way.

Our 

ancestors

split

into the pit

of war

and tore

themselves

apart.

The scars

inflamed

but were

tamed

until

recently.

The cult 

of personality

of indecency

is claiming

it’s all 

about

policy.

You want

to be

free 

from 

Me?

You,

who insist

on Christ

first

as a

gun toting

misogynist

and homophobe

in a judge’s

robe,

without

limit

to prohibit

that which

you deem

oppressive.

You

are

overtaxed?

It’s impressive

how simple

minded

people

like

to be

told

day and night

that they

are right

to be

aggrieved

and wanting

to be

free.

A civil 

war?

A cold

war?

A revolution?

It feels

like dissolution

of the evolution

of what could

be 

a better

future;

a more

perfect

union.

I see

the enemy

of the good.

We should

be able

to reconcile,

but the infantile

bile

has been

weaponized

to legitimize

some fantasized

perversion,

while an infantilized

conversion

has materialized

before

my eyes. 

I’m still surprised

by this uprising,

making

it seem

like our thing

was a long

fling.

But truth

is enduring

despite

luring

attempts

to 

undo

US.

We have

much

work

to do;

not just

to protect

and defend,

but mend.

I can’t 

pretend

it’s just

one

election

to be

won.

But it 

could be

the last

of the past

248 years.

The Escalator

Moving down

the moving

staircase,

(in case

you have

forgotten),

The Escalator

descended

and upended

American

politics

nearly

9 years

ago.

Almost

a decade

of the charades

and parades

of The Escalator

whose descent

has meant

foment

and

torment

with consent

of a once

grand

old party,

now a party

to a criminal.

No longer

liminal

or minimal,

it’s all

so predictable,

as The Escalator,

a dictator

from 

day one,

intensifies

what he denies

and defies

with whatever

flies

in the face

of truth,

decency,

or honor.

Ascending

to power

while descending

to shower

the pathetic

with anesthetic;

the feel good

prescription

of the description

of support

that purports

to suggest

that he 

is an idea

whose time

has come:

A savior

with bad

behavior.

But he needs

complicity

for his

duplicity,

and pretending

that policy

is really

at issue

is the 

connective

tissue

of The Escalator.

The cost

is too great

to amplify

hate

and the haters

he loves

above 

almost

anything

except

escalating

lies,

fear,

and threats

as he bets

on getting

out of 

jail free,

feiging

a victim

of conspiracy.

Out of order

nearly

a decade 

in,

don’t let

The Escalator

win!

Hunter Gatherers

The Biden

hunters

now get

their turn

as they 

yearn

for retribution

for the prosecution

they claim

for their famed

MAGA leader

was in search

of a crime.

But crimes

were found,

(34!!),

around

falsifying

documents

in order

to thwart

the election.

As jury selection

for Hunter

Biden

commenced,

I sensed

a sobering.

What we

are really

confronting,

is the affronting

behavior

not of hunting

and gathering

evidence

unfounded,

but of unbounded

people

of wealth

and power

and those

who cower

to prevent

being

devoured

by 

the Former

Guy.

Most

important,

though,

is not

the hunting

game

(particularly

of fame)

but the gathering

of evidence

and its relevance

to greater issues. 

The Biden

pain

is unimaginable

yet felt

every day

by parents

who aren’t

presidents.

And the drug-

crime

intersection

deserves

reflection

as does

the application

process

to possess 

guns

in this

country.

The Biden

hunters

who investigated

Joe

know

there was no

there there.

But sadly,

his son

admittedly

had done

what those

who didn’t

get caught

often do:

he lied

when he

applied

for a gun.

Bad behavior

was always

assumed,

and now

we’re

consumed

by those

who presume

it doesn’t

matter

and 

that laws

only apply

to some.

Hunter’s

father—

President

Biden—

did not

cry,

“Sham!”

or try

to shut

down 

the trial.

The Whataboutism

prism

seeks to

deepen

the schism

and screams

of victimization.

But the reality

shows

that to merely

oppose 

and compose

fake theories,

electors,

and more

to score

points,

disjoints

and points

to a party

lacking

veracity,

morality.

or substance.

The abuse

is profuse

on  one side

as they deride

endlessly.

But watch 

which 

Hunter 

gatherers

contribute

to retribution

and which

seek a just

solution

to the real

scams

and shams

that are

damning

us.

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.

Bragging Rights

Barely 

a day

later

and I must

savor

this 

sweetness.

The privilege

to witness

the fitness

of justice

and the 

reminder 

that excellence

and truth

endure,

much less

the score

of 34

counts of

guilty,

is now

a matter

of and for

history.

DA Bragg

gets the win

for following

“the facts

and law

without

fear or

favor”

despite

the behavior

of the defendant –

now felon.

Bragg’s chutzpa

to put a

former president

on trial

was unprecedented.

And yet,

the normalcy

of the 

formality

of the

legal process

proceeded

unimpeded

except for 

the gag 

orders

and all 

the antics

of a frantic

defendant 

running

for president.

Now, 

of course,

there’s a

different take

on “Bragg’s

mistake” 

of legal

“interference” 

producing

a dangerous

consequence

as the 

candidate/

defendant’s

base 

could resort

to violence.

Like it’s

Bragg’s

fault.

Through

all Trump’s

contempt

and fury,

the jury

took seriously

its citizenry,

something

anathema

to the drama

and trauma

that is 

Trump.

And Judge

Juan

Merchan

embodied

justice

for all,

apparently

a tall

order.

Though 

many

doubted

the value

of this case,

we can’t 

erase

its significance.

We witnessed

history

regardless

of what’s

next.

Truth 

revealed

what Trump

concealed

to seal

the deal

in ’16.

The sentencing

hearing

will be

interesting.

Cohen

got 3 years,

reduced 

for cooperation

for the same

operation

that Trump

directed.

Meanwhile,

the new felon

will sell on

Truth Social

whatever

crap 

he can.

But Bragg

got the win

for reality

and for 

history:

Guilty

of 34

in 2024,

restoring

hope

in 

and for

American

democracy.

Speaker of the House?

How 

shall

we address

signs 

of distress

right in

our own

front

yards?

Everyone’s

stressed

and pressed

to express

themselves.

Being a part

of the conversation

yet apart

from the realization

that we

are self

destructing,

is instructing.

As a spouse,

one shares

a house,

and the 

responsibilities.

I can’t

imagine

being

sanguine

about 

my spouse’s

tantrums

and visible

displays

that might

convey

some overt

conflict.

Justice Alito

purports

to support

his wife’s 

autonomy 

but no other

woman’s.

His refusing

to recusing 

himself

from 

cases 

related to

the ones

created

by 

the Former

Guy

imply 

that he 

is not

only

a louse

of a spouse

but supremely

unfit

to sit

on the bench.

Last Memorial Day

Remember

last 

Memorial

Day?

Unless

a death

was new

to you,

the beginning

of summer

on the

calendar

probably

felt

like any

other

last 

Monday

in May.

The peculiar,

yet familiar,

combination

of dignified

commemoration

alongside

barbecues,

movies,

and retail

sales,

the way

Americans

mark

occasions,

have a long

tradition.

But our

current 

condition

calls into 

question

this celebration

of summer

and sacrifice.

To honor

those

whose

service

was 

for us,

whether

we asked

for it

or not,

deserve

for us

to preserve

our democracy’s

promise.

Arlington

Cemetery,

where rows

of those

who perished

for this country,

is sacred.

It is

holy

ground,

where

history

is found

among

the graves

of the ones

who saved

us.

All those

wars-

what 

were they

for?

This can’t

be 

the last

Memorial

Day.

Read: Flags

The idea

of heaven

is appealing,

particularly

when reeling

from life

that cuts

like a knife

with a 

serrated

blade,

alternating 

spiky

and smooth.

Alito’s

flags

read

as symbols

of dread

pledging

allegiance

instead

to Trump.

“Freeing”

speech,

to the 

Capitol

breech,

is more

than 

disrupting

norms.

From 

the first clue

of Q

to 

Brandon,

the cult

has landed

on a key

way 

to unify

with 

the former

guy

through

linguistic

gymnastics

and symbolic

semiotics.

The insider’s

guide

to being

outside

is to hide

in plain

sight.

More 

than a club,

a cult

will sub

established

lingo

for the 

nouveau

so that

only

the committed

are permitted

to use it.

The abuse

is willful

and intentional

to distill

and distinguish

in an english

riddled

with subversive

political meanings.

The political

leanings

are clear

even when

vocabulary

is a mere

game

to reframe

and blame

and hide

inside

their 

own web

of deceit.

The cult’s

conceit

is to repeat

anew

a slew

of symbols

and words

no matter

how absurd

to herd

together

the once

stirred,

lonely,

and aggrieved.

The perceived

connection

with objection

to the status

quo

always

motivates

change.

Linguistic

analysis

provides

the structure

of  culture

and functions

as the glue

and cue

to the cult

of Q anon

and beyond,

supporting

the vibe

of the tribe

who imbibe

the kool aid.

Et tu

Nikki Haley?

I know it’s

scary,

but cults

never

deliver

the heaven

they promise,

no matter

how

appealing.