She Too

Stormy’s 

bedtime

story,

following

the boring

inventory

of receipts

that started

this week’s

dramas,

included 

silk pajamas, 

a detail

that oddly

lended

credibility

to the incredible

testimony.

Stormy’s

story

is familiar;

It’s close,

but no

cigar—

reminiscent

of the intern

and the president—

a young woman,

once again,

shamed

and famed

in a power

disparity,

a problem

unnamed

until

recently. 

Ironically,

(if you can 

stomach

the imagery

mentally),

in her telling,

it was telling

that he

was the

seducer,

(or so

he thought)

reducing

her to

dissociate

during

the inappropriate

act.

There was

the fact

that there

was no

protection

from

pregnancy

or STD

(or STI,

more accurately,

despite

her testing

negatively

prior

to their

activity).

Technically

consensual,

the story

is less

sexual

than

objectionable,

despicable 

in the details

of during

and after.

It’s a story

of power

and control

of a woman

and the 

lonely

silence

bought

and sold

until

her voice

finally

told

what was

ignored:

she is

human

with limited

resources

or recourses

which

reinforces

the disparity

so easy

to overlook

and almost

impossible

to overcome.

It’s the backdrop

to the plot

to falsify

documents

for payments

and deflection 

before 

the election

after 

the Hollywood

Access video

dropped.

Meanwhile,

in the classified

documents

trial,

now postponed

indefinitely,

we see

a woman

supposedly

with power—

the judge,

no less—

seeming

submission

to Trump’s

petition,

perhaps

for a future

position

in a future

Trump

administration.

This is history.

And her

story

will matter

someday

too. 

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.