Category: Political

Navalny Dead

They get you. They get you. They get you. They crush you. They denude you. They diminish you, take away your dreams and livelihood. They make you want to give up. They make you want to kill yourself. They make you feel like you don’t make a difference any more. They make you hated. They rob you of your friends and family. You give up, especially if you have a loving wife and you leave. You relocate, try to start up again. Still alive. You feel you still have support, so you return. They lock you up. You keep talking. They imprison you. They torture you. They poison you. Then they kill you. They get you. And lie about it. BUT NOT YOU.

Sad. Sad. Sad. And you leave a mother, a wife and people who needed you to be alive. Hugs all around. They will kill some of them, too.

We needed you to be alive. All over the world you gave people strength to speak out, to resist. Everyone heard your voice. You HAD to go back. I understand.

Love you, bro.

Critics beware. Keep fighting. Expect to die or lose your life and livelihood.

I cry for you, my brother.

Navalny (shout his name) never gave up.

He left a mantra: Never give up.

No Thanksgiving

Not that Thanksgiving was ever one of my favorite holidays, but today’s Thanksgiving hurts more than any and means less. The deaths in Israel and Gaza of innocent people, old and young alike, leaves me bereft. I grieve mightily for the losses on both sides and the absence of dignity and purpose in the entire affair.

My heart breaks for the living, as well as the dead, parents, siblings, friends, associates. I cannot imagine what it feels like to have lost someone or not to know if someone was lost. The sorrow and sadness keeps me awake at night, despite feeling personally safe and despite not personally knowing anyone who died. I see the destruction in my dreams and hear the cries. I can smell the fetid air and taste the pollution on my tongue. No one feels safe and everyone knows it.

I know the pain of isolation and aloneness, the despair of not having family or friends, of being hated. I never learned to hate, though I did learn to be hated. I learned love through my wife. No god ever shined countenance on me or gave me peace and no hater ever said they were sorry or tried to renew a friendship or family relationship. My life was destroyed, but I got to leave with my head up, some trinkets and a spouse. Where do they go and with whom.

Stripped of my career, legacy and heritage, I was left only with my self-esteem and a loving, caring wife. At least I had that. What will they have: more fear of annihalition, complete destruction, obliteration. Who will care for them in sickness and in health? Who will they trust to protect them?

No one will come to our table to share a harvest feast. We don’t eat turkey or tell the story of the Native American Wampanoag people. There will be no arguments about who made the best stuffing or gravy and no collapses on the couch to watch football games. Just some Osso Bucco and a glass or two of red “whine”.

I can only hope that tomorrow some hostages on both sides are released.

Alan Arkin, Dead at 89

Alan Arkin died. He made 100 films, starred in theatre, improv and wrote books. Last seen by me and loved in The Kominsky Method with Michael Douglas. He was Alan Arkin to the end. Watch one of his movies,”Argo”, “The Russians Are Coming”, “In Laws”. He will make you smile.

My favorite Alan Arkin role, Yosarrian, the character in the movie, not the character in the book, Catch-22. There is always a catch 22, always some rule to enable the enterprise to survive. Truth dies. Dilemmas abound. And while you could have made it if you tried (complied), enemies lurking at every turn (uniforms don’t insure friendship) find you, because you didn’t become one of them, and you gotta go because you gonna get got.

May Yosarrian’s raft find an oasis and may he not die rowing to it.

I always wanted the system to offer me a deal like Yossarian was offered: we will give you a medal if you don’t tell the truth and say you love us. These are unforgiving people, no empathy, intolerant, unsympathetic, willing to lie, twist the law and facts, anything to stay in power. To this day, I don’t know if I would have taken it.

Like they said in the movie, “what’s good for M&M Enterprises is good for the country,” and “…, a contract is a contract.” Same for the courts, our systems most dangerous branch. Two tiered and two faced, killers of the innocent, incarcerators of the black, brown, and poor, oppressors of the under represented, rejectors of those who look or act differently, especially the mentally challenged and those discovering/exploring their sexual identities.

Like those who do magic, which we know isn’t real, but we like to be fooled into thinking it is, the jurists are actors, carefully chosen for the roles. They aren’t judges, they just act like judges. Keep an open mind. Leave your life at the courtroom door. Loyalty oaths in return for stipends, trips and in some cases, lifetime appointments.

But more importantly and more on point, the main reason for this rant, this Term, the Country took several steps back in our nation’s effort to secure liberty, justice and happiness for all of US. Women’s rights, civil rights, voting rights, affirmative action meant nothing to these 6 charlatans in black. Back came the Hanger for women exercising power over their bodies and Hanging or silence for those wanting their voices heard as they speak out against injustice by electing public servants who serve the public.

FUCK THEM, Alito, Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett and my favorite skeeve,  Clarence, along with their ideologue Federalist originalist friends and those who have bought their services with plane rides, hunting trips, and business for their spouses.

Nathan Bedford Forrest Removed

In September, we visited Memphis, ostensibly to see the Motel, Graceland and Sun Records. Arriving early for our tour of the place where Elvis recorded, we walked to a nearby park which had been the subject of litigation and consternation over a monument erected to honor Nathan Bedford Forrest.

An American flag flew over the statue’s base. I was appalled. Here is a man who massacred 300 helpless black Union soldiers and served as the first wizard of the KKK and not only do they have a monument to him, but after it is removed they fly an American flag.

As an artist, I love to look at statues, reminded as I am of their three dimensional quality,  a level of visual arts not allowed to photographers, as well as their historical value, but they belong in  museums where people have the choice of looking at them or looking away. And parks, nature parks, educating people about nature and schools, where people learn to read and think, should not be named after them. 

Yes, he is an historical figure and someone who should be studied. But so should Dr. King who was murdered in the same area. No statue stands at the motel, a place our tour guide neglected to have the bus stop. I wouldn’t want one there either, but I would have wanted to step out on the terrace and cry.

Yesterday, I watched The General, one of the greatest films ever made, starring America’s leading comic actor. But, is it still relevant as it portrays a Confederate victory, a Rebel outsmarting the Union Army? Yes, as a historical artifact. Not worthy of a statue, though.

 

Overflow

Not that we don’t have enough problems, but it is now Hurricane Season. Covid causes death, despair and disease. Rain and wind destructs, demolishes and decimates. Any way you look at it, society gets eradicated in an unpleasant way.

The canals await the rainfall, already over their early June limit. Deadly frogs live around them. Lizards and geckos which didn’t die due to climate change (no cold spell) abound and there is no species to eat them or drive them away. Unbelievers continue to ignore the signs, partying on the beaches and in the clubs. Well, so-be-it.

Trump’s Ignorance

What a waste of a human being Donald Trump is. He still has supporters, haters all in their own little way. He wants US to die, so he and his buddies can have more and more and more and more easily recognize each other, because who remains will be white and not old.

His latest solution for a Covid-19 cure is right on your kitchen counter and can be combined with two previous suggestions. I don’t want you doing it. Maybe he will, using Jared or the Baron as test subjects.

First, write out a will using a bleach pen and write your name down on your forehead. Inhale a little in each nostril to get you going. Drink a little Fantastic, after spraying it on your clothes, removing any dirt or grease or grime you missed while washing.

Then insert the fork into your toaster.

 

Read The Dec

This little book tells it all. It costs a buck and you can buy a pack and pass them out. But it don’t matter if you don’t remind yourself of our dreams of a more perfect union. Not until the late 19th Century did they address slavery and there is no mention of God. Here’s one of the things the founders said:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

So as we sip our beer, eat our franks and watch fireworks, we should be thinking about how to make these truths real and not just words.

Rachel Mitchell Is Less Than Impressive

Looks like a long term prosecutor who walks and talks the line. She rights wrongs against abused women in the land of Joe Arpaio. Did I say Joe Arpaio? She’s cold and dispassionate. Her use of hands is as off-putting as her unnatural eye movements or lack thereof. Just outrageous that the Republican men scum team couldn’t do it themselves. How different would the bottom line have been if they just let the accuser tell her story and then pointed out the uncontested weaknesses, instead of what this hired gun will do? Just more kabuki

BUP

So much out there to complain about and what are we talking up, some woman who says Donny Douchebag is senile and a racist. Opiods are killing 50,000 a year. The stupid war on drugs continues to be a waste of money and an attack on human dignity. Families destroyed. Health care facilities overworked. The only people benefitting are those connected to the Courts, Jails and drug manufacturers. Read Dopesick, take two aspirin and get back to me in the morning.