“Our democracy is under siege by a moron.” – Bruce Springsteen
Notes from 2017 – Our Democracy
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Notes from 2017: Who doesn’t love a hero?
Woody Guthrie, 1943. Library of Congress.
On January 16, The Times of London posed a question to Donald Trump: “Do you have any models – are there heroes that you steer by – people you look up to from the past.”
In reply Mr. Trump said,: “Well, I don’t like heroes, I don’t like the concept of heroes, the concept of heroes is never great.” He then described his admiration for his father, from whom he learned “a lot about negotiation,” but then he gave himself final credit, saying that negotiation is “natural trait,” which “you either have or you don’t.”
Father and son may share additional traits. In 1950, Woody Guthrie leased an apartment from Fred Trump, and soon came to despise the president-elect’s father for his racism. In his song, “Old Man Trump,” he wrote:
Beach Haven ain’t my home!
No, I just can’t pay this rent!
My money’s down the drain,
And my soul is badly bent!
Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower
Where no black folks come to roam,
No, no, Old Man Trump!
Old Beach Haven ain’t my home!
In the 1970’s, the Justice Department sued Fred and Donald Trump for racial discrimination, under the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which Rep. John Lewis helped pass. The Trumps settled, “without an admission of guilt.
*****
Heroism begins with a concern for someone or something greater than oneself, so of course Mr. Trump is unacquainted with the concept. Polls show his approval rating has slipped since the election, but a core group of supporters apparently still hope that inauguration will somehow awaken a concern with their wellbeing and that of the nation.
I’m betting in six months – a year at the outside – the denial will wear off, and most of his remaining supporters will realize they’ve been conned as badly but effectively as those who enrolled at Trump University.
We will not find any heroes in the White House after Friday.
Notes from 2017 – Predictions and Prophecies
I’ve never been big on New Year’s predictions. Even if accurate, they’re like signs on a mountain road saying, “Watch out for falling rocks.” What do you do if you see one barreling at you?
Prophecies are even worse! In all the old stories, those who attempt to escape an evil fate choose the precise actions that bring it about. They do it every time!
Oedipus is probably the best known example. Told by the Delphic Oracle – an ironclad source – that his fate was to kill his father and marry his mother, what does he do? He quarrels with the first old guy he meets on the road and kills him! That’s when we know it can’t turn out well!
The following video is Keith Olbermann’s take on what we, as a nation, have done. Recognizing that our political and economic systems were broken, we went to the polls and made a choice that most of us now know can’t possibly turn out well…
See what you think. I’ll make a few predictions of my own in future posts, but most of them follow on this one.
Notes from 2017 – Remember moral courage?
On New Year’s day, Wall Street Journal editor, Gerard Baker sparked a social media storm after saying on Meet the Press that he has instructed his paper’s journalists not to report Donald Trump’s lies as lies, but as “questionable,” or “challengeable” statements (1) (2).
The word “lie,” he said, implies a moral judgement, and opens the Journal to claims of bias. He cited Mr. Trump’s claim that “thousands” of Muslims celebrated 9/11 on New Jersey rooftops. To call that a “lie,” Baker claimed, would imply an intent to deceive, so the Journal reported instead that there was “no evidence” to support the allegations.
There are many obvious problems with this approach. No one with a pulse believes that Trump made an inadvertent mistake – his intent with this lie was to win the support of xenophobes, in one of the classic moves of would-be tyrants. Trump learned in his earlier “birther” rants that if you repeat a lie often enough, those who want to believe you will, and will rally to support your cause.
I our midterm election in 2018, we’ll have new voters who were a year old on 9/11, with no clear memory of the event. “No evidence” is too weak a rebuttal to our would-be dictator-in-chief, who unfortunately, is an expert on manipulating the news, and in a classic strategy tyrants before him continues his efforts to discredit legitimate news outlets (3) (4) (5).
The journalists had gathered on Meet the Press to discuss Mr. Trump’s attempts to discredit news he doesn’t approve of. You can read a full transcript of the session here (6) Not being sufficiently versed in history, Mr. Baker doesn’t realize that capitulation will not save him or his paper if Trump can manage to gain the power over news outlets, like “stronger libel laws,” that he craves.
Therefore, I’m awarding Gerard Baker of the Wall Street Journal, my first Wormtongue Award of 2017. This is the first, but I’m sure not the last, such award I’ll hand out…
The First Gates “Wormtongue Award” goes to Gerard Baker, of the “Wall Street Journal”
Notes from 2017 – The war on what???
Intruder Alert! St. Nicholas, by Thomas Nast
Piety and commercialism, two unlovely attributes, are rampant at this time of year, so it’s time for my annual Christmas history post. If you search on “Christmas” here, you’ll find some interesting info on things like the Ghostly Christmas tree ship (Christmas Tree Facts and Legends), my grinchly rant on “Holiday music,” and most poignantly, the Christmas Truce, when to the chagrin of the generals, peace broke out on the western front on Dec. 25, 1914.
One thing you won’t find are notes on a “war on Christmas,” since there isn’t one. No one out here in the world cares whether you say “Merry Christmas,” or “Happy Holidays.” But if you look back in history, you’ll find a number of instances of Christians waging war on Christmas. Consider that:
–Early Christians did not celebrate Christmas. Origen of Alexandria, a third century theologian, wrote that “only sinners like Herod and Pharaoh celebrate their birthdays.”
–Christians didn’t celebrate Christmas until the ninth century reign of Charlemagne.
–During the middle ages, the Feast of Epiphany was more important than Christmas, which didn’t really emerge as a feast until 1377, when Richard II held a months long blowout with his nobles. Twenty-eight oxen and 300 sheep were slaughtered for the event, which according to chroniclers, featured “drunkenness, promiscuity, and gambling.” Early Christmas carols were sung, but they were bawdy.
–In 1645, Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas in England, and the Mayflower pilgrims outlawed it in Boston from 1658-1681.
–The New York City Police Department was formed after a Christmas riot in 1828. We read on History.com that “The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season.”
–The “one percent” of the day responded with a campaign to transform a holiday long known for outlandish behavior into a commercial, family centered time, drafting the work of Thomas Nast, Charles Dickens, Washington Irving and others for the task.
–Victorian sensibilities focused on family and children, and it was only then, in 1870 that Christmas become a legal holiday in America. We’ve been led to believe we celebrate this day as it has been done for centuries, but that simply isn’t so (Humbug Revisited: A Brief History of Christmas).
I have no complaints about Christmas as a spiritual holiday, and it’s a great time to remember family and friends, but I do my best to ignore the cultural trappings. I boycott stores that force employees to work on Thanksgiving. I celebrate “Buy Nothing Day,” instead of Black Friday.
I will end with an observation I once heard an Art History professor share on the iconography of Santa Claus.
Glance at the Thomas Nast illustration at the start of this post. If you saw this guy in your living room, you’d either unlock your gun safe or call 911. He’s looking for your liquor cabinet and fridge, as he carries a sack of loot boosted from the neighbors!
Now look at the “Jolly Old Elf” in this modern representation below – white hair and beard but a child’s nose! This is an infantilized Santa Claus! It may help to get parents of very young children out to Toys R Us, but I don’t think it does much good for the maturity level of the culture…
Happy Solstice everyone!
Santa with puppies, kittens, and the facial features of a child.
Notes from 2017, part 1
Petroglyphs, Saguaro National Park, Arizona
This morning, at 2:44 am local time, the still point of the turning world became even more still. Like the gap between the end of an outbreath and the next inbreath, the earth paused. From the depth of our longest night, her axis tilted back toward summer.
Darkness is metaphorical as well as physical. By many measures, our nation is in its darkest hour since the civil war. The inspiration for what will become a series of posts through the coming year was an article by Summer Brennan, called Notes From the Resistance: A Column on Language and Power. Ms Brennan begins by saying:
“In George Orwell’s 1984, the first act of rebellion undertaken by Winston, the protagonist, is to acquire a blank book and begin to write down his thoughts and memories.”
As Big Brother watches, Winston begins to reclaim words and celebrate truth. Big Brother is not yet as pervasive here, although security experts warn I should put a piece of tape over the camera on my laptop – just in case. In my estimation, I’m hiding in plain sight, betting that no one much cares about pics of an unshaven man in his 60’s, sitting in his bathrobe before dawn, swilling coffee and searching for words.
Although if Ken Bones could go viral…
But I digress. A minority of those Americans who voted chose a petty tyrant and reality TV star to become the most powerful man on earth. Lies are his currency. I will not repeat the lies here, but rather, use these posts to document my reality, and as much as I can sense it, the national reality, over the coming year.
Rather adding my saliva to the spitting contest between supporters and detractors, I will use this space, through the coming year, to ask the Dr. Phil question: “How’s this working for you?”
Here we will celebrate truth and truth-tellers.
Here I begin by celebrating Pope Francis, who so follows so beautifully in the footsteps of the apostle of peace for whom he is named. Yesterday, he declared that evolution and the Big Bang theory are correct. That God is not a magician who pulled the universe out of a hat 5000 years ago. That science can be a mode of truly appreciating the handiwork of the Creator.
Happy Solstice to all!
Back / Bart to the Future
Anyone who spends much time watching The Simpsons will likely agree that for 600 shows and counting, they’ve had the best writing in the history of television. Did you know that the show’s writers are sometimes prophetic? Sixteen years ago, in an episode called “Bart to the Future,” they showed us Donald Trump as president.
This shot from the episode shows Mr. Trump with a poster reading, “America you can be my ex-wife.” Think about that for a moment…
From “Bart to the Future” episode of the Simpsons, first aired March 19. 2000
Homer is beginning to see what even those who voted for him will soon learn – that we’ve been screwed by a con man and pathological liar, who cares no more for us than he cared for the students at Trump University.
Voters had every reason to be angry with the status quo. When John Stumpf, the disgraced CEO of Wells Fargo, resigned with no jail time and $133 million, every working man or woman who is slipping further behind can see how those who play by the rules get shafted, and it is mainstream politicians of both parties who put the rules in place.
Donald Trump feigned concern for these workers just long enough to get elected. Union leaders aren’t stupid; five weeks before the inauguration, Richard L. Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said Trump’s cabinet appointments prove his campaign promises were hollow. Many other well meaning people who voted for the hope that Mr. Tump offered will learn soon enough they were conned. There won’t be much of a honeymoon.
Meanwhile, there is no room for compromise with evil and stupidity; it’s time for the majority of Americans who voted against our sociopathic president-elect to take a page from the Republican notebook, and prepare to defy and obstruct the incoming administration in every way we can.
When Barack Obama was elected, and the Republican party in seeming disarray, Mitch McConnell, senate minority leader, announced his party’s goal – to obstruct and insure that Obama was a one term president. It’s time for Democrats to adopt his playbook. The Tea Party taught us it doesn’t take that many people to stall a government.
A good place to start is with this detailed outline, prepared by former congressional staffers, on how to influence members of congress: An Anti-Trump Guide. The premise is simple – those who work closely with representatives report that they care about just one thing – reelection. The more personal our interaction, the better. None of them much care about social media or blogs. Personal emails are good, print letters are better, and best of all are direct questions at the public events and townhalls they host.
“Where do you stand on privatizing Social Security? Oh, so you really want to deliver seniors’ lifeblood to the tender mercies of the too-big-to-fail firms that gave us the great recession?”
Those who stood firm at Standing Rock remind us of the lessons of Gandhi and Martin Luther King – the power of non-violent resistance. The tech engineers and CEO’s who refuse to work on a Muslim registry are also exemplars, as is Jerry Brown, Governor of California, who vows that we’ll launch “Our own damn satellite,” if Mr. Trump succeeds in defunding NASA climate monitoring. We can honor the administration of the EPA, which refused to submit a list of their people who attend climate conference, and Leonardo DiCaprio, who has made himself a spokesman, not only for the science of climate change, but for the economic opportunities clean energy holds.
There’s a lot of damage that Mr. Trump’s ship of fools can do in the near term, but a battle is on for the soul of the nation. Few things are more important than insuring that the incoming government is thwarted at every turn, and voted out of office, in the disgrace it deserves, as soon as possible.
Timely quotes from Reinhold Niebuhr
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) was an American theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for 30 years. Among his most acclaimed books are, Moral Man and Immoral Society, and The Nature and Destiny of Man, which Modern Library named as one of the 20 best nonfiction books of the 20th century.
Neibuhr’s best known work, however, is the Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
In the wake of this year’s election cycle, his musings on history and politics have a special poignancy and relevance:
“The tendency to claim God as an ally for our partisan value and ends is the source of all religious fanaticism.”
“Frantic orthodoxy is never rooted in faith but in doubt. It is when we are unsure that we are doubly sure. ”
“Religion, declares the modern man, is consciousness of our highest social values. Nothing could be further from the truth. True religion is a profound uneasiness about our highest social values.”
“Religion is so frequently a source of confusion in political life, and so frequently dangerous to democracy, precisely because it introduces absolutes into the realm of relative values.”
Neibuhr’s most haunting observation to me is this, which implies that not a single one of the countless empires that have risen and fallen before ours made much of their greatness until it was gone:
“One of the most pathetic aspects of human history is that every civilization expresses itself most pretentiously, compounds its partial and universal values most convincingly, and claims immortality for its finite existence at the very moment when the decay which leads to death has already begun.”
Harbor Scene with Roman Ruins, Leonardo Coccorante (1680-1750), public domain
The First Gates 
