Opposing the Party of Terror

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY remains the most dangerous organization in human history, even in the post Trump era, assuming that it is post. Trump will probably run again, and may even win, considering the nature of the American electorate, although he will face strenuous opposition from within his own party. This frightening fact of Republican danger would be evident to the observant, even had Noam Chomsky not pointed it out to us years ago. The G.O.P. has been steadfastly working, unwittingly, presumably, to end organized human civilization by aiding and abetting climate change through denial of it and inattention to it, among other malign right wing endeavors. Under Reagan the (G)arish (O)ld (P)atriarchy became the white conservative Christian party, having been center right under Eisehhower and Nixon. Now, its gone off the deep right end, become the party of racism, white supremacy, and religious intolerance. Under Trump, it became a criminal terrorist organization, which it remains today, and seemingly shall remain for the foreseeable future. The January sixth twenty twenty one insurrection at the nation's Capitol building was staged exclusively by Trump supporters, with the intent of reversing the electoral college, the election of 2020, and thus overthrowing the government by stealing Biden's legitimate election. The insurrection had and still has the approval of more than seventy percent of registered Republicans; hence, the description "criminal terrorist organization". Three days ago the Republican National Committee officially defined the non-violent events surrounding the insurrection as "legitimate political discourse", by which it means that Trump's big lie, his claim that the election was stolen from him, and the support among Republicans that the lie still enjoys - is legitimate political discourse, rather than what it actually is, a blatant attempt to steal the election and to overthrow the duly elected United States government. The RNC was carfeul to express disapproval of the actual violence perpetrated by the people who attacked the Capitol and ransacked it, and killed five people. How noble! How surprising! But every other aspect of the event they define as "legitimate political discourse", as if Trump's mad dog MAGA rally at which he encouraged the participants to "go to the Capitol and fight", his direct incitement to insurrection and encouragemetn of traitorous violence, was...somehow..."legitimate political discourse". And now, dear reader, for some truth. Let's get this straight, in no uncertain terms: Refusing to accept a free and fair American presidential election, merely because your candidate lost, is not "legitimate political discourse". It is nothing other than traitorous treason, leading to a violent insurrection attempting to overthrow the American government. After the Capitol building had been cleared of terrorists, one hundred and forty seven Republican congresspeople voted to overturn the electoral college, even after the insurection had resulted in the deaths of five people, for no other reason than the same reason the terrorists attacked the Capitol, while Trump sat in the White House, approvingly, of both the violence and the vote; to overthrow the duly elected president and the United States government. You don't get any more terroristic than that. You don't get any lower, any more criminal, or any more terroristic than the grand old Republican party is...today.

Bombing Butterflies and Blacks

BUTTERFLIES, like frogs, birds, and various insect species, are a fragile and vulnerable species, their poor health a measure of man's inhumanity to the ecosystem, currently suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous human behavior and thus threatened with extinction. Belatedly, but better than never, homo sapine sapiens is beginning to take arms against its worst instincts to destroy, and to fight back, for life. To this end there is a butterfly sanctuary along the Mexican-American border. Trump and his right wing racist reprobate Republican supporters wanted, and still want, to build a massive two thousand mile thirty foot tall wall all along the border, to make it slightly more difficult for those desperate, hungry poorly pigmented refugees to scurry across, or climb over or burrow under or go around, in the hope of a renewed life of desperation in the land of inequality and opportunity for the few. Their inane wall, as Trump and fate would have it, was to go straight through the butterfly sanctuary, all but destroying it, not that the Trump crowd cared. Anything, whatever it takes, to slow down the Trump-proclaimed Mexican rapists and murderers by a few minutes. What, after all, are a few billion butterflies compared to the holy crusade to keep brown people at home, where they belong? If only they would come from Norway, as Trump said he would much prefer, the land of the fair skinned... Threatened with extinction, the butterflies did what any intelligent species would do; they went to court, and succeeded in delaying the wall construction. For that, they are being rewarded with far right righteous vengenace. Terrorist bomb threats have been exploding, forcing the sanctuary to shut down, temporarily, it is to be hoped. Somebody, and we know who, is threatening to drop bombs on buterflies, and on those who care for them. Someone quite angry at the delay in building the wall, the wall which would not welcome the stranger. Someone of the MAGA kind. Meanwhile, at the beginning of "Black History Month", bomb threats are being received by several historically black colleges and universities, presumably from the same sort of folks; the racist, white supremacist, Trump loving kind. Meanwhile, at his increasingly frequent off season campaign twenty twenty four MAGA rallies, Trump is telling his cult followers that when reelected, he will make damned sure that the patriots who stormed the Capitol in his honor on January 6, 2021, will be treated fairly, by which he means, because he said he means, getting pardons from him himself. Violent insurrectionist terrorist criminals, according to Trump, according to most of his cult followers, deserve presidential pardons because they are not being treated well by the criminal justice system, which has the audacity to charge them with the crime of attacking invading, and damaging the Capitol building. Trump also trumpets the messsage nowadays that in America, white people are being forced to go to the back of the line - for everything. Those poor, poor conservative white Christian fundamentalists, and their history of persecution in America.... It all adds up, using the simplest math: Racist Trump plus racist rhetoric equals bombs threats against blacks and butterflies made by racist Trump cult followers. Just when you think the Trump movement has reached its lowest point, lower it goes.

Going Russian

WHEN I WAS A CHILD, Russia was all the rage. The cuban missile crisis was as close as we got to relity TV, other than "Candid Camera", and I developed a certain fondness, through habit, for ducking beneath wooden desks and darting underground into basements with bladk and yellow signs on the door. By the time I was fifteen I was determined to lean how to read, write, and speak Russian. The determination didn't endure: I was fifteen. The urge began to wane by the time I had learned the words "da" and "saladna". In those days, it was the liberals who were the Russia lovers, the consevativew were the hawkish cold warriors. Exactly when the role reversed cannot be detemined with precision; it happeed incrementally. Back then, the Republicans wanted to raise taxes, for defense. The Democrats wanted tax relief for the working class, sicne taxes were already high on the wealthy, and the massive array of welfare programs under the "Great Society" hadn't yet been created. Now, the positions have reversed. Right wing love of Russia is a recent phenomenon, as recent as the Trump administration. Whereas liberals admired the idealisim of communism in the old days, today's right wingers, in the post communist post Soviet era have their own Russia lovin' reasons. When Russia liquidated its empire and its communist mandated social and economic equality, it brought back, or rather, allowed to return, religion, which had become dormant and gone underground in 1917. Any resurgance of the Christian faith, anywhere in the world, quite naturally appeals to America's conservative base. Somehow, however, there is the sense that there is something more in play, something more than Trump's obvious man crush on Putin, and probable indebetedness to him for assisting his election to the presidency in 2016. The best candidates are racism, and heterosexuality, in that order. Race-wise, Russia is about as lily white as it gets in our neo-nomadic world of inter-racial marriages and multi-culturalism. Most of the color was drained out of the old Soviet Union when the satellite sates broke away and became, at least nominally, independent nations. Sexually, russia and the United States are the two most prudish cultures in the non-Ialamic world; conservatives in neither are tolerant of sexual nonconformity nor of cultural or ethnic diversity. Small minds think alike. Show me a conservative culture and I'll show you a racist, hompphobic mob of self righteous philistines. To those of us on Social Security there's literally nothing new under the Russian sun; a culture of corruption, lies, and endless propaganda, aggressive and belligerent, all the while preaching peace, much like our dear old United States of Animosity. Here's a new idea: invite russia to become a member of NATO, thus safeguarding it against its expansionist tendencies, and, most of all, against itself.

Nourishing the Tree, Or Killing It

TWENTY FIVE PERCENT of us the American people say in surveys that violence against the United States government is sometimes, even often justifiable. This includes liberals and conservatives alike, but far more conservatives than liberals, on a percentage basis. One in ten Americans, again mostly right wingers, believe that such violence is justified now. One of five Republicans say this, one of three Republican men. For several years it has seemed evident that a pervasive, seething anger roils and boils just beneath the surface in American society; people more often abandon courtesy and are less friendly to strangers, and tend to have fewer friends. It may be that the surveys about violence are symptomatic of this. It is widely believed that the rise to power of Donald Trump was largely a prodcut of underlying anger on the part of dissatisfied working class people, mainly white conservative men, who feel that they are being held back, not by corporate control and exploitation, as is the case, but instead by immigrants and minorities. Conservatives admire wealthy white people, and are disinclined to mistakenly refrain from placing blame where it properly belongs; squarely on the shoulders of their wealthy elite white male employers and owners. By "violence", survey repondents presumably refer to such events as the assault on the Capitol building by Trump supporters, a majority of conservatives of whom still believe the insurrection was justified, as a noble attempt to render justice and take back the election victory from Biden, whom they falsely blame for having stolen it. Street protests and stone throwing at government office buildings will also suffice. Hate crimes against minorities, particularly Asian-americans, have dramatically increased over the past few years, presumably because they are being falsely blamed for having brought Covid 19 to America. Blame for the catastrophic spread of Covid 19 in America, with its horrendous death toll, clearly does not belong to Asian-Americans, but rather, with people who refuse to get vaccinated, an overwheliming majority of whom are, ironically, far right wingers, the very people who place blame on the Asian - American community. Hate crimes, societal anger, and an enhanced willingness to engage in political voilence is a distinctly far right wing phenomenon, data compiled by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies clearly indicates. Trump's rise to power was a symptom of it, his defeat for reelection served only to enhance the anger and hate crime. Thomas Jefferson believed that violence against the government might become necessary. He predicted that a revolution against the existing government would be necessary once every generation, as entrenched power becomes corrupt and oppressive. In a letter he wrote: "The tree of liberty will from time to time require the nourishment of the blood of patriots and tyrants". somewho, though our current brand of anger and willingness to resort to violence doesn't seme to fit what Jefferson had in mind. Europeans often marvel at how easily, and with what small provocation, Americans accuse their own government of "tyranny". Simply receiving an income tax bill often suffices to do the trick. Europeans, they know what real tyranny is. In our current situation, among those who blieve that violence and revolutoin may become or is already necessary, the question becomes pertinent, especially with regard to the Trump movement: Are these potentially violent people desirous of nourishineg the tree of liberty, or destroying it?

Trump, Going Lower Than Ever, But Getting "His"

DONALD TRUMP, with every tic toc of the clock, becomes a more execrable pile of human garbage, scarcely fit to inhale clean air. The same is true of his execrable supporters, who surround and gently encase him, snuggling in the trumpster dumpster. Here's why. Just the other day, at one of his utterly irrelevant seemingly weekly campaign rallies of the sort he has seemingly been spewing for interminable decades, this one in the late great right wing state of Texas, Trump spewed more of his verbal vomit to the effect that, in some psychopatheic potential future, with him reeleted to the presidency, he would consider issuing pardons to the criminals convicted of federal crimes in the assault on the nation's capitol building which his supporters engaged in on his behalf on that infamous day, January 6, 2021. Something this reprehensible a plan this vile, would be unthinkable, had it not come from Trump, the great American criminal. Equally vile is that his MAGA cult followers screeched their support and approval, unsurprisingly, but vile. Bu,t for Trumpers, here's the rub, as Shakespeare might say, and for the rest of us, the decent and the sane, here's the good news; when the two thousand and twenty four Republican presidential primaries begin, as they inevitably will, Donald Trump will be among the candidates, and so will at least fifteen other solidly far right wing Republicans, people such as Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, et al. They will all want the G.O.P. presidential nomination, badly. To that end they will all talk down, attack, accuse each other, Trump in his usial vicious dishonest insane fashion, the rest of them, well...tit for tat. Ted Cruz will remember the number of times Trump called him "lyin' Ted", and the manner in which Trump insulted Mrs. Cruz, by basically calling her ugly. One might recall how Trump essentially badmouthed and denigrated every other of the sixteen Republican candidates against whom he ran in twenty sixteen...In 2024, Trump's G.O.P. opponents will attack him like a pack of hyenas going after a gracefull gazelle on the plains of central Africa. Trump's Republican primaries opponents will act like Democrats in their assault on Trump's record as president for one term, and they will have plenty of ammunition from which to choose. You can almost hear Ted Cruz now, reminding Republican voters of Trump's two impeachment trials, of his bungled mismanagement of the Covid 19 pandemic, which has killed nearly one million Americans, and of Trump's insurrection and refusal to accept defeat in his reelection defeat. Suddenly, the G.O.P. presidential candidates will agree with Democrats that Trump's refusal to concede defeat to Biden and his attempt to overthrow the government was, after all, a terrible thing...they have so much ammo to choose from, to throw at Trump, and they will use it all.....of this, there can be no doubt. So, the best advice is: buy a bigger popcorn popper, fast, no matter the size of the one you have now, and sit back, and wait for and enjoy the "eat Trump alive" show....because, folks, its gonna happen, just as surely as the year twenty twenty four is going to get here...soon.

Hating On the HIgh Court

THE SUPREME COURT in recent years has become an even more despicable institution than it has historically been. Historically, the so called "high court" has gone low, sanctioning slavery and racial segregation, among other evils. In all fairness, the problem is not always that the court misinterprets the United States constitution; often the problem is that the United States constitution is a poorly written document, badly in need of improvement and updating, sanctioning evils, like slavery. Arguably, it is redundant and foolish for the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages to be prohibited, then legalized again, all in the same document, for instance. Then too, for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives, a darkly pigmented person ought arguably to be considered five fifthe of a human being, rather than the original constitutional three fifths. And so forth, and so on. The second amendment is a masterpiece of vague and confusing words, with too few words conveying too little precise, specific meaning. Hence we have spent centuries trying to decide whether or not one must be a member of a well regulated militia, whatever that is, in order to possess and/or carry and/or bear a firearm, and whether said firearm must be a muzzle loading musket, as per the founder's intent, or can inclule AR- 15 assault rifles. And so forth. Currently on the high court there are two probable sexual predators, and six people total who firmly believe that the United States government, and or the various state governments should have control over all women's reproductive processes, limiting their freedom and choices. This is especially ironic, since these conservative justices embrace an ideology which in all other cases insists that the less government involvement in people's lives the better. The fact that the court as currently and historically constituted consistently renders highly questionable, indeed incorrect decisions is evidenced by the sheer frequency with which it reverses them later. Supreme Court justices receive lifetime appointments in order to render it impervious to political intrigue. Obviously, this method does not work well. The court has always been politicized, from the time of George Washington to today, and remains so today, becoming ever more so. Justices are elevated to the high court because rather than in spite of their personal political biases, or, better yet, despite having any discernible political biases at all. There are remedies, remedies requiring fundamental change. Term limits would break up the monopoly of nine, and provide justice from a wider segment of the people, we the people. Thousands of people are well qualified for the Supreme Court. Its not rocket science, but rather, understanding of the law combined with simple reason. Perhaps an expansion of the court with mandated ideological balance would improve its ability to render justice undre law, something which, in its current state, it does only when its gets lucky.

Surviving Trump Part IV

DESPITE TRUMP, despite the strength of his morally and intellectually bankrupt support base, there is hope, hope for repairing the damage they have done. It will take time, maybe years, for the American people to regain trust in our vaunted electoral process, including our common shared belief that voters, and not demagogues or corporations or courts of law, can and should determine who are chosen as our political leaders. The need for some basic reforms is now obvious. All candidates for high political office should by law be required to provide a full disclosure of not only tax returns, but financial dealings of all kinds. Assets of the Vice President and President should be by law placed in a blind trust, to prevent conflicts of interest at the highest levels of government. Citizens United, under which the Supreme Court ruled that vast amounts of unaccounted for corporate money can legally be injected into political campaigns, must be overturned. Congress has the power to do this. Jouralist David Cay Johnsotn, author of "The Big Cheat", suggest this. Another excellent source book is "Corruption In America: From Benjamin Franklin's snuff Box to Citizen's United". The codification of specific impeachable offenses would be of great value in making the impeachment process a legal as well as a merely political process. The list would include financial fraud, bribery, extortion, and perjury, among others. Nepotism, such as when JFK appointed his brother as Atttorney General would be clearly defined regarding which offices were off limits. Whistleblower laws, protecting those who reveal corruption, should be strengthened. Unspent campaign contribuions should by law be returned to the donors, rather than pocketed, as is the case now, by the recipients. When Trump established his "legal defense fund", and asked people to donate money to his insane attempt to overthrow the election results in the courts, small donors, merely by failing to put a checkmark in a small box, unwittingly allowed the Trump campaign to keep drawig money out of workkng class people's bank accoutns without their express permission. This outright theft was not widely reported. Under our current sytem, candidates may pass on unspent donations to other candidates, further corrupting the campaign financing process. The bottom line is; political campaigns should be publicly financed, and closely regulated to reverse our current system in which high political offices are bought and paid for. All these reforms would have preveneted Donald Trump from ever running for president, much less serving as president and committing multiple crimes while in office, resulting in his being impeached twice and numerous ongoing lawsuits, yet to be settled. And this alone, if for no other reason, would have made all these changes to our system more than worthwhile.

Surviving Trump Part III

DONALD TRUMP has repeatedly cheated America, and continues to do so, a fact about which his followers, entranced, mesmerized in their cult, are oblivious, or unconcerned. He cheated Amerian during the 2016 campaign by working "hand in glove" with Russian operatives in investing foreign money in his winning election campaign, an election he won illegally. He cheated us by restricting the investigation of Rober Mueller, covering up the Russian assistance to his campaign. Attorney General Wm. Barr served as Trump's cover man, aiding Trump in his cover ups. Trump cheated his supporters most of all, by promising to help them overcome decades of economic stagnation by giving them tax cuts and reducing the control over them by Wall Street billionaires and corporations. Instead, he cut taxes on the billionaires and their corporations, leaving the working folks high and dry. Under Trump, ninety percent of the American people experienced relatively lower wages. The Democrats need to convince the American people that they have the answers and means to defeat Trumpism by revealing it as the scam that it is. Thus far, they have failed to do this. Trump promised American workers tremendous economic growth, but under Trump, growth was far less than it had been under Obama. When Trump left office, the United States had one hundred and fifty thousand fewer manufacturing jobs than when he took office, because Trump presided over corporate outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries. Trump cheated America out of justice by pardoning criminals Paul Manafort, General Michael Flynm, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, among many others. Trump bowed to foreign dictators like the dictator of North Korea and Vladimer Putin, and gave praise to murderous autocrats, shaming America and abandoning basic human rights. The stain to America's honor may be eternal. Trump's flagrant racism emboldened millions of right wing extremists, white supremacists and racists. He called some of them "very fine people". Far right terrorists defended their actions in court by claiming that they were inspired by Trump. Trump cheated us out of the integrity normally associated with high office by turning the presidency into a personal money making scheme, for himself and for his family, hitting up taxpayers for paying for his lavish lifestyle, and raking in two hundred and fifty million dollars from naive donors for his "legal defense fund", in order to file frivolous lawsuits in his insane attempt to use the court system to steal the election from Joe Biden. He spent about nine million of the money on laywers, and pocketed the rest. He let it be known that to gain access to the oval office, it would be necessary to do business with his many businesses and business interests, such as his hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, a few blocks from the White House. Even the most devout members of Trump's cult of personalilty should by now realize that he has sold them a bill of goods, and contiues to do so. Meanwhile, Trump offered no infrastructure improvement plan, no replacement for or improvement upon Obamacare, both of which he promised when elected. Meanwhile, the Republican party has become, and remains, Trump's cult, utterly under his control, a party bereft of moral or intellectual integrity. But, incredibly enogh, all this damage can be repaired. It will require, however, strong measures, and funadmanetal changes to our political system.

Surviving Trump Part II

MY GOOD CONSERVATIVE FREIND who bet me a case of imported beer last July that Donald Trump would be back in office by the end of the year, last year, offered to pay up, and allowed as how he had made what he called, "an emotional wager". I could have told him that the monment he made it. I could tell him now that the wager was not the only thing he is reacting to on a purely emotional level, devoid of critical thinking. Seventy percent of America's conservative Republicans still insist that the election was stolen. So much for the late Rush Limbaugh's assertion that liberals think on an emotional level, conservatives with logic and reason. Trump is currently under investigation in New York for financial fraud, in Washington D.C. for trying to overthrow the government, and in Georgia for trying to coerce that state's attorney general into stealing that state's election from Biden, for Trump. Karma, as they say, is a bitch, and, as John Lennon said, is often instant. With my friend I tried out my new argument: that he, and most Trump supporters, are far too good to support a criminal and pathological liar; that they deserve better. My friend educated me by pointing out that Trump supporters don't care about any of that; what they care about is the direction Trump was taking the country. That the direction was towards authoritarianism, chaos, isolationism, and corporate capitalistic hegemony is apparently what they want. None of that benefits the working or middle class, as Trump promised, a promise he quickly abandoned after being elected. With regard to Trump the astute business man who would run the country like a business, the purpsoe of a business is to destroy all competition and create profits for the few by exploiting labor and markets; that aint no way to run a country, a country in which labor, the working class, needs the governnment to have its back, as we say. But back to Trump, the allegedly astute business person. Shorty after his father died, leaving young Trump with hundreds if not thousands of apartment rental units on Long Island, Trump sold them all, to a single buyer, without bothering to take bids or involve more than one potential buyer. He got far less for the property than he could have, had he conducted the transactions patiently, properly, shrewdly. He wanted ready cash for investment in the high rolling world of resorts and casinos. But had Trump simply kept the numerous rental properties he inherited, he would have guaranteed himself a steady, reliable ever increasing, huge income, for the rest of his life. Income he could have used for collateral for future loans, and to finance any project of his dreams. Instead, he borrowed money repeatedly from people he tricked into making risky investments, investments which often resulted in his investors losing their money, but Trump keeping his, and spent it profligately, and used the bailout bankruptcy process no less than four times, burdening us, the taxpayers, for his business acumen, aka idiocy. In fact, Trump's entire business career has been a slow motion train wreck, as detailed clearly in the new monograph "The Big Cheat", by David Cay Johnston. Oh, and by the way, when you lose an election, the proper way to respond is by congratulating the winner, and offering support. To Trump and his malign supporters, this is unthinkalbe, evidently. Because of these reprobates, every election in this country will for now on be subject to question and accusations of fraud, no matter how effeciently and honestly they are conducted. The sacred American electoral process is forever tainted, by a pothological liar and his dishonest, self deluded supporters. For the first time in American history, a president was unwilling to leave office peacefully in a peaceful transition of power. They have reduced the United States to the level of an authoritarian, unstable third world dictatorship. When will the next Trump-like damagogue emerge, and try another overthrow of the government?

Surviving Trump Part I

DEMONSTRABLY, DONALD TRUP'S PRESIDENCY did great damage to the United States. The mere fact that such an unqualified person of such low morality and intellectual ability got elected to the presidency, much less the dog catchery, should alram all Americans, and motivate them to put in place safeguards to ensure that such a national disaster never happens again. The constitution, including the electoral college, was designed to provide such safeguards. Obviously, they proved inadequate. The damage Turmp did did not end with his removal from office. It endures, but can be repaired. Donald Trump effecitvely turned the Republican party into a criminal organization, a cult following which even the few Republicans who possess any integrity refuse, in their cowardice and lust for power, to openly oppose. Trump to this day encourages and enables blatant liars, outrageous conspiracy theorists, racists, and thugs. Trump promised an active, competent administration willing and able to bypass Washington's traditional culture, to "drain the swamp" and directly improve the lives of ordinary working Americans. Long forgotten American men and woman would take back their ountry unhder his leadership, create a booming economy with lower taxes for all American working class folks, and force American corporations to bring back jobs that they had outsourced to other countries. He told us that he would, through his economic and tax policies, lift up nearly all Americans at his own personal expense; he would personally sacrifice, that others might prosper. He promised, often: "I will be your champion, and I won't be playing golf". He ended p playing golf three times a week, at taxpayer expense, costing us millions of dollars in secret service protection and amenities. He promised to "make America gerat again", as if somehow our country had lost its greatness, and could only regain it through his leadership, a preposterous notion on its face. Preposterous, narcissistic, and unpatriotic, even traitorous. Instead, Trump became the first president since Herbert Hoover to leave office with an economy in which the average American was less proeperous than when he took office. Instead of bypassing Wall Street elites and the Washington political establishment in a great crusade to upfift and empower millions of ordinary, powerless Americans, he did the exact opposite: he filled the swamp, his administration, with Wall Street billionaire types, while eliminating or ignoring regulations which could contain the economically predatory behavior of those wealthy elites. We the American people got from the Trump administration a criminal corruption machine inundated with profiteering, self-dealing, and conflicts of interest, pupulated by incompetent, unqualified, billionaire cabinet secretaries and agency heads, people who, once in power, did their very best to destory the departments which they were entrusted to oversee, working to achieve exactly the opposite of their responsibilities. Trump did nothing to improve our infrastructure (Biden already has), put more trust in foreign dictators than in his own intelligence gathering agencies and law enforcement communities. Trump got elected by knowlingly, willingly, happily accepting massive campaign assistance from Russia, a crime for which he should hve been impeached, removed, convicted, and incarcerated. He so completely mismanaged the pandemic by denying its severity and sprading ridiculously false information about it that it cost hundreds of thousands of American lives. And that is just the "tip of the iceberg", as we like to say. Most alarming of all is that Trump is still very much out and about, on the scene, wanting to regain power by whatever means, legal or not, works, and his followers continue to ignore moral decency and reality in their support of their pathologically criminal cult leader.

Desegregating, Classically

CONNOISSEURS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC, consisting of only a small segment of the American people, tend, like connoisseurs of all kinds of music and other artforms, to have their personal favorite creators, and to stick pretty close to home. What distinguishes classical music lovers is that they focus not on the performers so much as the writers. People who are not interested in classical music have generally heard of four composers: Bach, Brahams, Beethoven, and Mozart, among the thousands, living and dead, who have contributed to the genre. Sometimes Tchaikovsky sneaks in the back foor, usually not. Like everyting else, liking classical music is largely a matter of being exposed to it sufficiently, at a young enough age. Its hard to get people to listen to it. One problem is that most classical compositions are more than two minutes long, and in a culture devoted to the song form, longer attention spans are at a premium. Most classical composers actually wrote in the song form, usually as a departure from their preoccupation with longer formats. Songs written in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by classical composers are much different in sound than our modern, familiar forms in country, pop, and rock. The melodies are more subtle, and lack the "catchy" quality of the modern American songbook. They are best sung by operatic voices; Bob Dylan and Taylor Swift need not apply. Its hard to get people unfamiliar with classical music to actual listen to it. To properly appreciate, it is necessary to actually focus on it, preferably while sitting comfortably and focusing on it, without any distractions. That, of course, is a problem in a culture in which some high tech device is constantly screaming in our pockets. People answer their phones, or look at them, or get up and get to work cleaning house, assuming that they can hear the music while moving around, relegating the music to background noise. That, as they say, don't feed the bulldog. People always seem surprised when I tell them that the sheer amount of classical music in the world in immense, hundreds of times greater than the amount of rock, pop, or country, because classical music has been around for more than four centuries, and the rest, but a few decades. People also often seem surprised to learn that classical music is alive and well, that there are many, many classical composers alive today, writing and publishing prolifically, adding to the enormous extant opus. Its almost as if folks just assume that all classical music was written over a hundred years ago, and that the artform somwhow went extinct, and was replaced by our modern music. That's the time to throw some Philip Glass in their ears. Or maybe some Alan Hovhaness. There are hundreds, many still living and composing, from which to choose, all good. Like every other aspect of human culture, tehe classical music community is beset with racism, and, like every other aspect of human culture, more so in the United States of Asininity than anywhere else. Of these composers, of whom have you heard? (Be honest): Florence Price, William Dawson, William Grant Still. These are all African-American composers, composers of the highest quality, comparable in quality, all kidding asie, to Mozart and beethoven. Florence Price was born in Arkansas in the late nineteenth century, and, an obvious musical genius, was allowd to play the piano in the mansion of a wealthy white Little Rock family while her parents cleaned the house. He obvious natural talent led to her getting a good education musically, and in the eighteen nineties she studied music in New York. Her favorite composer was the great Czech composer Anton Dvorak, who spent two years in New York as director of the New York music conservatory. Price's symphonies are remindful of Dvorak, and they are surpassingly beautiful. Like all African-American composers, in her music can be heard echoes of negro spirituals, and jazz, which of course was invented by African-American culture. One need only listen to anything any of them wrote, which one can easily do online, to appreciate their extraordinary music. William Dawson wrote one and only one sypmphnoy, which he named the "Negro Folk Symphony". It debuted in 1939, and was well receeived - then, forgotten. It is a work of superb quality, easily equal in quality to any composition by any composer who ever lived. Only recently has this masterpiece begun to be played, recorded, and appreciated. All three of these composers would be as famous as, say, Aaron Copeland, or certainly Rex Harris, both fine American compsoers, were they but white. Florence Price suffered, and still suffers the obstacle of having been not only black, but female as well. William Dawson never wrote another symphony. He was given no support, no encouragement, no respect, no appreciation...so...why bother? Racism harms culture, and society. Our saving grace is that we still possess the creativity of African-Americans, past and present. So, we have a scond chance, whether or not we deserve it. We need only take advantage of it. Its up to us.

Appraising Damnably, With Facts

A VERITABLE TORRENT OF BOOKS about Donald Trump have been published withn the last five years, unsurprisingly. There will, of course, be many more. Those in the future will have the advantage of greater perspective. Historically, as the decades and centuries pass, biographies become better, with the assistance of hindight, prior research, and perspective. So far, all books about Trump are unflattering in their assessment of the high roller wheeler dealer turned politician, and many of them were written by people who know Trump well; family members and close associates. The most recent one is the best, in terms of thoroughness of research and veracity of verified facts. It was written by neither a close associate nor familly member, but rather, David Cay Jonston, a Pulitzer prize winning journalist who has worked for the New York Times, which contrary to conservative opinion remains the nation's most reliable, best newspaper. "The Big Cheat: How donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched HImself and his Family" makes no pretense at being complimentary in any way, it purports only to be objective and accurate, bearing in mind that objectivity and accuracy do not necessarily mean "fair and balanced", but can mean "fair and damning". Johnsoton is widely considered to be among America's most important, highest quality journalists. About him, Donald Trump said: "I know the reporter is a weird dude who's been folliwing me for twenty five years, so obviously he hasn't done well. He's been following me in a negative fashion for twenty five years, always a hit. And I'm president, so he hasn't done a very good job." Well known is that when Donald Trump disparages someone, journalist, political leader, or anyone else, the person being disparaged is usually someone of the highest quality and integrity, accomplished, intelligent, and honest. Consider Senator John McCain, for instance, among many others. Johnson begins his preface with : "Donald Trump turned the White House into a money making enterprise for himself, his family, and his friends." This ia a reference to Trump's numerous violations of the constitution's "emolument clause", which forbids an American president from profiting from his position of power because of his position of power. Trump signaled his intentions by stopping in front of his Pennsylvania Avenue hotel during his inauguration parade, and being photographed there. Since then, anyone who wants access to Trump understands that, when in Washington, stay at the Trump hotel. Ivanka started profiting from contacts in China, and her husband Jared Kushner did the same in the Middle East, both because Trump preferred nepotism to actual diplomacy conducted by professionals. When Trump was defeated for reelection and began repeating his "big lie" about the eection having been stolen from him, he solicited more than two hundred and fifty million dollars in donations for a "Stop the Steal" legal fund. Only a small protion of the money went to fund his many frivoous lawsuits, all of which were summarily thrown out of court. Most of the money went straight into Trump's pockets. And that, as they say, is only the tip of the iceberg.

Enumerating lies

ON FACEBOOK somebody posted: "Name a Trump lie". Whether this was intended to be an extremely easy test, like "name an english word which begins with the letter 'B'", or an opportunity for Trump supporters to confromt reality, was uncertain. I found the offer irrrestible. Trump lie wise, we all have our favorites. Here's my personal favorite: "During the Revolutionary War Geogre Washington's army captured every airport in the colonies." Yes, he actually said that. As Casey Stengal used to say: "you could look it up". Then there's the one he uttered, in front of camera, God, and world, while standing next to the president of Italy in the oval office: "Friendship between the United States and Italy goes all the way back to the reign of Julius caesar". Sometimes, often, you have to wonder. The best theory is that people like Trump don't bother to think before they speak, because, afflicted with extreme narcissiam, they assume a priori that no matter what they say, it must be true, because they are the one saying it. That might explain the one in which Trump notified the nation and the world that windmills cause cancer, or that "they say they do". In fact, nobody ever said anything that stupid, other than Trump. Nobody ever even broached the possibility, until Trump. By talking to, "picking the brain" of a friend of mine who supports Trump, I am begining, maybe, to understand a little how they think. My friend told me in no uncertain terms that Trump supporters simply do not care anything about what Trump says, about his lies, insults, vicious slanders, and so forth. They overlook all that, because they like the direction in which he takes the country, or rather, was taking it, until his alleged landslide election victory was stolen from him by, according to my friend, the Democratic party. My friend at least identified the guilty party, no pun intended. All the other election fraud frauds are much more vague about such vital questions, including the method used for the alledged steal. My friend was equally vague about methodology, but he mumbled something about tampered voting machines from the Dominion company. Dominion has now sued enything that moves over this slanderous atttack upon its integrity; if justice prevails, they will win every case. Trump supporters find it easy to overlook Trump's constant, pathological lying, because they like the direction in which he was taking the country, and will doutless take it again, if he is restored to the presidency upon proving that he actually won reelection. They dismiss his lies as "stretching a truth a bit". We'll be back to ingesting hydroxychloroquine and dismissing all scientific expertise as "fraudulent", if by some twisted miracle of devilish divine intervention Trump is restored to the presidency and Biden removed from it. Last July 29 my friend bet me a case of imported beer that before year's end, Donald Trump would be back in power. Just the other day, he admitted that he made what he called "an emotional wager", and offered to pay up. I declined the offer, having gotten far more than I expected. If only he were fully aware of the extraordinary number of "emotional eagers" he makes daily, and has been making for years. My newest strategy is telling Trump supporters that they personally are far too good as human beings to support such an obvious reprobate, no matter how closely the reprobate's policies conform to expectations. Its a strategy doomed to failure, like most strategies to get people to conquer drug addiction, but its a noble one, because, in every case, no matter the extent of a Trump supporter's dereliction, which is often great, the person is, demonstrably, good enough to deserve a decent person to support poitically, even if that isn't saying much.

Defending Our Secular Democracy

IT IS DISTRESSING, to people who understand and embrace the founding principles of the United States, that such a harmful, malignant movement as "Christian nationalism" stains the public discourse and the body politic, if only peripherally, thus far. It is comforting that the movement is as yet a small stain, easily removed, god willing, and if the rest of us maintain our senses and the Christian nationalists come to theirs. A little time and informational sunlight should achieve that disinfection. For "Christian nationalism" substitute the expression "patriotic diversity", or "American religious freedom", with a secular democratic government, the people at large deciding on their religious destiny. We do not want to live in a country governed by barbaric biblical law. Democracy, literally, is the mob rule of the majority, which the founders carefully avoided, but which, over the centuries, has become increasingly possible, increasingly desirable. If we must be governed, as we must be to at least some extent due to the need for social organization and cooperative endeavors of various sorts, then rule by the majority is the best answer in today's world, - why not govern ourselves ? - preferrable to oligarchy, plutocracy, authoritarianism, or anarchy. We are moving towards democracy, despite the Trump bump in the road, despite the extreme concentration of wealth in America which prevents true democracy from manifesting. In terms of self governance, of creating an actual democracy, we have steadily moved away from the restrictive popular sovereignty, representative intentions of the founders. With regard to religious establishement, we should, according to decency and reason, stidk close to the intentions of the founders; a sceular governent with tolerance of religious diversity, tolerance of the thousands of religions extant in contemporary America, tolerance and acceptance of the more than thirteen hundred organized, registered religions in the country. Christian nationalism, in some twisted form or another, has always been extant in American culture; fortunately, it has never gained a sufficient foothhold nor sufficient popularity to pose a real threat to the wisdom concerning religion embodied in the constitution of 1787, arguablly among the few basic tenets of the constitution which needn't be or shouldn't be upgraded or more clearly defined. If anything, religious influence in the political system and government will decrease onver the next few years, as the percentage of the population which identifies as "Christian" continues to decline, and "nationalsm" is superceded by the necessity of international cooperation in areas such as climate change, pandemics, and the global economy. As with every other issue of public concern, the American Christian conservative community is relentless in its refusal to accept this obvious reality, but will eventually be forced to against its fondest desires, for it will be surrounded by, inundated with, and eonfronted with an overwhelming body of evidence and public opinion.

Diverging From Expectations

I'VE NEVER BEEN very good at conforming. I became a Yankee (the baseball team) fan in first grade because, and only because, everyone else in my life, for some reason, despised them, and I felt sorry for them. Like my hero Davy Crockett wrote, or had someone write for him, in the preface of his best selling autobiography: "Fashion is a thing I care mighty little about, except when it happesn to run just exactly according to my own notion". In high school I listened to classical music in an era of rock n roll supremacy. Granted, I listened to rock and pop when in the company of my friends, but that was their choice, not mine. I would have gladly broken out the Beethoven. My noncomformist ways often got me in trouble during my surprisingly long, turbulent teaching career. It began in my mmid twenties, when I taught freshman level history courses at a university while studying for a doctorate. On spring days I took my classes outside and lectured in an open air ampitheatre which was within easy walking distance. I never got hauled into the dean's office for reproach, but fully expected to. I recall the first day I ever taught a class, anywhere. It was a ninety eight degree day in late August, and the building in which my class was located was not air conditioned. I exchewed the traditional academic suit and tie, and strode into the room waering short shorts, blue jean cutoffs. I still can't believe I had the audacity to do that; honestly, I don't know what I was thinking, except maybe about comfort over style. Nobody reprimanded me for it, and I spent my entire tenure teaching college dressed exactly how I wished. Teaching high school was a different matter. I developed a habit of strumming a guitar in the student lobby before school. Nobody tried to stop me from doing that, partly because I was able to play well enough to make passable noise, soft, gentle chords which invited relaxation. The students, passing through on their way to lockers and then to class, seemed to enjoy it. They started to think of me as that "cool teacher". The trouble started when seniors began asking favors, such as: "Why don't yout let me slide out the back door, hop in my car, and go grab some donuts. Nobody'll ever know?" And, well..I let 'em. I got away with it, incredibly. During the years I spent as a substitute teacher, I became the most popular, and most requested sub in the district, especially amog gthe high schoolers. Amazing to think that the students I had back then now have their own children, in high school. I once got called into the principal's office, and the big man asked me: "Why are you teaching your classes that Thomas Jefferson waS an athiest?" "Why don't you take a wild guess?", was my response. that oNE nearly got me fired. I was gone the next year. Actually, Jefferson didn't call himself an "atheist", although his political enemies did. he called himself a "primitive Christian", by whICh HE meaNT that he accepted tHE teachings of the Christian faith in general, but disavowed all claims to the miraculous, including the resurrection, which unto itself was enough to disqualify Jefferson from inclusion in the community of "believers". Fondly I recall the time I was strolling down the hall during lunch break, and came upon a group of about five girls, attractive upperclasspeople, standing in a circle, having a group conversation. I joined the circle, at which time they all fell silent, and looked troubled, at first. Nobody else would have done that, but I did. As I explained to them, cultural inclusion is paramount. From first grade until my retirement, I never got along well with administrators, and tended to avoid them. The primary job of administrators is the protection of their well paid positions, and for that reason they tend to be intolerant of any creativit or behavior divergent from the normal, the conformist. At least I can proudly and truthfully say that I only helped a high school student buy beer, once.