“HOPE IS A THING WITH FEATHERS – “

 

 

“Hope is the thing with feathers –

That perches in the soul – 

And sings the tune without the words – 

And never stops – at all - “

 

Thank you, Emily Dickenson, who in hurried verse warns next of the many threats to that small bird, “that sings the tune.”    I thought to write some screed today of the latest long-lasting attempts by Trump to wreak some more devastation upon the environment before January 20^th.  Alas, last Friday’s move to roll back the regulations protecting migratory birds, legal consequences which have stood in place since 1918, was too hard to swallow much less explain.  Add to that the black record of what has been done to our climate and natural landscape in the last four years, well, let’s lock up those straight razors, friend.  

 

“And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard – 

And sore must be the storm – 

That could abash the little Bird 

That kept so many warm – 

 

So, then, on to a diatribe about all the vultures flying into the state of Georgia to manage the scads of money being sent through the Republic National Committee and the Republican wanna-be Senators in their prostrate performances for cash on FOX News outlets.  Calling Karl Rove, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, etc., being paid a king or queen’s ransom for consulting from purse money sent to the cult of Donald.  That’s a clear staircase to cynicism and beyond.  No thanks.

 

I’ve heard it in the chillest land – 

And on the strangest Sea –

Yet – never – in Extremity,

It asked a crumb – of me."

 

That brings us to Georgia and the runoff for Senate.  Two seats and quite possibly an opportunity to take the possession of the Senate by the Democratic Party.  

 

Democratic candidate Ralph Warnock is running against Republican Kelly Loeffler. Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff is campaigning against Republican David Perdue.   

 

So, just maybe, this time Hope is not enough.  It’s time to pay the crumb.

 

The runoff is January 5^th.  Get involved.

 

Willing to – 

Write Postcards, man phone banks, work phone banks directly with candidate offices, contribute directly to Ossoff or Warnock or the Georgia Senatorial Campaign Committee, or support ongoing efforts to increase the civic participation of underrepresented and underserved communities of color in Georgi and elsewhere?  

 

Contact Indivisible Chicago now.  

 

We are “in Extremity.”  THANK YOU.

    

 

BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE

BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE

 

Back in 2016, a larger number of people I worked with admitted they were going to vote for Trump for two reasons: they detested the well-established power of Hillary Clinton AND they wanted to send someone to the Whitehouse who would destroy the status quo.  

 

They sure did.

 

Now in 2020, Clinton has disappeared in the rearview mirror, but Trump is about to pay all of us (even supporters) back for the electoral college loss.  Not simply refusing to concede the election in order to soak them all once again for money to “fight” the inevitable, but also to lay the framework(s) for kneecapping Biden’s Administration for the next four years after January 20^th.  And, in so doing, likely loose economic havoc upon the nation if possible in order to show us just how sorely he will be missed after being fired.  Always the Imperial Sulker. 

 

This week, treasury Secretary Mnuchin began an unexpected battle with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about how to handle the remnants of nearly $1.8 trillion provided by the Congress for the CARES Act, passed in March of 2020, to assist the businesses, markets, and working population suffering from the effects of the Covid pandemic.  

 

Ignoring the current precipitous climb in Covid cases nationally as coldly as he ignores the lack of any actual plan to do anything by a Whitehouse which has not addressed or attended any Task Force meetings for two months, Mnuchin cites the economy’s “great shape” as reason enough to pull money back to the Congress that was earmarked for the Federal Reserve for use in playing lifeguard if economic conditions were to drown.  

 

You can read this later: (Very simply put, the money in the CARES Act was given to the Federal Reserve to provide money to all of us in need as the pandemic wreaked destruction on our economy: cutting borrowing rates, maintaining lowered interest rates, actually purchasing massive amounts of securities to stabilize residential and commercial mortgage backed borrowing, providing safety backstops for to cover losses for money market funds hit hard by the initial responses to Covid, eased overnight lending for cash and short term requests to keep price stability, assistance to small businesses, relief for municipal and state governments, and many more.)

 

Riding the market’s high wave of Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine announcements, Mnuchin, according to the New York Times, “is taking away a source of economic support just as the new administration comes into office and as rising virus cases dog the recovery.  By asking the Fed to return the money that enables the emergency efforts, he could make it harder for the Democrats to restart then at a larger scale or on more generous terms.”

 

Get it?  Things are probably to get worse with the Covid before they get better; the economy is therefore going to falter; and there will now not be any money left to help counter the problem.  

 

One policy economist stated, “It is not just closing down the store for Biden; it’s burning down the store.” 

 

On the other hand, “The Fed’s lawyers have interpreted the law to mean they can keep the programs running into 2021…”.  But Mnuchin argues that the original CARES Act was written to end on December 31, 2020.  Mitch McConnell, of course, agrees.  And the money returned to the Secretary will not be recouped in loan repayments as it was originally intended.  When returned to the Congress, it will instead be added to the deficit as Congress can use it to spend as they like.  

 

How many more reasons do we need to become involved in a Senate run-off in Georgia in January? 

 

According to the CDC, we’ve incurred nearly 200,000 new cases of Covid today.  Those in need will see the end of their fiscal assistance on December 26^th. 

 

Trump and his cronies, realizing they will not win in the courts, are now in the process of assuring that the next incoming administration faces as many crises as they can manufacture – no matter how many people, friend or foe, are injured or killed.  

 

Payback.   

 

 

 

  

TEN YEARS AFTERS

 

Ten Years After…

 

Apologies in advance. This post will wander all about, but in keeping with 2020 not much remains undistorted anymore.

 

Ten days ago seems now much like Ten Years After.  And an old rocker like myself fondly recalls Alvin Lee’s singing “I’d Love to Change the World.”  And, honestly, I believe there are at least 78.5 million Americans who would agree with that idea right now…yesterday, in fact.

 

Of course, Trump refuses to accept the obvious outcome, just as his niece Mary Trump warned in her recent book and as Bill Maher has been finger-wagging for nearly four years. And, well, here we are.

 

But always the transactional narcissist and would-be dictator, Trump will not exit until he can feather his ample nest with more and more cash.  And his quietly frightened cohorts in the Trump/Republican Party will not be any obstacle, nor will those who still occupy shady if credentialed positions in the GOP’s transition to whatever it stands for now.  (Remember this last election cycle; the Party avoided identifying any platform whatsoever.) 

 

Newt Gingrich, for example.

 

I just received my call to action from Newt in my email.  I always enjoyed reading the descent of the Republican Party into chaos and fawning for an Uberfuhrer, so I never did hit that “unsubscribe” part of their blasts.  

 

Digression: When we taught together in high school, our language arts team often approached vocabulary as a student’s means to “play” with language while learning its power to generate a voice, a persona, a sense of emotion, and often an appreciation for persuasion – sometimes serious and sometimes ludicrous.  

 

I’m afraid poor Newt would not have fared so well in any of our classes. I’ll provide the plea for cash for Don at the end of this post, but you’ll notice there is no ethos, pathos, or logos in the emotional request.  Nothing playful or even interesting.  Anger, loathing,  and fear-mongering, in fact, is all that runs through it: 

 

“Friends:  The Election is unlike anything we have ever witnessed.  The systemic corruption is breathtaking. The mainstream media, the Left-wing academics, and the entrenched Democrats will all ask us to roll over right now.  There is voter fraud in this Election that MUST be reported and uncovered.” 

 

While it is true that the Election was unlike anything we have ever witnessed in the sheer numbers of people inspired to come to the polls – especially to rid ourselves of the current mistake – no one has found any systemic corruption, and judges are reprimanding the false claims of lawyers approaching the bench to find any for Trump.  Pennsylvania’s prestigious law firm Porter Wright Morris & Arthur has withdrawn representing a suit to claim miscounts in that state.  Another firm in Arizona has done likewise.  There’s so much here. Okay, maybe a positive for ludicrous….  In his closing sentence, Newt suggests an illogical and perhaps alternative reverse of cause and effect: “reported and uncovered.”  Normally that phrase would be other way around, but this is 2020 and this is Newt.

 

Or is it?

 

I think maybe, just maybe, Newt plagiarized this from Stephen Miller.  Don’t you?

 

 

Friend,

It’s time for us to get MAD.

This Election is unlike any we have ever witnessed. The systemic corruption is breathtaking. The mainstream media, the Left-wing academics, and the entrenched Democrats will all ask us to roll over right now. There is voter fraud in this Election that MUST be reported and uncovered.

President Trump isn’t backing down - nor should he - but he needs YOUR help to keep going. He’s calling on a select group of his STRONGEST supporters, like YOU, to step up and bolster our critical Election Defense Fund.

This is the moment that will decide everything - will you join President Trump and FIGHT for America’s future? 

He’s even agreed to increase your impact by 1000% if you ACT NOW.

 Thank you,

Newt Gingrich

AND TRUMP'S GONNA MATCH YOU 1000%?
 And now, “I’m Going Home.”

Short Thoughts on the Vote 11-6-2020

 From John Pierpont (1785 – 1866)

 

We all re-invent and undergo major self-renewals in our lives.  Teaching poetry to young and active minds in my youth, I often asked students to seek the compressed multiple lessons in a single piece of poetry, no matter how compact. Our discussions unfolded not only the elements of poetic thought but our own positions as well. And each year brought a new and vibrant re-interpretation from the points of view of those who would live so much beyond my own lifetime. We all become strangers in our own land, but we also hold on collectively to what is good and noble.  

 

This single poem by John Pierpont, a graduate of Yale, Unitarian minister, abolitionist, and would-be chaplain in the raging Civil War of the United States is certainly worth another careful look in these turbulent times:

 

 

THE BALLOT

 

A weapon that comes down as still

As snowflakes fall upon the sod;

But executes a freeman’s will,

As lightning does the will of God.

 

 

I wish you well and health as this terribly important lesson in Democracy runs its course.