A Battle On Our Hands

 45's madness is growing, and now Flynn, newly pardoned, joins the chorus of dingbats called for martial law and a redo on the election; one flingdip declaring, "I've seen the real election results, and Trump won every state, including California."

It's one thing to spout nonsense, but it's a particularly vile form, and it shreds the tendons of our Democracy.

To make matters all the worse, this insanity (for what else is it?) has a ready audience - millions of evangelicals who have been taught for several generations now to fear the government, despise public education, hate liberals, and see Democracy as an enemy of their faith, a faith that gladly excludes most of humanity from the realm of God's love, a faith that denies science, and faith clamoring for heroes, men of small minds and bulging biceps and the women who service them. And another group clamoring for more of this deadly noise: social conservatives, the Ayn Rand crowd, gun-lovers and wannabe guerrilla-fighters, white supremacists and misogynists. And, of course, the hedonistic rich, for whom money is everything, and "their" money is all that counts. To these unhinged groups Trump has made promises, and for them, he's kept them. He is their man, their savior, their god incarnate, to save the nation, church, home, and our women folk. It's a sick gathering of the deranged, lionizing a man of limited intelligence and abundant hate. Surrounded by a group of henchmen and gun molls ready to take "their" nation back again.

We're gonna be in this mess for a long time to come ... no sense pretending otherwise. We can be hopeful, of course, but let's not be pollyannish ... ever since our founding mothers and fathers winked at slavery in order to create the union, the seeds of failure were sown. We fought a Civil War to protect the Union, but we were unable to remove the cancer.

There is plenty of good in this land, millions who are of the light, and are willing to stand up and stand firm for what is right. But the plates are full, and the challenges are real. We have a first-rate battle on our hands.

The "Mudsill" Theory, 1858 - Why we need slaves

Speech to the U.S. Senate, March 4, 1858

In all social systems there must be a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life [bold added]. That is, a class requiring but a low order of intellect and but little skill. Its requisites are vigor, docility, fidelity. Such a class you must have, or you would not have that other class which leads progress, civilization, and refinement. It constitutes the very mud-sill of society and of political government; and you might as well attempt to build a house in the air, as to build either the one or the other, except on this mud-sill. Fortunately for the South, she found a race adapted to that purpose to her hand. A race inferior to her own, but eminently qualified in temper, in vigor, in docility, in capacity to stand the climate, to answer all her purposes. We use them for our purpose, and call them slaves. We found them slaves by the common "consent of mankind," which, according to Cicero, "lex naturae est." The highest proof of what is Nature's law. We are old-fashioned at the South yet; slave is a word discarded now by "ears polite;" I will not characterize that class at the North by that term; but you have it; it is there; it is everywhere; it is eternal.

The Senator from New York said yesterday that the whole world had abolished slavery. Aye, the name, but not the thing; all the powers of the earth cannot abolish that. God only can do it when he repeals the fiat, "the poor ye always have with you;" for the man who lives by daily labor, and scarcely lives at that, and who has to put out his labor in the market, and take the best he can get for it; in short, your whole hireling class of manual laborers and "operatives," as you call them, are essentially slaves. The difference between us is, that our slaves are hired for life and well compensated; there is no starvation, no begging, no want of employment among our people, and not too much employment either. Yours are hired by the day, not cared for, and scantily compensated, which may be proved in the most painful manner, at any hour in any street in any of your large towns. Why, you meet more beggars in one day, in any single street of the city of New York, than you would meet in a lifetime in the whole South. We do not think that whites should be slaves either by law or necessity. Our slaves are black, of another and inferior race. The status in which we have placed them is an elevation. They are elevated from the condition in which God first created them, by being made our slaves. None of that race on the whole face of the globe can be compared with the slaves of the South. They are happy, content, unaspiring, and utterly incapable, from intellectual weakness, ever to give us any trouble by their aspirations. Yours are white, of your own race; you are brothers of one blood. They are your equals in natural endowment of intellect, and they feel galled by their degradation. Our slaves do not vote. We give them no political power. Yours do vote, and, being the majority, they are the depositories of all your political power. If they knew the tremendous secret, that the ballot-box is stronger than "an army with banners," and could combine, where would you be? Your society would be reconstructed, your government overthrown, your property divided, not as they have mistakenly attempted to initiate such proceedings by meeting in parks, with arms in their hands, but by the quiet process of the ballot-box. You have been making war upon us to our very hearthstones. How would you like for us to send lecturers and agitators North, to teach these people this, to aid in combining, and to lead them? 

Instability

"Instability is a permanent feature of capitalism, but the coronavirus pandemic has introduced a whole new level of volatility. Amid the turmoil, the American right is dreaming more feverishly than ever of apocalypse and heroism." ~  Meagan Day - Jacobin magazine

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Sadly, for all of us, the instability plays into 45's hands ... he has no interest in solving anything, other than to add to his aggrandizement and adulation.

The far right, including most evangelicals, social conservatives, and host of big biz, all see ways in which they will "profit" from the chaos and 45's growing authoritarianism - the profit being varying amounts of money and power.

The psychopath in the WH is playing all of this with consummate skill, and in the end, we know how it'll end: what he can't have, he destroys; those he can't control, he isolates and punishes. So it's a zero-sum game he's playing.

His goal? absolute control.

Evangelicals, I fear, are comfortable with that notion, because of their toxic militarized masculinity as a virtue, as godly; he's the man to set straight the Amerikan home, the nation, and the world. He's John Wayne on steroids, with a WWJD tattoo on his arm and a Bible in hand.

Social conservatives are equally comfortable with the notion of "ruling with him" in their spheres of power; guns, of course, low taxes, and the freedom to dominate and isolate "the others." White supremacy, misogyny, state's rights, the power of the local constabulary (in other words, sheriffs), free-market capitalism without any regulation, and greed-as-virtue are all part of this hedonist mess. In its own bizarre fashion, an image of the "if it feels good, do it" message of the 60s. In this regard, hippies and yuppies shared the same dynamic of "me." If hippies were free to smoke weed, yuppies were free to be greedy.

Big biz, of course, sees and smells money, as has always been the case, in fascist governments. Low taxes, of course, or none; no labor unions, or at least unions utterly gutted; no public schools, no public anything. Make it all private! Eveything fungible; everything with a price. In the end, the amassing of wealth is all that counts.

Millions of Americans, working hard to make it, living from paycheck to paycheck, are not likely to think these things through, which makes them pawns in the hands of the powerful.

The guy in the pickup who hurls a half-empty beer can at a Biden-Harris yard sign and screams "Communist cu&^*" at the lady and her 11-year old daughter is a victim of this kind of manipulation. An easy victim, to be sure, but a victim nonetheless.

The couple at the local convenience store who nearly attacked my friend when he said something about wearing a mask, and called him a "stupid fu^&*#) old man."

The young shooter in Kenosha isn't thinking any of this through either; and those who refuse to wear masks; so many folks who don't want to think, and find "hating an enemy" far easier; and cheering on a man who encourages their rage, their sense of indignation, their sense of entitlement, their sense of being hurt by immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ persons - who take their jobs, who move into their schools and neighborhoods, who upset the status quo of manhood and feminine subjugation. Even the most vile woman lives in this scenario by being "woman" and not man - delighted to let 45 grab her any where he wants, even as she brandishes a gun and screams bloody murder at an immigrant.

We're in a real pickle, one that's been marinating for a long, long, time.

Can we turn the tide this November?

I hope so ... I really, really, hope so.

Holy Crap and Hells-Bells

 I look out my french doors, 

across my deck, 

and I see a pink crepe myrtle, 

pulsing with extravagant energy, 

palm trees reaching high for the sky, 

and mountains’ purple haze.

A witness to creation!

But I have to be careful, don’t you think?

Because some look out a broken window right now, and what they see is full of sorrow, everything broken, twisted, soaked, tumbled and torn. We give ‘em names like Laura and Hana … 

how strange, 

when they might better be named 

Hells-Bells or Holy Crap.

Think of it. 

Holy Crap now up to category 4.

Making landfall in twelve hours.

And Hells-Bells churning just south of Florida.

But that’s how nature does it … 

with, 

it would seem:

a little help from us 

with 

carbon and and lot of other junk 

we throw above our heads 

like children lofting lovely leaves in the rituals of fall.

I see …

Thank God.

For TV and the Internet.

Because I see what some have to see.

And it’s not pretty.

Holy Crap

And

Hells-Bells.

LORD have mercy.

SCOTUS, and the Need for Unions

The recent SCOTUS decision on birth-control is, for me, disappointing.

It's so maddeningly typical of rightwing ideology: capitalists have the final say-so over the lives of their workers.

In fact, so important are the rights of capitalists to the rightwing mentality, capitalists can reject federal law (sort of like State's Righters) and deny their employees (read women) access to healthcare (read birth-control).

What's next?

I pray for unions!

I pray that God will give to the employees the wherewithal to join together in unions, and it's the unions that will have to fight for workers' rights.

No wonder capitalists have been working overtime to destroy unions.

Unions are vital, and it's never been easy to form a union, to join a union, to unionize a shop. Capitalists have deployed every device, and then some, to kill unions, to deny workers their rights, to make it impossible for workers to have a say-so over their employment, its conditions, wages, and benefits.

As long as the USA continues it's rightwing approach to workers' rights, supporting capitalists in their greed and alleged "religious convictions" (read bullshit), we will need strong, strong, unions.

To fight for the workers, those who create the wealth of the nation; who create the wealth with their labor, their sweat, blood and tears. Blue collar, white collar - millions of Americans who labor long and hard, to make life good, for their families, for all of us. Creating wealth that the capitalists are more than happy to take unto themselves, dressing themselves up in their filthy rags of piety and prayers.

Perhaps SCOTUS has done us a favor, in a backhanded sort of way.

I wish SCOTUS would've decided otherwise.

But if not, I hope unions will rise to the occasion and the American Worker will rise up, too, to claim her rights, challenge the capitalists, and organize, organize, organize, to fight the capitalists and take what rightfully belongs to the Workers.

"Jesus and John Wayne" by Kristin Kobes Du Mez - a review

I need a shower, maybe two or three … and a good mind-scrubbing.

I just finished a remarkable book by historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez, from Calvin University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.”

I knew a lot of this story, but Du Mez connected a lot of dots and forcefully draws the conclusion: Trump is not an anomaly, but the culmination of 50 years, and more, of evangelical militaristic masculinity. 

Trump is their man - his behavior confirming for them his manliness, a virtue desperately needed to preserve this nation’s greatness, a greatness built upon patriarchy, white supremacy, nationalism, and militarism. A nation under attack from within by liberals and progressives who support women’s choice, women’s equality, gay rights and voting rights, and under attack from without by Communism and now Islam.

Along the way, evangelical fixation on sex has led to some of the most bizarre ideas and behaviors that are nothing less than pornographic - all in the service of the easily bruised male ego, which is crucial to the welfare of the nation. It all begins with the man, a clearly defined manly man, masculine, dominate, steak-eating, gun-loving, soldier-like, and powerful, with women created by God to keep the man happy, proud, strong, through her obedience, quietness, sexual servitude, and child-bearing and rearing, to produce another generation of soldiers for Christ and the little women to serve them.

Hence, anything that blurs the lines between male and female is to be rejected, and those who would promote the blurring of lines, as do Democrats, liberals, universities, public schools, socialists, people of color, and Hillary, are to be vilified, hated, feared, mocked, and condemned.

Boys should play with guns, and girls with dolls. And if boys are boys, well, then, girls need to be forgiving and quiet. Everything, of course, should be reserved for marriage. Boys are initiated into the secrets of manhood in a hunting camp, and girls at purity balls and makeup parties.

15 years in the making, this book dives deep into the murky waters of evangelicalism, and while some evangelicals have protested all along the way, the bulk of evangelicalism has moved into hyper-conservatism, bolstered by the Christian publishing and music industry, talk radio and FOX News, in partnership with politicians who have played the evangelicals for all their worth, and evangelical religious leaders who have loved the power of their influence peddling in the halls of congress and the Oval Office.

Du Mez’s writing is clear and her points well-documented. That she survived this ordeal is a testament to her fortitude and her faith, that what has been done can be undone, and to a host of people around her - family, friends, and scholars who share her commitment to the truth and her hope for better days.

I thought I knew much of this story, but I didn’t. I had no idea as to the depth and breadth of it all, so well-funded, and so well connected to rightwing politics and rightwing military leaders. I knew something about Colorado Springs as the center of it all, but no idea as to how deep it went, and how deep it remains, though more and more is being revealed, and brought under scrutiny.

I find it amazing that evangelicalism thrives in an environment of control, fear, and secrets, and when brought to light, it reacts with violence, and lies all the more to cover itself and keep the flock obedient.

This vital book filled in lots of  my knowledge-gaps, and drew lots of lines between people, organizations, and ideas, to make it painfully clear just how insidious and deadly is the evangelical hold on much of America. Evangelicalism is not about life, no matter what it claims, but control and power and greed and manipulation, with the white male as king of the mountain.

My thanks to Ms. Du Mez for this extraordinary book, a book that belongs on everyone’s shelf, or on everyone’s kindle, deserving a careful reading and much prayer.

And, yes, like me, you may need shower or two  after reading it.

Houston, We Have a Problem

A union man, that's me.

I joined the Teamsters in college, and throughout my years, I've been supporting American Labor, one of the three legs of our middle class: strong government, strong industry, strong labor unions.

I've supported labor unions because the working women and men of America face one of the toughest unions of all, the Oligarchy, well-funded, well-organized, with top-notch attorneys.

Against this, by herself, the American worker doesn't stand a chance, but together, in a union, folks have a chance to challenge the Oligarchy and win their case.

So, we have two entities facing one another, sometimes locked in mortal combat.

On the one side, the Oligarchy - committed to the lowest possible wages, next-to-nothing benefits, and maximum profits for the shareholders.

Against this powerful ensemble of ideas, the Labor Union and collective bargaining.

I suppose one could say that the contest between labor and owner is vital to the health of our society, sort of like the biblical idea of steel sharpening steel.

But in the case of police unions, where's the other steel?

It seems to me that police unions have no one to challenge them - and as a result, they've been getting away with murder, literally.

Yes, technically, the police work for us, but in reality, they work for themselves, too often a law unto themselves, defying again and again, efforts to regulate behavior, with tax money flowing into their coffers unchecked.

Police unions aren't unions, because there's no equivalent of the Oligarchy to challenge them, and there seems to be no regulation other than their own efforts, or that of city hall, to cover up their crimes and protect renegade officers. And truth be told, the Oligarchy has always relied on the police to protect their property and vital interests. These days, it would seem, the Oligarchy has not desire to reign in America's police departments.

And worst of all, there are serious questions now being raised about the kind of people law enforcement has been recruiting for some years now, the kind of person immune to training, and more like neighborhood bullies than peace makers, sometimes operating like a branch of the local KKK rather than public servants.

Houston, we have a problem.

And it's high time that America addressed it.