Election Day Delay

Say what you will about Clinton, Bush, or Obama. None of them ever threatened to delay an election.

Disorganized

So disorganized

Always racing at the end

Will I ever learn?

They’re Only Words

They’re only words

But they need to be heard

They need to be shared

If they’re true

And if they matter

Open your mouth 

And push out the sound

You don’t need to flatter

Or make idle chatter

Just say what you feel in your heart

That’s a start

Staying silent

Is simply absurd

One day you’ll wake up

In the morn with a start

In a sweat-drenched bed 

With despair in your heart

An ache in your gut

And a pain in your head 

When it’s too late to say

What you should have just said

When you had all the time

To say it

Do you feel dread 

When you think of that day

Waking up in that most

Uncomfortable way

Cursing yourself

For not forcing yourself

To simply convey

What you wanted to say

Really wanted to say

And desperately needed to say it?

Do you feel that way?

Well

I don’t know about you

But I do

I sure do

They’re only words

But they need to be said

They need to be heard

Before it’s too late

So just say

What you need to say

And say it today

Nothing Is Deserved

Nothing is deserved 

No one owes you anything 

Fight for what you want 

Herman Cain

I became worried when I heard that former presidential candidate Herman Cain was diagnosed with COVID-19. An African American male in his seventies, Cain was solidly in the high risk category. I feared that he would become seriously ill.

Nine days before being diagnosed, Mr. Cain attended the president’s indoor campaign rally in Tulsa, where he sat in close proximity to other attendees. None of them wore masks.

I didn’t share Mr. Cain’s political views, but I feel the gravity of his passing. It’s tragic, like 154,000 other recent American tragedies in the wake of this dreadful disease. Every victim was a person with a family and loved ones and connections to their community. Every one was taken too soon.

This week, four former presidents eulogized Representative and civil rights icon John Lewis. They spoke about how much his leadership had inspired them and how his courage and bloody sacrifice shaped the laws of this country and the freedoms afforded to its citizens. They spoke about how much his life had touched theirs.

I think that it would be a nice gesture for Mr. Trump to speak at Mr. Cain’s funeral, to eulogize him and honor his sacrifice, the sacrifice of risking his health to show public support for the candidate of his choice. I just don’t see that happening for a long list of glaringly uncomplimentary reasons.

Last Day Of The Month

Last day of the month

Cops are out and feeling tough

Speeding could be rough

Late Night

Late night garbage trucks 

I slept through their noise for years 

Now they wake me up

In Touch

We’ll have in the end 

Just the family and friends 

That have stayed in touch 

Inaction

Plagued by inaction 

We’re driven to distraction 

As the planet chokes 

Lost Socks

Mysteries abound 

Why are lost socks never found? 

They must hang around... 

New York Minute 178 - Errand Obsevations

I haven’t been writing about my city experiences lately. Due to the ongoing pandemic, I spend most of my time indoors. I did go out to run errands last Saturday, and I observed some interesting behavior along the way.

First, I encountered a man who was smoking a water pipe while sitting in his car. The pipe wasn’t in the car with him; it was on the sidewalk. A young lady was crouching down to hold the pipe in place,a presumably to keep it from tipping over. This seemed like a high level of dedication for something that she was not able to enjoy herself.

The guy sat in the driver’s seat with his door open. He had run the hose from the pipe up over the top of the car door. As I walked past, I wondered why the they hadn’t just opened the window so the hose wouldn’t have to stretch up so far. That seemed sensible. As I reflected on it later, I realized that nothing in this situation has made any sense. 

When I stopped by the post office, two women in the lobby were screaming obscenities at each other like characters in one of the viral “Karen” videos that are all the rage these days. The husband of one of the ladies taunted her nemesis by claiming, “I’ve got the whole thing on tape!” Wonderful! I can’t wait to relive that nightmare!

On the way home, I passed two young ladies who were putting money into a parking meter. They were wearing matching ‘Black Lives Matter’ T-shirts and matching black masks, but the masks were pulled down under their chins. My first thought was, “Ladies, if your lives really do matter, you’d better wear those masks properly.”

The Rise Of Fascism In The United States Of America

President Trump has sent squads of unidentifiable federal agents to areas “controlled by liberal Democrats” to arrest, beat, and tear gas people for protesting, a right protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Imagine if President Obama had sent squads of unidentifiable federal agents to areas controlled by conservative Republicans to arrest, beat, and tear gas people for owning firearms, a right protected by the Second Amendment.

Are you unclear as to why Trump’s actions are illegal, unconstitutional, and un-American? This is fascism.

Too Late

We like to believe that it’s never too late, but for many things, it is. The older you get, the longer your list of missed opportunities becomes.

My advice to a younger person: find a way to do what you want to do while you still can. Take chances, pull strings, ask for help, do whatever it takes. The regrets will pile up and follow you around like an army of spiteful spirits.

Imperial Complacency

Empires breed complacency by eroding the sharp edges of skill, stamina, and rational thinking. When you can live comfortably without having to perform at your very best, when your worldview is based on a sense superiority that you have inherited from your community, you have the luxury of believing any half-baked fantasy that appeals to you, because thanks to the structures that were put in place to keep you secure and well fed, a lack of rational thinking is no longer going to cause you to starve.

Love At First Sight

I believe in love at first sight. When we meet someone for the first time, we sense many things about them. We know whether we are attracted to them, certainly. That’s easy. But we notice other characteristics in they way that they move and communicate, in the way that they treat others, in the way that they speak to us and look at us, in the topics they discuss and the subjects that they avoid. It’s perfectly reasonable to come away from that first meeting with a strong sense of interest and connection. If the other person feels the same way, it could be the beginning of something special.

Unfortunately, a powerful connection does not always translate into a successful relationship. Relationships are delicate and easily fractured. That initial feeling of promise could be lost in a month if circumstances prevent the parties from moving forward in a meaningful way.

If they do move forward as a couple, they’ll face an endless array of challenges. People have different tastes and priorities, and they’re not always forthright in sharing the darker sides of their personalities. A relationship may crumble at any time under the weight of a deal breaking incident, or it may labor along for years under the weight of doubt and contempt, draining a couple’s entire reservoir of joy and passion and fulfillment, leaving behind a dark, empty vessel.

I do believe in love at first sight. It’s a miraculous feeling that overwhelms us in the kindest of ways, filling out hearts with joy and comfort and passion and a sense of unlimited possibility. Love is the only word that can describe it.

Enduring love is an extension of that initial euphoria, but it requires additional inputs to keep it running smoothly: communication, caring, commitment, sensitivity, energy, enthusiasm, romance, respect, dedication, sacrifice, and always, always, always more active application of love and passion, patience and understanding.

New love is like a shiny new car, exciting and flawless. Everyone wants to take a closer look. Everyone wants to know how it feels to be in the driver’s seat. Everyone admires your good fortune.

Over time, though, that shiny automobile is going to need a lot of work. It’s going to need brakes and filters, tires and lubrication, paint and wax, tuning and alignment. If you continue to provide it what it requires, fully and without reservation, it will live on as a cherished classic with a vibe and a history that cannot be replicated by some newer, sleeker model. But if you skimp on the maintenance, even a little bit, your once shiny gem will become someone else’s bucket of problems on the way to a final tragic ending in the junkyard.

New love flows effortless from the heart. Enjoy it while you have it. It is a treasure.

Enduring love requires the strength of the whole person, heart and mind, body and soul, to keep it rich and vibrant. Enjoy it if you can achieve it. It is an even greater treasure.

Representative Ocasio-Cortez

I am so proud of Representative Ocasio-Cortez for standing up to a rude, vulgar bully. No woman should have to endure that kind of harassment and demeaning language from a colleague or from anyone under any circumstances. And no, his apology was not an apology. He claimed that he never said it, that this was all a misunderstanding. Now, he has a chance to be a real man and offer a real apology. But as the Representative said in her moving and powerful remarks today, “I won’t hold my breath.”

Fauci v Trump

Fauci (5’7”) was captain of his high school basketball team. Trump (6’3”) was captain of his college draft dodging team.

How Conservatism Increases Crime

Mr. Trump claims that his administration is sending federal officers to cities “run by Liberal Democrats” in order “to quell violence.” The targeted cities and states have not asked for federal assistance and have strongly objected over such invasions calling them unconstitutional.

This is a familiar dog whistle to the right. Mr. Nixon once reignited his political career with a promise to “get tough on crime.” The implication is that crime will run amok under Liberal leadership, while conservatives will “get tough” and in order to combat violence.

In reality, the opposite is true. Conservatism inflames and expands crime. The “war on drugs,” which Mr. Nixon started, has increased crime, just as the Prohibition of alcohol did decades earlier. Criminalization of the drug trade led to the rise of dangerous gangs and cartels. Conservative gun laws ensure a steady flow of powerful weapons into the hands of gang members and drug dealers. In order to deal with these heavily armed enemies, police forces had to militarize, a policy that has caused significant collateral damage in minority communities. Conservative sentencing mandates treat non-violent drug offenders as felons. Long prison sentences for minor crimes put tremendous strain on families that were already fighting an uphill battle against a wide array of inequitable public policies.

Are you skeptical? You don’t have to take my word for it. John Ehrlichman, White House Counsel and Chief Domestic Advisor in the Nixon Administration summarized the intention of his boss’s “law and order” policies.

>>“You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”<<

Jeffersonian Democracy

It will take decades to compensate for the damage that this current administration has done in just three years, the norms that they have obliterated, the laws that they have violated, the regulations that they have weakened, the allies that they have scorned, the treaties that they have broken, the lies that they have institutionalized. Of course, some of the damage will never be undone. Over a hundred thousand of our own citizens have died as a result of their negligence, and many more will perish before new leadership will have the opportunity to take the helm.

Our international reputation has been damaged irreparably. The United States will never again be the standard bearer for representative democracy after our so-called leader sought, and even extorted, foreign interference our own electoral process. Nor will we ever be the standard bearer for human rights, after this administration instituted a hateful, racist policy of ripping young children from their mothers’ arms and throwing them into cages that don’t even meet the standards for the housing of livestock.

Despite all of the above, and much more, this country’s troubles are far from over. The current leadership is ushering in a bold new era of fascism, where corporations influence the laws and reap the benefits, where the press is demonized as “the enemy of the people,” and where anyone who dares to protest for civil rights can be swept up off of the streets and incarcerated by untraceable brigades of heavily-armed government storm troopers.

Jeffersonian democracy is on life support, gasping for breath and teetering on the verge of flatlining. At this point, it may be too late to save it.

New Rule On Weirdness

New Rule: If something seems weird, it is. Trust your instincts and take precautions immediately.

Random Thoughts - 20200716

Random Thoughts - 20200716

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Everyone assumes that they could land a plane if the pilot became ill, but no one imagines that they could complete open heart surgery if the doctor collapsed.

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When someone says, “We can stay open. Our hospitals have capacity,” what they mean is, “The community won’t be overwhelmed by corpses, so let’s have some more death!”

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Not wearing a mask because cases are low is like not wearing a seatbelt because nobody in your town crashed yesterday.

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Not wearing a mask because you have rights is like leaving grandma in a hot car because she has a right to enjoy the sunshine.

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Knowledge and expertise are convenient scapegoats for populist leaders and demagogues. Who needs the benefit of reason when you’re whipping crowds into a frenzy with fear and division and greed? When the people start thinking, demagoguery loses its appeal.

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Hubris is the cancer of empires.

Master Bedroom

Some have suggested that we stop using the term ‘Master Bedroom’, arguing that the words ‘master’ and ‘slave’ have a racist connotation.

The concern is understandable, especially if our perspective on slavery is focused on the Americas between the 16th and 19th Centuries, a grim chapter in history by any measure. Agrarian economies in the West, populated by European settlers and their descendants, used enslaved Africans as a source of labor for centuries. The slaves were Black, the owners were White, and life for the slaves was unspeakably tragic.

But slavery has a much longer history. It has existed since the beginnings of human civilization. The Sumerians had slaves. The Greeks and Phoenicians had slaves. The Roman Empire had massive slave populations from throughout Europe and the Middle East. They Byzantine Empire had slaves, often Christians captured in battles with the Turks.

Slavery is abhorrent, but it is not always racist. The slaves and the owners were not always of different races. This is true even in today’s world. Boko Haram has slaves who, like their captors, are Africans.

Given this broader perspective of slavery, I would argue that the words ‘master’ and ‘slave’ are not inherently racist. Slaves and their owners are/were frequently or the same race.

Further, there are times when the words master and slave do not even refer to human beings. When two machines need to operate in coordination with one another, they are sometimes configured in a “master-slave” relationship. There is nothing inherently evil about such a system.

I would argue that we do not need to give up our Master Bedrooms. The term is not racist.

Nor do we have to rename our Masters Degrees. We can attend a Master Class or enjoy a meal performed by a Master Chef. Athletes over forty can continue to compete at the Masters level, and we can all continue to pursue mastery in our chosen craft or profession. You can even tip the Maître d’ (Table Master) before enjoying a formal dinner with the Head Mistress.

These are not evil words. They do not need to be removed from the lexicon of polite communication.

The New Non-Normal

It’s sad and painfully revealing that Americans (collectively) wanted the result (open economy, normal life) without putting in the work (shutting down long enough to control the spread of the virus, contract tracing). We have acted like some caricature of reckless egotism. And guess what - the virus is delighted!

Random Thoughts - 20200707

Random Thoughts - 20200707

Morning is an obscene concept. It should be banished from the calendar.

Sarcasm is an expression of disappointment that’s more gentle than what the person really wanted to say to you.

Those seeking stability invest in relationships. Those seeking adventure speculate in futures and options.

Every child understands that there’s a Big Half and a Little Half. It’s fascinating to watch adults struggle with this rudimentary concept.

Please don’t call me ‘smarty pants’. My shirt is sensitive and easily offended.

You might be a sex fiend if you read “you might be a sex fiend” and thought “uh oh... Is this about me?”

Pocket Dialed

I don’t mind being pocket dialed, and I don’t mind receiving calls from job recruiters, but I draw the line at being pocket dialed multiple times by the same recruiter.

Not Ready

I’m not ready for the world today 

But that’s okay 

The world’s not ready for me

Exceptional

You are not exceptional because of who you are, where you’re from, or what you think you can do. You are exceptional because of what you have accomplished.

Almond Milk Latte

I tried almond milk in my latte. It was like drinking coffee-flavored cake batter. I can’t get the grainy texture out of my mouth.

New Rule (Thong Photo Comments)

New Rule: If you post a photo of your barely-thonged bottom online, don’t get mad at me for using the word “ass” in a comment (which, by the way, was complimentary and not the least bit demeaning).

If you don’t want people to mention your ass when you post a photo that leaves very little to the imagination, either disable comments on the post or try posing in more conservative attire.

A Good Laugh

Maybe it’s just me, but when a Fascist warns of the evils of Socialism, I laugh.

July 1, 2020

For the past two and a half years, I have written something every day, a poem, a short essay, an uplifting thought, a memoir, or an observation of things that are happening around me.

From time to time, I comment on politics and the state of the world. I understand that my remarks on such topics can be contentious and passionate. This is a reflections of my concerns over situations with grave consequences. 

I do try to keep these discussions as polite as possible. My goal is to summarize the facts and state my position direction without impugning the behavior of individuals. I realize that I do fall short of that mark on occasion. I’m only human, and at times my passions get the better of me.

That said, my guiding principle in writing my daily entries is to say something positive, to express thoughts and comments that people might enjoy and find uplifting.

It would be exceedingly easy to unleash a daily outburst of invective over some tragic event or short-sighted policy decision, but harsh words help no one and change nothing. Beyond that, time is precious. I’m not going to invest time writing something if I don’t believe that it’s worth someone else’s time to read it.