Living with the New American Fascism...

So yeah, living our lives (see two previous posts), you know, getting on with living. We all are here for a short time, shorter by the day. Each day really is precious, even if, sometimes, it doesn't feel that way. Maybe sometimes you have to remind yourself: It's your life, do with it what you want, give it your all, heart, head, spirit. It is your life.

So yeah, that's the main thing. The main theme. Living, getting on with the living. 

The new reality is we are living in a new Fascist America. Surprising. Didn't expect it. Didn't want it. Not happy that it's here. It's truly an ugly nightmare. Not what we voted for, not what we envisioned, not what want we wanted at all. So while we are getting on with the living, doing our best, to be our best, we are also carrying the flame of resistance and opposition inside of us.

This little thread of opposition to the new Fascism runs thru everything we do & think. It's just there now, we are iving with that reality, moment to moment. There is no escape. How does that imperative manifest in our lives? Ha. One person, or two people in an ocean of people? Be perfect in thought, action, spirit. Lean to the light. Be willing to vote, to march, to protest, to boycott, to only support those who are in opposition too. 

The idea: you are one little helpless being in a vast ocean of beings. It has always been so. Still, you are alive. You do, you act, you think, you envision, as best you can. So, yes, living life to the fullest. And opposing, resisting the lawless cruelty, the new gulag, the madness, the hate, the idiocy. Damn the Torpedoes. Imagine a better day and a better way. Refuse the nightmare, cling to the dream. Fuck it.

Music Therapy. All Falls Away.

Music therapy. 

Yes. That describes being in a band. Collaborating with a group of musicians. Writing songs, bringing the songs to the room, and then everyone adding their own fire and creativity to the moment. It's thrilling and satisfying when it clicks. My songwriting partner and I are lucky to have a band of musicians of extraordinary talent that we call collaborators. It's been a long-time process. Really a way of life. This creative pursuit. It is our reason to live. A calling. We have played with these folks for years. Our catalog of songs is now nearly 70 songs strong. Not all of them make it to recent sets & gigs. Some songs fall away to the wayside, but we have a good core of material to draw upon; very old songs, fairly new songs and just-hatched songs. Yesterday we tried some brand new compositions, even by the second time thru, you could feel the room shift, a new song was starting to jell. Then we played some very familiar songs and we all "took off." We live for those moments. Pure transcendence. Nothing better. The best drug, the best exerience we know. Riding the massive vibes of 6 musicians giving their all in a little rehearsal room. We all totally lost ourselves in the moments of the music. Epic. Gratifying. Life-affirming. Ego falls away, consciousness falls away, just pure moment. Pure vibe. Therapy for each & everyone of us. The best of us.

Turning to Another Way...

Well, in order to survive, to keep your head and spirits up, you often need to turn away from the disaster that is now the USA. There is no doubt that the country, the economy, and the political mode has turned definitively dark and Fascistic. Ugly. The worst amongst us are in the ascendent. 

What's a Humble Pilgrim to do? "Be here now." It is a practice, & a disicpline. Sometimes, that means going to a house-concert to listen to two fabulous musicians play in a beautifully appointed apartment. Candle-light and drapery. Paintings & sculptures. Creative humans in the audience; painters, poets, musicians. Kind and caring folks, gathered together.

So, yes, we left our troubled minds behind, and bathed in the beauty & emotion of the moment. It was a healing thing. Good for the head, the heart, the soul. No one mentioned the shite, the darkness, the ugliness. All that was left behind.

Sure, a turning away, a turning to another way. Beauty & Hope. In the room. Right there before us. In the moment. In the eyes and heads of our fellow human beings. It was a good thing to do. Be here now. Yes, indeed. 

A Case-Study of Self-Sabotage & Implosion...

Funny. The implosion going on now with Elon Musk & Telsa has got me following the Stock Market, and reading articles from the Financial Times. So unlike me. But I am fascinated by the Nazi Brand Ambassodor destroying his own brand, and stock holdings, in real time. A real case-study of a massive failure of epic proportions. There is brand-building, and, then, well, brand-unbuilding.

Tesla is Musk's major source of wealth. And he is trashing it at an astonishing rate. Talk about self-sabotage. It has spawned two fabulous campaigns: #Teslatakedown & #EverybodyHatesElon. People Power directly taking on the malevolent rich-guy. Tesla sales are slumping, the stock is tanking, the cars are crashing, & being recalled, folks are protesting at Tesla dealerships across the land, it's an all around cluster-fuck. Sort of beautiful to see.

Musk very publicly aligned himself with hard-right, white-supremacist, & blatant-Nazi movements & parties around the globe. He helped Trump get elected with his cold, hard cash and disinformation Machine. He also seems intent on robbing Americans of their Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Plus he's destroying other programs & departments that do the good work for hard-working, common people here and around the globe.

Talk about getting out over your skis. So yeah, the pushback has been glorious and furious. Taking things away from Americans is a good way to WAKE THEM THE FUCK UP!

Seems Musk has found himself in the "fuck around & find out phase"of this case-study of implosion. Remember the  Enron Scandal? The scam that magically pancaked?! $ vanished in an instant? How to spell Enron today? TESLA!

Check out this from the Finnacial Times:  $1.4bn is a lot to fall through the cracks, even for Tesla
When money spent on assets doesn’t result in assets. 

What is that smell? Is it fear? Is it fraud? Is that Nazi going to cry? How badly can one very rich guy fuck up his own life and company?  To be continued...

Amplified Stupidity...

Ha. Maybe not a brilliant thought, you know, we are swimming in stupidity, so if you have a moment of clarity, it sort of stands out like a sore thumb. 

This morning it hits me like a little lightening flash. The stupidity. The amplified stupidity is everywhere. And my fellow humans, many of them, who knows, maybe most of them, desperately want to be stupid.

Why?

It's easier. Humans are lazy and want things to be easy. We are all so defiantly-stupid, we think our stupidity is some kind of genius intelligence. Ha. Very funny.  A  hall of mirrors of stupidity. 

Of course, much of our social media, all that shiny tech in the palm of your hand, or on your desktop, is there to burnish and broadcast our stupidity out to the world, and back to us. 

And those self-proclaimed geniuses? Of course, their egos are so prodigiously blimp-like, there really is no room in their heads for even a sliver of intelligence. They are proudly, loudly, enthusiastically stupid, and they want to smack you upside the head with their stupidness.

It amazes this humble pilgrim that many of the most successful folks amongst us, you know, those with positions of power and prestige, wield their stupidity with gleeful bravado. There is no shame. No self-awareness, no humility to be found. Very, very, funny.

Don't try to argue or reason with a truly stupid person. It's just not a good use of time. Might as well stick a fork in your eyeball. Just move on. The best we can do in the face of the truly, proudly stupid? Shun them.

Yes. The Age of Amplified Stupidity.  And this Amplifed Stupidity has been weaponized. Stupidity is a political movement, a cultural mode, a way of life. You know we can all gladly proclaim: I"m with Stupid!. Think of a map with a highlighted circle: Stupid, You Are Here.

The Black Robes Phase of Democracy...

We have entered the Black Robes Phase of our Democracy. It turns out that our Democracy is not as healthy, vibrant and solid as some of us had hoped & believed. There are powerful forces, wicked, and yes, evil, out to destroy our little democratic experiment. Why? Multiple reasons: money, power, cruelty, revenge, stupidity, ego. Typical human shite.

The battle is moving slowly, but surely to courtrooms across the land. That is where the Black Robes rule. It is supposedly where Justice is meted out. Funny. Sometimes Justice is denied; innocents lose, the guilty win. Sometimes a killer skates, sometimes an innocent dies. Justice & Judges are not infallible. They too are very, very fallible & human.

We are hurtling towards a Constitutional Crisis and the Judges will have to weigh in. Their decisions will help us discover if we live in a Democracy or a Dictatorship. How does it all work? Words written down on little pieces of paper. Laws. Legal language. Sometimes subtle, sometimes convoluted, language. How those words are interpreted in the minds of human beings is sometimes enlightening, or maddening, maybe both simultaneously. It all depends.

What do the words mean? How are they interpreted and implemented? Are they instructive? What are the arguments? Who and what is most persuasive in the courtroom? Where do the chips fall? Are we all saved, or totally fucked? Do we walk free, or are we marched off to the gallows? 

Oh yeah, one other decisive question: Will the evil-doers play along with the game of Justice? Will they abide by the rulings of the Black Robes? If yes, we may make it as a Democracy. If not, Jesus, we are in fucking cluster-fuck of authoritarian trouble.

Hard to believe it comes down to the Black Robes, and what flows from their decisions, but, sometimes, yes, it's true, it really does make the difference... yikes...

Dismantling the Brand, One Ad at a Time...

This ad campaign running on the streets of London? Absolutely brilliant. An amazing series of ads. Truly creative and provocative and on-the-money. Darkly-hilarious too. It's from the group Everybody Hates Elon. The good folks in Britain are pretty wised-up on Nazis, and the hard-right, white-supremacy movement. Many still-living humans have vivid memories of bombs raining down on London in World War II. Dark times in the last century. 

It's quite the unbuilding the brand idea. Once Tesla's brand ambassodor revealed his Nazi-sympathies, the process of unbuilding, dismantling, destroying the brand took hold. What's great, it's a serious, non-violent, movement. Using advertising is just so elegant & perfect.

It folds in nicely with the Telsa Takedown movement in the USA. Divest from Telsa stock. Sell or trash your Tesla automobile. It's funny the Tesla was the darling of wealthy, environmentally-conscious, progressives in America. Then, Musk revealed himself, and declared war on the "woke mind virus." It turns out that the rich woke-folk were his best customers and investors.

The stock is tanking. The cars are crashing. It became obvious that the stock price and the car company were madly, wildly, super-over-inflated. Sort of a shiny, techy, Ponzi scheme. As someone remarked: "Telsa is no longer a car company, it's a bank for Fascists."  Reality is now rearing it's ugly head. 

Musk then multiplied the damage by going after Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security programs here in the States. Something about an over-amped billionaire attacking the social safety net of the common folks just doesn't sit right.

How does this all end? Who knows?! It is gratifying to watch the stock price tumble. Can't wait for the next ads to drop. People Power. It is an awesome and inspiring phenomenon.

Rest, Relaxation, Joy and then, well, the New Tyranny = A day of Two Minds...

Sunday was a day of rest & relaxation for us. We were of "two minds," but feeling very Zen. An enjoyable day filled with creativity and laughter, bounded by the dark clouds of the new mad-man-tyranny.

Sure, we were concerned about our President now acting as Malevolent King who thinks and acts as if he is above the law. Of course, in our America it is the law that is supposed to be King. And, well, we are hurtling forward to a Constitutional Crisis. I mean, yes, we are already there.  

Very soon we will know if we are living in a Democracy or a Dictatorship. Very strange. It looks like it will be up to the Courts to decide. And then, well, does the Wanna Be King ignore the Courts and the Law?! That would be the end of Democracy as we have come to know it. Sad. It would be a terrible way to lose our Country. Lawless, Self-sabotage.

And, yes, well, we do agree with Paul Krugman, USA is now a Rogue Nation. Yikes. Once a champion and model for the rest the world, now a lawless, outlier to be shunned and condemned. Double-yikes.

Still, we chilled. Turned to good music, delicious, healthy, food, a good movie, good books, laughter, and a bit of frolic. We retreated to the safe space inside our heads & imaginations. We were able to detach a bit from the sadness and malevolence. It seems essential in order to survive. We can feel the ground shifting beneath our feet. Sometimes, in the face of the madness, you just need to "go with the flow," keep your head above the swirling waters, and breathe. 

Can't help it, we believe we will get thru this dark period, and enter a new phase. Maybe we need to experience the crash, and then emerge into a new light?! Ha. There is that unbeatable, unsinkable lightening flash of Hope zinging thru our bodies. Fuck it. We must carry on. Damn the torpedoes. Not giving up on the Dream, we refuse to succumb to the Nightmare. That's just the way we roll.

A Brilliant Ad Campaign In London...

 

Yes. The Swasticar ads popping up on the streets of London are brilliant. Supposedly a group called, "Everyone Hates Elon," dreamed up this fabulous campaign. Those out of the loop might ask: "Why Does Everyone Hate Elon?" That's easy. Being super-rich, coming out as a Nazi, trying to swing elections around the world to hard-right-white-supremacy parties, intent on robbing working folks of their healthcare and social safety-net programs, buddying up and partnering with America's newly-elected Toxic-Tyrant, desiring to rule over all the humans on the planet; well, that just doesn't sit well with some segments of the human population.

There is brand-building, and then there is anti-brand-building. One day this will be an incredible case-study for those interested in pop culture and advertising. A man, and a brand, destroyed by one man's own hubris, arrogance, and self-sabotage. One exuberant Nazi-salute, and the empire of $ started to crack & crumble. Ha. Ha. Ha. The Telsa Takedown is in full swing. People Power in action. Beautiful...

A Bumpy Ride...

Seems the world is burning. We have the two-headed Mad Kings destroying everything in their paths. Our institutions are failing, the people are reeling. WTF?

Everyone I know is stressed & unhappy. Yikes. Lots of uncertainty in the land. Hard to find anyone with any answers. The world is turning to shit before our eyes. 

A bumpy ride ahead. That seems to be the forecast. I cling to my little life-raft of sunniness, clinging hard despite all odds and indications. Trying hard to make sense out of the senseless. All I got: be here now. Damn the torpedoes...

Can We Make that Nazi-Oligarch Cry?

A billboard going up on a wall in London. You gotta hand it to the Brits. They really know their Nazis. Tesla. The cars are crashing, and so is the stock. The Fast & the Fuhrer a new flick coming to a screen near you. 

This Tesla Takedown Movement has legs. Musk decided to reveal himself as full-metal-Nazi, and well, surprise, surprise it's not a very popular move around the globe. Tesla car sales and Tesla stock prices are both crashing. The Takedown is a fabulous way to take on this rich, over-amped, ketamine-soaked, Dunning-Krueger effected, Oligarch.

Oh yeah, don't forget this rich guy has also joined forces with Trump to rob Americans of their social-net-safety programs: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. I kid you not. The audacity of the wealthy. Cuts for the commom folks to feed the beast of tax cuts for billionaires. Another example of how too much power & wealth is not good for a Human Being, or the Human mind. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

As Paul Krugman put it: "Nobody likes Elon." What an incredible self-sabotage campaign. Elon is entering Charlie Sheen, Kanye West, Milli-Vanilli territory. Total public meltdown. Couldn't happen to a more deserving Nazi.

So yeah, most of Musk's wealth is "on paper," embodied in the inflated price of his car company. How's that going?

"And as of March 11, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, that has meant $126 billion being shaved off Musk's own personal wealth since the beginning of this year, not an insignificant amount despite his massive financial holdings."

Ha. Down $126 Billion since the beginning of the year?! That is a great start. Come on folks, keep it going. How low can it go? It all leads one to wonder: "Can we make that Nazi-Oligarch cry?"

Disordered Discourse, Disordered Minds...

 

Eliot Higgins. One of the great finds on Blue Sky: Founder and creative director of Bellingcat and director of Bellingcat Productions BV. Author of We Are Bellingcat. Tonal Whiplash Zone.

"Disordered discourse." Of course. It's a cultural/political schizophrenia. It is so disturbing for folks on the other side of the MAGA ideological chasm. A paradigm shift. We went from benevolent, honest, sleepy Joe, the caretaker of America and Democracy around the world, to a Gangsta/Authoritarian/Creep/Made in America Oligarchy intent on demolishing everything we hold dear in our Democracy.

It seemed to happen in a blink of an eye. And we sort of slept-walked into it. And now, all of our institutions are being corrupted. It's like a sickness, a virus, a plague, a madness seeping into every nook and cranny of our country.

And you can't argue or reason with the disordered mind or the party of disordered minds. Point out that they are wrong on the facts, and on the wrong side of reality, and history, and they will deny the facts and the reality and try to rewrite the history. They will double and triple down on the lies. 

That is where we are at the moment. Some of us live and die with every new development, every little outrage, act of corruption and madness. Some of us are ignoring it all, hoping it all works out. The disordered minds and the disordered discourse is wreaking havoc here and abroad. Fuck. Yikes. It's sickness. No doubt. Clearer heads are spinning. WTF?!?

"The Worst Versions of Themselves..."

Paul Krugman nails it here: "A Mind is a terrible thing to Lose."  We have unbound, and unleashed the Two-Headed Mad King Monster. And together they are intent on destroying our beautiful country. A beautiful, thriving Democracy is also a terrible thing to lose. As they say, read it and weep. Those will be real tears you will shed, no doubt. Krugman is always brilliant and insightful. 

Are these two crazed, unhinged, billionaires stupid, corrupt, crazy? Why not all three?!

At the end of the piece Krugman comes up with a fabulous formulation.What happens when the powerful &  wealthy get so powerful & wealthy they become untethered to the real world?

"Cowed Republicans and timid Democrats have effectively given Trump and Musk the freedom to become the worst versions of themselves. And the whole world will pay the price." - Paul Krugman

Right. "The worst versions of themselves." The result of too much power, too much wealth. Yikes.

Things are Looking Up by Trending Strongly & Boldly Down!

Yesterday, it was a little blast of "spring" in the air around here. Temps near 60 degrees, sunny, blue skies, a glorious day, everyone out and about. It was a promise of better days ahead, slowly emerging from the winter doldrums. Sure, it was just one day, but it a was a hint, a marker, a reminder that the world is turning, and things are always in flux.

Things were looking up on the financial market scene too. When I say "looking up" I mean, looking, decidedly, boldly down. It was a cheerful development over in our corner. We are cheering on the Tesla Takedown, and maybe a market reckoning for this new turn to Fascism, and well, there was a 15% drop in market capitilization, for Tesla stock yesterday, a sweet & beautiful Karma. 

Sorry, if you are a Tesla stock-holder, or vehicle-owner, I do pity you. What to say? Sell. Now. Take the hit, or the profit, and get out now. I am not making any market predictions, but like I said before, having your brand ambassador going full-Nazi, intent on destroying America's social safety net, in order to get a tax break for the filthy rich, is not good for business.

 As Josh Marshall over on Blue Sky asked: "How can it be that more and more people don't like the socially-stunted dweeb-fuhrer?"

A neighbor down the way owns a black Tesla. It does look pretty sleek and cool in the driveway. In the bay window of the house there is a Ukrainian flag proudly displayed. I wanted to ask the owner what he thought of the Nazi, being stuck owning a Tesla, Musk siding with Putin against Democracy and Ukraine, but I just didn't have the heart, it was just too nice of a day for such talk. But I did wonder about the cognitive dissonance crashing like an out-of-control self-driving Tesla, in my neighbor's head.  WTF?! 

Time to Protect & Preserve...

 

Seems going full Nazi is bad for biz... the Tesla Takedown is in hyper-drive. This dude is a fraud & the weak link in the new Fascist Terror Dome Regime. Yes. The protests, rallies, marches & signs are having an effect around the world, Tesla sales are slumping, the stock is tanking, and it is a very good thing indeed. Folks are "speaking truth to power." We don't like this Nazi shite. We are against the billionaires joining with the Republicans to rob us of our Healthcare (Medicare & Medicaid) & Social Security,. We are being smart with our hard-earned $. Calling out the bad actors and their bad actions. Now is not the time for silence or inaction. Now is the time to speak up. This is our Democracy. We all need to do our part to protect & preserve it.

The Downside of "Unfettered Capitalism" = Thy Name is Musk!

 

Ha. Yes. It seems the Tesla Cybertrucks are now joining the Tesla Takedown movement (see previous post), they are committing ritual Seppuku on the streets of America.

Who in their right mind would want to ride in one those "self-driving" monsters? 

From Heather Cox Richardson: "In the Public Notice interview, Thor Benson asked Ryan Mac: “What’s something about Elon’s huge role in the Trump administration that people perhaps aren’t understanding?” Mac answered that Musk is the manifestation of the nation’s extreme wealth inequality." 

“What happens,” he asked, “when there is unfettered capitalism that allows people to accumulate this much money and this much power?”

Robbing Americans of their Jobs, their Healthcare, and SSI...

Maybe going full Nazi is bad for business? Maybe being the face and most blatant example of the insane, rampant, over the top, income inequality & disparity of wealth, pervasive in America, is a bad branding idea? Why is this man trying to rob Americans of their HealthCare and Social Security? Who appointed this man Emperor? Maybe this billionaire class is a bit "over their skis?" Maybe they haven't thought through the consequences of so boldly lording over the people? There are a few of them vs. many, many, many of us.

Sometimes in the midst of the bad shite, you stumble across some good news. This Tesla Takedown movement seems to be working:

"The company’s poor performance has also affected Musk’s personal wealth. At the beginning of February, Musk’s net worth was around $433 billion. Today, that number is $330 billion, per Bloomberg’s billionaire index—a drop of $103 billion."

Ha. That is People Power right there.  Protests & rallies at Tesla dealerships across the country. A beautiful thing. Down $103 billion in a month? Pretty impressive. I mean, fuck yeah! Nice work America. Still so much more to go. Tesla is this man's Achilles Heel. Hitting him in the pocket book is just such an elegant, brilliant, and effective strategy. Good work folks. Keep it going.

Terror Dome City...

We sipped hot chocolates, made with oatmilk, topped with whip-cream, yesterday afternoon. You have to find joy where you can. We looked out onto the busy street. Lots of activity, mostly young folks navigating the day. We were in a coffeeshop just blocks from a very large, prestigious Midwestern University. This whole town is DEI in action; diversity, equity and inclusion is sort of baked into the community here. Hard to believe that will change anytime soon, even with the autocratic directions from our New Fascist Terror Dome Regime rolling out of D.C.  

My partner looked around at all the fresh faces, most folks wrapped in their own private realms, smartphones in hand, headphones on ears, eyes peeled, Human Beings lost in their own Private Idahos. Floaters across the land. She asked: "Do they know what's happening? Do they care? Are they fighters?" 

Funny questions. Of the moment. And hard to know. Are we sleeping-walking into a certain retrograde, soul-killing Fascism? Do these kids have any clue what they may lose? Our little Democratic experiment is flailing and failing, under assault from lawless billionaires intent on robbing us our our $ and our way of life. 

Fuck. Sure, we have been freaking out. Following along with every malevolent development. We try our best not to panic. But the bad shite is sort of overwhelming. On the street none of that seems evident. Who knows? What happens next? We finished our hot chocolates and headed into the cold reality of the day. Terror Dome City is beckoning. Yikes.

Instant Karma...

My partner follows an Astrologer, who, to me, comes across as basically a Life-Coach with some planetary knowledge thrown in to spice things up. She is engaging, funny & sometimes seems to have a bit of good advice, which usually breaks down two ways: "Be careful, it's not a good time to make rash decisions," OR "Now is an excellent time to be adventurous, creative, a good time to refresh & recharge."

We were working under the assumption of the latter advice yesterday. It wasn't working. It was a day of disappointment, frustration, to-&fro-ing, false starts & hitches, lost time and dead ends. And, of course, the reality of our New Fascist Terror Dome Regime lately hangs over us like a toxic cloud.

We both were ragged & out of sorts. Still, we powered thru, we went to our rehearsal studio with the idea of banging thru some of our songs, preparing for a session with our band this coming weekend. Before we started, my partner discovered that one of her drums had cracks in the skin. Another frustration. She took a detour, picked up her phone, and started calling around to find someone who could repair it.

While she was doing that, I started hacking away at my guitar, more from boredom & frustration than anything else. I started playing the chords to Neil Young's "Down by the River." I got aggressive, and then started hanging on the Eminor chord, I discovered a very hard & funky rhytmn and riff. My fingers danced on the fret-board in a new way. I played that over and over. It was sort therapuetic. Basically fucking-off.

My partner found a repair-man for the drum. She put down her phone, put it in "record mode" and picked up an old notebook that I don't recall seeing before. My partner looked at me and said "Keep playing." And then she started singing lines from the notebook. 

I was in standard tuning, so we tried the same riff in a couple keys with me moving a capo up the fretboard, E-minor>F#-minor>G-minor. We settled on G-minor and played and recorded the riff & lyrics a few times. We realized we had a new song. So wild. Out of the ether. Unexpected. Not even trying. The moment of creation just seemed to appear from nowhere.

My partner told me she"re-discovered" the old notebook the day before, cleaning out a closet. She had paged thru it, filled with drawings, recipes, and a few poems & lyric fragments. She just happened to put the notebook in her satchel and brought it to the session with no thought or intention.

It made the day. No doubt. 

Good lesson there. Inspiration can come from frustration & boredom, and the ragged, jagged moments of a day. There does not seem to be a method to our creative madness, sometimes it's an accident, a gift, a goof. You need to be alive, aware, awake to the tiniest of moments. The "magic" can happen in an instant. Easy to miss or fumble, unless you are paying attention. Yes. Instant Karma, indeed...

buddy/master/handler/co-conspirator/big daddy

 

How to explain the shit-show that is unfolding in America now? 

The simple, elegant and obvious explanation: The President isn't really working for America or Americans. He never has been, and never will be. 

What is the one consistent theme that explains his actions? Vladimir Putin & Russia. Just look at the evidence. Our President is always aligned with Putin. He always takes Putin's side. It doesn't take much digging or homework or hard-thinking to come to that conclusion. That explanation has been floating around since forever.  In fact, it is so blindingly obvious, it's almost invisible now. For proof just look at what our President says and does. Words & actions. It's all about his buddy/master/handler/co-conspirator/big daddy, Vladimir. 

MAGA has never been about making America great. It is selling division, demoralization & diminshment here and abroad. It is an invalidation of America. It weakens us. Trump's mission is Putin's mission too. Their enemies: A free press, fact-based reality, rule of law, free & fair elections, healthy Democracies around the world. 

You may ask why? 

There are many plausible explanations. It is probably a combination of many things, but we are stuck with the cold hard reality. It's a bummer. For sure. A terrible thing. Bad for America and our allies around the world. Seems Un-American. Buddying up with an anti-democratic strongman against the free world. But as Kurt Vonnegut liked to write: So it Goes...

A Scenario...

We have entered the 2-headed Mad King phase of our Democracy. So weird. Our Democracy isn't supposed to have Kings. One head is Ketamine-Tech-Bro-Billionaire-Unleashed, the Other is Orange-Tan-Loud-Fat-Head-Undone. They are both running amok in their own ways. The country is in thrall, some folks cheering on the destruction of America, some folks living & dying, eyes filled with horror, at every little act of the destruction. Good Lord. It's a bad scene.

Over here in our hidey-hole we are firmly against it. We are hunkering down, hoping it will run thru it's ugly course, and then some kind of rebuild, reboot will be in the cards. Paraphrasing Dylan, we are "praying the pieces won't fall on us." Sure, we are calling our Reps, writing emails, ready & willing to protest at a drop of the hat, but really, we are just little drops in the ocean. Right now that ocean is a roiling mass of hurly-burly.

Who is in charge? Are there any sensible, responsible people left? Is all the power pointed to destruction? Can anyone stop the madness? Those kinds of questions hang in the air.  Pretty sure there is no saviour waiting in the wings. It's just us. The job of righting the wrongs is left up to us, the little, common folks. You know the people who get pushed around? We do a lot of running to & fro, hoping the sky doesn't fall on us.

We didn't elect Kings. This shouldn't be happening. But of course, weird, unexpected things happen all the time. Welcome to the World. How bad will it get? That is a running game in our heads. Maybe it has to get so bad everyone feels it? Then, maybe enough of the little, common ones wake up, band together, and throw off the tyranny of the 2 Mad Kings? 

We've seen that kind of thing happen in History. It's a familiar theme, the rich & powerful ones get so rich and powerful, they get cocky, too full of themselves, so convinced that they have conquered gravity, common sense & truth. And then the reckoning comes. As Jimmy Cliff sang: "The Harder They Come, The Harder They Fall, one and all..." 

The organized protest* starts in the homes, the streets, the town squares, and boils & bubbles across the land.

That's a nice scenario right there...

*Note: Organized Protests: Peaceful, non-violent. We have many tools available: Voting for those who stand up for the Democracy, the Rule of Law & the Constitution, raising our voices, gathering in crowds, holding rallies, peaceful protests, boycotts, general strikes, encouraging students and labor organizations to join in the cause of protecting our rights in our Democracy, hounding our Represenatives to stand up against the 2 Headed-Mad Kings. What if the common ones could join together as one voice? We could change the world.

A Simple Formula for Better Living...

"Do the right thing." Yikes. It seems to be out of fashion. It is a bit disorienting when the whole culture seems to be pointed in a completely contrary direction.

Clarity. Silence. Discipline. Out of date phenomena. 

This morning, I feel out of sync & out of tune with my fellow Humans, & especially with the latest events rolling out from our Facsist Terror Dome Regime in D.C. 

I know there are others like me out here, but I am not seeking shelter in the herd. I don't care about safety in numbers. Maybe I should be worried about standing out in a field all by myself, but I am not worried. At the moment this is still America, land of the free, home of the brave, at least in my fertile imagination. I mean, damn the torpedoes.

I cling to some basics: truth, facts, scientific method, honesty, love, creativity, music, poetry, literature, improvisation, clear-mindedness. Oh yeah, and a sense of humor. Life is too short to succumb to the hate, and to be consumed with the haters. 

You know fuck them. Cursing by the way is good. All those nasty swear words. Useful. Do the right thing. Yep. It is a simple formula for better living.

American Nightmare Now...

Still reeling from the "blow-up" in that Oval Office meeting on Friday. There was one brave, courageous, very admirable leader in that room, and he was not an American. That one lone leader was surrounded, & out-numbered by a depraved mob of creepy, greedy, disgusting thugs. Oh, yeah, those were the Americans.

A pivot point. My conclusion? USA is fucked royally. 

We are firmly in the grip of the worst people imaginable. They seem to be intent on destroying America from the inside out, and the outside in. It is destruction across the board, and still, not yet two months in. It seems that the large, loud, fat man with the orange tan, and his gang of spineless toadies, is doing Vladimir Putin's bidding. They are aligning America with Putin's Russia. Turning their backs on our European allies. Holy shite. There are many plausible reasons for why he, and they, would do that, but let's just cut to the chase, this administration is clearly not doing anything to the benefit of America, the American people, or America's allies.

The post World War II alliance of Democracies around the world is being smashed & trashed.

The "toxic one's" display of anger at the mention of his big daddy Putin, was sickening. He started shouting about "World War III." Fuck. The President of the United States unhinged. He totally lost his shit. The mask fell to reveal the dark heart of sick-corruption, a black-hole of deep, unvarnished, nihilism. It was bad, super-bad. Dare I say that man is very, very unwell? He gets off on his own bile, anger & hatred. Scary as shit.

At that moment, my thought? America is finished. I think so. At least my previous conception of what Amercia has meant to me as a country, and an ideal. So weird, and sad, that we actually did this to ourselves. 

I suppose coming to that realization was a relief. No going back. Something new will have to emerge out of the wreckage. Time for new ideas. New movements. New organizations. New Dreams. In the meantime, lots of chaos and destruction seems to be in the cards. Pretty sure all of us will suffer the consequences. Of course, the wealthy ones will be somewhat insulated, but if, and when, maybe sooner than we think, the financial system cracks and craters, well, even  the wealthy folks amongst us will be slimed. It's an all American Nighmare now. Yikes.

Appalled, Horrified, Ashamed...

Chris Hayes: Trump ‘irreparably destroyed’ world order with Zelenskyy blowup

We watched the Zelensky & Trump meeting in the Oval Office yesterday. Let me offer three words: appalled, horrified, ashamed.

I highly recommend you watch the video from Chris Hayes in full. Everyone should watch it. My great friend from Poland sent me the link with a simple question: "What do you think?"

My heartfelt response...

"Thanks for sending me this video my friend. Yes. I agree with every word. We watched the meeting yesterday afternoon, and were totally horrified and appalled. All of our thoughts and sympathies are with Zelensky, Ukraine & Europe. Trump & Vance were totally despicable. Bootlickers to Putin. Astonishing. Sad. We feel total shame. Yikes. We are having difficulty getting our heads around this, the world is being totally upended. Not good. We are at a loss of what to do. We feel betrayed too. Love..."

The Action of No-Action. Zen. Brilliant & Elegant.

 This is on today. We are doing it. Or in this case, not doing it. The action of no action. Kind of Zen. The moment I read about it, I thought it was a brilliant & elegant idea. Perfect for America. We are such world-class consumers. Let's be a bit disciplined, and show the world our power by not shopping. Soft power, yes. but, who knows, if enough people participate, maybe the world will notice? That is how movements start? Right?

Why are we doing this? The madness emanating out of the New Fascist Terror Dome Regime and their attack on Americans; the bullshit, and toxic lies, the cruel crusade against DEI and good government. They are trying to hollow out our government and empower the new asshole brigade. And some of our most successful corporations seem to be cheering them on. WE ARE AGAINST IT!

Some folks have belittled this boycott as "performative,"  I find that hilarious. Is it just for show? Sure. But think about it. Every act of opposition, every protest, every boycott, hell, every vote or speech is performative. 

Is it useless? Pointless? Who knows? It will feel good for the folks who do it. It is actually doing something in the face of the new fascism. How many will join? Will anyone notice? Good questions. I guess we will find out. 

Still, every protest started small. Every boycott. To cite some famous examples. One person sat at a drugstore counter and refused to leave. One person refused to sit in the back of the bus. One person posted #BlackLIvesMatter, and a world-wide movement happened. One person suggested boycotting the South African Apartheid Goverment, and over time, the boycott brought the government down.

Isn't that the glory of Democracy?  People Power in action. People standing up, or sitting down, having their voices heard, and astonishingly, somehow, someway, they change the world. A change of consciousness can happen in a flash of insight. Damn the torpedoes.

"Maybe something amazing will happen?"

America. Turns out there are many beautiful, intelligent, empathetic, creative, hopeful, funny, enterprising, diverse, multi-cultural Human Beings all across the land. Unfortunately, they are the "outs" at the moment, swamped and drowned out by the thunder, hate, noise & idiocy of New Fascist Terror Dome Regime in Washington, D.C.

So weird. The best of us are sort of flailing. The worst of us are lording over everyone. We are grappling with this new reality every day, doing our best to keep our heads. We know we are on the right track, but the direction of the Nation seems to be pointed to a  very different direction; over a steep, dangerous, cliff, portending an atrociously-bad & ugly fall.

Yikes. Our latest thought, which we floated yesterday afternoon: "Maybe something amazing will happen?" You know, unintended consequences? Could things get so bad, so dicey, so clearly wrong-headed & catastrophic that when the crash comes, a new way and a new day will be born from the rubble? Ha. Sure.  Why not? That's one of those tricks of the mind that come in handy; hoping against hope. Yes I do think this scenario is quite likely. Human Beings, we are resilient, tricky, always looking for an escape hatch. Maybe a new dawn is just around the bend?

Leashed Together...

 

When I first laid eyes on this image the laughter came like a flash of joyful lightening. My first thought, which I spoke out-loud to no-one in an empty kitchen: "Wow. Time Magazine has really stepped up their game." 

Funny. My 2nd thought, which floated silently in my head: "Oh. Of course, it's FAKE. But... it's perfect."

Almost poetry. Two billionaires leashed together. They seem to be attached to each other in a weird duality, bent on hollowing out & destroying the USA here and abroad.

And of course, they are on a mission to cut essential services to "regular" Americans, and to give tax cuts to billionaires. Talk about a terrible plague of an idea & ideaology. They both seem to be a bit "over their skis." You wonder, when will the "silent majority" decide to stand up for themselves? 

The "Have an Asshole Plutocrat Illegally Break the Government Agenda..."

 

 

Ha. Seems the "natives are getting restless." Even in those safe Red State Districts, folks who voted for the New Fascist Terror Dome Regime, are having second thoughts, & are none too happy about cuts to government programs, and proposed cuts to their benefit programs like Medicare & Social Security. All to try to justify tax cuts for billionaires. 

It does seem like a tough sell. But of course, we are being "ruled" by corrupt, greedy, idiots, and "the people" have been sleeping.

I think the new  (see three posts back),  version of this totally mega-rad-cool graphic is more on the nose. 

As Paul Campos so exquisitely sums is up: "It’s probably not a good sign for your “have an asshole plutocrat illegally break the government” agenda when you need a SWAT team to face your constituents..."

BTW - The silly question I floated to my partner in the kitchen yesterday: "Did they outlaw fun yet?!" Tongue in cheek, don't you know? 

All of this bad shite rolling across the land fuels a gnarly, sharply-pointed attitude. It is an attitude familiar to me. Probably a survival mechanism, and a good strategy for better living. Fuck these rich, wanna be Fascist, Emperors, and Kings, trying to con us. That ain't America, buddy. Those oligarchs are vastly outnumbered by the people. What if the people finally wake up? Hmmm. Could get interesting. 

Damn the torpedoes. We are, and can do, so much better...

Disease & Debauchery...

"I prefer to be ignorant of your disease of invention and your debauchery of confused ideas." - Paul Valery

Yes. Great line from a long-gone French poet, essayist, and philosopher. Still, I find it so of the moment.

What do I have to add? 

I hate, with a passion and fire of a million suns, the lies, the obvious, the ridiculous, the damaging, the mind-bending, the audacious, the vicious, the weaponized, the MAGA-out-landish, the damned, and damning lies that are emanating from the New Fascist Terror Dome Regime.

The constant lying is a plague on the mind and soul. Bad shite, indeed. 

Power in the Pocket Book...

You know, there is all this Fascist Terror Dome action rolling out in Washington D.C. It is very concerning. What are the people to do? Here is a simple and easy thing for Americans to do. We are citizens & consumers. We are probably the greatest shoppers ever to grace the planet. We love to buy shit. We pride ourselves on being smart shoppers. We love to sacrifice our $ for things.


How about showing our power by not shopping for a 24 hour period? Show the powers that be that there is a sleeping giant: the American Consumer, and we are not happy with this turn to authoritarian, white-nationlist fascism. Yes.

Burn Your Tesla!

There seems to be some confusion lately. A refresher: The Nazis & Hitler? They were the bad guys. Do something good. Burn your Tesla.