Faux Fu

Friday, January 31, 2020

There is Always A War...

"If we've not heard from witnesses and if we've not received documents, don't anyone walk away talking about acquittal because there's no true acquittal if there's not been a fair trial." - Kamala Harris, Democratic Senator from California

Right. No acquittal. Instead, a blatantly shameless coverup.

Sometimes you fight. Maybe you do it reluctantly, maybe as a last resort, maybe you do it for entertainment or sport. There are some fights you can't avoid. There are existential contests. Battles of will, battles of ideas. Yes, we are all human beings first, but we can always easily divide up based on sex, wealth, social position, class, religion, race, nationality, political party, philosophical ideas, or just plain ornery feelings. There are so many reasons to divide and stand in opposition to each other.

Sometimes you have to fight even though you know you will lose. You lose the day. But maybe win the future?

Look to history and it's plain as day. People like to pick sides. They will gather together and fight to the death over all kinds of things. Power. Human Beings who acquire Power typically want to display it, they want to use it. Which usually means they end up lording it over the ones without Power.

Listening to day #2 of the Q&A at the Impeachment Trial, you realize there is an epic struggle between two sides, two ideas, two world-views. This one is simple Democrats vs Republicans. I of course, am not a unbiased observer. I see that the Democrats have all the facts, all the evidence, all the documents and depositions, all the common sense and righteous feeling on their side. They are standing for the U.S Constitution, for Democracy and for the Rule of Law. "No Man is Above the Law." And "The President is Not a Monarch."

And what of the Republicans? They seem so cowardly. So anti-reason. So anti-Democratic. They throw sand in our eyes. They try to confuse us. They make cogent-sounding arguments, about process and legalese, but in reality, it's all smoke and mirrors. Their arguments are quite scary. They tell us this President can do no wrong, cannot be held to account, Trump truly is above the law. 53 Republicans. They have the power to deny, to cover-up. And most assuredly, they will.

On the one hand it's disheartening. How can the other side not listen to and not see the plain truth? On the other hand, it's clear that they are lost and must be defeated. Their opposition to reason and truth and the meaning of our Constitution and the rule of law, must not be forgotten. Luckily November 2020 is coming soon. A reckoning is surely coming.

What is the a.m. soundtrack? U2's "War." (1993) This is the first U2 record I ever owned. Over the years many formats: vinyl, cassette & cd. Powerful, hard-hitting, unlike most of their other output. This is the sound and band I first fell in love with, well before the apotheosis of Joshua Tree. This is the early incarnation of U2. They had not tasted unbelievable wealth and fame yet. War is the theme. As they say the band "turned pacifism itself into a crusade." Reagan in the U.S. was rattling the saber, deploying missiles in Europe. The Soviet Union was still an epic empire. The Berlin Wall was up dividing East & West. That Wall looked eternal. In Ireland Catholics and Protestants were killing each other with a determined, random terror & viciousness. This record is always relevant. There is always a War going on somewhere on this little Blue Planet. Human Beings just can't get it together. "I will sing a new song... how long to sing this song..."

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