"So when the Democrats supply an endless stream of weapons to an aggressive ally so that that ally can oppress a weaker population and kill thousands of children, well, the Democrats have forsaken their reason to exist. What use is this party? If I were for oppression, and violence, and the granting of carte blanche to stronger groups to use force to obliterate weaker groups, I would be a Republican. They have traditionally supported those things in a more straightforward way. The Biden administration’s decision to support those things as well does not mean that I will become a Republican. It does, however, mean that I and millions of people like me have been effectively robbed of a political home. Even more so than before. If the Republicans stand for fascism and the Democrats stand for nothing, the Republicans are going to win. And, indeed, they did."
The other day, I was driving in Berkeley, and at a stop sign, the car in front of me had a Trump/Vance bumper sticker. I felt like Buggin Out in this scene from Do the Right Thing:
If Trump wins tomorrow, it will be as if the whole country just ran over my sneakers.
I give up on my Facebook friends. Every day my timeline is filled with anti-Trump and pro-Harris/Walz posts, along with messages about how democracy is on the line. These posts are often accompanied by multiple "likes" and positive comments. I regularly post videos about Gaza, which are usually ignored. One rare comment said, "Rescue the Republic first, and we will have the opportunity to adjust policies." As I replied at the time, "I see no evidence that the ruling Dems want to adjust policies, now or later.... If they lose Michigan, centrists will blame the left like they always do, instead of looking in the mirror." Meanwhile, the people of Gaza can be forgiven if they think their plight should be on the backburner for a year while the Republic is rescued. It's pointless to say more at this point on FB, so I'll take up space on this little blog.
I rarely talk about current affairs ... this blog has a category devoted to it with close to 800 posts over the years, but this is the first post with that tag since November of 2022. The blog has narrowed significantly since its beginning in 2002, no question, and I don't have a reason beyond laziness. But it's also true that I might feel I have something to contribute to a discussion about film, but when I think about politics, there's always someone out there who knows more than I do and says what I think more effectively than I would.
Mehdi Hasan is an example of this. He is from England (and is now a naturalized citizen of the US). His journalism career includes time spent at the BBC, Al Jazeera, and more recently MSNBC, where he often offered takes on topics that made me wonder how a mainstream news organization in this day and age let him on the air. My fears were probably right, since MSNBC gradually cut Hasan's time on air. At the beginning of 2024, Hasan left the network, and he has now resurfaced with Zeteo, "where independent and unfiltered journalism is making its comeback." Zeteo claims to be "a new media organization that seeks answers for the questions that really matter, while always striving for the truth." They have a home on Substack (zeteonews.com), and big plans for the future. Yesterday, Hasan hosted a Zoom "Town Hall" where he answered questions for about 40 minutes.
Zeteo is a subscription service. Here is a brief introduction:
Hasan sounds very ambitious, and only time will tell if he will deliver. I like his track record.
It's back. Not sure how much I'll write ... there are political concerns, and the matches are often at 2:00 AM my time ... but I'll do something, at least. Here is the first post:
October 12 in Spain is called the Fiesta Nacional de España. Cut-and-pasting from Wikipedia:
The National Day of Spain is the day of celebration on which the Spanish people commemorate the country's history, recognize and appreciate achievements, reconfirm their commitment to the nation's future. The day celebrates unity and fraternity, and also shows Spain's ties with the international community....
National Day of Spain commemorates the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus for Spain on October 12, 1492. The date is a key point for Spain's overseas influence and legacy to the world and to the Americas in particular. It symbolizes Spain's vast, common heritage with today's American countries, which made up the Spanish Empire, the first global power in world history.
I am from Berkeley, where, in 1992, Indigenous People's Day was instituted as a counter to the celebration of Columbus. So today, I am in a country that still celebrates Columbus every year, and in a couple of weeks, I'll be back in a city that has a different celebration. I don't know what any of this means.
Wannabe tyrants represent only about a quarter to a third of the population, but you wouldn't know it by the behavior of the Democratic Party. Cowering, dithering Dems accept the most ludicrous Fox News framing of every issue from inflation to policing to abortion, perpetually stumped by right-wing mud-slinging. In response to rabid authoritarianism, they hem and haw, shuffle policy papers, babble about "bipartisanship" and attempt to negotiate with GOP grifters who call them pedophiles. And then these same Democrats turn around and blame a handful of progressives, when it's conservatives from both parties who block and shred every scrap of legislation that might make all our lives a little less apocalyptic. And the administration wonders why Biden's approval numbers are tanking? ...
Finally, instead of nagging terrified people for more money, Democrats could tell us what their vision for the country is, and clearly lay out their agenda. They can start with the idea that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness do not belong to Republicans alone, that we all should have the freedom to decide how we live, who we marry, how we build our families and how we worship. Democrats should talk about the legislation they've passed — the American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the historic gun safety law — as well as the numerous bills the GOP has blocked. And then Democrats could talk about the specific measures they intend to take right now to protect us from this corrupt and illegitimate Supreme Court, as well as what they'll do after the November election if they hold the House and increase numbers in the Senate (i.e., "Give us two more seats and we will make Roe the law of the land." Or, "Give us 60 seats in the Senate and we'll expand the Supreme Court to 13.")
I used to post a lot about current affairs on this blog. I spent several years working on a journal with the subheading "Political Education For Everyday Life", and I wrote 2 or 3 articles for them every year. In more recent years, I've cut back on my political blog posts. I have a feeling that someone else out there has made my argument more persuasively (although I never think that I shouldn't write about movies or music just because other people do it better), so at best, I'll link to others.
At times like today, I feel the absence of those posts. Also, more than ever I write entries and then post-date them, so when something momentous happens, I've got a pre-written blog post about Miranda Lambert.
Today calls for a post. More than a post, of course ... it's heartening to see people taking actions on the streets, even as I anticipate Sunday, which I'll spend sitting on the toilet prepping for Monday's colonoscopy. But I don't know that I have a post worth offering. People are reminding us that despair gets us nowhere, and they are right, but Despair is my middle name. (I recall an old underground comic from R. Crumb, "Plunge into the Depths of Despair", with a cover that showed a husband with arms crossed saying "See if there's anything good on..." and his wife gripping the arms of her chair as she replied, "Why bother?")
Here's a piece by Samuel Moyn (it has a tremendous drawing by Mathias Ball) in the Washington Post: "Counting on the Supreme Court to uphold key rights was always a mistake".
The situation reflects a flaw in our political system: The Supreme Court has been allowed to usurp the place of national majorities in envisioning and enacting the highest values of American citizenship — the rights we hold. Contrary to a popular misconception, when the court has assigned and defined rights, more often than not it has reinforced the rule of powerful and privileged minorities rather than protecting ordinary (let alone marginalized) citizens....
Arbitrary and unreviewable power of the sort the Supreme Court now possesses is the worst threat to democracy and rights alike. Abortion rights are at stake in the Dobbs case and its political aftermath but, equally fatefully, so is whether democracies can legislate rights of almost any kind. Only when rights are legislated, progressives need to learn, are they made reliable.
Heavens to Betsy, "Baby's Gone":
I grew up in your house I grew up with your rules and I know sex is what I shouldn't do I know what i can't tell you
Baby's gone away Baby won't be back Baby grew today and she won't ever be back
Maybe he loved me; Maybe he didn't I don't know It doesn't matter now because when I needed help I was all alone Now baby's gone away Sometimes condoms break Your baby grew today, and she won't ever be back
I'd be a little girl forever I won't make you ashamed Little girl's gone away because I died on a knitting needle yesterday
Baby's gone away Baby won't be back Baby grew today I did what you told me to do- now I'm dead Goodbye. goodbye