As a Parade passes by

Today the Wearing of the Green commences as it is Saint Patrick Day. The day all those Irish and claim to be for the day attend a parade then head to a bar for Irish Whiskey, Corned Beef and all things Irish. Then later while recovering can watch Banshees of Inisherin, as a way of understanding Irish culture. The irony being that few Irish actually speak the language and there is a move to restore this language to Ireland’s own. Erin go Bragh!

Parades are a function of holidays to mark the occasion of an event, a holiday or a historical marker. We have many here in the Tri State area thanks to the multiculturalism that dominates the region. There are some constants and with that I have not been nor watched a Parade in decades. One might watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade as it is one of the few broadcast nationally but other than that they are the functions of local communities. In Seattle that was Seafair and each neighborhood at one point had their own small scale versions during the two week event that culminated with Hydroplane races on a Sunday. The big finale was the Torchlight Parade the night before. That was a different time. And this symbolic functions have given way to budget reasons, the fear factor and of course the reality that many Cities do not want to pay for the cost of these festivities and sponsors have slowly walked away from that obligation as well for the same reason. And on Wednesday I went to the Musical, Parade. As many before, Musicals often cover dark subjects. Into the Woods is hardly a walk through the woods as it is Sondheim’s take on fairy tales that have less a happy ending, beginning or middle. Likely the best thing I had seen of late with Moulin Rouge a significant contender for that award. When you have a cast that is so symbiotic and talented it makes a musical enchanting and through song, like the Opera, it expresses the darker and broader emotions of the character as if we are hearing them through a window to their heart and soul. Not all are that deep but the idea is to use they lyrics in a way that connects us all. Moulin Rouge is all conventional pop songs, from a wide used catalog and yet they incorporate them in a way that is both amusing and enchanting. It does it better than most without the need for the audience to sing along as most Juke Box Musicals are.

With that Parade is a 20 year old musical and was like Into the Woods, redone at City Center that takes the dinosaurs of the past and revitalizes them with new sound, slight changes of cast and set and leaves most of the original script in tact. The only failure I saw was The Life and I walked out after the 11 o’clock number at the top of the second act. It was why that closed and did not see a second life on Broadway as the other two have. It was DOA. I blame Billy Porter for taking it too far and well too “woke.” This was a work about Streetwalkers/Hookers/Prostitutes/Sex Workers and their Pimps/Sex Traffickers… see what I mean? How many ways to describe one thing, maintain credibility and still not offend. It is exhausting. Either leave it as is and put the Trigger Warning in the program: THIS WAS A DIFFERENT TIME. That should cover it. Parade does not have that problem as it is more than relevant to today and the rise of Antisemitism and Social Justice. And yes it is not ham fisted nor heavy handed, it just left the story as it was and the slight changes were about staging and in turn how the songs were handled and performed.

Parade stars Ben Platt and the crowd was there to see him. That is what gets people to Broadway. Into the Woods had a diverse cast that had someone for everyone and with that it too made additional changes over the course of its life and it still worked. Good works work with anyone willing to work with it. That is why you can see theater live for years on the Stage as it less about the Actors and more about the story. But having seen Ben Platt in the now closed Evan Hanson which had numerous changes some more successful than others, showcased his talent but it has truly evolved into something more resonant. His vocal skills are magnificent. His female counterpart also equally so and the remaining cast of Broadway professionals are well suited for this work that has them working more in tandem to each other than in connection to each other. This works as the idea is that the main focus is on Leo Frank, a real person in the turn of the Century who lives and works in Alabama. Already a fish out of water, he is a New Yorker, living in the South and a Jew in a place of heavy Christianity. He has a demeanor that to say the least is off putting and perhaps intimidating to those who don’t know people like him or his kind. This is an old story that again in the South resonates well. The South has a real problem with outsiders. The first question asked, “Who are your people and where are they from?” says it all. And in this story, Leo’s wife is Jewish but she is SOUTHERN. Those are her people and that is where she is from and she discusses the hold it has on her which Leo does not understand at all. Trust me folks they are not just “Jew Haters” or Racists they are Nativist that see the world as connected through only the prism of Southern views. They have a hierarchy and structure based on class and with that the racial and religious distinctions are in place but it is about history and connection to the region that matters. So the Pencil factory Leo works for is a Jewish owned business, it brings work to the community and with that the family is respected and accordingly acknowledged. I want to point out that the Lehman family of the infamous bank started in the same region. Money is the key to success and acceptance. The rest is just part of the landscape.

One review I read was of course a condemnation of the South, wrong and wrong again. The other in the Times, a much more nuanced and affective one which discusses what I refer to as the conundrum affect quite well. The idea that you can be welcomed and that same welcome mat that is a part of the Southern mindset aka “hospitality” can get yanked right back out when the collective decide you are no longer welcome is quite true. The Governor who instigated the investigation into the Frank case was quickly voted out of office, replaced by the District Attorney who prosecuted him. Wow sound familiar? Could be RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES! (where have I heard that before?) And despite the commutation of the sentence, Frank was kidnapped from the jail and lynched. Hmm, where I have read that before? Oh, To Kill a Mockingbird, written over 45 years later from a Woman raised in the South. The parallels are not lost here at all. The Till Case is another. And later in the 60s the Mississippi Burning case where two white Jewish men were killed with a Black man when working for CORE regarding Voter Registration. I have long said the South is complicated and their history makes it impossible to not conclude there is something wrong there. However, I am not sure it can all be blamed on the Civil War, but I can say that what ostensibly became economic sanctions (aka moving all industry and manufacturing to the Midwest and North), be they deliberate or not and leaving the South to Agricultural and lower scale wages and growth; the endless mockery and derision by the supposed elite, and the role of Religion has contributed to this. And despite the presence of numerous Colleges and Universities in the region, the reality is the lack of education and influence other than the top 3-5 families ( a sort of norm there) have led to much of this. Progeny and Nepotism is by far a larger problem than many realize. And yet the North is hardly exempt from any of it. Any of it.

And with that the Frank case is undergoing review. And with that the Atlanta Child Murders another. There is a podcast that discusses the details in this case that does question that investigation and ultimate conviction of Wayne Williams. There is something wrong that can be righted, but it doesn’t change the fact that we have a history of bigotry and prejudice that is rising again. It is less about Prosecution but more about Persecution. Our history of abuse and neglect be it about Race, Religion or Gender and Sexuality has always been a problem, and with that we can word police, protest and cancel all those who simply don’t get it. Our history will always be a part of our present and we must accept it, acknowledge and move away from it – but how? It is that which will always divide us.

Fulton DA review board to re-examine Wayne Williams, Leo Frank cases

Atlanta Child Murders By Christian Boone, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution May 7, 2019

They were the defendants in the most sensational murder trials in Fulton County history. Now, the cases against Wayne Williams and Leo Frank are set for a thorough review by the same office that secured their convictions.

They will be re-examined by Fulton District Attorney Paul Howard’s new Conviction Integrity Unit, an eight-member panel consisting of three Fulton prosecutors, one defense attorney, lawyers from the Georgia Innocence Project and the NAACP, a representative from the county’s faith community, and an attorney or administrator from a local college or law school.

The unit, mirrored after similar review boards nationwide, will recommend to Howard which cases merit a fresh look. The district attorney will then decide whether they should be re-adjudicated.

Williams, 60, who is serving two life sentences for the murders of two young men, has been accused for nearly four decades of being the perpetrator of the Atlanta Child Murders. Though Williams was never charged in any of the children’s deaths, 10 of their murders were introduced into evidence at his 1982 trial. Prosecutors argued there was a similar pattern to the deaths that pointed to Williams’ involvement.

“We’re going to make a broader inspection of the entire period of time,” Howard said.

Atlanta police and the GBI are also assisting in the overall effort to answer lingering questions about the case, as Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced in March.

“We’re going to look at all of the homicides that involved children at the same age and methods as in the Wayne Williams case,” Howard said Tuesday. “We’re going to collect all the forensic evidence we can and see where it leads us.”

The Frank case helped inspire the creation of the new unit, he said.

Frank, a Jewish pencil factory superintendent, was sentenced to death in 1915 for raping and killing 13-year-old Mary Phagan. The verdict was based largely on the testimony of a janitor, Jim Conley, aided by anti-Semitic fervor. In 1982, a death bed confession by Alonzo Mann, a former office boy at the factory, confirmed what many thought all along. Mann said he witnessed Conley carrying Phagan’s body to the basement of the factory on the day of her death. He kept silent, he said, because Conley threatened to kill him.

Georgia’s governor at the time of the Frank trial, John Slaton, commuted Frank’s death sentence to life in prison. Soon after, a group of Cobb County civic leaders — Phagan was from there — forcibly abducted Frank from a state prison farm in Milledgeville, returned to Marietta and hanged him from an oak tree on the property of a former sheriff, William J. Frey.

Former Gov. Roy Barnes, who will serve as a consultant to the Conviction Integrity Unit, had lobbied the district attorney to re-examine Frank’s case.

At around the same time, Howard had learned of new evidence that cast doubt on the conviction, under his watch, of Frederick Gant for the 2002 murders of Jonathan Wilder and Zerious Jordan. Gant was indicted 11 years later after a neighbor, Major Smith, told police he witnessed Gant shoot the men. After Gant was sentenced to life in prison, his defense lawyer came forward with evidence that placed Smith in jail, under an alias, at the time of the murders. A new trial was ordered, without Smith’s testimony, and Gant was acquitted.

“That convergence of things … showed to me that clearly something needed to be done,” said Howard, adding that his efforts to fund the unit were denied three times by Fulton commissioners. “What we’re going to do is give up one of our regular prosecutorial positions and turn that over to this Conviction Integrity Unit.”

Asked if he’s concerned about the financial implications, through civil litigation, that could result from re-examining closed cases, Howard said, “My belief is if someone was wrongly convicted they should be compensated.”

Steven Lebow, rabbi of Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta, who for years has lobbied the state to pardon Frank, expressed gratitude that his conviction is finally being reviewed.

“If you want to make the future good, you have to make the past right,” Lebow said.

Barnes said he is convinced that will happen.

“There is no doubt in my mind, and we’ll prove it at the appropriate time, that Leo Frank was not guilty,” Barnes said. “We can’t right all wrongs. However, I think it’s a bad thing if we can never admit we’re wrong. This gives us a good view of history to make sure we’ve got it right.”

Cops and Robbers

That actually used to be game played by kids on the playground. Today we would have to name it First Responders and Suspects, allegedly. Could you imagine the racial tropes and of course the whole idea of guns and violence. Just like GI Joe. Remember him? I think that was the concept of Patriotism and serving in the military. Remember to thank them for their service, like a Waitress but without a tip.

We have changed over times for good and for bad. This weekend I went to see Colin Quinn’s new show, Small Talk. The basic concept is that we don’t anymore as it has become challenged with just the idea of simple instructions on how to start said exchange to the highly charged way it has evolved over the use of words as they too now are like flame throwers in which to espouse a lecture. He believes, as do I and many others, the rise of social media and the use of that as a soap box in which to opine endless grievances and thoughts to an echo chamber of like minded individuals, blocking or in turn threatening those who have the audacity of challenging your belief (Note: singular thought, as frankly it is all just one thought, one hive mind repeated over and over again). And with that the rise of the bully nation and in turn the lack of the ability to have a simple discourse or exchange.

I had already quit with the small talk not that long ago and irony that I tried prior to the show at my favorite restaurant. And then after that failure I sat and ate my food in silence as I listened to the two white men next to me talk work and home prices and values then to leave when their women partners called to tell them they were elsewhere and meet them there so they scurried off after their shots and beer. How white of them, one even wearing the requisite baseball hat. We don’t talk anymore and certainly again to a woman of a “certain age” on her own, that would be weird. She might be a cougar or whatever. Usually that means sad, lonely, desperate. What.ever. I rarely eat out anymore as that truly bothers me and when I do I now ask for a table. The bar is not a safe place or a fun one anymore. When I do sit at a bar it is at a hotel as it is assumed I am a guest and with that it is much better atmosphere and allows for at least a sense of security and conversation option.

What we have now is tribal mentality, we must be in pairs or groups and in turn we must all think and be alike, in other words – conform. And we use the same words to describe anything and everyone, we know which pronoun to use and to ensure that our beliefs are shared as conflict is not possible. And Mr. Quinn addresses that as well as kids are not taught how to resolve differences, make friends without assistance or simply adjust to the idea that not everyone likes everyone and to get a tough skin in which to handle rejection. Yep, that is an accurate assessment.

I use my most recent and perhaps last small talk exchange with a tenant in my building. I learned from the last one, who has since moved, and this woman is as well in August to Chicago, I don’t have to continue the dynamic as it is a waste of time and energy for many reasons, the primary one is the obsessive political correctness and need to be “woke”. And the most recent was in which I commented about someone equating victims of sexual assault and child rape with mental illness, drug addiction and becoming Prostitutes. This was the most simple polynomial I could find when the variables A – Assault, B – child rape/molestation +/- mental illness, +- addiction = Prostitution. And with that the individual I was speaking about was one of our Concierges who believes that Michael Jackson’s accusers were mentally ill and that he knew that anyone who was in fact molested are usually drug addicts and become Prostitutes. Needless to say that equation did not stop my need to find small talk with him, and that was a hell of a red flag right there; however, it ended permanently when he informed me that Covid was a blood borne disease. Okay. So when I told her that I no longer felt compelled to talk to them and my view of the building management overall was rather negative as I related this exchange, she felt compelled to correct me and say “Sex Worker not Prostitute.” Then she railed about Michael Jackson and her belief that the accusers were not lying and that they were not Substance Abusers aka addicts or Sex Workers. This is called “preaching to the choir.” Okay, let’s break this down. I am not a Hooker, and addict, mentally ill (okay debatable) and I was assaulted. That also said, or implied, if I am in a convo with you I am going out on a limb here that you are not either and with that let us not pick apart our words here. It’s called “dishing” or “spilling tea” and you are with a like minded person who can at least agree or agree to not about an observation. My Mother an expert on this would levy an opinion and in turn it be rather generalized and largely applied to all of us sitting in listening distance, would then take a drag on her Camel and go, “Present company excepted!” Okay. The inference is that this is about other people not present and if they were this conversation would also likely not happen. But again we are living in a literal world and anything anyone says must now be put under a microscope and dissected. This is about YOU always you and your issues with being called names and not building wall between the speaker and YOU. Sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me. But today words hurt and those who feel they are the objects and subjects of words want everyone and anyone to change their vocabulary to suit them. Wrong it will not happen and in fact the backlash will be worse. Focus on those closest to you and ignore the rest.

And that is what small talk has become, a minefield of watching one’s words, one’s tone, and of course ensuring that we all use the same language and have a current Dictionary/Thesaurus on hand in which to double check what we can and cannot say. Is there such a text that we can flip to in such situations? I have said repeatedly over my lifetime that I have been scolded and reprimanded over use of words or what I said taken out of context often via third hand, and informed I was wrong. Two times that I recall was my use of the words “bye-bye” to conclude a phone call at where I worked, I was told to not as “bye bye” is for Babies. I missed that script and where was that on the to do and don’t list? And the other was during a charity drive where I was a volunteer and there was again no script and that it was repeated something I said, did, was, and in turn that I was “too emotional” about AIDS and could not volunteer. This was during the early days of the crisis and I was losing friends at a fast pace and which emotions were high and a sense of urgency may be necessary. But in Seattle that is considered a hindrance not a help. Seattle is very very white and there current endless liberal screed explains why that absurd book, White Privilege, came from there from a woman who attended a Jesuit college located in the heart of the City’s most progressive liberal enclave, Capitol Hill.

We are who we want to be, and with that we make choices and decisions in which to comply or object to the archetypes and stereotypes that have been formulated in which to ensure that in large, we conform to the tribes with which you identify. And that includes groups that are less than the mainstream majority. Mr. Quinn was quite clear that this behavior of certainty is not proprietary as in say “Conservatives” vs “Liberals”. This is where we divide and not conquer in the least. The Liberal Scold is a well known moniker in which I have been both the recipient and the sender. It does not serve well. The difference is the vocabulary and choice of delivery. I do prefer my insults in multi syllabic words and with a slight tone of condescension than raging diatribes. I again point to the Karen in 946 with her smugness and need to repeat herself about my walk and my “construction” and endless cleaning. Yes dear and her disappointment that I did not rage back in the manner she was expecting. No, I am a still very much a liberal, just bored with it all. Or I am just not from New Jersey, see that passive aggressive Seattle thing works!

And this woman is raising a pandemic baby who will be of the fucked up generation. Just call them the FU Generation right now. These are again the children, ages 2-20, who will be a problem for years to come. They will be needy, paranoid, angry, socially inept, intellectually challenged and very very violent. This will come in many forms, self harm and of course towards others. When I read about the six year old coming to school with a gun then deliberately shooting the Teacher, yeah I have three words: Told you so. The rise in Crime is largely attributed to the young of late. The predatory crimes of the Idaho killer is likely one of many. Mass shootings or murder suicides will rise and again come in the form of a relationship gone bad. I can’t have you no one will. The scary Catfish cop and his insane behavior had long been a foundation leading him to a stay in a mental ward, but who knew? Well they did. But no one cares. Again no.one.cares.

History repeats. Remember Bernie Madoff? Well Netflix has an excellent documentary that explains how that came about and why he is often portrayed as the singular agent in this deception, he was not without enablers, both within his company and those outside of it. Chase Bank is one. Worth a look. So if you think the Crypto King is an outlier, think again. If Madoff produced the play book, Sam Bankman-Fried decided to stage a revival. He just changed the sets and costumes but the play is the same.

The reality is Americans love money as much as they love violence. They/We get off on it. Take a look at Football. But with that we are a scaredy cat nation, so we project our rage onto those players on the field, the ice rink or the boxing match. We love to see men beat the shit out of each other, literally dropping dead on the field is just another example of our racism and classism and the promise of wealth to those who will do whatever it takes. Let’s bring back Gladiators and just let them kill it out. We are an angry lot. And it is why I loved Colin Quinn’s show as he mentioned that too, recalling my conversation with an Uber driver in Maine a couple of years ago where he felt that was where we were heading. It is in Stephen King’s The Stand, which follows a dystopian state, post a pandemic and in turn we laughed as here we are in Maine and it led us to think Stephen King may be a prophet, the same one in the book that predicts the end. And here I am two years later in a theater in the Village hearing the same thoughts. We are not alone in that we see exactly where the next generation is heading, to a violent end. Be afraid folks be very afraid. Americans have mastered that and that is our exceptionalism, driven by money and raised by fear. In fact it is such an alluring trait that it may explain why so many try to come here, legally or not. We love a hard luck story and we have plenty.

I have also provided a great essay from the New York Times that is about American Mythology and it discusses a book that has essays by historians debating the truths behind the myths. No, it is not about the Bible as there are more than ample ones and that which no one will read. But the truth hurts and we can’t have that, I am afraid Daddy!

I Looked Behind the Curtain of American History, and This Is What I Found

Jan. 6, 2023

By Carlos Lozada

Opinion Columnist The New York Times

In the realm of folklore and ancient traditions, myths are tales forever retold for their wisdom and underlying truths. Their impossibility is part of their appeal; few would pause to debunk the physics of Icarus’s wings before warning against flying too close to the sun.

In the worlds of journalism and history, however, myths are viewed as pernicious creatures that obscure more than they illuminate. They must be hunted and destroyed so that the real story can assume its proper perch. Puncturing these myths is a matter of duty and an assertion of expertise. “Actually” becomes an honored adverb.

I can claim some experience in this effort, not as a debunker of myths but as a clearinghouse for them. When I served as the editor of The Washington Post’s Sunday Outlook section several years ago, I assigned and edited dozens of “5 Myths” articles in which experts tackled the most common fallacies surrounding subjects in the news. This regular exercise forced me to wrestle with the form’s basic challenges: How entrenched and widespread must a misconception be to count as an honest-to-badness myth? What is the difference between a conclusive debunking and a conflicting interpretation? And who is qualified to upend a myth or disqualified from doing so?

These questions came up frequently as I read “Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past,” a collection published this month and edited by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer, historians at Princeton. The book, which the editors describe as an “intervention” in long-running public discussions on American politics, economics and culture, is an authoritative and fitting contribution to the myth-busting genre — authoritative for the quality of the contributions and the scope of its enterprise, fitting because it captures in one volume the possibilities and pitfalls of the form. When you face down so many myths in quick succession, the values that underpin the effort grow sharper, even if the value of myths themselves grows murkier. All of our national delusions should be exposed, but I’m not sure all should be excised. Do not some myths serve a valid purpose?

Several contributors to “Myth America” successfully eviscerate tired assumptions about their subjects. Carol Anderson of Emory University discredits the persistent notion of extensive voter fraud in U.S. elections, showing how the politicians and activists who claim to defend election integrity are often seeking to exclude some voters from the democratic process. Daniel Immerwahr of Northwestern University puts the lie to the idea that the United States historically has lacked imperial ambitions; with its territories and tribal nations and foreign bases, he contends, the country is very much an empire today and has been so from the start. And after reading Lawrence B. Glickman’s essay on “White Backlash,” I will be careful of writing that a civil-rights protest or movement sparked or fomented or provoked a white backlash, as if such a response is instinctive and unavoidable. “Backlashers are rarely treated as agents of history, the people who participate in them seen as bit players rather than catalysts of the story, reactors rather than actors,” Glickman, a historian at Cornell, writes. Sometimes the best myth-busting is the kind that makes you want to rewrite old sentences.

The collection raises worthy arguments about the use of history in the nation’s political discourse, foremost among them that the term “revisionist history” should not be a slur. “All good historical work is at heart ‘revisionist’ in that it uses new findings from the archives or new perspectives from historians to improve, to perfect — and yes, to revise — our understanding of the past,” Kruse and Zelizer write. Yet, this revisionist impulse at times makes the myths framework feel somewhat forced, an excuse to cover topics of interest to the authors.

Sarah Churchwell’s enlightening chapter on the evolution of “America First” as a slogan and worldview, for instance, builds on her 2018 book on the subject. But to address the topic as a myth, Churchwell, a historian at the University of London, asserts that Donald Trump’s invocation of “America First” in the 2016 presidential race was “widely defended as a reasonable foreign policy doctrine.” (Her evidence is a pair of pieces by the conservative commentators Michael Barone and Michael Anton.)

In his essay defending the accomplishments of the New Deal, Eric Rauchway of the University of California, Davis, admits that the policy program’s alleged failure “is not a tale tightly woven into the national story” and that “perhaps ‘myth’ seems an inappropriate term.” He does believe the New Deal’s failure is a myth worth exploding, of course, but acknowledges that there are “many analytical categories of falsehood.” The admission deserves some kudos, but it also might just be right.

In Kruse’s chapter on the history of the Southern strategy — the Republican Party’s deliberate effort to bring white Southerners to its side as the Democratic Party grew more active in support of civil rights — the author allows that “only recently have conservative partisans challenged this well-established history.” This singling out of conservatives is not accidental. In their introduction, Kruse and Zelizer argue that the growth of right-wing media platforms and the Republican Party’s declining “commitment to truth” have fostered a boom in mythmaking. “Efforts to reshape narratives about the U.S. past thus became a central theme of the conservative movement in general and the Trump administration in particular,” they write.

The editors note the existence of some bipartisan myths that transcend party or ideology, but overwhelmingly, the myths covered in “Myth America” originate or live on the right. In an analysis that spans 20 chapters, more than 300 pages and centuries of American history and public discourse, this emphasis is striking. Do left-wing activists and politicians in the United States never construct and propagate their own self-affirming versions of the American story? If such liberal innocence is real, let’s hear more about it. If not, it might require its own debunking.

One of those bipartisan myths, typically upheld by politicians of both major parties, is the ur-myth of the nation: American exceptionalism. In his essay on the subject, David A. Bell, another Princeton historian, can be dismissive of the term. “Most nations can be considered exceptional in one sense or another,” he writes. Today, the phrase is typically deployed as a “cudgel” in the country’s culture wars, Bell contends, a practice popularized by politicians like Newt Gingrich, who has long hailed the United States as “the most unique civilization in history” and assails anyone who does not bow before the concept. “For Gingrich, demonstrating America’s exceptionality has always mattered less than denouncing the Left for not believing in it,” Bell writes.

When exploring earlier arguments about America’s unique nature, Bell touches on John Winthrop’s 17th-century sermon “A Model of Christian Charity,” in which the future governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared that the Puritan community would be “as a city on a hill” (a line that President Ronald Reagan expanded centuries later to a “shining city upon a hill”). The reference is obligatory in any discussion of American exceptionalism, though Bell minimizes the relevance of the lay sermon to the exceptionalism debates, both because the text “breathed with agonized doubt” about whether the colonists could meet the challenge and because the sermon “remained virtually unknown until the 19th century.”

It is an intriguing assumption, at least to this non-historian, that the initial obscurity of a speech (or a book or an argument or a work of any kind) would render it irrelevant, no matter how significant it became to later generations. It is the same attitude that Akhil Reed Amar, a law professor at Yale and the author of a chapter on myths surrounding the Constitution, takes toward Federalist No. 10. James Madison’s essay “foreshadowed much of post-Civil War American history,” Amar writes, in part for its argument that the federal government would protect minority rights more effectively than the states, “but in 1787-1788, almost no one paid attention to Madison’s masterpiece.” Unlike other Federalist essays that resonated widely during the debates over constitutional ratification, Amar writes, No. 10 “failed to make a deep impression in American coffeehouses and taverns where patrons read aloud and discussed both local and out-of-town newspapers.” Alas, Mr. Madison, your piece was not trending, so we’re taking it off history’s home page.

To his credit, Amar is consistent in privileging immediate popular reactions in his historical assessments. He criticizes the argument of Charles Beard’s 1913 book, “An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution,” that the Constitution was an antidemocratic document. “If the document was truly antidemocratic, why did the people vote for it?” Amar asks. “Why did tens of thousands of ordinary working men enthusiastically join massive pro-constitutional rallies in Philadelphia and Manhattan?” Even just in the aftermath of the 2020 election and the Capitol assault of Jan. 6, however, it seems clear that people in a free society can be rallied to democratic and antidemocratic causes, with great enthusiasm, if they come to believe such causes are righteous.

Other contributors to “Myth America” are more willing to squint at the first impressions of the past. In a chapter minimizing the transformational impact of the Reagan presidency, Zelizer laments how “the trope that a ‘Reagan Revolution’ remade American politics has remained central to the national discourse,” even though it “has been more of a political talking point than a description of reality.” (Reminder: Calling them tropes or talking points is an effective shorthand way to dismiss opposing views.) When Zelizer looks back on a collection of historians’ essays published in 1989, just months after Reagan left office, and which argued that Reagan’s 1980 victory was “the end of the New Deal era,” he does not hesitate to pass judgment on his professional colleagues. “Even a group of historians was swept up by the moment,” he writes.

Here, proximity to an earlier historical era renders observers susceptible to transient passions, not possessors of superior insights. If so, perhaps an essay collection of American myths that is published shortly after the Trump presidency also risks being swept up by its own moment. (Incidentally, that 1989 book, edited by the historians Steve Fraser and Gary Gerstle and titled “The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, 1930-1980,” shares one contributor with “Myth America.” Michael Kazin, take a bow.)

Zelizer writes that the notion of a revolutionary Reagan era did not emerge spontaneously but was “born out of an explicit political strategy” aimed at exaggerating both conservative strength and liberal weakness. This is another recurring conclusion of “Myth America” — that many of our national mythologies are not the product of good-faith misunderstandings or organically divergent viewpoints that become entrenched over time, but rather of deliberate efforts at mythmaking. The notions that free enterprise is inseparable from broader American freedoms, that voting fraud is ubiquitous, that the feminist movement is anti-family — in this telling, they are myths peddled or exaggerated, for nefarious purposes, by the right.

But in his essay on American exceptionalism, Bell adds in passing an idea somewhat subversive to the project of “Myth America,” and it separates this book from standard myth-quashing practices. After writing that narratives about America’s exceptional character were long deployed to justify U.S. aggression abroad and at home, Bell posits that notions of exceptionalism “also highlighted what Americans saw as their best qualities and moral duties, giving them a standard to live up to.”

Bell does not suggest that the belief in American exceptionalism fulfills this latter role today; to the contrary, its politicization has rendered the term vacuous and meaningless. “The mere notion of being exceptional can do very little to inspire Americans actually to be exceptional,” he writes. Still, Bell has opened a door here, even if just a crack. National myths can be more than conspiratorial, self-serving lies spread for low, partisan aims. They can also be aspirational.

American aspiration, idealism and mythology have mingled together from the start. In her 2018 one-volume American history, “These Truths,” Jill Lepore wrote eloquently of those self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence — political equality, natural rights, popular sovereignty — that the country never ceases to claim yet always struggles to uphold. It is the argument, often made by former President Barack Obama, that America becomes a more perfect union when it attempts to live up to its ideals and mythologies, even if it often fails. The tension between myth and reality does not undermine America. It defines it.

In his best book, “American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony,” published in 1981, the political scientist Samuel Huntington distills the tension in his final lines: “Critics say that America is a lie because its reality falls so short of its ideals. They are wrong. America is not a lie; it is a disappointment. But it can be a disappointment only because it is also a hope.” The authors and editors of “Myth America” do plenty to discredit the lies and reveal the disappointments, as they well should. Reimagining myth as aspiration can be a task for historians, but it is not theirs alone.

The Queen is Dead

I have no goats in that rodeo but the Monarchy will continue with its patronage and lineage in tact as Britain goes forward to be great Imperialist nation it always has been. And with that I still look at all the world problems and see a direct link to Britain as the one Country whose hands have been in the puddings of all the colonies they dominated and in turn left more damage in their wake as they walked off with millions in the Bank of England, which like the Church is State controlled. It is how the Federalists see America as in the future. A leader that is both the head of State and Church, that the States self govern and the President is largely a figurehead whose job is secure as it is passed along through lineage and patriarchy, that voting thing is just for the local yokels who will have even less say on running their own States and Cities thanks to endless gerrymandering and legislation to ensure that the power remains in the “right” hands. Cromwell where are you now? ** look at the history of Cromwell and how he dissolved the Rump Parliament as in his view they were a sea of liars. And with that a replacement group were selected by their religious piety. Wow sounds not unlike the Boris Johnson years. Or the Trump years as history has a way of transcending both time and place. Again Cromwell was appointed/selected as the “lord protector of the realm” The piety of religion never ends frankly. Our current Congress is hot mess of incompetence on a good day and they are often evoking a religious fervor in the same manner. And hence that may explain January 6th. Again the parallels of Cromwell not lost.

This past week I was in Washington D.C. the center of power and of Democracy and with that as I walked the streets I got in ways I had not until I went there with the only agenda to try to learn about my Country in a new way. And thanks to Socialism you can! Yes all the Museums and Gallery’s are free to enter and they offer quite a perspective and history lesson on what defines America. I did not see or note much religion as a notation but I have a funny aside when it comes to discussing Religion I had a massage by a Brazillian woman who migrated here and is moving to California next year for reasons I was unclear but it seemed to vent her ire about the liberal policies of the State while espousing the fantastic conservative ones of Virginia where she lives and commutes into DC for work. Aside from confirming what I have long said, that many Immigrants are largely conservative and prefer the policies and stated beliefs of the Republican party it shows how little they know when they live and work in the shadow of Democracy, a liberal concept if any. And with that anytime I mentioned living in the South and finding the Conservative policies largely mired in Religion she changed the subject and with that I have two series injuries that I suspect were intentional. Was she a religious kook? I have no idea but that I have a bad bruise on my clavicle should make one wonder.

And as I wandered about DC I met some amazing locals, all Black and all long standing residents who work for the Government or had at some point as it is very six degrees of separation when it comes to that throughout the city. One of my observations was that essence of the air, the very streets seemed to posses an aura that was intoxicating, like the most powerful “crack” that permeates the skin and explains to some level what happens to one when they arrive with all their beliefs and appointments in place. It is a heady drunk that one could see easily becoming addicted to and again explains why so many of our Representatives in Congress are so useless. They feel destined if not mandated to behave utterly inappropriately and arrogantly in the same way Charles assumed the throne yesterday following his mothers death. The chain of command is well established and in place throughout history and little changes other than the names. And I have always believed that was Trumps fascination not the Authoritarianism that you see in Hungary, although I do believe there are many many Republicans that advocate such a system as this new crop of crackpots seem to have a fetish for. But it was that significant moment, that action and reaction that enabled, that drew them into the idea of being elected as once they too had whiff of the intoxicating air, after hand to hand combat and battling in the streets to enter the most hallowed chamber of Government, it had to be surreal and empowering in ways that bring us here to this state of chaos.

When I met many of the local residents, or at least all the faces of color, I had a better perspective if not understanding of how Politicians are seen in D.C. They are not viewed through the same lens we have, they have a much closer birds eye one and while they are dependent upon them for work they are not special or different as there are a parade of them that walk through those chambers and along those streets over time and with that they can see whatever power they have assembled can be gone in an instant. So the reality is that many of them, families included are looked upon with amusement if not disdain. I met a woman at the Visitors Center (which many locals had not heard of and yes folks it is by the White House and set up by Jacqueline Kennedy to provide insight into the families and history of those who moved in and out of that esteemed home on the hill. It is well worth a wander) who had much to say about the varying occupants who have passed her on the way in and out of said house. She expressed disdain that the Obama’s did not leave and stayed in DC, not returning to Chicago to bring cache and of course leadership, jobs and mentoring as promised. In fact we wondered what the purpose was as he no longer lived there and running said foundation from a distance seem odd but she felt that they were always aware of being part time occupants (as they all are frankly and you can see why Trump took it hard) and with that were not able to give up the position so easily as in DC they would be still be more famous and respected than in the Windy City. She said that they were notorious party people and with that were also out and about to all the “in’ spots. So again I get it, I really do. That is hard to give up. With that she had little good to say about anyone other than Trump. I found that interesting as she is not the only face of color who sings his praises. She said he was always on his own, only went to his hotel (which I have been too now renamed but I saw the original structure before he remodeled it and it was hideous and is pretty fantastic. The only thing changing is the main restaurant) and never was with anyone, almost always on his own. Interesting as I thought where was Melania. And she said that unlike many First Ladies she too was not seen much nor their son. And with that the trashing of the Clinton’s, Reagan’s and even Lady Bird Johnson (LBJ was praised but also commented as a philanderer) which none shocked me given what I had read over time, but Lady Bird was given the recent podcast of her tapes and her recordings of her that had a concentrated effort of her policies and desires at the time which seemingly have gone either unnoticed or disregarded. It appears that perhaps those were done to remake her image and legacy when time passed and memories fade. Hard to know as I had no sense of her as a Woman or First Lady until that podcast, but this woman’s words I felt may have substance as I did agree with regards to both Hilary and Nancy. And while I still to this day would have felt Hilary would have been a better President than Trump, I can point to Biden as true that. I never liked Biden and with that the recent story in the The New Yorker Magazine about his own revisionist history, does not shock. The ambition and intoxication of power is the headiest of drug.

And that brings me to the gossip portion of this post. And yes folks I did go to the National Art Gallery, the Gallery of Portraits (which has Trump’s being overlooked by a smirking Nixon portrait done by the folk artist Norman Rockwell) and of course the African American Museum which will of course be closed once Trump gets re-elected as frankly there is your Critical Race Theory in 3D. It is an amazing dedication to the role of Black Americans throughout the building of America and their contributions to all what we so appreciate in the concept of the American ideal – creativity, imagination, perseverance, dedication and intellect. And with that it defines the role of Slavery and the exploitation of Black Americans who came unwillingly and were imprisoned, exploited and murdered all in the pursuit of money and wealth. Yeah it takes a day or two to get through it and you will not come out of it without perspective. Irony that on Wednesday the day I left, the Obama’s were at the White House unveiling their official portraits that will hang in the White House (the gallery hangs a different set for the first families and are considered more informal and in a way more reflective of the individual and it will hold the two portraits currently on tour and are great btw) and with that the relationship of the Biden’s with the Obama’s was another issue of commentary and reflection by many I met who again have no kind words about either in some way or another, other than Michelle who no matter where one goes gets raves. She left a mark in ways other than it appears only Jacqueline Kennedy can compare.

And so back to my Biden gossip. I met a fantastic young woman in a local bar there and we had a great conversation and laugh and she met the infamous Hunter during Dad’s time as VP. She and friend were at the Capital Grill and having drinks when he came in and joined them at the bar. Outgoing and friendly he bought them drinks and invited him over to his place. They did not realize who he was and did not ask his last name and with that they drove out to the Biden mansion. She did not see the ballroom as the article linked mentions. But there he asked if he could smoke crack and proceeded to do so, asking them to join them. They refused and said they needed to leave and with that he offered to get them home, they again refused that, wisely so and with that found a cab to get them back to DC. My first thought was: Does he have a Black Fetish and assume that because they were Black and would be open to that or he was truly a fucked up lost soul and felt safer with Black women as well they are least judgemental about that. I have no clue and she did not think that but that he was truly an addict and had no concept of boundaries. That would be also true and that being the son of a powerful man has a sense of entitlement that would disconnect him from what is appropriate versus not. All White House families have a blacksheep and in my discussion at the Visitors Center we did laugh at the varying ones who have been paraded through that home. There was Jimmy Carter’s brother Billy, Rodger Clinton and even Jack Ford, the son of Betty and Gerald was a bit of a roue back in the day. And of course the President’s themselves have their own issues with that as well, including FDR, JFK and LBJ making one think having initials as moniker is not a good thing.

History is as complex and as dirty as we wish to make it. I was again surprised at the Trump accolades, which seem to be all over the map and while almost all agree he was nuts we all agree he is coming back like Grover Cleveland. Cleveland is the only president in American history to serve two non-consecutive terms in office. And he got married in the second one, his one wish that he always wanted, LOVE. So hey.

And with that I want to point out that crazy conspiracy theories, delusional thinking and weird beliefs are not just the provenance of white folks. During my tour of the AA Museum there was an exhibit to the former Cabinet Secretary, Ben Carson, noting his accomplishments as a Physician, with nothing about Trump mentioned. I was standing there shocked and with that two women said, “We just pretend that we did not know that either.” And with that we laughed and moved on as it is better to remind oneself of the good one does over the bad at times. And that Museum is laden with info both good and bad so you can remind oneself of that despite it all we are all here today sharing in that knowledge.

And when I came home I was reminded of that ignorance is wilful and with the discussion about Nixon and Trump in my laugh factor given their portraits, a young Black woman who works in the building informed me that Trump had done more for Black people than Obama and that Nixon came up with Father’s Day as a holiday in 1972 to hide his war on Black people aka the War on Drugs. (Father’s Day is not a federal holiday and with that it was around unofficially since 1910 so what Nixon did was federally recognize the day as one of significance) And she proceeds to show me some YouTube dude who has made that a fact. Well I agree that the War on Drugs was a war on Black people but Father’s day a false flag? Okay, bit of a reach but hey whatever! I did not bother to ask her to substantiate the Trump claim as that is time I don’t need to waste. She is also strongly anti vacc, a colorist, which equally disturbs me even more so now given my visit to the Museum, and has other odd views that again shows an ignorance fueled by the interwebs. This is America and we have Q’Anon folks that has contributed to much of the current state of affairs. So who am I to criticize.

My train trip home was joined by my local Senator, Menendez who has had his own issues regarding corruption and currently his son is running for our local rep here in Jersey City. The idea that it is only Royalty that has Birthright is not lost. So politics corrupts absolutely but with that I felt that DC deserves better and more. They need statehood and representation and with that they also need to allow people to live there and can afford to do so who work there and keep those offices and museums alive for us all to visit. They are free, your Socialist government in action.

The Mother

 I have said since the beginning that the men running this dog and pony show suck at it.  We need a mother t set this straight.  To find balance and boundaries that work on a larger scale.

For many this has become the norm and the alteration of circadian rythym has made things worse as a coping strategy and for others it seems to work well. Hell if I know but I know that I am in lockdown after 8 until 5 am and it takes a toll on the body to have to be forced to sit regardless of weather or hell for no reason what.so.ever. If someone can explain the purpose of curfew then feel free as none of it will actually be valid as it is just a parrot of whatever the White Daddy has said. And we all know he has no clue as it is just bullshit mixed with faux science. Cause a virus doesn’t give a flying fuck about the time of day so me going for a walk at 10 pm versus 10 am is fuck all nothing about “keeping me safe” and “stopping the spread.” In fact it may be a better idea as there is no one about and nothing open so who am I going to catch/transfer or contact at that time?

Here is another thing, quit with the lottery numbers and naming the dead. I don’t know them and the numbers mean nothing as while Cuomo is starting to break them down into type of positives, finding that many were in quasi quarantine and not essential workers which makes their POS diagnosis even more worrisome if not point proven that people are not fucking locking themselves in and even when they are they still letting the evil one in. So how or are they lying? I go with lying.

Cuomo examines who is getting hospitalized
With everything shut down, the governor wanted to see where most of the new cases of coronavirus hospitalizations were coming from and it’s primarily downstate, New York City and Long Island. 66% of those people were coming from their own homes and Governor Cuomo found that shocking. He said they were mostly over age 51. 84% of people were at home and not traveling and non-essential employees. The governor said those statistics reinforce the need to wearing a mask, using hand sanitizer and washing your hands, and if you are part of the vulnerable population you need to stay home to protect yourself and maintain social distancing. “It comes down to personal responsibility,” Cuomo saidCuomo examines who is getting hospitalized

Hospitals in New York state say only 17 percent of recently admitted patients were working, Governor Cuomo announced on Wednesday. Hospitalizations and new cases continue to decline, but the death toll is approaching 20,000.

With everything shut down, the governor wanted to see where most of the new cases of coronavirus hospitalizations were coming from and it’s primarily downstate, New York City and Long Island. 66% of those people were coming from their own homes and Governor Cuomo found that shocking. He said they were mostly over age 51. 84% of people were at home and not traveling and non-essential employees. The governor said those statistics reinforce the need to wearing a mask, using hand sanitizer and washing your hands, and if you are part of the vulnerable population you need to stay home to protect yourself and maintain social distancing. “It comes down to personal responsibility,” Cuomo said

And the other day Governor Newsom in California blamed a nail salon as a super spreader. Really? Been to a nail salon? As your hands are in water the minute you walk in, the tools are cleaned and the women wear masks. So the only way that would have happened if a woman was sick went had a mani pedi and coughed all over everyone. That could happen well anywhere and once again cannot say that the salon itself was the reason. So bullshit on that.

This again shows that people are assholes and anyone sick coughing all over the place needs to think about their priorities and having one’s hair done, having a manicure or going to a club is probably not a good idea so if anything comes out of this people will check themselves at the door before they leave. And right now the whole taking the temp thing means nothing as you can be a carrier, have no symptoms or have contracted the virus and it has not yet evolved into the next stage which is a fever. And again a fever is not always Covid. But I am willing to say anyone with a temp over 99 as a base needs to stay the fuck home.

Next on the hit parade is the Covid parties. Of course retracted but at this point the media gloms onto Covid like it is Covid. But it would not surprise me as another attempt by the crazy anti vaxx set to build antibodies and of course not have to worry about a vaccination in the future. Go ahead you fuckers given this we finally will make it mandatory that no child can ever set foot in a public school again without a vaccination for all communicable diseases. YAY!

And of course Children are carriers and are getting sick now of some mysterious disease. This means schools folks won’t be opening in September or if they do expect to finally face the dream of all Teachers, smaller classes, shorter days, less bullshit about testing, a focus on health and even better nutrition which aids in building the bodies immune system and of course kids not showing up sick, parents helicoptering in schools as that means only those with business are let in. YAY!

A side note is the whole collaborative learning goes out the window, the notion of Teacher as Actor and of course the idea of a curriculum that can be adapted to meet online needs will be the money maker so watch how that plays out in the next year. So if I was going back to Teach I would also want all cleaning materials provided with that boxed curriculum and then at the end of the day I walk out with no homework either nor any contagious diseases. This is a 9-5 job or 7-3 and at the end of the day it is just that. And if we have learned nothing from this all professions need to set those boundaries.

So as we move out of quarantine, we need to start establishing those. And what I have seen of late means it is business as usual when it comes to violence and race. Of course the media when not dropping Covid bombs daily or slavish hero worship of medical professionals the scold and shaking of heads over the the endless brawls that seem to only be about faces of color. I find that hard to believe that only Black folks fight at funerals as they did here this week, stand up to Cops about social distancing, get into a fight at a Dollar Store where a man ends up dead, or get into a fight at the mall. But hey folks you are the only ones the news will cover and that does little to change the dynamic that you are the cohort most affected by Covid and the least likely to get the help you need. So fuel that racist trope and see how that works out for you.  This is where we know Black Lives Don’t Matter when it comes to law enforcement but why give them a reason?  Here we know that the social distancing policies are enforced randomly without explanation but I sure as hell would not have a party, a gathering or any encounter that could be open for a 311 call.  Why would I? Well I have personal responsibility and don’t want to get sick. So start there.

After living in Nashville I believed racism was an issue that was not a portion of the larger population but an issue clearly related to law enforcement and the Black Lives Matter movement demonstrated that a large portion of people supported and believed that  and demanded change.  And we saw nothing happened. But in my everyday life as well I never heard or saw anything that made me feel it was an issue other that the few racist folk whom I could avoid by well avoiding them. Then I moved there and watched faces of color act in ways that were distressing and the white majority around them enabled it if not encouraged it.   It was then I realized this was an odd co-dependency thing that gave each group power of another. This was then in turn aided by the Churches preaching garbage such as the prosperity pulpit and tolerating abuse as a means of compliance and building character. My little white religious friend from Alabama refuses to see the Biblical texts that encourage if not permit it and denies all of that while well coming from a holy roller family in Alabama, need you say more?

And what is distressing is that mentioning this and even pointing out that the Orthodox community has been constantly challenging vary ordinances and have a history of issues regarding the law and compliance is of course equally racist. No just like pointing out the white trash that are running amok in varying cities and states over the current quarantine shut downs. Yet the educated white elite that have asked questions and been vocal about some of the policies are downplayed as right wing crazies which again doesn’t seem to be the case. What we do do is that we make it easy to dismiss and ignore anyone by using a label in which to do so. The reality is that poverty first, discrimination and long term policies, laws and institutions that foster segregation have contributed to many of the tropes we use to validate why they continue. And that may be why when a young black man out jogging is shot to death on camera and it takes national outrage to get the men charged, two months later. And the same for many beaten and killed by Police. Guess what? This will not change and the reality how do we change this? So let’s go back to the comment about personal responsibility. We seem to lack it.   We want others to do the heavy lifting and in turn complain when it is not done.  Well it ain’t happening now as all of this Covid shit has been dumped on all of our laps.  So there is personal responsibility, yet not.  This is intimidation, threat and of course a use of denial of civil rights, economic coercion and fear to encourage it. Hmm where have I heard/seen this before?.  Hello I got woke that we have never had equal rights, ever. But will we? We have to put aside the differences focus on the commonalities and that may be issues that are about public health, education, unionization and other general factors that cover all races, then after get into the details.  But we are not a cooperative, cohesive nor compromising nation.

Not all Black people are Barack Obama or are all White men like Donald Trump but you see that was and is much of the problem here. A black man who was utterly capable of putting largely a nation at ease and even when you disagreed with him you could respect him as he carried himself with such dignity and a demeanor that allowed you to do so. Now look at women, Hilary Clinton, did not carry herself that way. But to me Elizabeth Warren does. She is intelligent, one of us and easy to approach and yet respect as she earned that and in turn shared that. Trump demonstrates none of that but his narcissism appeals to the white trash/trailer park group who are well, white trash, just as ill educated and under employed, use drugs, abuse women and commit crimes as do faces of color they are just, however; A member of a large tribe and they do nothing but just show up. No folks that is not White Privilege that is just arrogance and ignorance in large scale numbers and numbers matter. Watching the Civil Rights leaders and members of the past they carried themselves with dignity, with a sense of self and pride. They wore suits, dresses, they spoke well and were educated even when education was challenging at best when they were coming of age. So why are we so full of rage? Well people died because of it and for it and nothing changed. Well nothing ever does until you walk in the door and that may be the back door but you can leave by the front. But things have to change and this is the time it will but there is no one here to lead, no faces of color like MLK, Cesar Chavez, Betty Friedan or Shirley Chisolm. There are no Gay leaders who can rise to the challenge as Harvey Milk so who will or more importantly can? Without someone willing to take leadership, to not be afraid and yet face criticism but willing to play by the rules and walk around them to get to that back door and get in we are fucked. Covid can be the best thing that happened or the worst, you decide.  My mother was right about that too, “Take them to a Hotel don’t exchange last names get your business done and leave.”  We need to get shit done and move on.   Own your evil (and by that I mean your own prejudices and biases) and more importantly fix it.

And as much as I respect Obama he failed to step up. And you have to ask him why as I have no idea other than the pull your pants up speech and maybe that explains it. That the divide between the elite and the not is not about money or color it is just the reality of life. When you move up and out you move on and leave those behind. And we are all now sitting on our behinds waiting for someone to fix or to lead. And in most people’s homes it has always been the Mother. We need a woman and we need her now. Put aside any issue that it is about color and that bullshit that gave us Biden as he is not a fresh voice but he is a seat filler and with that maybe Obama might walk in the back door and do something. It is better than nothing. And we got nothing and no one right now. But a leader for the faces of color he is not and has never really been but again there are way better women who would, but we failed there as well. I take my personal responsibility seriously and I wear my feminist trope and it has cost me in life, and I learned that well in the racist, conservative bible belt and I will never understand how all the people there allowed it. Oh wait I do now. Race matters right after the check clears. And the biggest cashiers? Churches. Funny how it all goes back to religion, the biggest racist of it all,  misogynist, and of course the largest denominator classicist. So why Obama was hated?  Yes, he was Black but he was never religious and that is why we have Trump, who is neither, but at least to them he is half of it (and he fakes it better Obama could not do that it is not his character) This is why we have what we have, not race but faith as the common variable in the complex equation of politics, race and equality. We are so fucked and Covid is the least of it.

Memphis Bound

This last weekend I escaped Nashville and their endless self promotion coupled with the modern day slave auction, the NFL Draft.  An appalling spectacle that already has found one draftee shot and his teammate killed. This on the heels of other prospects having serious domestic violence issues in their history, an issue not new to the NFL the sport that exploits young men, abuse their bodies and further degrade their minds without any admission that the increased emphasis on violence in the sport itself is like a self feeding tool to further take it off the field as on.

It is not lost on me living in Nashville and just returning from Memphis and while the two cities could not be more different in personality, culture and history they share a trait when it comes to crime and violence.  Nashville buries it and covers up that on the same weekend that saw over 300K visitors just an hour away a young man killed his entire family; that a shooting on street within minutes of the main action seven people were shot or another nearby killed.  Then in a neighboring county two Elementary students were charged with planning a shooting.

Memphis has equally a significant problem with crime and violence and the weekend I was there a woman was killed in front of her apartment in the downtown area.  But Memphis is working and aware of the problem and are not in denial as they are in Nashville and seemingly that was acknowledged several times over the weekend with reports on violence. 

The culture and character of Memphis is literally night and day and the faces of the residents when you pass on the street reflect that, there are often random encounters with locals who introduce yourself or with service workers who are more than engaged with those whom they come into contact. I met more people and had more engaging if not highly amusing conversations with the locals in Memphis in a 72 hour time frame than I had living in Nashville coming on to three years in June. 

Memphis is a Chocolate City and that may explain why it has resisted gentrification despite the fact that the city is more interesting, demographically laid out well and has a striking waterfront that is well utilized and appreciated, unlike the filthy Cumberland which the city tolerates but tries its best to ignore as a pest that nearly brought the city to its knees a few years ago.  And like Nashville the division between the have and have not’s has been well preserved over the last few years.  While Nashville has found itself outing the first Black Director of Schools under the belief it was racism versus overall incompetence, Memphis has had several. Their schools are no better but they have fewer options that the old money of Nashville have found with their numerous private academies that dot the landscape.   Memphis has its Beale Street like Nashville has its Broadway, it has the Rock and Soul Museum, the Civil Rights Museum, the Cotton Exchange and many others with of course the King of Rock n’Roll’s land of Grace and all things Elvis within a 20 minute drive out of town and yet once through those gates is as if entering another world.   Nashville aspires to be any city it is not, Seattle is a coveted choice, Vegas another and it may explain its endless nicknames that they seem to affix with each passing fad.  My God Nashville is a shithole, they should try that one.

Memphis makes no apologies and no excuses they seem to be fine with who they are and the city has a flavor much like its sister City – New Orleans.   The high spirit, the energy and the sense of place perhaps has enabled it to just stay as it is despite the flows of the river and the riches that run through or past it. NOLA turned 300 this year and Memphis is turning 250 and she is not showing her age but is like a fine wine that needs to be opened and savored.  Nashville is yesterday’s beer, flat and tasteless and has it self congratulates and humble brags about its varying “it” status they neglect the people that made it so and the arrogance and idiocy that line the streets only further demonstrates how clueless they are.    I sense that while Seattle the real city on the “rise” (which they say here endlessly) shows the risk with the crane collapsing yesterday and killing four is something again Nashville aspires to have. They want a mass shooting, they want a disaster, they need something to prove to themselves that they are worthy of all the lies they spout and bullshit they spread.

Before I left for Memphis the adjacent developer to my apartment (now going condo whatever)  was planning on building more condos and units that were “affordable” and while most of his have sold many are still on the market or going back on the market.  The store that opened as a mini bodega closed abruptly leaving the owners bankrupt as the promised business and traffic never happened and may not despite the endless commercial structures now replacing the promised dwellings.  The neighborhood like many in Nashville has been designated an opportunity zone and that enables investors to build with little to no risk secured by tax breaks and write offs that residential building does not – an irony not lost that affordable housing should be the real development as it is needed but again does anything make sense here?  And this continues with another massive real estate deal that again changes the tune here in Music City.

What the federal Opportunity Zone program does it defers, reduces and, potentially, eliminates taxes on capital gains tied to development within such designated areas.   Gosh its good to be rich and most of it is tied to out of state investors with little to no skin in the game and no interest in what is good for Nashville or the people who live within.  Another absurd development is planned in a area that put in a branch of a coffee shop I go to and it too struggles to keep its roof but more are coming, with more and more money pouring it the cup its all too good to say no to a refill.

But the cup is not bottomless and the reality is that the growth and projections for the city to be some Class A metro may be ending.  The current Government is moving forward on School Vouchers, Anti Voting bills and anti LGBQT laws.  Then you have the move to destroy choice as we know it this states red colors will fly proudly as the Nathan Bedford Statue does off I-65. Memphis had the common decency to simply sell the public park its statue sat upon and the new owner promptly removed it.   This too led the state to completely adjust laws to prevent any other municipalities from doing the same as they do in pretty much every scenario here.  Self rule is sole rule and two cities have two different dynamics but much like the Slave Overseer they have little freedom to run to their own rules.  And the reality that race drives this cannot be overlooked but it is not the primary factor, it is and will always be money.  Then it is the Church which dictates the rules that govern the laws and then the tribe one belongs to and the family from whom one comes from.  I have been questioned in Nashville more times than I can count: Why did you come here?  More an accusation than an inquiry versus Memphis: Where are you originally from?  It takes a five minute encounter with me with a local to figure out I am not from here but in Memphis it was seen as welcoming and inviting, here in Nashville is like pointing to the zombies from the Night of the Living Dead.  It is a warning that another “outsider” a “carpetbagger” here is to take, take something that from what I could tell before I did get here was a shithole.  So don’t worry I used to think that I should leave it better than I found it ruled, I have now found the exception. Nashville you will always be a shithole no matter how many fancy buildings or restaurants or conventions you bring as the source of shit is from within. What comes in must come out as they say

Go to Memphis and find soul, literally and figuratively. 

The "Good" Ol’ South

There is nothing good about the old South let alone the one in the present.   As I wind down my time in Tennessee, the Volunteer State, I can hardly wait to volunteer my way out of here.

Nashville has really worn out its welcome on the moniker the “it” city and it now calls itself a city on the rise.  Sure until a flood comes and wipes that out then sure you are on the rise.

One of the many measures of a supposed city’s success economically is the Crane Watch. This is just another concocted concept designed by the construction industry.  Sure as that building is a measure of an economic boon and Nashville coming out of a flood in 2010 needed to improve and with the grants associated with disaster, cheap real estate and the designation of opportunity zones it made it ripe to pick the fruit of this once little big town.  And of course the promise of several thousand vaguely defined jobs from three companies locating offices here (Alliance Bernstein, Ernst and Young and AMAZON) the histrionics over some of the more ambitious projects are sure to validate the absurdity surrounding Nashville’s rise. 

This is from the article as counting cranes is just that counting cranes and what it means is whatever the counter decides it means:   

Because the crane index in many ways also reflects the state of the economy several years earlier, when projects were conceived, it can obscure current realities, brokers and developers say. Washington, for instance, seems to be on a hot streak, with 28 cranes this winter, up from 25 last summer and just a few shy of its 31-crane high in summer 2015.

 Yet office rents declined in the fourth quarter last year, according to the real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, as a surge of office buildings came online. And political gridlock, exemplified by the partial government shutdown in December and January, could sap job creation and, by extension, demand, said Nathan J. Edwards, a senior director of research for Cushman & Wakefield.

One of the largest job creation numbers comes from construction be that residential or commercial and again Nashville was in need of both.  But then again that flood thing does that to a community just ask those in North Carolina, Texas and now large swaths of the Midwest.  And we can expect more from that fake Global Warming thing that Trump mentions in between slamming dead John McCain and fake news.

Nashville has done little to no planning for said flood and again it is predicted if not expected to do so again so I find it fascinating that the acclaimed 5th and Broad project has the audacity to put a museum of collections regarding the role of African American Music and Culture on the ground floor right in prime flood zone.  Really good idea when they built the State museum adjacent to the largest historically defined Black Community.  A museum that is too big for its current collection and way out of proportion for its needs.   All while another document  and records one is being built across the park.  When it comes to white history there is no  building big enough apparently.  But it is out of the flood zone.

But then I thought ironically water is symbol of cleansing of a ritual washing of the skin and in turn often used in religious ceremonies via Baptism.   Perhaps here in the Bible belt it is God’s way of saying that the South needs to be cleaned up as for religious folk they are sure judgemental and shit.

Mississippi  just passed a law that literally makes abortion illegal before a woman knows she has conceived.  Wow just wow given the poverty and illiteracy in that state this is just another way of proving that they have earned their bottom ranking in State tallies across the board.    Tennessee likes to constantly compare itself to the bottom as saying that they are not at least them.  Yes you are.

The legislature here on its quest to be equally oppressive and idiotic are moving towards similar legislation but have added hating the Gay community to its to do list and doing so by writing a bill with very bizarre wording and language that when you apply Southern idioms or in this case idiots translations to Northern speak is in fact discriminatory.

But being Gay here brings up a whole nother mess of shit so don’t be gay and don’t be black as HIV rates are higher here for that population than in the rest of the United States. It is near to impossible to get treatment (let alone respect) as that disease is not getting the recognition, the education and more importantly the prevention and treatment it does elsewhere in the United States. 

And on the heels of Black History Month, the wealthiest county in apparently the United States (as they tell us here in Nashville apparently believing that Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos live there) has their GOP representatives in a tither that the schools are teaching about inclusion and privilege.  Oh my lord Sally pass the Sweet Tea and Biscuits!!  This of course followed the interesting lessons on Slavery during said month that asked Students to imagine their families had slaves and go home and create a chore list appropriate for said slaves.  Those Teachers have since resigned. Hey come to Nashville as this district is in a mess that it required a religious rally to keep the idiot that is the current Director of Schools of Scandals. There is no scandal too large or small here in this city’s schools that Phil Williams of Channel 5 News has failed to investigate. But keep rolling on like that river about to crest and flood.

And lastly the head of the Democratic Party here called the State Racist.  Yes, yes it is but you never say any thoughts such as this out loud or ever.  Denial is the other river that runs along Nashville’s border.

The chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party has issued an apology after saying certain Democratic candidates have struggled to gain traction because the state is racist.

Mary Mancini, re-elected by the state party’s executive committee in January to her third two-year term as its leader, says she chose the wrong words while discussing the state of politics in Tennessee during a recent tour to visit local county Democratic parties.

“We have a little bit of a problem in this state, and I’m just going to say it out right,” Mancini said while speaking earlier this month with the Coffee County Democratic Party. “This is a racist state.”

Mancini made the comment while talking about how the state party should continue to put forward candidates who are less conventional in Tennessee, including black and Latino people, millennials and members of the LGBTQ community.

“We have to disregard that old trope that Tennessee Democrats have been living under, which is that we have to find a candidate that looks like the community,” she said.

In an audio recording of a second recent county party meeting with Mancini, she can also be heard calling Tennessee “a very racist state.”

After an interview about her recent comments, in which Mancini pointed to “leadership in the Republican Party who like to inflame our differences,” she later released a statement to the USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee apologizing for her remarks during the meetings.

“In the heat and the frustration of seeing and hearing the constant drumbeat of bigotry, misogyny and homophobia coming from the Republicans at the state legislature, I used a poor choice of words and vented my frustration and I apologize,” Mancini said.

“My statement is not representative of how I or the Tennessee Democratic Party view the people of our state. Racism is not an issue that we can shy away from addressing head-on. However, I am more aware than ever that words matter when discussing tough issues like race. I commit to continuing this conversation thoughtfully and respectfully with the voters of Tennessee.”

In the interview, Mancini alleged that the state GOP was causing division to “become ingrained” in residents around the state, but acknowledged that racism persisted in the Democratic Party, too.

In a statement, Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden said it was disappointing that Mancini called the state racist. He said Republicans are working to “lift all Tennesseans up,” citing the state’s economy and efforts to boost educational attainment.

While speaking to Coffee County Democrats, Mancini talked about how even some Democrats in state House District 82 — which was represented for years by Craig Fitzhugh until he did not seek re-election in order to run for governor — suggested that Andrea Bond-Johnson, an African-American candidate for the seat, wouldn’t have a shot at winning there due to the small minority population.

“Two out of the three counties in that area are extraordinarily racist,” Mancini told the group.

Asked in the interview about the comment, Mancini said she agreed there were still racist members of the Democratic Party, but that she was uninterested in keeping their support or that kind of thinking in the party.

“I wasn’t the only one who was told that we need to run someone who is not African-American in that district, because (some believed) an African-American cannot win in that district because white people will not vote for an African-American.”

Mancini’s apology follows freshman Rep. London Lamar, D-Memphis, apologizing last fall for saying “Tennessee is racist” and that Republican voters are uneducated.

Mancini at the time called Lamar’s remarks “a mistake made in anger after witnessing intense voter suppression aimed at people of color,” but defended Lamar’s frustration.

Mancini said the state party is on the right path forward and has encouraged people of color and other candidates representing minority groups in Tennessee to continue running for office.

“I think it’s hard to be a party that is not winning,” Mancini said. “So I think people look for ways in which we can win. I think this is a long process of changing our thought process, building the Tennessee Democratic Party for the future, and not for looking back in the past.

“I think that’s a very important change that we have to make and we have started to make and that we have to continue to make.”

Yes the good ole boys run the South like it still is a plantation and you best behave now, ya hear, or face the broom switch. 

Maudlin Monday

Another week begins and the morning news here in Nashville is full of carjackings, robberies and of course shootings.  The business of car sales/repairs and guns as well as insurance are profit making businesses here in the city of now.

The city of Nashville had to grow after it was nearly destroyed by the flood of 2010.  It led the city to have access to massive government funds as well as outside investors with cash in hand to buy up distressed properties and in turn rehab them.  It has what led to the bullshit stat of 100 people a day moving here when in reality it was largely intrastate relocations from the area whose own distressed communities forced them to come here to find jobs that paid minimum wage and were better than no wage.  The largest interstate mobility was from nearby states with equal economic challenges with Illinois and particularly Chicago as the leader in that migration.  So no not a lot of educated talented urban folks came here unless transferred here by employers who were also capitalizing on the need for workforce as the city rebuilt.  Funny the Mayor here who was charged with that failed to get elected to the Governor’s job so the end of that type of chain migration to State jobs ended this election.  The state has issues with Nashville in ways that I am sure has to do with the fact that the largest percentage of educated individuals and liberal ones live here.  God forbid you would live in anywhere outside the region.  YIKES.

So when suddenly white collar businesses are planning to relocate here, Ernst & Young, Alliance Bernstein and Amazon they are wetting themselves with excitement.  This would mean a higher pool of income and of course support for pro business legislation with a strong anti tax sentiment.  If only Oklahoma had figured that out.    But I doubt many of the employees will be from strongly sophisticated urban centers and will be young enough to fail to be educated and engaged in the ways of the world here and thanks to that they will become assimilated quickly into the larger subculture of talking smack veiled under condescending bullshit.  But here is a city that thinks they are smarter but they got played like a fiddle in the local honky tonk with this deal.

Why anyone would willingly locate to a deep red state are simply doing it for a tax dodge and the idiocy of our local Government to hand over the check book.  There business and interests are not about the larger community but their own fiduciary ones.  They have failed to understand the local culture and more importantly the history of the region so I suspect they will find many ways in which to spend neither time nor energy in changing any of it.  So bye bye blue wave!

As I sting together essays to compose the book I am writing, Swimming in the Deep Red Sea, I am looking to actual historical data and to of course the theories that explain some of what I am experiencing.   I have learned that is is Emeshment that explains why the schools are highly dysfunctional as there is too much association and in turn attachment to the generational poverty and in turn racism to overtake the problems that exist.  They don”t care but they do not also know how to as they are as equally co-dependent on the varying institutions – State and Church – to find resolutions on how to change this dynamic.   And I have learned about the Culture of Honor that somehow justifies the endless violence and abusive behavior.  Boundaries here are only state lines they have few personal ones and it too lends to a real issue regarding sex and intimacy and may also explain the domestic violence that is a part of the problem as we are number four in the nation for deaths due to that problem.

I am also sure the Church in some tacit way encourages this using the text of the Bible to provide subtext, from discipline and beating as a form of control and subguation to the nonsense of the prosperity pulpit.  Excuse, blame and deny are all tenets of faith. This week I read an old essay from James Baldwin in the New Yorker that I thought leant further explanation of the role of the church and school and how it enables the continuation if not fostering of segregation and social discontent..

Much is blamed to the “outsiders” and the faces that come here to change their dynamics. I only wish that was true then crime would drop and the city would be safer. Wrong.  This too is a historical problem.  This is from Business Insider dated 2013 long before the peak migration began.

Why The South Is More Violent Than The Rest Of America
Erin Fuchs
Sep. 18, 2013, Business Insider

. Tennessee was the state with the most reports of violent crimes per capita in 2012.

The FBI’s final 2012 crime statistics confirm a long-term and somewhat puzzling fact — the South has more violent crime than the rest of America.

The South accounted for 40.9% of all reported violent crimes even though it makes up roughly a quarter of the country, according to the final Uniform Crime Report for 2012.

Violent Southerners aren’t anything new. In 1958, the South had a homicide rate of nine per 100,000 compared to a rate of three per 100,000 for the U.S., according to a paper in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.

The South has continued to have more than its share of violent crimes over the years, even as the rest of the country gets safer, Radford University criminology professor Tod Burke tells Business Insider.

Of course, nobody really knows why the South is consistently more violent. There are a couple of pretty popular theories, though.

Legacy Of Violence in The South

One theory is that violence in the South is simply the way folks have always settled their disputes. This “subculture of violence” theory suggests that violence is passed from generation to generation, University of Maryland Criminology Professor Gary LaFree told Business Insider.

There is some evidence that Southerners are more predisposed to violence.

One experiment published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found Southern men were more prone to aggression as part of a “culture of honor.” In the experiment, a mole bumped into participants from the North and South and called them “asshole.” Southerners were more primed for aggression after the insult. That is, their testosterone levels rose. They were also more likely to actually engage in aggressive or dominant behavior after being called asshole.

There are other signs that a culture of violence pervades the South, Burke points out.

“If you look at the philosophy in Southern culture, more likely than not, the people in the South believe in capital punishment, in executions,” Burke said. “They are more likely, again this is all statistically proven, they are more likely to believe in corporal punishment than other parts of the country. They are more likely to believe in military intervention abroad.”

Poverty In The Southern States

Crime has long been associated with poverty, and many of America’s states with the lowest per capita income are in the South — including Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, and Kentucky.

“One of the best predictors of homicide is economic stress,” says LaFree, the University of Maryland criminologist. “A lot of the poorest places in America are in the rural South.”

Hot Weather Leads To Hot Tempers

The summer months have been linked to crime waves in America, as the balmy weather encourages young people to hit the streets. Recently, an empirical study found that extreme temperatures do in fact lead to violence, speculating that hot temperatures made people more aggressive.

In the South, people are coping with hot temperatures, extreme poverty, and a so-called culture of honor. Maybe it shouldn’t be that surprising that it’s more violent than the rest of the country

That is the  real industry here and that is tourism.  Nothing will change that and it is the number one driver in every possible kind of vehicle – pedal taverns, horse carts, golf carts, converted school buses – that takes up the city streets.  And being the home of the slut fests is another reputation that cannot be ignored nor denied.  Drunk girls bring drunk boys and drunk people bring money.  To the tune of a billion as that is what the mile known as Broadway did in business last year.

Buzz Feed does a fairly good take on the reality that is Nashville. 

But the core residents and the business of  education here is another true focus. Vanderbilt is the white polished group of outsiders, the students are highly coddled and protected and the campus is very insular.  Adjacent to Belmont which is no less white but less secular then up the road is Lipscomb and to the south Trevecca which puts the no in secular in every way.  A Yoga teacher I know teaches yoga at Vanderbilt, both the college and the medical facility ( and yes they share a name as divorced people often do but their divorce was hardly amicable and they are two entirely different businesses) was reported on by a student that she used the word “period” when asking if anyone was on their period as she needed to give them alternates to any inversions. Yes this is America, Childish and very Gambino.

If you note that all the degree holders and educated folk cited in the Buzz Feed article work in the hospitality trade and they are not earning big bucks but they are working and that is all that matters here in the red zone.  Cheap labor like the cheap drinks keeps people coming and going and more importantly letting those of color go away.  So here in Nashville the only driver not allowing them to pull stakes and totally leave town are the Churches, strong churches need strong members. Many have adapted and have Spanish services the largest growth group across the Country and in turn selling properties to developers as a last ditch effort to keep some hand in the pot.  There used to be a fringe Church meet in the center behind my apartments on Sunday. During the week and weekend nights it was used as a party/meeting hall.  That too is gone and I am not sure I miss either.  Churches here are like pop up stores and they have services in bars, conference halls and the like as Jesus does not respond to gentrification in the South.  Jesus was a hippie and he is fine to rest his  head anywhere.  And he was white.

The reality is that this city is full of rude angry unhappy people.  Regardless of where one originates the truth is that there is something so unhospitable, so clearly divided by the haves and have nots that this resonates throughout and little will change that as that is and will be the culture as it always has been.   Today at the local high school a Teacher came in where I was placed for first two periods and it was obvious she hates her job.  She seem perturbed just with my newspaper on an adjacent desk and that I was keeping my things in an unused file drawer in a closet.   That I wanted to keep my things there and not take them with me seemed to confuse her and frustrate her and I as I walked out with all of my coat, my bag, coffee cup she said, “Thanks.” My response, “Whatever.”  So as the last two weeks of school is coming up, the holidays and then my surgery I am fairly comfortable that I won’t be back here for a few months and regardless I will see to that. It is the people that make me hate it here, the lack of compassion, the constant demand for empathy when they themselves refuse to demonstrate it exhausts one.  And hence it all trickles down and out.  This is why the children are so damaged beyond repair they never experience a passion about anything other than fear and loathing.

Which may explain why the residents here they get substandard schools, odd charter schools each with their own bizarre history, from corruption to all out neglect of education; this week another charter is being investigated – Shocking, I know! Not really.  The lack of decent infrastructure from sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes to of course public transit.  Do you need buses when you need to hold the captives, I mean tourists in a core area of one and quarter mile?

The countdown for me begins on January 10th when the first process in my dental reconstruction begins and I have a ten month window in which to complete it.  I cannot nor will not spend my 60th Birthday here.  I could not be drunk enough to tolerate the idiocy and sadness here that is not a way to begin a new chapter and significant decade in one’s life.   Some places are not for everyone and this place is certainly not for me.

Southern Discomfort

 Sunday was a great day.  The Nashville Symphony, which never disappoints, presented an original commissioned work in addition to Beethoven’s 5th; Glorious is just one word that I can use to describe that afternoon of transcendent music that took me through a series of emotions over the course of two hours.

I had struggled with going literally renting a car and valet parking it to ensure I would go as the weather has been horrific with intense humidity and constant threat of downpours.  I don’t need an excuse to not do anything in Nashville but the way I do is now by immediately getting a wine and finding a corner away from people and ignoring them the minute I sit down, not even bothering with civilities.  It does not make any social event something to look forward to when you go in with an offensive aspect to every encounter.

Why? This is a post I found on City-Data which is over a decade ago. It was a response to another poster who had relocated to the area and the vitriol that descended upon her was surreal.  The attacks, the nasty comments led the moderator to finally shut it down after she returned to say thanks and her appreciation for all the support.  That is how you have to handle these angry bees as they swarm when they think their hive is under assault.   But I found this comment towards the end of the stream and I think it succinctly describes what it is like living here.

Well, I don’t think Tn sucks, but most of it is ‘way behind the times, and people like Pah18 abound here. They are unable to take the slightest criticism or comparison without attacking. Maybe it’s because here in Morristown I’ve noticed a lot of “helplessness” with life and “the way things are”. This grew as basically a factory town, and that has been the big aspiration of a lot of people – a good job in a factory. Yes, things are changing and horizons are broadening, but people who are “from here” like to attack outsiders who criticize. They themselves can gripe all they want, but as soon as someone who “ain’t from here” has an opinion or observation, they are very hateful – they don’t want you to “larn them nothin'” as if you might think you are better than they are, or you know more than they do! God forbid that they are not the most informed, aware, educated, sophisticated townsfolk that ever lived! Perhaps they are tired of being reminded of how little they have lived with and accepted all their lives, yet they weren’t curious or bold enough to actually venture out and find out how people live elsewhere. They are incredibly defensive.

 This little town has a lot of people who think the “big wigs” are anyone with money/power/their own thriving business, etc. I learned in the big city that some people with money are merely big jerks. To me, a person is worthy of respect or admiration only if they do well for their community and treat others well. Too much power over politics and policies here has been in the hands of a handful of self-serving individuals who abuse their power, thus the attitude of some of the town natives.

Tn is a “right to work” state, I believe, which is a misnomer that means they hate unions and you can be fired with no warning for any reason, justified or not. Here’s an interesting item: it was the Hispanics working at the local chicken processing plant who succeeded in unionizing it about 2 years ago! The locals simply complained and either worked there or left; of course, the same locals gripe about the Hispanic influence and label them all as “illegals”. Yes, Redneckia is alive and well.

Tn is also at the bottom of the barrel for education, basically. (And bible classes are still given on the hush-hush in some of the public schools.) People who grew up here commonly think that the ACLU is a bad word, bad people have conspired to “take God out of the schools”, atheists could be devil-worshippers, and yes, evolution is misguided and a sinful, harmful teaching.

As for support for the arts, intellectual discourse, stuff like that? Ha, ha, ha, ha – even at the local college, if you say something like “intellectual discourse” you’ll get a lot of classmates looking at you like they just realized you are from Mars, and if there’s a brave one, he/she will say, “Ah dunno whutchew jus’ say-ed”. Ok, ok, I’m being unfair describing how some speak, but really, don’t they even listen to the news or any half-decent television show to hear more than 2-syllable words? I’m not being overboard here – if you bring your young children to live here, you must be extremely careful at home to foster better language, because your children will learn to say “ain’t” and not bother to conjugate verbs (I don’t, you don’t, he don’t) and will use double negatives (it don’t matter none).

Yes, there are interesting, higher-minded people, but the percentage is so low that it makes it a constant fight warding off the oppression/repression and low achievement/apathy/low mentality of most of the local population. Also, the restrictive, narrow-minded religious attitude is crippling to “intelligent discourse” in general. And yes, this is a dry county. If you like the occasional mixed drink or wine with your meal, basically you can forget it. Live in Knoxville (although in Knoxville a few months ago I was seated next to two women in a restaurant discussing life there after moving from California a couple of years ago, and they were horrified. One of them has a son in high school who said he was leaving Knoxville for university in California as soon as he finished high school.) A few places here are allowed to sell you beer or wine coolers, and there are liquor stores, but the powers-that-be seem to assume that only low-lifes want alcohol, and upstanding people wouldn’t want to be seen imbibing with their meal, would they? Liquor is sinful, doncha know? Freedom – even in “big city” Knoxville (really more like a big town) – is not valued or practiced like it is in many other areas of North America. It is easy to offend by saying things that are considered normal comments and/or discussion elsewhere.

I married a local man, and love the beautiful countryside and some aspects of the slower pace, but after 10 years I am starving for a greater number of more higher-minded, artsy, motivated people. I know a few lovely people here who feel the same way. We can speak to each other about these things, and we do what we can, but I am planning on leaving the area for at least 1/2 the year at a time in order to be among people who enjoy theory, intellect, cultural diversity, etc.

That’s my take, for what it’s worth. And by the way, even the people in Jefferson City (6-7 miles west of here) look down on Morristown, and consider it “rough” and “backwoods”, etc. Jefferson City has Carson Newman Baptist College, and has had many international students and visitors, and more educated people perhaps (Carson-Newman is a 4-year college).

Sorry if I seem “negative”. I have attempted to be precise in identifying factors, attitudes and realities of life here if you are not used to such a lifestyle. I am very glad more people are moving into the area so they can raise standards and raise awareness. However, I am old enough that I cannot wait the 10-20 years for the benefits, the old guard dying off, etc., which is why I will be choosing time away for various parts of the year, at least.

The few comments that followed led the moderator to close the post.  The other ones I have read on Yelp and other public sites have had a similar tone.  The internet seems to bring out all kinds, those in need and those who attack.  It does not shock me that more kids are committing suicide and in turn those who frequently use social media are more depressed.  You cannot go into every encounter expecting the worse and end up finding it.  It is not healthy and in turn social alienation leads to serious problems for both the individual and the community.  Shootings anyone?

I live in a repressive angry community.  And repeatedly Tennessee makes it on the Top 10 lists of the bottom of some quality of life survey.   There is little motivation or even willingness to address and in turn change this.  The amount of historical statues and markers are everywhere and no one cares about them until they do.  This is the standard response in the South.  I have seen it with regards to Transit and Bike Lanes.  We have true problems here and yet the same people who would benefit from it do nothing and are not engaged until someone decides that they need them and in turn provide them with misinformation and use them to wave the race card in order to stop the process of change.  Change is not a word that is used here and if so it is at a register. They are defensive about their lives here to the point it is almost tragic if not also comedic.

And that brings me to John Oliver on Sunday.   To come home from beautiful music and hear his take down of the issues that surround the notion of history as it surrounds the Confederacy made me laugh as it was just the facts.  Funny how facts are funny when someone from the outside points them out. I get it. I really do.

As the woman commented in the post I come from a place of experience and knowledge.  My observations are just those, observations that have led me to question myself and my own system of beliefs.  I have heard the same comments she has only my favorite is, “I have never heard that before.” “Yes well now you have,”  is my standard response and they never seem to know what to say beyond that response other than further negativity.  I recall when I read my 300 words of my essay, The Carpetbagger, and the reaction was a drop the mic moment where they clearly were offended.  I never went back.  Funny I saw the group leader/teacher at the Symphony and I walked immediately out of sight range when I did.  I don’t like who I am becoming and I came already broken and need to heal and irony that in his place of deep Christianity I cannot possible find the healing I need.

True I am in the middle of dental reconstruction and that is affecting my perspective and lending to frustration and further depression but if I am to find myself I need to be wholly functioning and in turn I may find a place here or not.  But I doubt it.   This is not about the people who live here it is about a cultural obsession with history to the point of absurd.  I want nothing to do with history other than study and learn from it.   That is not happening here as I know first hand I am in the schools.  I think that says it all.  

Erin Go What?

As we are now targeting Muslims, not all Muslims just selected ones ironically none from any of the Countries the 9/11 Terrorists are from and during the same week the Il Douchebag met with the Saudi Arabian contingent and I am sure no ban was mentioned nor their tacit if not direct support of branches of Islam that are violent and aggressive – Wahhabism – that gave us Al Queada.  But hey those details are just alternative facts for that White House.

As we raise a glass of Guinness let us recall the history of the Irish in America and how they too were once a group considered not hyphenated Americans that parade today.  This editorial in the New York Times recalls the Irish are not just wearing the green and this op-ed  recalls when the Irish celebration was not always a  part of our history of diversity and acceptance.

Then we have the Chinese American and the Exclusionary Act that changed the dynamic of those who were brought here as indentured servants to construct what is now our Transcontinental Railways. 

Or how about Japanese Internment?  Ah they too were the enemy of the American People but their Prime Minister who only a few months ago toured Pearl Harbor with President Obama visited the White House and hopefully since recovered from the handshake from hell, which makes one wonder if that too was an apology for that whole nuclear bomb thing?

And lastly our own isolation and destruction of American Indians.  Yes no wonder Trump wished to visit the Hermitage, as Jackson was largely responsible for the near genocide of the first Americans.

Our history is fraught with stories of how we enslaved, entombed, destroyed those who we forced into labor, African’s and Caribbean’s, our own still imperialism that has nearly destroyed Puerto Rico among others that we have exploited for cheap labor – Guam anyone.  And the American Pacific Islanders whose role in Hawaii cannot be ignored but are.

It was interesting talking to a friend who still teaches in Seattle and they are now trying to develop ethnic studies as mandatory to the curriculum along now with civics to educate those who expressed shock at some of the facts that are seemingly ignored in the current texts that are part of the mandatory testing materials.  What used to be part of that big umbrella of World History which allowed  a Teacher to introduce not only American history but that of other Continents, such as European, African and of course Russian history to round out their knowledge of this our global economy.  

You spend weeks in middle school teaching Greek, Roman, Indian History and yet we spend no time on any ancient European history past a certain time frame and none on Asian or Russian History let alone Africa or Australia.  But STEM anyone?

Americans are morons and it shows.  I know history but I can’t say my peers do.  I chose to know this and felt compelled to.  If you go to College you may get some of it but not all of it as it too is just a choice of what fits into the credit one needs to graduate.  So now in Seattle the idea of ethnic studies concerned my friend as it comes from a place where it emphasizes white privilege and guilt.  Hey how about just the facts we have enough emotion right now in our White House you see what it gets – victimization and blame making.  Yes that works out well.

We are all neighbors and we are all interconnected and that is what makes the world great, let’s keep it that way. 

Have a shot of Jameson’s on me.

Who Cares?

My favorite bit from SNL is Fred Armisen’s mimicry of Joy Behar who constantly says “who cares.”.  In my bathroom I have a great print that says, “Give No Fucks”.  I have to remind myself of these of late.

I am sitting in another classroom with another Student Teacher, she is not the anal re-tentative kind that I seem to encounter of late, this is the dumb white girl. Had a few of those. This is what is being drawn into the Teaching profession.

Talking to an old timer last night at the Laundromat she said that at a school I used to sub at but finally packed it in has become such at hot mess that 12 Teachers left and there is only one I know still there.   And that the Teachers that have come in are unbelievably inept and so by the book with little social skills. Shocking but yes this is consistent.

I cannot fully blame MEllinneals as frankly I think it is a double whammy of personality type and professional training of who is attracted to the field and the shitty job of prepping them for it. I see the current Ph.d field of Curriculum Instruction of Multicultural Education as a new option. So if I am to understand it that is a field that believes those of multicultural education need special/different curriculum.

 So an Asian kid would need something different that his/her Black/White/Native/Indian/Latino/Pacific Islander cohort.  Do we need to further break it down into the classifications and countries of origin when it comes “Asian” “Latino” “African” vs “American Black” vs everyone else. Its’ separate but its equal!

And after the last two days just once again I don’t mind sitting here being passive as she has forgotten to ask my name and then promptly forgotten it and asked again.  She is being filmed next week I am sure it will be stellar.  Oh wait “who cares” “I don’t give a fuck.”

So I was then laughing when I saw this op-en in the New York Times.

Back to the Future, Please, Candidates
The New York Times
 NOV. 6, 2015

By ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON
 

To run for president this year, it’s not enough to be a neurosurgeon, a senator or a former secretary of state. One must be a neurosurgeon who chased his mother with a hammer as a child; a senator whose father was beaten toothless in prison and fled Cuba with $100 sewn into his underwear; or a former secretary of state whose mother went without food as a first grader.

Nowhere does the Constitution specify that to run for president one must possess a bio out of Charles Dickens or Horatio Alger. But ever since Bill Clinton rode his hardscrabble history as an abused kid from Hope, Ark., into the White House, it has become increasingly fashionable for candidates to display authenticity by plumbing their family histories for (often questionable) examples of “I made it, America, and you can, too.”

But, really, who cares?

Everybody loves an inspiring narrative. But for that, why not dig into the stack of real accomplishments by the candidates themselves, that group of overachievers running for the presidency?

These people have argued before the Supreme Court and negotiated with world leaders; run cities, states, corporations and a premier medical institution. Yet go to Bernie Sanders’s website and smack between his graduation from college and being elected mayor of Burlington, Vt., there’s Bernie the “carpenter and documentary filmmaker.”

In the second Republican debate Carly Fiorina — whose chief qualification for higher office is that she ran Hewlett-Packard, at least until she was fired — doubled down on her secretary-to-C.E.O. story by adding that “my husband, Frank, of 30 years, started out driving a tow truck for a family-owned auto body shop.” She skipped over the part about her privileged upbringing and Stanford degree.

In launching her candidacy in New York, Hillary Rodham Clinton led her speech not with her role in handling an ever more dangerous world as secretary of state, but with “my grandfather going to work in the same Scranton lace mill every day for 50 years.”

And poor Donald Trump, who was born with a silver spoon and turned it into a gold one, railing about Marco Rubio’s credit cards. As a state legislator, Mr. Rubio put groceries, wine and personal car repairs on a Florida Republican Party charge card. Yet when asked about his financial management during the last debate, he reminded voters again that he’s the son of a bartender and a maid.

CNN broadcast the inconclusive results of two reporters’ weekslong quest to find the classmates Ben Carson tried to stab and hit with a rock when he was 14. But is that violent childhood, with its required tale of religious redemption, a more important qualification than what Mr. Carson said this week on his Facebook page: “I spent night after night in a quiet, sterile room trying to save the life of a small child. That was my life’s service. This is my life’s experience.”

The question of Mr. Carson’s fitness for the presidency certainly has more to do with his professional experience and policy ideas than what he experienced as a child.

All this myth making is a politician’s way of showing authenticity. But it’s now time to press these candidates harder on their own records and so-far vague proposals on jobs and taxes, education and crime than on how many miles they walked to school as children. What’s past is past, as Grandma would say. A presidential race is about the future.

I have long lamented about the hard knock tales of woe and can I have some more gruel sir stories that abound from Politicians and their aspirants, such as Dr. Ben Carson and his supposed hard knock life that he professes to overcome. Just the facts of it without the addendum’s of stabbings, shootings, etc really aren’t necessary but if you can’t be the victim, be the martyr.  I know I pulled that “trump” card yesterday with the hideously unkind self absorbed Co-Teacher yesterday.  I didn’t lie it was just that the story I wove was not one that was a linear continuum. Yes the things happened to me but not at one time just over time at different times with of course some extra vinegar poured in to make it especially sour. Yes as I say to kids, I don’t lie but I do make stuff up – it’s way more entertaining.

So I do get it, the manipulations on some level. It is to embarrass or shame (which is why I do it) guilt trip (ditto) or to endear and connect on some level to those whom you need to reach for votes or money or popularity, fame etc.    No one goes through life without a set of experiences – both positive and negative – that lend to building their personal narrative. Some are more interesting than others but it is not a measure of one’s value or lack thereof for not having the Annie/Oliver story to show how the unicorn of meritocracy saved you from a life of gruel and floor cleaning.

I, like my political counterpoints, seem to have a stump speech that I repeat ad infinitude, often on a daily basis. The same pronouncement of my CV, my professional history and my skill set and likely the same manner in which the great unwashed respond to those on the stump, it falls on deaf ears.  I am bored of listening to myself so I have no idea how they function ideally doing the same thing. Perhaps that may largely contribute to the popularity of Donald Trump. That or he is well crazy.  I think that matters not in the least in America but rich does and that is truly the appeal.

That is what we do care about money the rest – Who Cares?!!