Let Them Vote!

In addition to the more overt attempts at voter suppression in places like Georgia and Kansas at the hands of a pair of unscrupulous state secretaries (Kent and Kobach), there exist another alarming factor that is likely to inhibit the vote on December 6.
Footage of early voting at polling places throughout the country has revealed absurdly long lines of voters waiting for hours to cast their ballots. A top priority of any election policy maker in a well functioning democracy should be to ensure the ease with which voters can access their polling sites and to facilitate a smooth and efficient process.
Voting is a sacred privilege that should be protected, preserved, and made easy for citizens to exercise; not a burdensome drudgery intentionally rendered more difficult by those who seek not to enhance the vote but rather discourage it.

McConnell, Irony, and An Unlikely Republican Role Model

Mitch McConnell said that he was surprised that the recent massive tax cuts have not 'paid for themselves'. Really?!...a major source of revenue is eliminated, spending is increased by 3-5% and you're surprised that a larger deficit has ensued?! Looks like the old 'trickle down' argument/perfidy has failed once again. Real conservatives would be well advised to refer to the last administration to balance the budget for guidance...you know the 'Democrat' who out 'Republicaned' the Republicans in the nineties with welfare 'reform', fiscal austerity, and deregulation. That's right, none other than Slick Willy...the guy Republicans have been taught to hate but who actually enacted more conservative measures than the current administration has even begun to contemplate. How's that for cruel irony?!

Want to cut 'entitlements'??!!..start by ending the policy of subsidizing the massive cost overruns from an obscenely bloated defense budget!! And while you're at it...seriously consider extending the government sponsored health care benefits for members of Congress to the rest of the population!!

A Dubious Ally

Trump's reluctance to publicly denounce Saudi Arabia and the brutal dictatorship of its monarchy should come as little surprise as the support of and dependence on this country's reigning royal leadership has willingly existed for many decades under the auspices of both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Our complicity in the proxy war with Iran currently being waged in Yemen, which has resulted in the displacement of millions and the death of hundreds of thousands through overt violence, the presence of untreated disease, and an  ongoing famine had been the most recent example of our role in aiding in the enactment of war crimes against one of the poorest countries in the world. This aid has come in the form of massive arms sales and actual on the ground assistance in bomb targeting and a variety of special ops clandestine activity within the Yemeni boarders. Of course, the reliance on Saudi oil reserves has been a perennial and underlying cornerstone of our friendly policy to this thoroughly undemocratic regime.

The revelation of the likely murder of long time Saudi journalist and consultant to the royal family, Jamal Khashoggi, at the hands of Saudi operatives within the walls of the Saudi Embassy in Turkey has underscored the moral dilemma of our support of the Saudi regime in light of this current atrocity as well as the aforementioned brutality being perpetrated upon the Yemeni population.

Instead of condemning, reevaluating our relationship with the Saudi government, or stating our intention to hold the those responsible for this crime accountable, Trump rather shamelessly announced the economic necessity to maintain the symbiotic relationship with one of our largest clients in spite of its apparent horrific transgression. In so doing, Trump elevated the value of economic gain over that of an adherence to the value of human rights. In light of ongoing antagonism directed to members of the press in calling them, among other things, 'enemies of the people', Trump's statement is hardly surprising. Fortunately, his hand might be forced to abide by the Magnitsky Act which mandates global enforcement of the US law allowing the imposition of sanctions and the freezing of assets upon any country engaging in the violation of human rights.

In a ideal world, the brutal murder of a Washington Post correspondent and a permanent resident of the United States at the hands the Saudi regime would cause us to abandon our relationship with such a dubious 'ally'. Under our current leadership, such a principled position seems sadly unlikely.

A Profile In Courage

In response to commentary that suggests that, because of Dr. Ford's vague and partial memory of the details of her assault, we cannot verify her truthfulness, I offer the following... Incomplete memory of specific events surrounding an instance of sexual abuse/assault is a well documented and confirmed characteristic of victims of such an event. The one memory that Dr. Ford was certain of was the identity of her attacker. The existence of the former does not diminish the veracity of the latter. Aside from the frankly paranoid claim of some sort of involvement in a left wing conspiracy, what possible reason did Christine Blasey Ford have to lie under oath and thereby to expose herself to doubt, ridicule, and the threat of death? Her courage will forever stand in stark contrast to the desperate, hysterical, mendacious, and often unhinged testimony of the alleged perpetrator.
She had the temerity to challenge a system of generational privilege and misogyny with nothing to gain save the revelation of her truth, which has mirrored the experience of so many left to suffer their trauma in isolation for decades. She forever will be remembered for this act of courage while Kavanaugh retreats to his exalted and orchestrated place on the highest court in the land and will now speak behind the cover of a tainted black robe.

My Worst Fears Realized

In the  aftermath of the recent absurdly truncated FBI investigation the parameters of which were blatantly dictated by the White House, we are now experiencing the manifestation of the adage 'history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes'.
Much like the premature closing of the Thomas confirmation hearings in 1991 by Joe Biden as he lifted his gavel, leaving 10 witness in support of Anita Hill literally standing in the hallway, so too the Kavanaugh hearing will almost certainly be brought to an end with a reported (well sourced) list of over 40 witnesses, in support of the allegation of sexual misconduct/assault against the current nominee, never to be allowed to share their testimony.
This obviously incomplete inquiry makes a mockery of any stated desire to fully investigate the issues relevant to the nominee's character and fitness for office. As a result, Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court will forever be tainted with doubt regarding the veracity of the claims made against him not to mention the evidence implicit in his most recent senate testimony of extreme partisan bias. Perhaps more importantly, the integrity of the Supreme Court itself will now be put into question by virtue of this man's presence on it.
As Mr. Dylan said: 'It's not dark yet but it's getting there'.

The Need For A Paradigm Shift

When a crime is committed, when one human being has wronged, abused, violated, or otherwise injured another fellow member of the larger community, both people are victims: the latter as a result of the crime at hand and the former as a result of perhaps years of neglect, abuse, conditioning, and/or any number of factors that have contributed to the degradation of this particular soul, resulting in the current misdeed.

A truly compassionate society recognizes that both victim and perpetrator are in need of healing...each represents a wound at once proximate and distant that requires attention and care in order for the community to remedy a breech of trust and begin traveling on a path leading toward reconciliation and wholeness.

Would that we be such a brave people, a courageous nation of visionaries to look beyond the paradigms of guilt/innocence, victim/perpetrator, good/bad in order to embrace the underlying reality of our common humanity.

The Need For Emptiness In A Time Of Clamor

During the witnessing of genius made manifest by the masterful virtuosity of Yo Yo Ma last night at the Greek Theater as he performed Bach's six solo cello suites, the audience had the opportunity to be taken into the rarified empty space that both artist and composer inhabit and which enables each to become a conduit through which the Devine may express Itself.
This, in turn, reminds one of Emily Dickinson's exquisite poem about a very similar state of being:
                      I'm Nobody! Who are you?
                      Are you - Nobody - too?
                      Then there's a pair of us!
                      Don't tell! they'd banish - you know!

                      How dreary - to be - Somebody!
                      How public - like a Frog -
                      To tell one's name  - the livelong June -
                      To an admiring Bog!

Ms Dickinson brilliance here brings to mind the utter contrast between the empty space of artistic creation and the mad clamor of the contemporary political scene and perhaps the dire need for the latter to learn valuable lessons from the former.
Yo Yo Ma's expressed desire in the presentation of Bach's Suites at this time was 'to provide sustenance and comfort in a time of stress'. Much like Pablo Casals' Song of the Birds (played as thank you to the Berkeley audience by Yo Yo after two and one half hours of continuous recitation), which was performed as inspiration to the Spanish people in the grip of Franco's fascism, so too Yo Yo has offered us solace, comfort, sustenance, and hopeful vision in our darkened time of turmoil and
encroaching despair.
The Frog will continue to announce itself with loud vacuous bluster to the Bog of the day but, in the end, it is the clarity of the open, empty space, brought to life by some heavenly ambassador; some gifted Nobody, that will ultimately lead us into the light.