Last time DJT got elected it took me around 3 months to get right. Now I don’t even know what recovery looks like. Once more into the breech? Surrender? Indifference?
This blog was never meant to be about politics. I like to think that is still not the driving force. But how do I divorce myself from these critical developments that will ultimately impact me and the people I love and care about. When someone tells me ‘they are not political‘, I don’t know how to take it? Does it mean you don’t care what happens? You live in some ethereal space where you are immune to all aspects of society? Healthcare? Student Loans? Monetary policy? Food security. Education. Economic Policy? Immigration, foreign policy, diseases, cancer research, health and safety, infrastructure? Nada? None of it matters?
I’ve been listening to all kinds of groovy old music lately. A lot of the sisters. Joan Baez, Dolly, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Emmy Lou Harris, Aretha Franklin, Sweet Erma Thomas. But also Townes Van Zandt, Mark Knopfler, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Buffert and James Taylor. I need the sweetness and love to help wash these election results off my mind.
There’s a side to us that always wants to say ‘it will be okay’. Because that’s what our mothers and grandmothers have always said. But will it? I imagine it might have been what a Jewish grandmother said even while the brown shirts were knocking down the front door to put her and her family on a train to a camp. Or perhaps it’s what Emmett Till’s Auntie told him when those white men came to take him outside for a chat.
With a new house comes new customs and habits. Black Dog Ridge continues to find ways to enamor us and we are finding our spirits there. We had a great weekend — relaxing and peaceful and if we try hard enough, can almost imagine that the world outside is not spinning wildly out of control. If there were pasture and sunlight on my property, I could consider homesteading. Maybe I could cut down a select few trees to allow some sunlight into our forest. I’ll talk to Kenny. He’s my advisor and friend who knows about these things.
I’d like to raise some animals for my own comfort and therapy but also make wine and beer and cheese and raise vegetables. Get close to the earth once again.
Twice a day Marti and I walk the 2.5 miles down to the bottom of the hill, along the creek. She stops to cool off and get a drink 1/2 way and I take a little rest. At home, Marti sits in her chair, perfectly positioned so she can see most of the house and keep and eye on me and Brittany. I sit opposite when I read, where I can watch Marti and also with a good view of the river and mountains across the valley.
I cut a lot of firewood this weekend. Laying up for winter. Brittany cleaned the house, swept the decks and porch, and sprayed for bugs. We met Kenny and Laura for drinks at Old World Libations on Friday but then hung around the house the rest of the weekend.
Saturday coffee is a BDR custom — most days. The Saturday bit just makes us feel a bit less irresponsible. Coffee with a little Amarula or bourbon cream or West Indies Rum. Weekends I often smoke a side of salmon or bake a sourdough loaf or make some other indulgent meals that take time and care.
Saturday night we had Mexican food for dinner, Italian sparkling water, French wine, Norwegian whisky, and Turkish dessert. Brittany made us excellent Margaritas and guacamole. Quite the international cuisine here at BDR. Then we sat in bed and worked the always very difficult Saturday NY Times crossword puzzle. I have zero chance of completing Saturday without Brit and even together we have to cheat a little. But we are getting better and it’s a nice tradition. Marti lies on her couch and watches us until she can no longer keep her eyes open.
I spent a good part of my life feeling like I was intellectually deficient to the general population. I always put that down to being raised poor and having a low grade education. Society reinforces a concept that rich people are smarter than the rest of us — of course completely disregarding all the critical elements for building wealth such as generational legacy, early access to good education, nepotism and favoritism etc., But I bought the story for a long time. Many people still do.
Now I feel sorta the opposite. I feel like somewhere slightly north of the population of the US are actually pretty dumb. Ignorant. Gullible. Easily manipulated. Ethically and morally deficient. Is moral deficiency related to ignorance? It seems there’s a connection but is it causal or coincidence?
Nicole Russell, a conservative independent journalist writing in USA Today. The article strongly supports Trump for President.
Trump has said that the news media are “the enemy of the people” and that NBC News “should be investigated” for treason. His chief legal defender, Mike Davis, has said that he’d put journalists in gulags, then said he was just trolling.
Those were for sure stupid statements from Trump and his team. But we should know by now that he often doesn’t mean what he says. He’s full of baloney a lot of the time. Although Trump’s rhetoric is inflammatory, he rarely makes good on his threats. But he was elected to fix the things he promised to fix, and it won’t take long for Americans to wonder if he was just full of hot air when he said he’d extend his tax cuts and secure the border.
This is modern journalism. A complete submission to accepting that candidates routinely lie just to get votes — and apparently that is now okay. But how are we supposed to know what is real and what is not?
I keep reading and hearing on news and podcasts how people are trying to cope with the results of the election. Many are doubling down on activism. Some are focusing on local community. Some are threatening to move out of the country. I think I am just slowly detaching. Just live my life like I always have and step back just a little. I will still vote of course but no need to stay fully immersed in the news cycle and all the negativity that comes with it. Not like it’s hard to know who to vote for when the time comes. Just pick the ones who are not criminals or insane.
There’s also another reason to be circumspect about the future of politics in America. Essentially, it seems clear the conservatives have won. Trump won the popular vote and Republicans now own the Senate. The House, as of this writing is up in the air. But it is unlikely to matter much. In his first term, Trump and McConnell prioritized stacking the federal courts with conservatives judges. It seems likely they will be even more aggressive now. That essentially puts significant policy change for liberals out of reach for decades. Even if Dem’s reclaim Congress and perhaps the presidency, legal challenges will follow all new policies that are not in line with Repub’s and will get tied up in courts for years. If Dem’s prevail at lower courts, they are unlikely to get a sympathetic hearing at the Supreme Court. Again, for decades. It is hard to imagine how this situation could get turned around.
Conservatives and religious nuts are now massively emboldened and will press their advantages. They control the federal government, most state and regional governments and, and, and….they have all the guns. They are happy to destroy America through legislation if possible, but equally capable of taking the route of violence if necessary.
Misinformation is rampant and conservatives are even taking steps to make it illegal to use federal funds to investigate misinformation campaigns. You see, misinformation is used exclusively to sow chaos and promote conservative ideology. Liberals do not use these tactics. How do you distort the truth to make it appear as misinformation?
I did a good bit of sitting by the fire this weekend. Sipping whisky and smoking a cigar and wishing I was smart enough to figure all this shit out. We all have a personal choice to get as involved as we want to or to stay detached. How much does it really matter how inhumanely Trump decides to treat immigrants? Or more pertinently, what can I do about it. Blogging is not the answer. I know this. Should I move to the south and chain myself to a DHS 4×4? Vote, blog, worry, complain. What else is there?
So off we go into wholly uncharted territory. It’s’ gonna be a wild ride. Depressing and sad to be sure. So my personal ambition will be to lean in when it seems perhaps I can have an impact, but mostly focus on enjoying life and continuing the work of MYO, Namib Futures and Silver Lining in Namibia. Things I know how to do and which I know have impact.
Humbly Submitted.
Robert Myres – Flanker, Portneuf Valley Rugby Football Club (ret.)
I got a school boy heart, a novelist eye
Stout sailor’s legs and a license to fly
I came with nomad feet and some wandering toes
That light up my longboard and hang off the nose
Jimmy Buffett
The Martini Tales 