Fragments

“Educated people, of any color, are so extremely rare that it is unquestionably one of the first tasks of a nation to open all of its schools to all of its citizens.” James Baldwin

Sooner or later, everyone will be a stranger in a new place. A visitor, a tourist.

What did Trump and Putin talk about in Helsinki?

Is Trump Putin’s bitch?

The Dow fell by 137 points today. Should I care? Should you?

Is the universe benevolent or indifferent?

Can reality be bent?

Can anyone tell me how the US war in Afghanistan, America’s longest war, is going? Are we winning, losing, playing to a draw? Will the US ever leave? What is it that Afghanistan has that we want so desperately? Opium? Minerals?

The train was orange. The windows were fogged over. My stop was third from the end of the line. I was 18 years old, ten thousand miles from home. On a clear day I could see Mt. Fuji in the distance. In 1978, I climbed to the top with two friends. We found drifts of bottles, cans, paper, cigarette butts. The summit of the most sacred mountain in Japan was a garbage dump.

The incompetence of the Trump White House is off the charts. Remember when the Orange Menace claimed he would only hire the “best people”?

Did Trump and Putin talk about porn stars in Helsinki? Did they whip out their dicks and compare size? Was Trump stunned when his dick proved to be the smaller? Is this why he looked shell-shocked when he and Putin emerged to meet the media? “It’s very unfair that Vlad’s dick is bigger than mine.”

Two mobsters meet to divide the spoils, define their territories, and pledge restraint so both can make money.

They found him sitting behind the wheel of his 1975 Cadillac Calais Coupe, the car he adored and had restored all by himself. If you didn’t see the bullet hole in his temple, he appeared to be smiling.

In America, money equals rectitude, status, accomplishment, and morality. My dad always told me that if you have money you can do whatever you want.

My dad died penniless. All those cigarettes, all that vodka, for all those years. He looks back at me when I look in the mirror.

We don’t get to pick our parents, the place of our birth, the circumstances, princess or servant. Life is a roll of the dice, a game of chance, a longshot wager on an unknown horse.

“Fuck you.” “No, fuck you.” “You want to fight?” “Not really, I’m kind of tired.” “How ‘bout we fight tomorrow?” “OK, tomorrow I kick your ass.” “In your dreams motherfucker.”

It’s a measure of how perverse the Trump Administration is that former CIA Director John Brennan, serial liar, torture advocate, is now seen as a torchbearer for Truth. The world is upside down.