We're Outta' Here

“As soon as we believe that we cannot be citizens of the world, we lose the world of which we might have been citizens.” Andrew Solomon

My wife and I haven’t been abroad since 1998, when Bill Clinton was president, the dot-com bubble hadn’t burst, and the Twin Towers in New York were still standing, representing American power, not an American tragedy, and my father-in-law, Guero, was alive. In the big scheme of things twenty years isn’t a long time, but America -- and most of the world -- is a different place now. Very different. Much more on the surface, tilting toward raw, racist, cruel, crass, and deadly. Twenty years ago climate change was far in the future, a whispered warning among scientists, a problem we had time to deal with. We could deny it, push it to the back burner, go on extracting and burning fossil fuels, polluting the oceans, rivers and lakes, pretend that endless consumer consumption was sustainable. Today there are those, like Donald J. Trump and his enablers in the Republican Party, who continue to deny the evidence in front of them, the massive hurricanes, floods, wildfires, sinkholes, and warming of the oceans, but the rest of the world understands that catastrophic climate change is real, and it’s happening right now. Trump, as stupid and incoherent as ever, surveys the devastation caused by the Camp Fire in California and declares that we will have “great climate,” as if the climate is a product that can be bottled and sold on the cheap at Target. Meanwhile, his lawless administration does everything it can to hasten our demise.

The US has been a belligerent military power for more than twenty years, but in the post-9/11 hysteria the belligerence was given a double dose of steroids by Dick Cheney and George W. Bush. The US invaded Afghanistan, ostensibly to hunt down Osama bin Laden and make it untenable for terrorists to use Afghanistan as a base, then the mission changed to rooting out the Taliban, building infrastructure and democratic processes, all of which have been spectacular failures. The Afghan people have suffered for 17 years, their country, not stable to begin with after years of war with the Soviet Union, is even worse off -- and the US remains, unable to win or find a plausible way to withdraw. I have lost count of the number of times I have asked my elected representatives to explain why we are still in Afghanistan. The responses are pathetic.

Then, based on a mountain of lies and false evidence, and with most of the world against them, Cheney and Bush invaded Iraq and set the Middle East reeling. The promised cakewalk didn’t happen, nor did Iraqi citizens line the boulevards and toss flowers at the feet of American soldiers. Iraq was torn apart, sundered by sectarian violence, corruption, and rampant death. It remains the greatest military blunder in American history, and as if that were not bad enough, the invasion and occupation also proved to the world that America wasn’t any better than other countries who murder, torture and destroy. Killed the myth, except in the US, where every last soldier, sailor, marine, and Air Force desk jockey was treated as a conquering hero. The full-US-PR monty, football stadiums, airports, everywhere, support the troops. Don’t ask what they’re doing or where, just support them, no matter what. Naturally, Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld and all the rest of the perpetrators have walked away, written books, made money as media pundits, or, in Bush’s case, painted portraits and had his reputation rehabilitated. Fifteen years later, the US remains in Iraq, in neighboring Syria, and Libya, and other places in North Africa, and, let's not forget, our role in Yemen.

Nearly two decades of non-stop warfare has had domestic consequences, not in rejuvenating the anti-war movement, but in nurturing hyper-militarism and hyper-masculinity, the dangerous notion that all problems can be solved by state violence, against unarmed black people, Mexican immigrants and innocent children. Hate groups are ascendant, fueled by the rhetoric of Donald J. Trump and the grifters on Fox News. Absurd conspiracy theories flourish, like the idea that immigrants and people of color are waging genocide on white people. America is now a place where facts come to die. The president makes up his own reality in which he is always the biggest winner, the strongest man, the tough guy, the guy who knows stuff because of his very large brain.

For fourteen of the past twenty years I have written about all this stuff, and more, on this blog, now more than 700 posts. Shouts from the Balcony was my wife’s idea; ironically, she never reads this blog. Neither do my kids, which is amusing because they were the main reason I wanted to record some aspect of our times, so they would know, one day, what their father was thinking about and doing to exercise some agency in the world, to raise his voice, no matter how faint or ineffectual, against injustice. Think, I tell them, about all the people in this world, today, as we speak, who have almost no say over any aspect of their lives. Every massive wildfire, every hurricane-induced flood, every report of melting glaciers, I worry for their future. As many countries in the world, desperately trying to cope with climate change and income inequality and refugees and aggrieved citizens -- all of which can be traced back to the death machine that is unfettered capitalism -- turn to authoritarian figures for solutions, I worry for their future. As I look at the economy, knowing that its fundamentals are all wrong and completely unsustainable, I know a reckoning is approaching and I worry some more.

And over it all, my entire life, the threat of nuclear annihilation.

But in the short run there is a trip to Italy to make, the trip we were supposed to make in 1991, before we started raising a family, when we were much younger and I had more hair and a dark beard rather than a gray one. I am so looking forward to being outside the US for a couple of weeks, away from the non-stop insanity and stupidity, the rampant ignorance and poisoned atmosphere. Who knows, I may come back with a story or two to tell.

More Profound Than Ruin*

“The emptier our hearts become, the greater will be our crimes.” James Baldwin

In the same way Israel slowly chokes the Palestinians out of existence while the world sits on its hands and averts its eyes, the world is witnessing the slow demise of Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, who has been in exile in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for nearly eight years -- without, it must be noted -- ever being charged with a crime. Assange, a journalist by trade, has been cut off from the outside world for months and is reported to be in declining health. He is largely denied access to sunlight, fresh air, and medical attention. Ecuador, under pressure from the United States, is said to be in the process of revoking Assange’s citizenship. If Assange is booted from the Ecuadorian embassy it’s likely the British government will turn him over to the United States, which will no doubt mean lifetime confinement or execution for espionage.

Assange and Wikileaks exposed the slimy underbelly of American foreign policy in Iraq and Libya, embarrassed the Clinton campaign, and the political elites will never forget that. They prefer to cover their brutality and mendacity under the guise of freedom, liberty and democracy. The persecution of Assange is a bipartisan gig, one of the few matters Democrats and Republicans agree on. If the United States gets its mitts on Assange, he’ll get the Chelsea Manning treatment, and then some for good measure. All investigative journalists should be watching this cruel injustice with extreme care as the distance separating them from Julian Assange isn’t long. Expose the ugly or uncomfortable truth about empire, feel the wrath. No journalist is safe, and particularly not when the President of the United States calls the media the “enemy of the people” and Saudi Arabia murders a journalist in its own consulate in Turkey.

So behemoth Amazon has chosen sites for its next headquarters, extracting billions of dollars in tax concessions from New York and Virginia in exchange for what it promises will be thousands of high-paying jobs and urban renewal. The latter no doubt means hyper-gentrification, soaring rents and housing prices, and longer commutes for working stiffs who will not be able to afford the price tag. The promised number of jobs will likely be fewer than advertised, which is usually what happens when corporations play cities and states against one another. This sorry game has been going on for decades. Corporations dangle the carrot of jobs, jobs, jobs, and then slam states and cities across the back with demands for tax breaks and infrastructure improvements. It’s basic extortion, and taxpayers usually wind up holding the bag or suffering diminished social services.

Amazon is the avatar of nearly everything wrong with the American economy. Gargantuan size, low wage seasonal workers, shameless exploitation, cutthroat practices. It has been allowed to become a monopoly that has driven thousands of small businesses out of existence, turned main streets into virtual ghost towns, wiping out retail jobs, local brick & mortar stores, bookstores, all because it can withstand selling products at a loss. I’ve seen this happen on State Street in Santa Barbara, the retail backbone of my hometown. Amazon is now competing with FedEx and UPS to control the delivery pipeline. If the US enforced its antitrust laws, Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods would never have been approved. No single corporation should amass the power that Amazon has over so many aspects of the economy. This kind of concentrated economic power naturally turns into political power. Many years ago, singer-songwriter Greg Brown wrote that one day there will be one corporation selling one little box, it will give you everything you want and take everything you’ve got. That’s Amazon. Yes, Amazon makes acquiring stuff easy and quick, but as a society we pay dearly for this magical efficiency. I buy stuff from Amazon, so I’m as guilty as most American consumers, though whenever I hit that one-click button I feel a little sick to my stomach.

Trump sure looks like a frightened man with piss running down his leg. He’s sullen and petulant and more erratic than ever, his statements little more than gibberish. He reminds me of a comedian who has run out of material, who reaches deep into his bag and finds nothing but lint, and can do nothing but repeat himself. Naturally, Trump made a fool of himself on his recent ceremonial visit to France. The French mocked him. Back home, Trump spews unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. The White House is rumored to be a total shit show, a scene of confusion and disarray, turmoil and backstabbing. Trump must sense that the Democrats are coming (if Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer don’t capitulate before the first shot is fired, as Democrats almost always do) with Robert Mueller not far behind, and the rotten facade of Trump World on the verge of collapse.

Here’s a thought to consider from writer Jacob Bacharach, “Poverty—both individual and social—is a policy, not an accident, and not some kind of natural law. These are deliberate choices about the allocation of resources.”

*thank you, William Faulkner

The Blue Trickle

“The three richest Americans now have as much wealth as 50 percent of the population -- some 160 million people.” Katrina vanden Heuvel

Although voter turnout for last Tuesday’s midterm election was the highest it has been in nearly half a century, millions of eligible voters didn’t bother. The Blue Wave didn’t materialize -- journalist Abby Martin called it a Blue Trickle -- but the Democrats will assume control of the House of Representatives come January, which means they will have the power, if allowed by Nancy Pelosi to wield it, to issue subpoenas and investigate Trump’s financial records. This possibility may be the reason Trump attacked reporters at a White House press conference on Wednesday and demanded Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions’ resignation. The country isn’t on the brink of a Constitutional crisis -- it’s immersed in one and has been since Trump repeated the oath of office and then began to make a mockery of it.

Some positives came out of Tuesday’s election results, with the detestable Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, being booted from office, and Mr. Voter Suppression, Kris Kobach, losing his bid to become Governor of Kansas. Stacey Abrams is still in the Georgia governor’s race. Millions of ex-felons in Florida got their eligibility to vote back, a fact which will have implications in the future. And perhaps most significant of all, more than 100 women will serve in the US House of Representatives.  

But Tuesday also told a story about America’s utterly decrepit and corrupt voting system, which isn’t a system as much as it is a patchwork that differs from state to state. My polling place here in California was busy, but I had my ballot in less than five minutes. No lost voting machines, missing power cords, my polling location wasn’t mysteriously changed the night before. My name hadn’t been purged. When a local or state government actually wants people to participate in democracy, it’s not that complicated a process. But when a state government, like Florida, Michigan or Georgia designs to make voting as tedious as possible, it’s not that hard to disenfranchise people. Ironic that the United States, which for decades lectured other nations about democracy and fixed elections, needs the United Nations to observe its elections to insure they are fair and free.

The 307th mass shooting in the US in 2018 happened on Wednesday night in Thousand Oaks, south of Santa Barbara. The shooter was an ex-Marine. We hear the usual “thoughts and prayers” sentiments, but I have yet to hear anyone propose a link between the shooter’s military service in a bogus war and his murderous actions. Our endless, unjustified wars have consequences.

Imagine the outcry from the Right if Barack Obama had treated the White House press corps the way Donald Trump does? Mitch McConnell and Sean Hannity would be absolutely apoplectic, screaming about the First Amendment and the sanctity of a free press in a democracy. They would demand apologies, make the circuit of the TV news gabfests talking about the need for civility in our political discourse; they would accuse Obama of being divisive, of undermining the Constitution, of destroying the nation.  

Election Day 2018: A Disc Brake on Trumpism?

“You cannot use the word ‘liberty’ when it is impossible to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs or General Dynamics.” Chris Hedges

I don’t know what will happen with the voting today. Will every person who is eligible to vote be able to cast a ballot, and will that ballot be accurately tallied? In the good old days of American mythology, this was taken for granted. Of course every vote was counted properly. How could it be otherwise? We were the nation that lectured other countries about democracy, who took it upon ourselves to oversee their elections. Democracy was in the American wheelhouse, the measure of our sophistication and greatness. Nobody did it better.

Our history is, of course, replete with examples of complete disdain for democracy, from excluding African-Americans and indigenous people to the anti-democratic Electoral College to the fact that we didn’t directly elect US senators until 1913. The 2000 presidential election of George W. Bush was stolen in broad daylight, and in 2016, Donald J. Trump lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College. In between, the Republican Party, aided by Republican Governors and Secretaries of State, has put in place mechanisms to purge voters from the rolls, require ID, disenfranchise former felons, and gerrymander voting districts.

The only way a minority party like the GOP can win elections is by cheating. With Trump at its head, the GOP is now an unabashedly white party. If the electoral playing field was level, the GOP would never win, it would not dictate political, economic, and judicial life in America to the majority of citizens. This isn’t to say that life would be grand if only the Democratic Party held the reins of power. While there are differences between the two parties, on matters of economics and war, in particular, the parties are remarkably similar, and in fact, are fueled by the same corporate donors. This is the reason Chris Hedges writes that an American voter cannot vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs or General Dynamics. Even if the Blue Wave materializes and sweeps Democrats into control of the House and Senate, our endless war in Afghanistan will go on, as will the failed War on Terror; the defense budget will remain untouchable. Democrats might make some noise about reversing Trump’s tax giveaways to the wealthy, but how vigorously will Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi battle Goldman Sachs and the other mega-banks?

Obviously, I’m hoping for the Dems to take at least one house of Congress and preferably both, not because I expect they will do much of anything about climate change, income inequality, white nationalism, immigration, voting rights, or the other issues pushing the country toward the brink. My hope is more limited: a disc brake on the Trump junta. That’s pretty much it. I have no faith that the Democrats, should they gain control, will have the spine to use their subpoena power to go after Trump’s myriad financial conflicts of interest. I can easily imagine Pelosi sputtering about the need for unity, to look ahead rather than back, to heal, etc. I’d wager that Pelosi will give Trump a pass the same way Obama gave the big banks a pass. The Democrats are nothing if not feckless. The only force that can alter this tendency for self-immolation is if progressives pull the party toward the left, out of the arms of the Clintonites and the Obamas and the Schumers and the Pelosis. That will be a hard task that requires organizing and mobilizing well beyond election day. The issues are there for the taking -- Medicare For All, free tuition at public universities and colleges, an unwinding of the carceral state, cuts to the Pentagon, and real action on climate change -- but establishment Democrats are unlikely to do much but tinker around the margins, as Obama did for 8 years.

Tomorrow morning the political furniture on the deck of the Titanic that is America may be poised for a new arrangement, but the structural icebergs that thwart true democracy and action on climate change, racism, militarism and poverty will still be in place.

The Genie Is Out Of The Bottle

“But no U.S. president has ever lied as prolifically, constantly, insidiously and dangerously as Donald Trump. He never stops. He’s the Energizer Bunny of endless falsehood.” Paul Street

The beat of xenophobia, racism, fear mongering and lies goes on, orchestrated and revved up by the Trump junta ahead of the midterm elections. The language coming from Trump and his enablers is violent, and it encourages marginalized, broken, and wounded people to emerge from the shadows, from behind closed doors, convinced that their time has come, that the injustices they’ve suffered, real or imagined, are about to be rectified.

Macho man Trump, who, like most authoritarian men, is a coward at heart, orders a ridiculous number of US troops to our southern border to defend against an “invasion” of Central American migrants. This is all spectacle for Trump’s base, another empty stunt in his reality show, since a. The migrants, young men, women, and children, have no capacity or inclination to invade a hamlet let alone the US, and b. The caravan will not come near the US border until well after the midterm elections, and by then might be much smaller than it is now. But the spectacle and the emotion it engenders now are the point. It reinforces the fears of many of Trump’s supporters and makes Trump look like a tough guy, the great white protector of his great white flock. Forget the fact that it’s like a man using a bazooka to kill a mouse.

The Commander-in-Chief is abusing his power and using US military personnel as props in his midterm election theater. How can any US service member, officer or enlisted, go along with this madness without feeling used and befouled? Hey Private Jones, is this why you enlisted, to “protect” the US border from economic, political, and environmental refugees? Did you sign up to be a pawn? Don’t be surprised if, after this pitiful episode, you are not thanked for your service and allowed to board airline flights ahead of others. So much for our noble warriors. Let’s hope that when the migrants arrive, a month or two from now, US soldiers don’t overreact like the police so often do and start shooting children. I won’t be surprised if this happens, sickened yes, surprised, no.

The violent genie is out of the bottle, not only in the US, but in Brazil, which has just elected a strongman of its own, Jair Bolsonaro, whose past statements about women and gay people are even more outrageous than Trump’s. Brazil may be in for a very rough ride, one that will no doubt exacerbate the very conditions that brought Bolsonaro to power. Trump, Bolsonaro, Netanyahu, Erdogan, Putin, MBS, Orban -- the authoritarians are on the march, bolstered by the seen and unseen hands of the world’s capitalist masters. A half century of neoliberal economics, the ascendancy of the Market (all-powerful, all-knowing, fair and equitable, etc.), has created a few spectacular winners and billions of desperate losers, and, of course, put too much power in too few hands. As people grasp that they’ve been played for suckers, that neoliberalism and so-called free-trade is a rigged game, they start to protest, and the state, serving the capitalists who have bought its services, cracks down. Harder and harder. This is only the beginning.

This from Jeffrey St. Clair at Counterpunch:

“From 1970 to 2014, 60 percent of all animals with a backbone — fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals — were wiped out by human activity, according to an ongoing survey of more than 4,000 species spread over 16,700 populations scattered across the globe.”

Ruminate on that 60% figure in light of what the Trump junta is doing to accelerate a climate disaster, and what Bolsonaro has promised to do in the Amazon.

The storm gathers on the horizon and dark clouds block out the harvest moon. Up on the hill, the lights in the shining city have almost all gone out.