The Isolation Diaries No. 6

“Nobody can know the full consequences of their actions, and history is full of small acts that changed the world in surprising ways.” Rebecca Solnit

I think fourteen days have passed since the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus a pandemic. The death toll in the United States passed 1,000 yesterday. A month ago, Donald J. Trump said the number of cases was going down.

According to the Santa Barbara Independent, there are 26 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Santa Barbara County. 

My thoughts ricochet around like a .45 caliber bullet in a metal drum, from personal concerns like our TP supply, to thoughts about my job, money, staying healthy ourselves and hoping our friends and relatives remain healthy, to larger concerns about the long-term effects of this pandemic, and, because I can’t restrain myself, obsessively tracking the dismal response by the ruling class in general and the Trump Gang in particular. 

I’m watching too many segments of MSNBC on YouTube, reading too many news sources, checking Facebook too often. I feel it taking a psychic toll. In the midst of a pandemic the President of the United States doesn’t divert from his tried and true playbook: boast, brag, blame, and whine. 

Where are the Democrats? Day after day the people hear from Trump at his propaganda briefings, and naturally the word from the Malignant One is rosy, on the upswing, America is rising like the proverbial phoenix. “Nobody’s done the job we’ve done,” Trump says. Have you noticed how many times Trump describes his telephone conversations with governors and corporate CEO’s as “great“? The conversations are great if the governor or CEO first praises Trump, kisses his flabby white ass. “As we near the end of our battle,” Trump said yesterday, as if we’re at the end of the pandemic rather than the early stages of what may very well become a long siege. CEO-types and CNBC and Fox News yakkers pound the drums for a return to business-as-usual. Our fuedal lords are eager to send the serfs back to work. I fear that Trump -- by virtue of the Big Lie technique, the constant repitition of false or misleading statements -- is winning the narrative war. 

Lacking a Democratic response from Reality, many citizens -- if polling is reliable -- believe Trump is doing a fine job. In times of crisis, a sitting American president typically sees a bump in his approval rating, as George W. Bush did after 9/11. Prior to 9/11, if you remember, W was a little boy lost, wandering in circles with his pants down and snot hanging from his nose. It’s a normal response to support the president, who many people view as the embodiment of the government and nation, but how any one can watch Trump sputter, spew and lie, and believe the man gives a shit about the public welfare, is beyond my ability to comprehend. Trump is concerned about Trump, his re-election bid, his company, his resort properties, the stock market. Trump has enough functioning gray matter left (or maybe it’s feral survival instinct) to know that he will not win re-election if the country is mired in a depression, and unemployment is 25 or 30 percent. 

Trump found time to ridicule Senator Mitt Romney on Twitter, calling Romney a RINO (Republican in Name Only), after Trump learned that Romney tested negative for the Coronavirus. Even in this dire situation, Trump can’t muster an ounce of class. 

Trump lied yesterday about the extent of Coronavirus testing. While testing in the US is increasing, as it absolutely must, when viewed in proportional terms, we still lag behind the rest of the world. As the BBC reported, South Korea with a population of around 50 million has tested 1 in 150 people; the US, with a population of 330 million or so, has tested 1 in 1000.

No, Trump, we’re not winning. You’re calling the race over while the country looks for the starting line. You’re hawking the dangerous idea that the worst is behind us. The morgues are filling up in NYC, and healthcare workers there are wearing garbage bags as protective gowns.  

As I write this, unemployment claims in the US have surged to 3.3 million. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones has gained 1,158 points. Let this sink in. What does it tell you about what -- and who -- matters in America? 

Here’s a question: are you willing to risk your health, and possibly your life, not to mention the health of your family, friends and co-workers, for Donald J. Trump’s re-election? Because Trump is clearly willing to gamble our lives for his political advantage. 

Let that sink in, too. 

The Isolation Diaries No. 3

“Why? Because there was no money to be made in being prepared, in making test kits we might not need, in having unprofitable community hospitals remain open merely because they serviced low-income neighborhoods. COVID-19 is why we needed to be prepared, needed to protect everyone behind a stout medical infrastructure free from the profit motive, but all of that went by the boards because ‘healthcare’ is a commodity to be traded like petroleum, and for pennies on the dollar.” William Rivers Pitt, Truthout

The bread aisle at Whole Foods is bare in the late afternoon, and only a few people at a time are allowed in to shop. I find some lettuce, asparagus, and almond milk. I forget that we need eggs, but I’m not sure any were available. The frozen section is picked over, though I find some broccoli. Near the check out aisles there are tape lines on the floor to remind people to keep their distance. Some customers wear masks. Some wear latex gloves. We are still not greatly inconvenienced, but it’s fair to say that resupplying has become more difficult, requires more planning and forethought. 

According to the Santa Barbara Independent, there are now 13 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the County. 

I listen to On Being with Krista Tippett. The episode is a repeat of her 2017 interview with the writer, historian and activist, Rebecca Solnit, one of my favorites. Solnit has a knack for tracing social roots back to when the seeds were planted, and for naming the hands from which those seeds fell. When she thinks about how social change is made, Solnit takes a long view, decades in some cases. In this interview, she talks about the 1989 earthquake in the Bay Area, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, how people, often complete strangers, came together to offer mutual aid in a time of mutual emergency. We see the same sense of cooperation and solidarity now, in this time of enforced isolation. Solnit’s point is that a crisis like a hurricane, earthquake or pandemic more often than not brings out the best in people, we rise beyond our daily preoccupations with ourselves, we reach out, lend a hand, extend ourselves to strangers who are in the boat with us. This spirit of community often baffles social Darwinists who believe human beings are incapable of cooperation. 

In a pandemic, survival of the fittest depends on survival of the most vulnerable. 

More full bore BS from Trump. His goal is obvious: by dint of repetition he’s trying to change the story of how the Covid-19 has gone down. He doesn’t care about what happens on the ground to millions of people, as long as he can make his followers believe his version of the story. Autocrats, even one as incompetent as Donald J. Trump, rewrite history. 

Here’s a fine example of a Trumpian word salad from March 2: “A lot of things are happening. A lot of very exciting things are happening and they’re happening very rapidly.” Meaning? Nothing, nothing at all, these words only fill empty space. What “exciting” things have happened in the past twenty days? 

Get down in the cracks and crevices, read between the lines, connect the dots, find the pulse, take the baton, the sword or the torch. 

What we do today matters. 

My Interview with Amy Goodman - Santa Barbara Independent - April 5, 2016

Amy Goodman Talks 20 Years of Independent Journalism

Amy Goodman, host and executive producer of Democracy Now, the only public media program that airs simultaneously on radio, cable, satellite television, and the Internet, will be speaking at UCSB on April 10 at 7:30 p.m. Goodman, along with longtime writing partners Denis Moynihan and David Goodman, are on a 100-city book tour to promote their latest book, Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America. 

UCSB

Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman’s list of journalism awards and accolades is too lengthy to mention. Suffice it to say that Goodman has walked the walk in war zones and areas wrecked by natural disasters, and has been on the ground to cover major stories such as the recent Paris climate negotiations and the Black Lives Matter movement. 


Brian Tanguay caught up with Amy Goodman on the eve of her book tour. 

When you started the broadcast back in 1996, did you have any idea it would become what it is today?We thought it would be a nine-month project, ending with the election, however that turned out. We were the only daily election coverage in public broadcasting. But there was more demand the day after the election than before. More and more stations wanted to pick us up. First it was community radio stations, then NPR, and public access television stations. Then PBS stations asked to air us. It just grew and grew. We’re translated into Spanish and Democracy Now is now carried on 1,400 public stations. Our growth is an indication of the hunger for independent voices.

Democracy Now started at a time when media consolidation in the United States was gathering momentum. Did the prospect of trying to establish an authentic voice in a corporate-dominated environment give you pause? Sadly, they have left such a huge niche — in fact, the corporate broadcasters are now niche broadcasters. These corporate networks feature such a small circle of pundits who know so little about so much. Our work at Democracy Now is giving voice to the vast majority of people whose voices are not represented. That’s what gives us our authenticity.

You and your team at Democracy Now have profiled, featured, and interviewed people that the corporate media ignore. I’m thinking of Noam Chomsky, Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Jeremy Scahill, Angela Davis, Arundhati Roy — a long list of important voices that the average American knows little if anything about. Was providing a platform for voices like these part of your original vision or did that evolve? These are voices that need to be heard. I won’t say these voices have been blacked-out — maybe whited-out is more accurate — but we’re talking about thinkers and grassroots leaders, and people closest to the issues that impact their lives and communities and nations. 

Of all the interviews you’ve done and events covered, is there one that stands out more than the rest? No, it’s more the inspiration of so many different voices. Our team at Democracy Now uses all its skill and diligence to give voice to people closest to the issues. This is critical in a democracy.

Can you recall the number of times you’ve been arrested in the course of reporting? (Laughs.) I don’t have the exact number, but I will say that it’s unacceptable that police arrest reporters. Our job is to be in the streets covering events and talking to people who are excluded from the conversation. 

Which corporate media broadcasts do you watch? As many as I can. It’s important to understand how events are framed, and what questions aren’t being asked. 

What unsettles you when you look at the contemporary political landscape, particularly the election coverage? The lack of diversity. 

What gives you hope? The movement. There’s no question about it. This book, written with my colleagues Denis Moynihan and my brother David Goodman, is about people all over the world who are challenging discrimination against immigrants or fighting for gay and lesbian rights or economic and environmental justice. The persistence and dedication and ingenuity of these people is inspiring.

I have to ask you this question, Amy, because it’s one of the most important questions of our time. Have you seen Hamilton? I can’t believe you’re asking me this question! It’s as if you have a little lens into my life. I have been wanting to see Hamilton, but of course there’s no way because the show is sold out for months. But then a week ago a friend of mine came into town for my birthday bearing tickets for the show! It’s an unbelievable work that is changing the face of Broadway. Who would have thought American history could be told through hip-hop and rap?

Grief Ripples Outward

The name Elliot Rodger will not be forgotten on the Platinum Coast for a long time. Rodger joins David Attias on the short list of disturbed people who have rampaged in the student oasis – or ghetto, depending on one’s point of view and financial wherewithal – of Isla Vista. Rodger did far more damage, killing seven and injuring another thirteen in ten minutes of mayhem. He fatally stabbed three young men in his apartment; was Rodger adept with a knife, able to target vital organs with a single thrust, or did he wield the blade indiscriminately, slashing and cutting in a frenzy of violence? Although it’s morbid in the extreme, I try to imagine that crime scene, the enormous amount of blood. But that wasn’t enough to satiate Rodger, who next turned to his car and his guns, the latter all purchased legally and registered.

Premeditated murder, perversely documented in a hundred-plus page manifesto, and reinforced in heart chilling YouTube posts that are difficult to watch. Young Elliot told the world what he was planning to do, and then he went and did it, before putting a round into his own cranium. Grief ripples outward from Isla Vista. Dozens of lives are altered forever: mothers, fathers, siblings, friends, and relatives. The clock froze on Friday night, stuck on the hour and minute that Rodger set out to fulfill his twisted promise, to avenge those he held responsible for his alienation and loneliness. Six innocent UCSB students in the wrong place at the wrong time are dead.

Yes, grief ripples outwards from Isla Vista, through the lecture halls of UCSB, and the common places where students gather to relax and hang out.

2013-2014 has been a terrible academic year for UCSB, with brutal sexual assaults, the Deltopia riot, and now the deadly madness of Elliot Rodger. A curse has fallen on Isla Vista, the dense student community with orphan political status, unwanted by the City of Goleta or the County of Santa Barbara. As reporter Nick Welsh pointed out in a piece for the Santa Barbara Independent, our local weekly paper, Isla Vista no longer plays host exclusively to UCSB students. Our award winning community college – Santa Barbara City College – a school that feeds students into the UC system, with many going on to UCSB, is not only successful at drawing students from California, but also from foreign countries, allowing the college to capture the high tuition and fees foreign students pay for the privilege, that SBCC has contributed to a dearth of affordable student housing, which has pushed many SBCC students into the human cauldron that is Isla Vista.

Politicians and pundits will make the usual pious speeches, offer prayers for the dead and the wounded and their families, but the prospects for sensible handgun control legislation will remain as remote as Mars; the NRA will ramp up its PR machine and silence any politician who has the temerity to voice support for action on handgun control; even if a bill is introduced, by the time it winds through the process of legislative bribery it will be so toothless as to be worthless. Isla Vista will join Columbine and Aurora, Colorado and Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech and Fort Hood in our national hall of shame and cowardice.