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The Greatest Weapon We Have

Like all of the other dictators he adores and wants to emulate, the Orange Gangster is looking for his strongman moment.

A moment where he will shock the world and scare his enemies with a show of military force.

Not against foreign targets, but against his own people.  

After all, that’s what dictators do.

Orange Gangster would love nothing more than to send military force against a city in his own country.

Troops beating up whining young white people.

Troops shooting colored people of all ages for not “obeying the law”—as he defines it.

Blood is required and if there’s a death or two, even the better, because it shows how determined he is to control the uprising.

Because that’s what dictators do.

Action in a Blue State is required.

A city in a Blue State with a large concentration of communities of color is a must.

A city in a Blue State with a large concentration of communities of color and a very active “progressive base” is PERFECT.

Now understand, Orange Gangster’s enough of a coward that he doesn’t want to send troops into a city that helps keep the economy of the country he’s stealing from moving –or whose populace might just fight back—so New York, Chicago and Los Angeles are out.

Hello Minneapolis!!!

Now why am I writing about this on the day we celebrate this country’s foremost supporter of peaceful protest to change the world.

Because of the word PEACEFUL.

Orange Gangster understands the mindset of the majority of the people who support him.

They believe in the “rule of law.”

As long as those laws don’t impact them and put the screws on the people they don’t like.

You know, people like whining young white people and colored people of all ages.

After all, the MAGAts believe one of these groups were peaceful tourists while hoping to unleash the masked forces against any group that dares object to what Orange Gangster proposes—no matter how asinine or dangerous the proposal is.

All you need to remember is that Orange Gangster’s supporters still believe that George Floyd caused his own death and currently believe that if Renee Good had just “minded her own business,” she would still be alive.

If there is any response that is “against the law” allowing Orange Gangster to respond with the violence he craved in the summer of 2020, those people will APPLAUD HIM.

Why?

Because he will be putting those people “in their place.”

And the liberals who hate what Orange Gangster is doing will ask why these people exercising the rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution can’t register their unhappiness by putting a bumper sticker on their electric vehicles—because that’s what they do.

Remember what the Rev. Doctor King said about these people (who boast about their friendships with people of color) from his cell in Birmingham:

“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action’; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom”.

The Orange Gangster depends on the adulation of the MAGAts who are still waiting for the $50 bible they purchased from him and the apathy of what I call the“Mike Stivic liberals” who support the actions of the civic protests as long as these events doesn’t interfere with them picking up their Starbucks.

But again, why am I writing about this on the day we celebrate this country’s foremost supporter of peaceful protest to change the world.

Because of the word PEACEFUL.

Dr. King knew 70 years ago that peaceful actions drive dictators and racists wild because they don’t mind being seen as dictators—but most don’t like being seen as bullies.

Which is sort of ironic since sending out the military to kill their fellow citizens is a pretty good definition of being a dictator AND a bully.

Dr. King never NEVER wanted to give the racists he had to deal with the literal weapons to beat him with.

He told those who were part of the bus boycott to leave their weapons at home.

He told those who that if they wanted to march with him in Birmingham to keep their knives, guns and straight razors away from the protests because to have them would be reason enough for the Bull Connors of the world to KILL without having to explain why.

“Those ni**ers were armed! My men had the right to defend themselves!!”

Doesn’t that sound familiar? Similar statements were made six years ago in Minneapolis and are being made right now in Minneapolis.

His principles never changed—even as the world around him did.

Dr. King lived long enough to see Detroit and Watts burn.

After his death, the pattern has unfortunately continued:

Kent State

Ferguson, MO

Minneapolis, MN (2020)

And of course the situations in places like Portland and Seattle that the right wing grifters who are the acolytes of the late, unlamented Seattle talk show host like to bring up whenever more than three people gather to say the actions of the current administration are criminal.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did something on a national scale that I’ve seen in city after city over the last year. The media does cover it, but not with the same fervor that they do over breaking glass and tear gas, because a plane landing isn’t news—but a plane crashing…

So as we hear stories about the possibility of military being flown in from Alaska for the specific reason to try to ferment enough of a violent reaction to allow the Orange Gangster to declare martial law in Minnesota, and across the country, a reminder to those non-anarchist types:

DON’T TAKE THE BAIT!

He wants to be able to use your anger to achieve his goals. He knows even those who support you will step away because they don’t want to be seen as supporting violence—even as they ignore the violence his MAGAts create.

Don’t give him the satisfaction. As I’ve mentioned, the greatest weapon we have against the Orange Gangster is to ignore petulant acts of him and his sycophants.

So today, and over the next few weeks, as the Orange Gangster is trying his hardest to get the response he needs, remember these words:

“Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”  

 The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Until Next Time.

Using the possible to beat the impossible

Images courtesy of Marvel comics

As I’ve mentioned, I read comic books—and a comic book is going to explain the greatest weapon we have against the Orange Gangster.

Now this is going to take a little explaining, so don’t go TL:DR on me:

I’m sure most of you have heard of the Fantastic Four—even if you’ve never read a comic book you know the quartet: Reed and Sue Richards, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm.

The name of their primary villain has become part of the American lexicon: Doctor Doom.

We know the Orange Gangster is not much of a reader, so I suspect he has had someone read some of the issues to him, and he probably envisions himself as the FF’s greatest villain. But Marvel Comics’ greatest quartet has a pest that is closer to what he is than the sinister Dr. Doom.

That pest is the Impossible Man.

The Impossible Man is an alien who could become anything he could imagine. Reed Richards called him the most dangerous entity in the universe because he was literally unstoppable.

How did this dangerous alien use his ability while on earth?

He used it to make himself a giant pain in the ass.

The Impossible Man did everything he could to draw attention to himself.

People couldn’t help but notice his antics because he was insufferable.

This is when Reed Richards formulated a way to defeat him—and it was the toughest thing in the world to do.

The solution was to ignore the Impossible Man.

No matter how obnoxious (and dangerous) the Impossible Man became, people were told not to pay attention to his actions.

Naturally, like any other spoiled brat, the Impossible Man started trying to attract even more attention.

And people continued to ignore him.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

The Orange Gangster—and the sycophants around him who are actually running this country—THRIVE ON ATTENTION.

This clown car of the ignorant and imbecilic do and say incredibly stupid things because they know people will pay attention—even though THEY KNOW most of the manure that they spew will never happen.

The cult of personality that placed Orange Gangster back into the People’s House dutifully parrot his statements, because they know it will evoke a reaction in most rational people.

I have a person who I worked with almost fifty years ago who is one of the parrots.

We called him a curmudgeon in 1979—in reality he was a racist who disguised his venom as part of his just being the Archie Bunker of our work place.

For some reason I have him as a Facebook friend.

This means that like the troll under the bridge he will pop up, say something INCREDIBLY ASININE and hope people will react to it.

He did this a couple of weeks ago—and it got me incensed enough where I was about to respond—then I stopped.

My responding would give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had gotten my attention, which is really all he wanted—to make himself insufferable.

To draw attention to himself.

To make himself a pain in my ass.

The greatest weapon the acolytes of Orange Gangster have is our responding to the steaming piles they leave.

This is not a new tactic—hell, Seattle’s version of Alex Keaton (look up the character) made his bones by irritating a person to the point that the person cursed him out on live TV.

It got that person fired and made the person responsible into one of Seattle’s media elite for close to two decades.

That person is still irritating people on the radio, but guess what, he’s become a forgotten entity.

Why?

Because now, people IGNORE HIM!

I know it’s tough—I know people who doomscroll the antics of Orange Gangster on seemingly an hourly basis—and then post about these antics.

We need to stop feeding the beast.

We need to stop giving him and his acolytes the satisfaction of knowing how much they irritate/anger us.

We need to go into the new year with the resolve to not let them know they’re getting on our last nerve.

Because that is the greatest weapon we have—they can’t stand being ignored.

What did the Impossible Man do when people started ignoring him?

He had a tantrum and left the planet.

We know that won’t happen to the failed game show host (even though we can hope he’ll go up in one of Elon’s toy rockets and not come down). But it will lower your blood pressure—and raise theirs.

Until Next Time.

Too stupid to be this dumb

For as “smart” as they like to see themselves…the team around Gangster Orange really is stupid as a box of hammers.

If they had allowed 60 Minutes to air the story about their concentration camp, and let him do his standard bloviating to the cult, this would have lasted one news cycle…

Telling one of his sycophants to spike the story just before it aired and then having her essentially say that it didn’t say anything new is now going to keep this part of the narrative for at least a couple of weeks.

—Now when will the story air?

—It was vetted FIVE TIMES, just how much checking does it need?

—Will the story be spiked because the WH doesn’t comment on it?

I hope one of the team that developed the story has kept a copy of the original…since we know that what airs will be dramatically altered…and has the courage to give it to the NYT..because the WaPo can no longer be trusted to post stories critical of the American Reich.

One way or another, the WHOLE story will air and a news agency that was the gold standard for broadcast journalism will fall deeper into the abyss.

The irony is, Bari Weiss was right, we know about this story. It would have aired and would have quickly been forgotten.

And that’s the saddest part of all, that we’ve become enured to the insanity coming out of the casino that used to be the People’s House.

Until Next Time

Ballot and Balance

Mean…

That’s the feeling I have when looking at the ballot and preparing to vote.

The choice has boiled down to just how mean I want this city to be.

Since 2020, the narrative has been: “if we don’t take steps now, we’ll be overrun with ‘undesirables’” (i.e. any person who makes us feel uncomfortable as we watch TV or have Seattle’s increasingly right wing talk radio hosts tell us that we should be uncomfortable around).

“Compassion” has become an expletive—and we’re willing to look the other way on solving “issues” as long as it will allow the people operating the city’s daily paper to walk downtown on their annual trip to Pike Place because “there’s really no reason to go downtown, but I want it to look nice for the tourists.”

So, we’ll vote for the bully for mayor—and I say this while acknowledging that the incumbent has been part of my life in one or aspect or another for close to 40 years—because he’s made the Downtown Seattle Association happy through forcing people (city employees) back into downtown to buy lunch a couple of days a week. We’ll ignore the toxic environment that permeates his office and the collection of intimidators he’s surrounded himself with.

And we’ll vote for a city attorney who only started being “compassionate” when she realized that after the primary she was 20 points behind. An incumbent that understands that people living in Wedgewood, Laurelhurst, north Capitol Hill and along Lake Washington Blvd have never been subject to police asking why they’re in a neighborhood so recreating the incredibly racist SOAP and SODA laws doesn’t impact them.

And we’ll vote for a City Council President that is perhaps the coldest politician that I’ve ever had to deal with. A politician that just like the orange gangster currently residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, spent most of her year as Council President seeking vengeance against those who “wronged” her. Another politician that became “compassionate” only after finding out how greatly disliked she was on a city-wide basis.

The Mayor and the Council President have one thing in common—the creation of an atmosphere so toxic, so mean that it ensures that unless you work for them directly, you’re reluctant to work in city government. 

I truly don’t know who I’m going to vote for in the mayor’s race—I have very real reservations of making a person with no elective experience the mayor of the most important city in the Pacific Northwest. I believe much of what has happened to Seattle over the last decade plus occurred because the city voted for a person who had no experience running an operation the size and scope of city government.

Voting for stability to avoid the potential of having a “Mayor Saka,” Mayor Kettle,” or ***SHUDDER*** a “Mayor Nelson” in 2030 may be the painful choice I have to make.

The other two choices are much easier. Both challengers have the range of knowledge and experience needed for their positions. More importantly, they strike me as having the proper balance you need to be a councilmember or city attorney. Neither appear to take being called “compassionate” as an insult. The two incumbents flee that word like a vampire flees a cross.

This city has always worked to find a balance between assisting those that need help and locking up those who prey on the people needing help.

Far too many people see that as being “soft,” the soft that helped create the “Seattle is dying” narrative. A narrative that has made it easy for people to look the other way when those who need a treatment bed more than a jail cell are swept off the streets.

Here’s hoping next week is the first step in trying to restore that balance.

Until Next Time….

“Brought to Heel” or “Fear Sucks Up”

“Television is much more difficult because at every moment the network can force you to change things based on their belief about what would make it popular. You’re in a constant debate with a gun at your head, and the gun is cancellation. So it’s hard to win the arguments.”
–Judd Apatow

Lots of discussion from the Red Caps on “legacy media being brought to heel”—like media outlets are similar to dogs or any other animal that can be trained to obey its master.

I would challenge their word choice—legacy media hasn’t been brought to heel—what has been brought to heel is “corporate media.”

And we should be clear that we are talking about broadcast media..print media with the possible exception of the New York Times was “brought to heel” generations ago when Gannett started purchasing community newspapers and homogenizing news content…

How long has corporate media been in place?

–NBC has been purchased in pieces over the last four decades, culminating in Comcast being the majority owner.

–CBS was sold by Westinghouse in 1995 and through a series of purchases now belongs to Skydance media (a purchase that made news because the firing of Stephen Colbert appears to have been part of the approval of the sale).

–ABC was sold in 1985 and has been owned by Disney since 1996.

So “Corporate Media” has been in place for a generation—and truthfully it shows.

The corporations that own these broadcast entities all say they are in the “entertainment business” but the reality is like any other company in the financial system they are part of, they are in the “profit business.”

Anything that impacts their profit will soon be removed, and they are willing to deal with the consequences—i.e., bad press.

They can deal with the bad press because they know the America attention span is:

.03198 picoseconds…and shrinking!!!

Two of these three corporate entities are also trying to complete sales—and need the approval of the Federal Communications Commission for the sales to be completed—so they are willing to be brought to heel—hell they’ll ask their master how high they need to jump to get this.

I mention this because true legacy media:

CBS under founder William Paley,

NBC under founder David Sarnoff,

ABC under Edward J. Noble and Leonard Goldenson,

We’ll skip over FOX simply because their entertainment division has been a subsidiary of Disney since 2019 and the FOX News division has been a wing of the Republican party since its creation…

Would be having a field day with the current national situation.

The true broadcast legacy media understood the responsibility their companies had because they were providing information when there was only two sources: print and broadcast.

The world of today was truly science fiction in the early part of the 20th Century and the three networks understood their responsibility—for both news and entertainment.

Sarnoff and Paley were businessmen and as ruthless as the people who now control their broadcast heritage, but again, they also knew their responsibility went beyond dollars and cents.

They needed to ensure people knew the truth—not “both sides”—but the truth no matter how painful it could be.

Legacy media brought us Edward R Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley.

Legacy media brought us the firehoses and dogs of Birmingham,

Legacy media brought us the attack at the Edmund Pettis Bridge,

Legacy media showed the paradox of destroying Vietnamese villages to save them.

Legacy media also brought us Laugh-In, the Smothers Brothers, Jack Parr and yes the venerated Johnny Carson, who was known to poke fun at presidents now and then.

Corporate media has bought us Jimmy Fallon running his fingers through a gangster’s toupee.

Corporate media has also brought us entities that flinch whenever a hand is raised toward them.

Corporate media has all of the moral courage of school paste.

Which is why we’re where we are today.

Legacy media would have dared the FCC to show where their reporters or entertainers did or said something that placed a subject in danger.

Legacy media would not have capitulated to frivolous lawsuits about news interviews.

Legacy media would not be in the process of seeing how they could get out of a contract with an entertainer because that entertainer is endangering their potential sale.

Legacy media would tell the gangsters in the People’s House “we’ll see you in court and match you attorney for attorney…”

Legacy media stood for something.

“Corporate media” will fall for anything.

George Patton—of all people–said it best about the current collection of corporate cowards in charge of the airwaves:

“A coward is someone who lets fear overcome their sense of duty.”

Until next Time…

Never Giving Up—Never Backing Down

Today celebrates the fact that those in power will never give it up until they have to.

On this date in 1865—two years after the Emancipation and TWO MONTHS after the rebellion fueled by racism ended—slaveholders in Texas literally gave up what they believe was “theirs” ONLY at the point of a gun. The fact that what they were giving up Men, Women and Children was secondary—all they thought of was them losing their “property.”

Why do I suspect that somewhere at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. there is a draft proclamation/statement saying that today should be a day of mourning since it recognizes/celebrates the end of a “very good, very big” economic system that help “Make America Great” at the hand of an “oppressive government.”

Because of what I do, I try not to buy into conspiracy theories, but because of the current administration, this conspiracy gave me pause: that if it wasn’t for the deserved blowback it would receive if they had, I do believe they would rescind this holiday as part of their effort to bring this country back to the 19th century when good colored people knew their place.

To be quite honest, in this effort to deport anyone who looks brown and speaks with any type of accent, I’m surprised this administration hasn’t announced its economic plan to have famers and large growing operations invite people to own property on their land in exchange for helping grow and harvest the crops—you know—SHARECROPPING!!

Let us remember on this day that too much has happened to stop the momentum that has brought us to the present time. As much as many of my melanin-lacking friends want to go back to the days to where everyone knew that “God was a White Man,” just like a glacier we will continue to inevitably move forward—and just like a glacier, we will crush the bigotry and racism that continues to rule the day under its path.

Because today—tomorrow—and going forward–we won’t back down.

Freedom doesn’t come on a silver platter. With every great movement toward freedom there will inevitably be trials. Somebody will have to have the courage to sacrifice. You don’t get to the Promised Land without going through the Wilderness. You don’t get there without crossing over hills and mountains, but if you keep on keeping on, you can’t help but reach it. We won’t all see it, but it’s coming and it’s because God is for it. When God is for a thing it will survive. Don’t worry about some things we have to go through. Some of them are a necessary part of the great movement we are making toward freedom. There can never be growth without growing pains. There is no birth without birth pains. Like the mother suffering when she gives birth to new life, we know there is glory beyond the pain.

We won’t back down. We are going on with our movement.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
March, 1956

Until Next Time

Symbols Matter: Now more than ever

I know it’s been a while…

For those who have followed me in the past, I’ll be working on being a little more regular.

If you’ve stumbled onto this for the first time—here’s a little background—and my hope that you will continue to follow.

On a day that celebrates a game with Roman numerals—I’m reminded of something:

Symbols Matter.

If you don’t think so, remember the construction, destruction and control of symbols have been a way for some people in American society to mark their territory.

It’s why the return of the failed game show host to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave has focused not on actual legislative action, but on the elimination of symbols that celebrate the diversity of American story.

From the ham-handed attempt to eliminate the stories of the Black men who helped protect to the skies over Europe, to the removal of the name that even the residents of the state call the tallest peak in North America, to the shouts of returning the names of traitors onto military bases, there are some who are cheering the return of the supremacy of the White Man.

It’s not that we don’t recognize the secondary achievement of certain races and genders, but it was the White Man who made America what it is and we should be celebrated for all our work in making America Great and you colored folk and women should be thankful for that!!

Again—Symbols Matter.

That’s what makes this week so amazing and amusing.

It’s going to start with a BLACK MAN being the face of biggest sport in America.

And it’s going to end with an 85-year-old symbol of America going onto the big screen as a BLACK MAN.

Legacy

Super Bowl LIX is going to feature a rematch between two quarterbacks that carry the legacy of when the league they are part of made Black Quarterbacks wide receiver, running backs and defensive backs.

They carry the legacy of Condredge Holloway and Warren Moon, who had to take the Underground Railroad to Canada to play the position. 

They carry the legacy of Tony Dungy, an all Big 10 QB, who was told he was a defensive back by the coach that had already had a Black QB and didn’t want another one.

They carry the legacy of after losing the NFC title game in 1980, Doug Williams was mailed a rotten watermelon with a note using that very special word in describing why he would never be a winner.

They carry the legacy of when a few years later, the same Doug Williams was asked during the media day for the XXII edition of the game how long he had been a Black one.

They carry the legacy of the Heisman Trophy winning QB of the national champion Florida State football team that said he was not even going to join the league and honestly Charlie Ward probably made way more in his 10 years in the NBA than he would have riding the bench in the NFL.

WaPo (and former Seattle Times) columnist Jerry Brewer mentioned the first time these two QBs met that today’s game, and the two QBs playing were a glimpse of the future…and that their skills…are NOW THE NORM and not the exception.

Jalen Hurts is looking to join Doug Williams, Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes in a very privileged subset of a very privileged club.

And Patrick Mahomes is looking to do something that no other Super Bowl QB has ever done:

–Not Bart Starr
–Not Bob Greise
–Not Terry Bradshaw
–Not Joe Montana
–Not John Elway
–Not Troy Aikman
–Not “Flat Ball” Tom

Hmmm—wonder what those seven have in common….

Good QBs—and there have been bad QBs who have won the Super Bowl—become the face of the league. Which means it’s going to be very interesting to see how Racist Orange will react when having to congratulate a QB he would consider (off the record of course) as a “DEI QB.”

On Sunday, a Black QB will hoist the Lombardi. On Friday, the Red, White and Blue shield of Captain America is going to be hoisted by a Black Man!!

I expect those of you who don’t follow comic books—which is probably most of you who are reading this—to know that in the comic book world, there was a period when Captain America was a Black Man. If you’re interested, here’s the background.

Raising the Mighty Shield

Know you’re wondering what’s the big deal about a fictional character being Black.

Once again: Symbols Matter.

Captain America came onto the scene literally slugging Hitler…

Which is amusing because almost a century later there was a reworked image of Captain America slugging another dictator—but I digress…

The idea of Captain America being depicted as anything other than a White Man tends to raise the hackles of some of my melanin-lacking friends because— it was the White Man who made America what it is and we should be celebrated for all our work in making America Great.

The irony is just like another fictitious hero—the one faster than a speeding bullet—Captain America was created by a couple of Jewish nerds who wanted to celebrate America’s fight against fascism NOT ITS SURRENDER TO IT.

There are already those who are objecting to the movie—which won’t premier until Friday—and are using the standard words of those who object to any hero not being a White Man:

“I’m not racist, (which 99 and 44/100 percent of the time mean they are), I’m just not comfortable with this fictional hero being Black.”

“It doesn’t matter to me, but isn’t Cap a White Man?”

“I just don’t think Anthony Mackie can pull it off the way Chris Evans did” (and when asked why not, their faces flush and they say “‘cause he can’t!!”)  

And these people will of course celebrate when it doesn’t meet the financial expectations that come with the $200 million plus cost of this movie by using the word “woke.”

You know, I hate to say this but go ahead and use that special word—you want to anyway—and that way I will know if I want to continue dealing with you in any way/shape/form.

It could be a bad movie—the last few Marvel movies have been—but it’ll be likely because of a poor plot and a tired genre than the fact that it’s starring a Black Man.

Again—why are a fictional character on the big screen and a person that when they’re a certain hue are accused of playing a “kid’s game” so important?

Because Symbols Matter.

Because the young men who are watching the game who look like Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts, if they are talented enough—and lucky enough—to make it to the NFL, can realistically know they will be able to play Quarterback, and not be told to go to the receiver’s room or to meet with the coach of the defensive backs.

Because much like a young Caryn Elaine Johnson, who decided she was going to become an actor because she saw Nichelle Nichols on her TV screen and shouted to her mother “come look! There’s a Black Woman on the screen and she’s ain’t playing a maid!”  some black child is going to look up at the movie screen and believe, that if they’re talented enough—and lucky enough—to achieve stardom on the big or small screen, they can tell Anthony Mackie how he was an inspiration to them in the same way Caryn—better known as Whoopi Goldberg—was able to tell Nichell Nichols that she was an inspiration to her.  

Because in a period when there is going to be an orchestrated effort on the highest levels of government and businesses to redefine America as the place that wouldn’t exist without the White Male:

Symbols Matter.

And those who look like me need to celebrate those symbols as much as possible in as many ways as possible, because we know if we don’t, they can disappear as quickly as a signature can be affixed on an Executive Order.  

Until next time—and I promise this next one will be soon!!

The Bully and the Hero

Hagiography: Biography that idealizes its subject

On New Year’s Day, Seattle’s version of Rush Limbaugh passed away at the far too young age of 61. Much like the defenders of perhaps the most vicious and vile person to ever populate the airwaves mourned his passing, so too did the defenders of Seattle’s “Rush” leaped to praise him…and defend him.

It was as if they knew what was coming.

One apostle threatened a boycott of the Seattle Times and lead a subscription cancelation campaign because in the story about his passing,  the paper had the AUDACITY TO PRINT THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS MAN:

Like how—and why—he was fired from his position with the Seahawks,

Or

How a school district actually thought that a man who could say things like that was perhaps not a person they wanted coaching their children.  

Another apostle made a very  overt threat  toward those who didn’t mourn the death as profoundly as she was.

And those who were not apostles started their memories of the broadcaster by saying “we may not have agreed, BUT….”

Much like the late unlamented Limbaugh, the Seattle broadcaster made his reputation and fortune as a bully. His strength, “punching down” and mocking those who the “Sheeple” (one of the broadcaster’s favorite terms) of Seattle might support and want to help: you know, people of color, people courageous enough to make the decision to be comfortable within their own bodies and those people who are unable to live in a home.

Perhaps if they had listened to the interminable ads voiced by the broadcaster about building wealth and financing mortgages, they wouldn’t have needed to be on the streets…but I digress.

So why I’m spending time writing about this individual?

Because on this day, many of the apostles of this broadcaster will spend today talking about the 35 words they like to bring out on the day we recognize and celebrate of a TRUE HERO. Of course being an apostle means blind obedience, so they’ll also mention  it’s too bad Dr. King’s people are too focused on “forcing wokeness on everybody” instead of working on their “character.”

What they will neglect to mention is that the hero who we honor on this day gave his life putting a hand out, not a fist.

Someone who while not condoning the uprisings in Watts and Detroit understood that “a riot is the language of the unheard.” (“The Other America,” March 1968)

A hero that understood that what is now called by many of my melanin lacking friends “being woke” was the first step toward taking off the blindfolds that still obscure our future:

“White Americans must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society.”
—Where Do We Go from Here? 1967

And finally, a hero that spoke truth to power, even when he knew it would cost him the support he had garnered in fighting American Apartheid:

“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism. The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power”.
—To the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) board on March 30, 1967.
 
Was this hero perfect? Of course not. For those of us who believe, there was only one perfect person—and we remember how he was treated.

In fact, some of the same apostles who will praise the 35 words today will also gleefully point out the imperfections of Dr. King, their way of denigrating the work he did because that is how they’re wired.  

It’s very easy to garner fame and fortune by mocking your fellow man, and the late broadcaster did just that, which is why so many of the people who joined in deifying him probably couldn’t look me in the eye if we were to discuss him.

True heroism, true heroes understand the impact of their words and the cost to be paid in speaking truth to power.

True heroes, true heroism will not exchange reputations and honor to gain wealth and comfort.

And when people talk about true heroes, most hopefully won’t start with “we may not have agreed, BUT….”

We celebrate the life of one man today, but let us celebrate all of those who reach out with a hand—and not a fist.

And if that makes us “Sheeple”

BAA, BAA, BAA!!!

 “For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.” 
–Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. April 3, 1968


Until Next Time…

Perception, Reality and Marching

On this date in 1963, 250,000 people gathered on the same mall that today is unfortunately better known as the scene of an insurrection directed by a man who decided that he would rather plunge this country into chaos than admit that he lost an election.

On this day we remember, recognize and celebrate the anniversary of one of the key moments of beginning of the end of “American Apartheid,” and the history of this country’s overt racism, the March on Washington. An event that amazingly has been co-opted by the cult of the former game show host as an example of “content of their character” when they try to defend their racism—and use the word of the Keynote speaker that day to try to defend it—focusing on just 35 words from his speech.

The organizers wanted the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to be a peaceful demonstration to those holding the power, but as Taylor Branch mentioned in “Parting the Waters” his first book chronicling the struggle for Civil Rights, the Rev. Dr. King, Mr. Randolph, Mr. Rustin and others also saw this as an opportunity to change perceptions.

They encouraged those “Negroes” who were coming to dress well and to be mindful of their demeanor throughout the day, because for many Whites who were also there for the march it could possibly be their first interaction with a Black person. The organizers were also aware that all three (yes just three) networks were going to be carrying the event throughout the day, and the images that they would be broadcasting could have an impact on people throughout the U.S.—and the world.

Perception is not reality—but those images…

-Of an event that was more of a celebration than an angry protest;

-Of men and women who had the same goals, hopes and dreams as those who were watching them on their black and white TV’s;

-Of a 34-year-old man talking so powerfully about what he knew this country could become, if only the millions of people who were denied their basic rights could fully participate in it;

Helped start changing the realities of a lot of people—even the realities of the cowards who would murder four little girls in a Birmingham church less than a month after this celebration.

One can’t help but wonder what would have happened in the event had occurred on this date in 2020—wait a minute, no we don’t BECAUSE HERE IS THE RESPONSE IN 2020 on just the possibility of the march.  

The march help bring about the adoption of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, legislation that some of my R friends like to boast happened because of “the Republicans who helped ensure its passage.”

And you want to know something—they’re right.

It was moderate northern Republicans that understood they didn’t want to be on the wrong side of history and support the legislation. What Republicans now don’t want to admit is that what President Johnson said after the signing of the Civil Rights Act is true:

 “We have lost the South for a generation”

The same White racists who blocked the adoption of the Civil Right Act through the use of the filibuster (sound familiar?) simply changed their party affiliation.

The party of Racists now started with an “R” instead of a “D” and they have continued with the same  tactics they so proudly used six decades ago.

It is those same Racists (with the help of the silence of those moderates that Dr. King warned us about) that are rebuilding the standards that made “Jim Crow” the bulwark against progress toward true equity and justice, and are proud that they are doing it.

And if you don’t believe me, look at the consideration of blocking a book written about the Black man the school is named after all in the name of not “indoctrinating” the White kids who attend the school that some (not all) White people can at times can do some incredibly vile and evil things—then and now.

I’m of a generation that was taught that your actions reflected all of us. The Blacks who were among the 250,000 people who surrounded the mall on that August day in 1963 understood that.

I’m beginning to wonder if the people who continue to defend those “Freedom Fighters” and their leader understand that “Perception is Reality.”

And again, if you don’t believe me, there are two local “reporters”—one who was fired after praising fascists live on the air, the other who has gone the Alex Jones route and is suckering people to pay to be “undivided”—and two Seattle Times columnists who are making a comfortable living helping stoke the perception that Seattle—especially downtown Seattle—is Thunderdome minus Mel Gibson.

The reality—tourism in downtown is close to its pre pandemic high—but hey, never let the truth get in the way of making money

For the editorial page of The Mobile Register this was their reality of the March:

I wonder if those people ever admitted that they may have been on the wrong side of history?

I wonder if the people today who are now fighting to bring us back to those glorious days of “Separate But Equal” wonder if we may look at them the way we look at the editors of The Mobile Register:

Being on the wrong side of history.

BTW, at the end of the March, the people who participated in this event HELPED THE PARK SERVICE CLEAN UP AFTERWARDS—because they didn’t want to be seen as having left a national and international attraction a mess…

“With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”

Rev. Dr. Martin King, Jr.
August 28, 1963

Until Next Time.