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Hey y'all! I had a bit of a hectic June, between Loves & Labours and my laptop's untimely demise, so I don't have a full blog post this month. In lieu of my usual ramblings, I thought I'd yoink a post from my Facebook page about the struggles of making a life a
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I saw the President charge the people for a wall, and we put it by. Then he charged it to us again, and we put it by again. And then he charged it the third time. We put it the third time by. At end, he suffered a compromise in name but scorned it in spirit, claiming undue power from the façade of a crisis and charging us regardless of our outcry. We have a word for a leader who unduly consolidates power: Dictator. In ancient Rome, this was a title conferred by the legislature, and they customarily resigned after the crisis had passed to avoid abuse of power. The office was abolished after Julius Caesar*, who refused to step down after his term ended. Sidebar: Caesar was not technically a dictator, the title having been retired before his time, but instead embodied an evolution of the role. He represented an “extraconstitutional office with virtually unlimited power,” meant to “restore the republic” (a sentiment with disturbing resonance today). For those new to the story of Julius Caesar, I refer you to Shakespeare’s classic play. I’d say to go skim it and then come back, but it’s not exactly a quick read. So spoiler alert, I guess? Reader beware, I guess? The parallels between our current head of state and good ol’ Jules run deeper, too. Shakespeare’s language seems eerily prescient. Just listen to some of Caesar’s lines. About the soothsayer who foretells Caesar’s downfall and is brusquely dismissed: He is a dreamer. Let us leave him. As a certain contingent clings to a diminishingly white America, can anyone say DACA? After taking power: Let me have men about me that are fat My mind turns to the administration’s ceaseless hiring-and-firing, the investigation into the campaign’s corruption, forgotten promises to drain the swamp, and The Daily Show’s Trump bingo card.
Students of history or theatre know what follows such a power grab. The rest can probably guess. Beware the Ides, Mr. President. Your hubris will be your downfall. I’m 8 years old. It’s breakfast time, and I want another scone. Mom says no, I get upset, I’m sent to my room. I break the drywall above my bed with my head.
It’s my first day in a new school. I’m awkward, timid, reserved: fresh meat. A belligerent classmate dares me to say ‘Fuck.’ I try to ignore him; silence is the easiest form of resistance. He persists until the teacher comes in. It means nothing to him. It stains the rest of my day. I’ve just had a small tiff with my girlfriend and I’m pissed and sulky. My friends and I are going out. In the stairwell one of them throws a friendly taunt. I grab his throat and trap him against the wall for a split second before my senses return. I’m falling asleep next to my S.O. My hand creeps up and rests over her breast, just rests. It feels good to have someone to hold. I’m walking to the museum with my country-mouse cousin. In the big city I feel especially protective. A solicitor comes up and presses a newspaper on us, insistent. I lash out and slap it out of his hand. We need to talk about our boys. This year, y’all. This. Damn. Year. 2016 was downright malicious, from heartbreaking celebrity deaths to gut-twisting celebrity ascensions, from miscarriages of justice to the wholesale slaughter of hundreds. In America, from across the globe, the bad news just kept pouring in. As news goes, it was clearly headed for the record books.
And then 2017 said “Hold my beer.” I prefer to give bad news first. Here it comes. My 2017 retrospective begins with some of the tragedies, in no particular order. Is it just me, or is news today happening faster than before? Contemporary calamities are treated like contestants on America’s Got Talent, giving their all in the spotlight before they’re buzzed off in favor of the next national crisis. So this post is a little late, but not by long. And who knows? It may soon blunder back into the headlines. Today’s topic: Nazis, and punching them.
Right. Okay. Here we go. Just a heads up, this is gonna be a different kind of post. Most of my posts are narrative, stories of past exploits to give y’all a fuller picture of me as an artist and human being. This… this one is different. See, ever since Trump started taking actions as president I’ve felt this twisting inside me as his administration takes aim at one minority population after another. During the past eight years I could forgive myself for letting marginalized peoples lead the charge for their own liberation and waving my liberal pom-poms from the sidelines, confident that our nation was headed in the right direction, that strides would be made. Suffice to say, that doesn’t cut it for me anymore. I apologize in advance for the impending privilege whinge. There’s a lot on my mind.
The Iowa caucuses are tonight, the first chance to see which candidates the people want. The caucuses are certainly not representative or predictive, but they are symbolic. This election is particularly important. Our country has gone through major changes during the last Presidency. The tension in our society keeps mounting. This could be a moment of political transformation. There are strong personalities on both sides of the aisle, all of whom will bring major change—either pushing these policies forward or erasing them. Regardless of what you believe, having your voice heard is especially vital this year. Be involved. Get out there. Vote.
This year’s Pride Parades held an extra level of festivity that set them apart from previous years, but not everyone is thrilled about the cause for this celebration. The national legalization of same-sex marriage caused contention across the country, with conservative churches speaking out against it and county clerks refusing to issue any marriage licenses at all. As you read this, keep in mind that I am by no means a Constitutional scholar. I don’t know the extensive history of Supreme Court cases. But when I read the dissenting Justices’ opinions, I couldn’t help but take them on.
I’ll say it straight out: I support the Affordable Care Act. I think that government-provided or government-subsidized health insurance is essential to any comprehensive support system for the lower class, and that such a system is central to a unified America. Too many low-income families are stuck with poor living conditions, consequent health conditions, and barely affordable care. For me, this debate boils down to two things: numbers and principle.
This is a post by a white American for white Americans. By now we all know the story of the Charleston church shooting. The media has obsessed over it since it happened, and rightly so. We need to take this opportunity to confront the myth that we live in a post-racial society, although it’s a shame and embarrassment that it took the deaths of nine more people to force us into self-reflection. But while we mourn as a nation, it’s also vital that we take this opportunity to find out why this really happened, and how we can stop it from happening again. Because you can be sure that as soon as this blows over, most of us in mainstream white America will go back to leading our privileged lives and ignoring the racism that affects too many in this country.
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