This weekend, do you know where your memories are?

It's Memorial Day Weekend. The remembrance boards for my father and father-in-law are hung. Today is also Bob Dylan's 85th birthday. Here's a link to his Nobel Prize section. Dylan was highly motivated by the works of Woody Guthrie, who was noted for being, among other things, strongly anti fascist, for example, in this song he wrote: Tear the Fascists Down. I started to fuss about "where's our Woody Guthrie?" when I remembered the recent work of Bruce Springsteen: Streets of Minneapolis... not precisely on target, but close enough to satisfy me and shut down my fussing.

In memory of my father and father-in law

Photo by J. Harrington

As I think about it, these days we're still fighting much the same battles, against the same kinds of ideologies and idiots, that Guthrie and Dylan were singing about and my father and father-in-law fought against in WW II; and the North fought the South about in our "Civil War." Pete Seeger has observed the dismaying circularity of these battles in his hauntingly beautiful Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

I grew up during the Cold War period when "duck and cover" was supposed to protect US school kids from nuclear blasts. These days, in this country, we lose more kids to mass shootings than we've lost to nuclear weapons, at least as of the moment I'm writing this. If so many of US want to return to an era past, perhaps we could consider returning to the days of Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society. In fact, such an effort might even help unite the Democratic Party and provide respite to a perpetual rehash of what went wrong during 2024, demonstrating for the rest of US that, indeed, some wars don't have to be fought.

Masters of War

Written by: Bob Dylan

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people’s blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You’ve thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death’ll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I’ll stand o’er your grave
’Til I’m sure that you’re dead          

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Ironic? You bet!

One of the folx down the road is a tRUMP supporter. In fact, there’s many of them in the county in which we live. The one I’m writing about however, has a sign in from of his house that claims: “Gun owners for Trump!,” or words to that effect. Maybe I’ll try to take a picture the next time I drive past if the sign is still there. Since the candidate was grazed by a bullet yesterday, and several folx are dead and others critically wounded according to the news, I wonder if the Trumpster MAGAt has a sense of irony. Even more, I wonder if the candidate does, but suspect not.

will we be the phoenix or the ash pile of democracy?

Photo by J. Harrington

Those of you who read this with any regularity have probably noticed I’ve ben on a kick lately, citing old sayings and quotations. The current opportunity offers too much to pass by. Heres a few that come to mind:

• Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas
• Known by the company you keep
• Give as good as you get (or vice versa)
• What goes around, comes around (or vice versa)
• and the ever infamous Live by the sword, ...

If I left out any you think belong on the list, please note them in the comments.

Last nights thunderstorms awakened my dog and made her quite anxious, so of course she looked to me for reassurance at about 12:45 am. I gave here a couple anxiety calming treats and had her lie down while I rubbed under her chin. (She doesn’t like me to pet the top of her head.) After a while, the rain, lightning and thunder faded away and SiSi and I faded back to sleep. I figure SiSi’s about as likely to grow out of thunderstorm anxiety as most politicians are likely to grow into authenticity, integrity and transparency. Both of which are more likely to occur than for me to get to vote for the candidate [AOC] I’d really like to see as POTUS so I’ll just try to make the most of the world I’ve got to live in. Good luck to US all. We’ll need it if we continue to act as though we’ll settle any more by a next civil war than we did by the last one.

America

By Tony Hoagland

Then one of the students with blue hair and a tongue stud   

Says that America is for him a maximum-security prison

Whose walls are made of RadioShacks and Burger Kings, and MTV episodes   

Where you can’t tell the show from the commercials,

And as I consider how to express how full of shit I think he is,   

He says that even when he’s driving to the mall in his Isuzu

Trooper with a gang of his friends, letting rap music pour over them   

Like a boiling Jacuzzi full of ballpeen hammers, even then he feels

Buried alive, captured and suffocated in the folds   

Of the thick satin quilt of America

And I wonder if this is a legitimate category of pain,   

or whether he is just spin doctoring a better grade,

And then I remember that when I stabbed my father in the dream last night,   

It was not blood but money

That gushed out of him, bright green hundred-dollar bills   

Spilling from his wounds, and—this is the weird part—,

He gasped “Thank god—those Ben Franklins were   

Clogging up my heart—

And so I perish happily,

Freed from that which kept me from my liberty”—

Which was when I knew it was a dream, since my dad   

Would never speak in rhymed couplets,

And I look at the student with his acne and cell phone and phony ghetto clothes

And I think, “I am asleep in America too,

And I don’t know how to wake myself either,”

And I remember what Marx said near the end of his life:

“I was listening to the cries of the past,

When I should have been listening to the cries of the future.”

But how could he have imagined 100 channels of 24-hour cable

Or what kind of nightmare it might be

When each day you watch rivers of bright merchandise run past you

And you are floating in your pleasure boat upon this river

Even while others are drowning underneath you

And you see their faces twisting in the surface of the waters

And yet it seems to be your own hand

Which turns the volume higher?

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We need better constitutions and laws

There’s an article in the Minnesota Reformer claiming we need a full time legislature. As I read through it the other day, I couldn’t find a clear explanation of how going from part time to full time would improve the quality of laws or related decisions. Meanwhile, the Kansas Supreme Court has found the "state constitution does not provide the right to vote.” Finallly, although I wasn’t there at the time, I don’t recall reading that the framers of the US Constitution were under time pressures when they decided the qualifications to be president to be limited to the following:

Article II, Section 1, Clause 5:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

I believe the requirements to purchase and/or carry a firearm are considerably more stringent. Look at the situation we’re currently facing: a convicted felon, on 34 counts, is the presumptive candidate for president, expected to represent one of our two major political parties. Felons aren’t allowed to vote, why should one be allowed to serve the highest office? Don’t we think more of our democracy, and ourselves, than that.

Hieracium aurantiacum (Orange Hawkweed) invasive species

Photo by J. Harrington

At the state level, I’ve been looking at Minnesota’s laws defining invasive species. Although I am not a lawyer, they seem vague enough to be found unconstitutional, See what you think:

• 2023 Minnesota Statutes
• AGRICULTURE
• Chapter 18
• Section 18.77

Subd. 17.    Invasive plant.

"Invasive plant" means a nonnative species whose introduction and establishment causes, or may cause, economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. 

  

• 2023 Minnesota Statutes
• CONSERVATION
• Chapter 84D
• Section 84D.01

Subd. 9a.    Invasive species.

"Invasive species" means a nonnative species that:

(1) causes or may cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health; or

(2) threatens or may threaten natural resources or the use of natural resources in the state. 

So far, I’ve not been able to find any description of a process or criteria to be followed in reaching a determination of the quantity and/or quality of “harm” that needs to be caused to the economy, human health or natural resources in the state for a terrestrial or aquatic species to be listed. 

The last time I checked, most educated, thinking people were familiar with and generally agreed with the  theory of evolution. That means ecosystems and their elements change over time. Then there’s the problem of human caused environmental pollution that’s causing massive amounts of economic and environmental and human health harm. I’m not holding my breath until the commissioner of agriculture or natural resources declares humans an invasive species but, if we look back far enough, I don’t think we fit the definition of native for this continent.

Don’t we need better laws to have better enforcement and attain the results we’d like? Do we really want to see a convicted felon in our highest office? Should our definitions of invasive species, and how they're applied, be more specific? How do we start to make that happen? We need to begin with better quality candidates and better defined issues!

Tomorrow I’ll share some questions I hope could help get a better handle on invasive species. Maybe we can work up to qualifications for president.

anti-immigration 

By Evie Shockley

the black people left, and took with them their furious

            hurricanes and their fire-breathing rap songs melting

the polar ice caps. they left behind the mining jobs,

           but took that nasty black lung disease and the insurance

regulations that loop around everything concerning

           health and care, giant holes of text that all the coverage

falls through. the brown people left, and took with

           them the pesticides collecting like a sheen on the skins

of fruit. they went packing, and packed off with them

           went all the miserable low-paying gigs, the pre-dawn

commutes, the children with expensive special needs

           and the hard-up public schools that tried to meet them.

the brown people left, railroaded into carting off those

           tests that keep your average bright young student outside

the leagues of ivy-lined classrooms, and also hauled off

           their concentrated campuses, their great expectations, their

invasive technology, and the outrageous pay gap between

           a company’s c.e.o. and its not-quite-full-time workers. they

took their fragile endangered pandas and species extinction

           and got the hell outta dodge. the black people left and took

hiv/aids, the rest of their plagues, and all that deviant

           sexuality with them. they took their beat-down matriarchies

and endless teen pregnancies, too. those monster-sized

           extended families, the brown people took those. the brown

people boxed up their turbans and suspicious sheet-like

           coverings, their terrifying gun violence, cluster bombs,

and drones, and took the whole bloody mess with them,

           they took war and religious brow-beating tucked under

their robes. they took theocracy and their cruel, unusual

           punishments right back where they came from. finally,

the white people left, as serenely unburdened as when

          they arrived, sailing off from plymouth rock with nothing

in their hands but a recipe for cranberry sauce, a bit

           of corn seed, and the dream of a better life. there were

only certain kinds of people here, after the exodus, left

           to wander the underdeveloped wilderness in search

of buffalo, tobacco, and potable water, following old

           migratory patterns that would have been better left alone.

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Our system is broken

When I voted this morning, there were four election judges, and me, for the entire mid-morning time I was there. Someone left the voting site as I parked and I held the door for someone entering as I left. That was it. Apparently democracy isn’t as popular as it once was or folks can’t make up whatever they use for a mind and stay home? I’ll be curious to see the turnout numbers when they’re available.

“I Voted” button

Photo by J. Harrington

I was less than enthusiastic about voting today. I don’t like the idea of living in a Yogi Berra-ism such as 'It's deja vu all over again’ or being trapped in a movie like Groundhog Day. Plus, I can’t begin to comprehend how the polls can have the race so close in light of what should be known about the multi-indicted candidate. What do you suppose it would take to throw out both major political parties, at least three members of SCOTUS, half of Congress, and finally ratify the ERA? Our government has not been doing a good job of being “of the people, by the people, for the people” for quite some time, regardless of which party was nominally in charge. If you want to answer the infamous “are you better off now than you were four years ago,” don’t forget to include climate weirding and its consequences, a deteriorating health system and public education system, and the fact that many middle class families pay a notably higher effective tax rate than many profitable corporations. Gerrymander, anyone?

Alexander Hamilton is reported to have said, “People get the government they deserve.” If Biden loses in November, that will be true for Republicans and turncoat Democrats. The rest of US will be little more than fellow passengers on the Titanic. Let’s do everything possible, and some impossible things too, to make sure MAGAts sink alone. Then we need to change the system so we can never again come this close to the mess we’re currently in.

Why We Oppose Votes for Men

Alice Duer Miller
1874 – 1942

 1. Because man’s place is the armory.


 2. Because no really manly man wants to settle any question otherwise than by fighting about it.


 3. Because if men should adopt peaceable methods women will no longer look up to them.


 4. Because men will lose their charm if they step out of their natural sphere and interest themselves in other matters than feats of arms, uniforms and drums.


 5. Because men are too emotional to vote. Their conduct at baseball games and political conventions shows this, while their innate tendency to appeal to force renders them particularly unfit for the task of government. 

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Putting kids and families first

Can someone, anyone, explain any significant differences between child care. pre-K and kindergarten? The reason I ask is the Minnesota legislature is proposing to spend $500 million on child care subsidies. Meanwhile, as noted by MPR: Analysis: How Minnesota’s school funding leaves the most in-need districts behind. There’s also this recent report from MinnPost: Why $2B in new school funding is leaving Minnesota districts scrambling for cash. Just last session, the good news was: House passes massive K-12 education funding, policy package. That triggered the bad news: Districts worry about cost of new mandates [in the same bill].

“it takes a village to care for and educate a child” 

Photo by J. Harrington

There are continuing references to our school system, but many, especially in the legislature, seem determined to not treat it as a system. It’s largely like playing whack-a-mole. Recent reports raise significant questions about the advisability of providing public funds to charter schools. Rather than repeat that mistake, and rely on the private sector to provide child care, and subsidize that to make it more affordable, why not consider expanding the school system to incorporate childcare and, if it makes sense after a study of the system, make school a year round effort. Many parents have to work year round and need help with supervising children when school’s out. Staffing up for additional children during the summer isn’t likely to work well for a system that has staffing problems right now. Let’s look at better ways to support all Minnesota’s children, families and wage earners by building a real system to serve each and all of them.

Hills of Bureaucracy

Alexandria Peary

In the event
that the engagement 
shall be prevented
by reason of war, 
Act of God, strike, 
civic tumult, epidemic 
or any other cause 
beyond the control 
of either agreeing party, 
which is deemed 
to be “force majeure,” 
the agreed parties 
shall be respectively 
relieved of their obligations
contained herein and 
return to the rolling hills
of bureaucracy, 
a deep green field 
of barley, more hills 
with hay bales, no sky: 
an argyle of crops, 
following emergency exits  
and evacuation plans
to the long and winding 
road that leads
to your door.

That would be 15 A 
on the updated form,
the red door 
with a mat and rack 
for your shoes
of a cottage in the village.
Let the minutes state 
you’ve had a tiresome    
journey through various causes
on the lengthy lavender road
past blaze orange fields
that shall include revolutions,
riots, wars, acts of enemies, 
national state local 
emergency, strikes, 
floods, fires, epidemics, 
quarantine, embargoes, 
or unusually severe weather, 
and that we’re not responsible 
or liable for any loss 
or damage, for delays
in performance 
or failure to perform. 
The 10 point font path
has brought you to the Open Forum
on Comprehensive 
Internationalization, 
where the committee 
invites input from the whole
community about where
we are at and where 
we should go,             
which thatched houses   
for which gas stations
in the settlements of 
educational plans, mission 
statements, internal hiring.
The designated spokesperson 
from the institutional 
advancement office is explaining:
This is a plan for all 
of us. A family reunion 
hosted by Human Resources 
in partnership
with Business Intelligence, 
Focus on Core Academic Function, 
so the member
at the back of the conference room
knitting wooly yarn clouds 
as stress relief
should get a grip.
We’ve all stopped 
our planting in favor 
of administering to 
attend this conference 
on the administration of planting,
Cc: all: the assistant to, vice-, 
associate, interim, acting,
chief, head of, associate director. 
Staples for vineyards. 
Collated construction 
plans are in departmental 
mail boxes. Approving 
the minutes from yesterday,
let’s send the next presenter back 
like a salmon stunned w/ frustration
who weeps with frustration
into the whirling vortex 
of a policy about policy,
a few hay bales, 
shade trees for cattle
or the sub-committee to 
this committee,
though Party 1 is not a fish
but a person who must drive 
back in his rental Kia,
the application form 
was incomplete. 
Next order of business: 
those ornamental wild
grasses planted 
last year for the parade,
tall, on the highway divide
on Route 2 South, 
junction of JFK Boulevard
and South Main, 
a deathtrap or death wish?

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Please be kind to each other while you can.

Death, taxes, and technology failures

Short posting today. Our internet service provider, Frontier, is having some sort of network problem that is delivering about .1Mbps [yes, that’s POINT ONE Mbps] to us and a good sized surrounding area. It’s been that way since late yesterday afternoon. Would that we could find a viable alternative ISP. Our credit union also had some IT issues this week that caused me to use an alternate mechanism to pay some bills. Why can’t technical types make sure everything works well before and after they add “improvements?” 

Back on the home front, there’s snow on the ground, again. Flurries off and on since this morning, early. It doesn’t make the countryside look a whole lot better, but it’a a change.

The Better Half and I are pulling together the info needed to fill out our tax organizer so we can deliver it to our tax preparer. It’s every bit as much fun as you might guess, even though we try to stay organized throughout the year. At least there’ll be some sense of accomplishment when the taxes are done and filed for another year. Again, the process of filing taxes is more complicated than should be necessary and that benefits few except the top 1% and those like them.

I hope this uploads some time in the next day or two.

I Am Waiting

By Lawrence Ferlinghetti

I am waiting for my case to come up   

and I am waiting

for a rebirth of wonder

and I am waiting for someone

to really discover America

and wail

and I am waiting   

for the discovery

of a new symbolic western frontier   

and I am waiting   

for the American Eagle

to really spread its wings

and straighten up and fly right

and I am waiting

for the Age of Anxiety

to drop dead

and I am waiting

for the war to be fought

which will make the world safe

for anarchy

and I am waiting

for the final withering away

of all governments

and I am perpetually awaiting

a rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the Second Coming   

and I am waiting

for a religious revival

to sweep thru the state of Arizona   

and I am waiting

for the Grapes of Wrath to be stored   

and I am waiting

for them to prove

that God is really American

and I am waiting

to see God on television

piped onto church altars

if only they can find   

the right channel   

to tune in on

and I am waiting

for the Last Supper to be served again

with a strange new appetizer

and I am perpetually awaiting

a rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for my number to be called

and I am waiting

for the Salvation Army to take over

and I am waiting

for the meek to be blessed

and inherit the earth   

without taxes

and I am waiting

for forests and animals

to reclaim the earth as theirs

and I am waiting

for a way to be devised

to destroy all nationalisms

without killing anybody

and I am waiting

for linnets and planets to fall like rain

and I am waiting for lovers and weepers

to lie down together again

in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the Great Divide to be crossed   

and I am anxiously waiting

for the secret of eternal life to be discovered   

by an obscure general practitioner

and I am waiting

for the storms of life

to be over

and I am waiting

to set sail for happiness

and I am waiting

for a reconstructed Mayflower

to reach America

with its picture story and tv rights

sold in advance to the natives

and I am waiting

for the lost music to sound again

in the Lost Continent

in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the day

that maketh all things clear

and I am awaiting retribution

for what America did   

to Tom Sawyer   

and I am waiting

for Alice in Wonderland

to retransmit to me

her total dream of innocence

and I am waiting

for Childe Roland to come

to the final darkest tower

and I am waiting   

for Aphrodite

to grow live arms

at a final disarmament conference

in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting

to get some intimations

of immortality

by recollecting my early childhood

and I am waiting

for the green mornings to come again   

youth’s dumb green fields come back again

and I am waiting

for some strains of unpremeditated art

to shake my typewriter

and I am waiting to write

the great indelible poem

and I am waiting

for the last long careless rapture

and I am perpetually waiting

for the fleeing lovers on the Grecian Urn   

to catch each other up at last

and embrace

and I am awaiting   

perpetually and forever

a renaissance of wonder

for this Lent, I’m giving up giving up

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, for those who observe. I’m not a religious person although I was raised in a major faith. Making sacrifices during Lent was part of the tradition and rituals. In my younger days, I used to give up keeping my New Year’s resolutions during Lent until I got wise enough to make a New Year’s resolution to not make New Year’s resolutions. I’ve kept that one.

It has occurred to me that the radical right is trying to wear US down, just as Putin is trying to wear down Ukraine and their supporters. Add in the third year of a pandemic, continuing failures to properly respond to climate breakdown and loss of biodiversity, increasing concentration of power and wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer oligarchs, and a long and growing list of other systemic failures (toxic train derailments and ubiquitous forever chemicals included) and it’s not hard to see how lots of intelligent, rational moderate and liberal folks can lean toward depression. If we surrender, they win. We don’t want that.

AOC is on a congressional trip to Japan. A recent email notes:

Japan is a country that not only has universal health care, not only has a bullet train public infrastructure system that is robust, not only has child care, not only cares about the environment, not only cares about cultural preservation – but is also successful. It is the third largest economy in the world. 

It’s not to say that everything is perfect here. It’s not to say that it is without its challenges. It’s not even to say that the U.S. should be just like Japan. 

But it’s saying that all of these things that we’re constantly told are impossible, are possible. They’re possible. A better world is possible. 

President Biden, in Poland after a visit to Kyiv, is reported in the Guardian, to have "accused [Putin] of ‘playing to rifts in the United States’ by raising specter of nuclear war between Moscow and west” ....

A member of Congress is proposing a divorce between conservative red and liberal/moderate blue states. That seems inconsistent with her oath to defend the Constitution.

the charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable,
a perpetual series of occasions for hope

Photo by J. Harrington

Worn out yet? Don’t be. Reread AOC’s note. “A better world is possible.” If you’re looking for some examples of how, try

• Slow Food
• Slow Water
• From What Is to What If
• Trout Unlimited
• Aldo Leopold Foundation
• Letters from an American

There are other options. Look around. First of all though, take care of yourself. You’re all we’ve got.

For the Consideration of Poets

By Haki R. Madhubuti

where is the poetry of resistance,

                     the poetry of honorable defiance

unafraid of lies from career politicians and business men,

not respectful of journalist who write

official speak void of educated thought

without double search or sub surface questions

that war talk demands?

where is the poetry of doubt and suspicion

not in the service of the state, bishops and priests,

not in the service of beautiful people and late night promises,

not in the service of influence, incompetence and academic

         clown talk?

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Without trust, we have ...

Moonset was beautiful this morning, very cold, but beautiful. It looked a lot like the photo below, which was taken in December several years ago.

winter moonset

Photo by J. Harrington

I wish I could train myself to spend more time enjoying the good things in life and less time focused on what’s wrong. That would mean I’d spend more time enjoying life instead of fretting about what I want but don’t have at the moment. In the current example, that would be spring and warmer weather. If I were more accepting of what is, in winter I would not complain about walking dogs in bitter cold weather, nor spring’s rain and ice and mud, nor about summer’s flies and mosquitoes. Instead, I’ve limited the potential enjoyment of much of three seasons, not because of pain but because of discomfort, irritation or aggravation. I don’t believe this kind of dissatisfaction is what Robert Browning had in mind when he wrote 

“Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for?”

Alternatively, Jane Hirshfield has said:

I have been given this existence, these years on this Earth, to accept what has come into my lifetime — wars, loves, trucks, betrayals, kindness. I must take them. I must find a way to live in this world. You can’t refuse it. And along with the difficult is the radiant, the beautiful, the intimacy with which each one of us enters the life of all of us and figures out, what is our conversation? What is my responsibility? What must be suffered? What can be changed? How can I meet this in a way which both lets me open my eyes the next day and also, perhaps, if I’m lucky, can be of service?

Rarely, if ever, do I do well with acceptance. Not because I don’t try but because it does not seem to be in my nature to be zen-like. My focus has been much more on the questions “What is my responsibility? What must be suffered? What can be changed?” Perhaps the issue is one of balance rather than absolutes. 

If your email inbox is like mine, it daily fills with please to help alleviate one crisis after another. Rarely is there an acknowledgement than any given crisis has been abated, even for the moment. Such beleaguerment feeds guilt but rarely accomplishment. But then there’s the story of saving starfish.

If, come November of this year, democracy is extinguished in the US by US, due to indifference and/or incompetence, it will be tragic but, at least for awhile, the world will continue. Chile lost and then restored its democracy under political conditions that seem quite similar to those of our current time and place: a loss of trust between the two major political parties. In our case, compounded by a loss of trust between the each of the parties and many of its proponents.

As a recovvering planner, I well remember the old dictum “More of the same never solved a problem.” We continue to elect people who believe their side is always right, the other side is always wrong and gridlock is preferable to letting the other side look good or a problem get solved. Until we cease repeating that mistake (those mistakes?), nothing we do is likely to improve things very much. If politics is the art of the  possible, then we’ve elected too many politicians who’ve made art impossible. Can we do better?

Trust

By Susan Kinsolving

Trust that there is a tiger, muscular 

Tasmanian, and sly, which has never been 

seen and never will be seen by any human 

eye. Trust that thirty thousand sword- 

fish will never near a ship, that far 

from cameras or cars elephant herds live 

long elephant lives. Believe that bees 

by the billions find unidentified flowers 

on unmapped marshes and mountains. Safe 

in caves of contentment, bears sleep. 

Through vast canyons, horses run while slowly 

snakes stretch beyond their skins in the sun. 

I must trust all this to be true, though 

the few birds at my feeder watch the window 

with small flutters of fear, so like my own.

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Republicans aren’t the only ones suppressing voter participation

 Six years (3 elections?) ago, the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party’s Environmental Caucus agreed to defer action on a contentious, but popular, resolution that opposed copper mining such as that envisioned by the PolyMet and Twin Metals projects. According to a 2016 article in the Star Tribune,

“It’s kicking the can down the road, but I think they’re starting to realize with this election that Democrats fighting among ourselves is not a good thing, and we need to find a better resolution to these issues than taking potshots.”

Twin Metals offices, Ely MN

Photo by J. Harrington

We now have two former Democrat state senators from mining country who have declared themselves Independents and now caucus with the Republicans. Neither mining project is operating yet. PolyMet has four of its required permits embroiled in court cases and reissuance. Twin Metals is facing a potential twenty year prohibition on copper mining in the watershed in which it’s located. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s Congressional District 8 is again represented by a Republican.

Democratic Party precinct caucuses are coming up on February 1, 2022. I’m debating with myself, and discussing with the Better Half, the pros and cons of participating, even remotely, in a process that’s deeply flawed because, in 2016, “The resolution was the most popular among all resolutions passed up through local DFL organizing units to the state convention’s platform committee, indicating grass roots DFL opposition to copper-nickel mining, Kanitz said.” 

I grew up in a neighborhood that lived by the slogan (among others): “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Since it’s not clear who, if any, might be local DFL candidates I’d want to endorse, or if the DFL has learned that ignoring grass roots issues can be counterproductive. it may be awhile before I’ve decided if I’m again a Democrat or intend to remain an Independent.

A Short Note to My Very Critical and Well-Beloved Friends and Comrades

June Jordan - 1936-2002

First they said I was too light
Then they said I was too dark
Then they said I was too different
Then they said I was too much the same
Then they said I was too young
Then they said I was too old
Then they said I was too interracial
Then they said I was too much a nationalist
Then they said I was too silly
Then they said I was too angry
Then they said I was too idealistic
Then they said I was too confusing altogether:
Make up your mind! They said. Are you militant
or sweet? Are you vegetarian or meat? Are you straight
or are you gay?

And I said, Hey! It’s not about my mind

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To win, first show up!

Except for a few wreathes, Christmas has been put away for another year, just in time to prepare for Imbolc on February 1, which is also the date of local precinct caucuses in Minnesota. Yesterday we fussed about the prospect of attending in person. This morning we read on Twitter, from Ken Martin, Chair of the Minnesota DFL:

Excited to announce that last evening the DFL State Executive Committee adopted my proposal to allow our local organizing units to have an option to conduct contactless covid-safe precinct caucuses:

https://dfl.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/SEC-Emergency-Declaration-Regarding-Precinct-Caucuses-Rev-000.pdf

covid-safe anyone?

Photo by J. Harrington

It’s improbable our fussing had much, if anything, to do with the decision, but we were among a number of folks who were raising concerns about the health risks of caucusing in person. It remains to be seen whether our precinct caucus will support the contactless option. I’m not about to get carried away with optimism, but there’s a few signs that there may be hope for the future of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor party. The fact that caucuses are being held on the day that Celtic spring [Imbolc] begins doesn’t hurt either.

On the other hand, the Chisago-Isanti DFL web site doesn’t yet list the February Precinct Caucuses [“There are no upcoming events at this time.”] nor provide any information about the  possibility of a covid-safe precinct caucus option. This is not encouraging in  any way, shape or form. When we first moved to our home 25 years ago +/-, our House district was represented by an intelligent, progressive Democrat. That lasted for one+ term. Were we caught in a political bait and switch? Can Democrats win in rural areas? Not without help from an active political party! Do Democrats have a cart before the horse(’s ass)?

Democracy Poem #1

By June Jordan

Tell them that I stood

in line

and I waited

and I waited

like everybody

else

But I never got

called

And I keep that scrap

of paper

in my pocket

just in case

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Welcome, Mr. President and Madam Vice President!

We now enjoy the blessings of the administration of the 46th President of the United States:

     Joe Biden, President;

     Kamala Harris, Vice President.

May they long serve US with wisdom, grace, integrity, foresight and empathy. May all patriots wish them well.

may today's dawn bring a new era for America
                                                               Photo by J. Harrington

It will be nice to not feel compelled to mute the tv, or turn it off, or change the channel, as we found necessary with #45. If diversity is necessary for a healthy ecology, wouldn't it make sense that it should also benefit a healthy democracy? We look forward to helping our country fulfill the promises it once offered to the world.

As you probably know, today's poem was read at the Inaugural ceremony by the poet.

The Hill We Climb

Amanda Gorman

When day comes we ask ourselves,

where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry,

a sea we must wade

We've braved the belly of the beast

We've learned that quiet isn't always peace

And the norms and notions

of what just is

Isn’t always just-ice

And yet the dawn is ours

before we knew it

Somehow we do it

Somehow we've weathered and witnessed

a nation that isn’t broken

but simply unfinished

We the successors of a country and a time

Where a skinny Black girl

descended from slaves and raised by a single mother

can dream of becoming president

only to find herself reciting for one

And yes we are far from polished

far from pristine

but that doesn’t mean we are

striving to form a union that is perfect

We are striving to forge a union with purpose

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and

conditions of man

And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us

but what stands before us

We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,

we must first put our differences aside

We lay down our arms

so we can reach out our arms

to one another

We seek harm to none and harmony for all

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:

That even as we grieved, we grew

That even as we hurt, we hoped

That even as we tired, we tried

That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious

Not because we will never again know defeat

but because we will never again sow division

Scripture tells us to envision

that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree

And no one shall make them afraid

If we’re to live up to our own time

Then victory won’t lie in the blade

But in all the bridges we’ve made

That is the promise to glade

The hill we climb

If only we dare

It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,

it’s the past we step into

and how we repair it

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation

rather than share it

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy

And this effort very nearly succeeded

But while democracy can be periodically delayed

it can never be permanently defeated

In this truth

in this faith we trust

For while we have our eyes on the future

history has its eyes on us

This is the era of just redemption

We feared at its inception

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs

of such a terrifying hour

but within it we found the power

to author a new chapter

To offer hope and laughter to ourselves

So while once we asked,

how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

Now we assert

How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was

but move to what shall be

A country that is bruised but whole,

benevolent but bold,

fierce and free

We will not be turned around

or interrupted by intimidation

because we know our inaction and inertia

will be the inheritance of the next generation

Our blunders become their burdens

But one thing is certain:

If we merge mercy with might,

and might with right,

then love becomes our legacy

and change our children’s birthright

So let us leave behind a country

better than the one we were left with

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,

we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one

We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,

we will rise from the windswept northeast

where our forefathers first realized revolution

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,

we will rise from the sunbaked south

We will rebuild, reconcile and recover

and every known nook of our nation and

every corner called our country,

our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,

battered and beautiful

When day comes we step out of the shade,

aflame and unafraid

The new dawn blooms as we free it

For there is always light,

if only we’re brave enough to see it

If only we’re brave enough to be it 

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Antidote to antipathy

 Today's posting has no relationship whatsoever with the fact that today is Primary Election Day in Minnesota. It also has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that way too many of our politicians, and those who vote for them, have an extremely short timeframe through which they view their votes. In fact, it seems to us that many of them have a perspective that makes day traders look like they  have a long term view. Now that we have that out of the way...

did you vote?

Photo by J. Harrington

The Center for Humans and Nature has published a series of essays responding to the question: What kind of ancestor do you want to be? I've not yet read all the essays, but I have begun to think about what I see as a glaring distinction between contemporary time frames and the Seventh Generation philosophy as envisioned by the Haudenosaunee:

"The Peacemaker taught us about the Seven Generations. He said, when you sit in council for the welfare of the people, you must not think of yourself or of your family, not even of your generation. He said, make your decisions on behalf of the seven generations coming, so that they may enjoy what you have today."

Oren Lyons (Seneca)
Faithkeeper, Onondaga Nation

If we assume that each generation covers a time span of about twenty-five years, seven generations equals about 175 years. In a world that appears to be changing as rapidly as ours, making a decision that's that forward-looking is a real challenge, especially for a society that seems to have forgotten how to take into consideration the next generation as it decides who to choose as its leaders. As reminders, not for today, but for the general election on November 3, eighty-four days from now, please make a Spotify, or Apple Play or whatever playlist of these songs and think about whether the characteristics of those for whom you are voting will help protect the audience intended for the songs.

• The Unicorn - The Irish Rovers
• Forever Young - Bob Dylan
• The Circle Game - Tom Rush
• Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul and Mary
• Cat's in the Cradle - Harry Chapin 
• The Marvelous Toy - Tom Paxton

There's a few more that could be added here but half-a-dozen should be enough to get the basic message across. We can't very well decide, it seems to me, what kind of ancestor we want to be without seriously thinking about for whom we will be ancestors. What songs would you add to the list for your descendants? Share the titles in the comments and maybe they'll show up in an updated version of this post sometime before November 3.

Remember

Joy Harjo - 1951-

Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star's stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun's birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother's, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.

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