To: The Tool It’s clearly not a new phenomenon in either our longer-term collective history or when it comes to you and your base, but given the phenomenal degree of nutso-ness (a totally technical term, btw) I’m not finished unpacking mass hysteria. Here’s the definition that my Google algorithm delivers (from Wikipedia): “In sociology and … Continue reading Mass hysteria on steroids
Racism
Vulnerability shouldn’t be a luxury
To: The Sorest, Most Messed-Up Loser Ever Yesterday our intern chaplain preached and near the end of her sermon our senior minister said in the chat that she thought it was one of the best sermons ever. It was a truly wonderful sermon on an incredibly challenging portion of the lectionary – Mathew 25: 14-30, … Continue reading Vulnerability shouldn’t be a luxury
Our POTUS is trying to take US down
To: He who refuses to concede appropriately (as in, at all) The relief and modest jubilation phase is officially over and I’m settling back into worry mode as you drag this out and your faithful bootlickers elbow each other out of the way to prove their fealty to you and your lost cause. Lyrics from … Continue reading Our POTUS is trying to take US down
Bitter and sweet, sweet and bitter
President* for only 73 more days (and counting) Trump, My word of the day today is “bittersweet”, which is defined as either “bitterness and sweetness combined,” which I think is rather too literal and pretty lame, or as “pleasure mixed with overtones of sadness,” which I like quite a bit better (https://www.yourdictionary.com/bittersweet). In this morning’s … Continue reading Bitter and sweet, sweet and bitter
Where the hell do we go from here?
President* Trump, Last night we decided that the word of the day was “pissy.” Laura, our friend, and I cycled through various analogous words (e.g., irritable, frustrated, grumpy, cranky, grouchy) but when one or the other of us landed on “pissy” we all exclaimed that this was the best descriptor of them all and oddly, … Continue reading Where the hell do we go from here?
May the meek get unmeek
President* Trump, The poem-a-day poem in my inbox this morning is by Rena Priest and it’s called The Index and it feels solidly apropos this morning (https://poets.org/poem/index-0?mc_cid=091f8058c4&mc_eid=03fcdf422b). Priest riffs on the idea that “the meek shall inherit the earth” was an agreed upon promise early in our human story. She goes on to see/imagine it … Continue reading May the meek get unmeek
God save the data! Or else.
President* Trump, It took me three days, but last night I finally made it all the way through the HP’s long (long) report on the myriad ways your administration has undermined, thwarted, hacked, misrepresented, and disappeared, the data that the US government needs to do its jobs properly (https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/article/disappearing-data/index.html#credits). It was a huge effort (5 … Continue reading God save the data! Or else.
Identity politics revisited
President* Trump, Thinking about the young queer person my friend described yesterday, my brother, my Black women friends, Laura, myself, the people sleeping in tents down the street from us in the context of this colossal mess we’ve made has me trying to piece together the puzzle of identity politics. This is also driven by … Continue reading Identity politics revisited
May we refuse to be broken
President* Trump, I know you don’t care at all, but there are lots of us out here who’re struggling if not out right suffering. This morning a friend texted and said that today’s her husband’s birthday but between ACB getting to join the newly cemented Supremacist (this is me) Court, the election, COVID, and everything … Continue reading May we refuse to be broken
They’ve shown their hand, and it’s trembling
President* Trump, The two recent Executive Orders pertaining to the federal workforce are certainly doozies. I’m referring to the one you issued on September 22nd entitled “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping” and the one you issued on October 21st entitled “Executive Order on Creating Schedule F In The Excepted Service.” Seems to … Continue reading They’ve shown their hand, and it’s trembling