Charlie Kirk Is Dead

There are many reasons not to sentimentally eulogize Charlie Kirk, a right-wing activist I knew little about and cared about even less.  

There are, in fact too many of them to list here.  I'd probably need an entirely new blog to list them. 

But among them are his observation that black women lack the brain power for high-level jobs, that Dr. Martin Luther King doesn't deserve to be honored and that the civil rights legislation was a mistake, and that Taylor Swift sucks.   But the biggest reason not to sentimentally eulogize him - and here's something to ponder when you hear an Aretha Franklin song on the radio if it follows a cut from the brain-power-derived Toto ("all chops and no brains" - Dave Marsh) - is that he said the Second Amendment was worth the price of a few school shootings every now and then.

Bear in mind that Charlie Kirk was not only shot to death in Utah, but it happened on a university campus.  A school. 

Having said all that, I condemn the killing of Charlie Kirk for the same reason I don't want to see Tyler Robinson, the guy who shot him, get the death penalty for it - and also for the same reason I personally oppose abortion as a Catholic . . . because only God decides who lives and dies, and killing in all forms is wrong.  That includes war deaths, because even though killing outside the rules of military engagement is referred to as "war crimes," the truth is, as I've said here before, that war crimes are a redundancy.  All war is a crime. 

None of this is good enough for Donald Trump, who has sought to make Kirk's assassination a cause célèbre among the right-wingers who support him to portray Kirk's opponents - who are also MAGA's opponents - as the enemy, and as an enemy that must be obliterated.  Making Kirk a martyr is part of Trump's effort to squelch dissent against his dictatorship by any means available, at least until he can make dissent a capital offense.  And even though Trump and his Trumpettes tried to bang the drum of derision against liberals by suggesting that a person of color or a non-heterosexual pulled the trigger, it turned out that the assassin was a white male member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - the original iteration of Christian nationalism in America - who shot Kirk because Kirk wasn't far to the right enough.  

Once the news broke that the suspect was in custody, Trump basked in the the triumph of the moment, and Federal Bureau of Investigation director Kash Patel took a victory lap.  Except that family members turned in the assailant.  Patel couldn't recognize a gunman even if you spotted the g, the m, the a, and both n's and let him buy a vowel. 

And yet the demonization of Trump's opponents continues, if only because Trump is now blaming the atmosphere of disgust toward disgusting people who advocate for an exclusionary, reactionary society in America on his opposition.  He's blaming liberals, democratic socialists, congressional Democrats, all other Democrats and who knows whom for Kirk's death by promoting their "radical" and "un-American" ideas and ideals in the public square . . . not that much different than when the Reverend Jerry Falwell opined that feminism and homosexuality were to blame for God removing His blessings from the United States and allowing 9/11 to happen. 

This is a dangerous situation, where anyone who speaks up risks retribution and anyone who doesn't speak up risks being taken away when there's no one left to speak up for anyone else.  All I have to say after all that is, I'm doubling down.  I am for the secession of Democratic "blue" states.  I believe that to remain in the Union isn't worth the violence that's coming.  I believe that it's time for the blue states to get out.

Shinzo Abe

Shinzo Abe, who was recently assassinated by a deranged paranoiac who thought the former Japanese prime minister belonged to a cult, was a true Japanese patriot.  He set about making his country economically stronger and more resilient, he hoped to have the Japanese postwar constitution amended to allow a military buildup to combat the growing power of China, and he looked to strengthen alliances with the United States and South Korea.  He also looked to make Japanese youth feel more a part of society to give them hope for the future.  Abe's assassination was unexpected, given Japan's strict gun laws, but the reaction to the murder was very predictable.  The Japanese people, who look out for each other and work in unison to make their country work as flawlessly as one of their own products, all poured out into the streets to pay their last respects to Abe as his body was taken to his final resting place.  It was the sort of funeral more commonly associated with that of an emperor.

Abe had been campaigning for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in by-elections for the Diet, the Japanese parliament, when he was shot to death, and the voters responded with a huge endorsement of LDP candidates.  It was a fitting tribute to a man as iconic in Japanese politics as Abe.

Judgment Day

It seems like too many people are listening to Alex Jones.

John Roemer (above), a retired judge in Wisconsin, was assassinated at his home yesterday morning by an alleged militiaman who was shot by law enforcement.  The gunman is in critical condition and the authorities hope they can get some motive out of him upon his recovery.

The suspect allegedly had a bipartisan hit list for more attacks, a list that included U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic governors Tony Evers of Wisconsin and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.

It appears that more and more self-described revolutionaries are ready to attack public officeholders to instigate and accelerate the "revolution" they have been pining for since the Tea Party was formed.  January 6 is turning out to have been the dress rehearsal for the coming American apocalypse. 

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

Cuba Sí, Haiti Non

With Fidel Castro dead and Raul Castro retired, the Cuban revolution doesn't seem as noble or as glamorous as it once did.

Cubans took to the streets this week to demonstrate against shortages, power outages, and economic conditions worsened by COVID, many demanding freedom and the resignation of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who blamed the crisis on six decades of American sanctions.  White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan expressed support for the Cuban people, and - as soon as Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) bitched about the lack of response from the Oval Office itself - so did President Biden. 

I know I'm going to lose a lot of friends among the progressive movement who regard U.S. policy toward Cuba as imperialist and paternalistic, but I'll be happy to see the Cuban Communist government go.  Yeah, yeah, I know that Castro was for the people and overthrew a corrupt dictator supported by the Mafia and all that, but if Communist Cuba was so wonderful, why did so many Cubans escape to Miami?  I don't agree with sanctions and tourist bans - they've only hurt the people and strengthened the Communist government's hand - but I can easily agree that communism is a failed economic system.  Capitalism - real capitalism, regulated capitalism, not the racketeering system we have now - is the best way to allocate and manage goods.  If you want to see how capitalism is supposed to work, look at any country - like Canada - that doesn't impose sanctions against Cuba. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Windward Passage, Haiti is dissolving into chaos yet again, but I don't think it's ever been this bad.  President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated last week, and the whole country has gone into a state of anarchy that makes previous eras of Haitian political instability look like mere trifles.  A Haitian doctor in Florida is rumored to have orchestrated the assassination, as Moïse was killed by mercenaries; seems he wanted to make himself president.  

Meanwhile, demonstrations run rampant in the streets of Port-au-Prince, gangs are more trusted to maintain order than the police, and there's practically no government - except for two guys both claiming to be prime minister.  I think it's time for the United Nations to send peacekeeping troops and set up a new system of government.  The United States can't do it.  No one country can.  Heck, the Americans had the Marines there to set things straight, from 1915 to 1934, and that didn't work.

It's hard to believe that Haiti is the second oldest independent country in the Western Hemisphere, after the United States.

Long Time Gone

How is it that fifty years after Robert Kennedy's assassination, the divisions in the country that he hoped to heal as President and the unjust foreign policy he hoped to end still haven't been addressed?   How is it that the United States has only become a meaner, nastier place?  How is it that we Americans have become more violent, more complacent and indifferent, and more cynical?

Don't expect me to say that there's any hope to build a better America after half a century, and not just because Republicans, in response to President Barack Obama's call of "Oh yes, we can," yelled back, "Oh no, you don't!"  And not just because of that clown now in the White House or the Republican ringmasters who sustain him and egg him on to make America the country the world loves to hate.  I blame the Democrats too.  Obama couldn't count on support at low moments of his Presidency from top Democrats, whose game of politics as usual disappointed and disgusted Obama's enthusiastic and idealistic supporters - but, truth be told, Obama himself never articulated what he meant by "hope and change."  And when Democrats vying to succeed Obama sought to pick up Bobby Kennedy's mantle and bring people - black and white, working class and professional class, native-born and immigrants, Christians and Muslims - together, they were undermined by a Democratic establishment who went  and got Hillary Clinton the nomination based on identity politics (the female candidate, the candidate for blacks, et. al.).  Bernie Sanders was dismissed as "the white candidate" despite his efforts to appeal to the 99 percent of Americans, and Martin O'Malley, despite his own outreach to different groups, had his experience in government held against him to discourage blacks and young people from giving him a hearing.

And if Bobby Kennedy had campaigned for President in 2016?  His interest in the poor would have been laughed at by corporate centrists and his reputation as a "law and order" man would have had identity liberals holding him in contempt.

These same Democrats - the people who helped Trump win the presidential election by brushing aside everything RFK stood for - want me to support another corporate establishment presidential candidate in 2020 so I can stand with them against Trump in brotherhood.  May I say one thing to corporate Democrats? Don't give me that brother-brother-brother, brother! >:-( 

Below is a clip of the end of Robert Kennedy's last speech - his victory speech in the June 4, 1968 California presidential primary - moments before he was shot.

  

It's still a long, long, long, long time before the dawn.

One More In the Name of Love

It really amazes me that fifty years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Americans are coming more apart than together and are drawn even more to people who divide us and set us against each other for selfish reasons and destructive agendas.  American civilization has not only become more divisive, it has become coarser, more violent and less free.  Poor people of all races and colors are constantly diminished and shamed, we have a President who seeks to maximize his power to the point of being authoritarian, and for every Trump voter who wants to return to an America that never was, there's a smug leftie who wants to celebrate differences without adhering to common standards - like civic duty and a shared purpose.  And when we're not denigrating each other's dignity, we're bombing people in other countries that stand in the way of American hegemony, just as we did in Vietnam . . . and Grenada . . . and Iraq . . ..

I really can't say anything that hasn't already been said about how far we have not come since the assassination of Dr. King, who was the apostle of non-violence, brotherhood, equality, and the rule of law, but Dr. King's last speech ever, delivered in Memphis fifty years ago today, pretty much sums up how daunting the long, hard climb to a better world was then . . . and is now.

This video is a edit of two excerpts from that speech, referring to plans to fight an injunction against striking sanitation workers in Memphis, whom Dr. King was there to help, to deny them there right to protest.  I tear up every time I hear this . . ..  

Not Gun Shy

I was going to write about how the leadership of the National Rifle Association - not its rank-and-file members, its leadership - is the slimiest set of lobbyists in Washington, but alas, they're not that reputable. It seems that the NRA leadership has endorsed a proposal to make concealed weapon permits in different states valid nationwide by federal law, overriding restrictions in other states. A bill that would in fact override state laws against concealed firearms was passed by the Republican House - with some Democratic support - and it now has to be voted on by the Senate. Already, several Senate Democrats, including New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg, are working to make sure the bill gets defeated, or at least filibustered to death.

New Jersey, in addition to having some of the most dangerous real estate in America, has one of the toughest hidden gun laws in the country. This bill would theoretically make it easier for out-of-staters to come in, possibly to sell illegal drugs, and make life in Newark and Camden even worse than it already is. Some states, like Florida, are so lax in issuing concealed weapon permits that ex-convicts can get them. How many Republicans in New Jersey's House delegation supported this wrong-headed idea? All six of them.

Except that NRA rank-and-file members overwhelmingly oppose this bill, and they've lobbied their own lobby against it. Apparently NRA leaders listen to their members as much as congressman listen to constituents who support taxing millionaires. That is to say ,they don't.

This bill passed the House last week, the same week a man from Idaho fired rounds at the White House in hope of assassinating the President.

Speaking of concealment, I can't conceal my anger over this. That's why I'm posting this on the anniversary of the John F. Kennedy assassination.