Left of Center and Sound of Mind

One benefit of the long slog that is my daily three-hour commute to and from our Nation’s Capital is that I have found additional time to read. At least on the Metro.  Page-turning is oddly frowned upon whilst behind the wheel, thundering down Randolph Road.  Yet another tell-tale sign of incipient fascism.

Of course, the automotive leg of the journey carries with it certain advantages as well.  Observing the flora and fauna that inhabit Arcola Avenue, especially in the spring-time, has a restorative impact.  The other morning, I watched a small fox family traipse across the road before scurrying off into the near-by woods.  All with NPR or Jazz and Justice on in the background, it creates the pleasant illusion of advanced civilization.

If nothing else, it serves as an occasion to not focus on the appalling hypocrisies and moral deficiencies of those “leaders” and others who cower on the Right or Radical Center, as Kevin Phillips might refer to the latter group, with their inability to see that the current occupation of the White House is no Second Coming of Reagan.  Even with his own flaws, which were considerable, our 40^th President was north of the Mendoza line when it came to sanity.  Personally, I find that an important attribute in American Presidents, in the nuclear age.  Others may disagree.

So I look forward to cracking upon my latest acquisition, A Struggle for Power: The American Revolution by Theodore Draper, which I picked up yesterday at Second Story Books, near DuPont Circle.  In it, Draper re-evaluates the causes of the Revolutionary War by employing a realpolitik lens that includes, but transcends, ideological yearnings for Liberty and Freedom.  By acknowledging that it was a power struggle due to other, grounded political and economic reasons, he re-frames the rationale for our War of Independence.  I am very much looking forward to delving into it.

On an (unrelated?) note, Progressive HoCo is holding their kick-off meeting on Sunday, May 21.  According to their website (http://www.progressivemaryland.org/progressive_maryland_weekly_memo_for_may_15_21) it will be at: “3 p.m. at the Savage Branch of Howard County Library, 9525 Durness Lane, Laurel 20723. Please contact Dave Bazell at daveb13704@gmail.com for more information.”

Stay tuned, as more will follow.

"The Full Moon is Calling"

The 1970s were a special decade.

Slats, of course, would tell you that some of his best years were spent working alongside Jean-Claude Killy as the famed alpine ski champion attempted to reboot his ski-racing career.   Then again, he would also say that his brief tenure as an assistant road manager for the Eagles during their Hotel California Tour also constituted his “best years.”  He is not the most reliable narrator of his own life story, but that is a defining characteristic of those who were young adults during the “Me Decade.”

Slats did not practice many of the celebrated excesses of those of his generation, but he sympathized with those who possessed more relaxed attitudes regarding consciousness-altering.  While not a toker himself, he embraced the mellow lifestyle. 

And while he supports full-on legalization, he related to me his considerable amusement that even some modern-era Republicans support common-sense decriminalization of the plant. 

“The GOP base must be fuming.  Guess they lost another battle in the culture wars,” he laughed.  “Hey, did I tell you about my work in the Jamaican elections? Let me tell you, Peter Tosh would be Prime Minister today if it wasn’t for that madness in ’87.”

He launched into a history of the People's National Party and their unfortunate electoral setbacks in the face of a global conservative shift in the late 70s/early 80s.  Reagan, Thatcher, Seaga- it was all related. 

But, over time, some societal values changed.  The sphere of individual liberty expanded and the liberals of the ‘70s eventually found greater acceptance of, and legal protection for, certain rights they were denied during the decade of Watergate and Malaise.   

Progress is not assured, it is neither consistently nor fairly applied, it often comes with fits and starts, and occasional retreats…but it is the American Promise that a road toward a more perfect Union should always be open.  It is our choice as to whether or not we take that path.

And now, from the aforementioned Tour: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETx_vYePz5w

Stay tuned, as more will follow.

The Reagan

Being fond of parody and political satire from days of yore, I present...The Reagan (1989):

Once upon an Inauguration Day dreary,
while George (HW) Bush pondered weak, but not wimpy,
over America's staggering deficits galore -
While he nodded, nearly napping, suddenly,
there came a tapping,
As of some staff member gently rapping, rapping
at the Oval Office door.
"Tis Dan Quayle," he muttered, "thinking it the
bathroom door,
Only this, and nothing more."

Ah distinctly,  he remembered, it was three months ere November
And Mike Dukakis was the ghost of the dying ember
upon the floor.
Eagerly, he feared the morrow, vainly he sought to borrow
From the taxpayers funds (not by taxes) by the score
Yet the promise he had made, "new taxes are no more."
Nameless here, for evermore.

Open here he flung the door, when amazed at who stood before
In there stepped a stately Reagan, as from the olden days
of yore.
Not in the least pleasantry made he, not a
minute stopped or stayed he
But, with the mien of a dictator of Haiti
walked through Bush's office door.
Sat upon his chair, near the chamber door.
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this stately Californian caused Bush to smile
By his whimsical and fatherly decorum of the countenance
he wore -
"Ronnie, my friend," he said, "surely you
know of my troubles by the score.
Advise me, how do I increase government revenue when
'No new taxes' I swore?"
Quoth the Reagan: "Promise Nevermore."

Startled at the silliness of the reply the actor had spoken
"Ah, Ron, you know that you are President no more
If it weren't for the Twenty-Second Amendment, you would
probably serve two terms more.  Yet if I don't lessen
the deficit, four years from now, the voters
would throw me out through the White House door."
Quoth the Reagan: "Tax the poor."

"My image is bad enough," said Bush, "the public
thinks that the Vice President is a moron to the core.
Congress chooses my Flexible Freeze plan to ignore
The Press believes that the 'thousand points of light'
refers to my millionaire friends galore
What do I do?
Tell me, tell me the answers I implore."
Quoth the Reagan not a word
Only a gentle snore.

- Jason Booms, 1989 (English, "5th hour").

*Irony alert:  Ten years after this poem was scribbled onto a piece of paper, I worked on Vice President Dan Quayle's Presidential campaign.  Life truly does follow some unexpected paths.

Stay tuned, as more will follow.