If you didn’t vote in the last presidential election, but are very unhappy with the current administration, good news!
There is now a hybrid voting booth-time machine. You can now go back in time and actually vote in the last election, with a better chance that Trump does not win the presidency.
OF COURSE THERE IS NO HYBRID VOTING BOOTH-TIME MACHINE! THERE IS NO TIME MACHINE AT ALL!
Remember that next time you have the opportunity to vote but don’t.
Now I try hard not to become hysterical But I’m not sure if I am laughing or crying Brilliant Mistake, Elvis Costello
Brilliant Mistake (1986) by Elvis Costello, on his album King of America, meant something at the time that was not a commentary on this moment almost forty years later. It refers to something else.
And yet…the work of great artists can transcend its origins. That’s what art does.
Brilliant Mistake just seems so now. Plus, like so much Elvis, it is a great track.
He thought he was the King of America Where they pour Coca Cola just like vintage wine Now I try hard not to become hysterical But I’m not sure if I am laughing or crying I wish that I could push a button And talk in the past and not the present tense And watch this hurting feeling disappear Like it was common sense It was a fine idea at the time Now it’s a brilliant mistake Brilliant Mistake, Elvis Costello
Spring is different in the desert. It happens earlier, as does summer, and summer+. Plants that don’t look like they will exhale beauty amaze, like people who don’t look like they will exhale beauty amaze. The shadows of the spikes on the petals tell you something.
There are dozens of hand gestures used in the world, some with universal meaning, many with different meanings in different cultures.
Among those well-known in America and elsewhere are the peace gesture, the V of index and middle finger, and the power gesture, the raised fist.
I’ve been thinking that in troubling times, a common gesture might be a way to express shared resistance to that trouble and a positive attitude toward that trouble. In past crisis, that is a role played by the peace gesture.
My suggestion for this moment is the abhaya mudrā. As the descriptions below explain, its meanings include fearlessness, protection, refuge, benevolence, peace and more. All things we need now.
abhayamudrā. (Tibetan mi ’jigs pa’i phyag rgya; Chinese shiwuwei yin; Japanese semuiin; Korean simuoe in). In Sanskrit, “the gesture of fearlessness” or “gesture of protection”; also sometimes called the gesture of granting refuge. This gesture (mudrā) is typically formed with the palm of the right hand facing outward at shoulder height and the fingers pointing up, although both hands may simultaneously be raised in this posture in a double abhayamudrā. This gesture is associated with Śākyamuni Buddha immediately following his enlightenment, and standing buddha images will often be depicted with this mudrā, portraying a sense of the security, serenity, and compassion that derive from enlightenment. Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism
abhaya-mudrā (Sanskrit, gesture of fearlessness). Iconographic hand gesture (mudrā) whose purpose is to dispel fear and communicate protection, benevolence, and peace. Commonly found in representations of the Buddha and celestial Bodhisattvas, where the figure is usually depicted standing with the right arm bent, the palm raised and facing forwards, and the fingers joined. A Dictionary of Buddhism (Oxford)
THE PROTECTION GESTURE (Sanskrit abhaya-mudra; Tibetan mi-’jigs-pa’i phyag-rgya) The gesture of protection or fearlessness is also identified with the gesture of giving refuge, described below. The right ‘method’ hand usually makes this gesture, with the palm held outwards and the fingers extending upwards. Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols
Fearless mudra hand gesture or Abhayaprada Mudra yoga mudra hand gesture isolated on black background.;
PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER Mr. President, I would not rule out the chance to preserve a nucleus of human specimens. It would be quite easy… heh heh…
At the bottom of ah… some of our deeper mineshafts. The radioactivity would never penetrate a mine some thousands of feet deep. And in a matter of weeks, sufficient improvements in dwelling space could easily be provided.
PRESIDENT How long would you have to stay down there?
PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER Well let’s see now ah… cobalt thorium G… aa… nn… Radioactive halflife of uh,… hmm. I would think that uh… possibly uh… one hundred years.
PRESIDENT You mean, people could actually stay down there for a hundred years?
PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER It would not be difficult mein Fuhrer! Nuclear reactors could, heh… I’m sorry. Mr. President. Nuclear reactors could provide power almost indefinitely. Greenhouses could maintain plantlife. Animals could be bred and slaughtered. A quick survey would have to be made of all the available mine sites in the country. But I would guess… that ah, dwelling space for several hundred thousands of our people could easily be provided.
PRESIDENT Well I… I would hate to have to decide.. who stays up and.. who goes down.
PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER Well, that would not be necessary Mr. President. It could easily be accomplished with a computer. And a computer could be set and programmed to accept factors from youth, health, sexual fertility, intelligence, and a cross section of necessary skills. Of course it would be absolutely vital that our top government and military men be included to foster and impart the required principles of leadership and tradition.
(Slams down left fist. Right arm rises in stiff Nazi salute.)
Arrrrr!
(restrains right arm with left)
Naturally, they would breed prodigiously, eh? There would be much time, and little to do. But ah with the proper breeding techniques and a ratio of say, ten females to each male, I would guess that they could then work their way back to the present gross national product within say, twenty years.
PRESIDENT But look here doctor, wouldn’t this nucleus of survivors be so grief stricken and anguished that they’d, well, envy the dead and not want to go on living?
PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER No sir… Also when… when they go down into the mine everyone would still be alive. There would be no shocking memories, and the prevailing emotion will be one of nostalgia for those left behind, combined with a spirit of bold curiosity for the adventure ahead! Ahhhh!
(Right arm reflexes into Nazi salute. He pulls it back into his lap and beats it again.)
GENERAL Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn’t that necessitate the abandonment of the so called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?
PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious… service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.
Adapted from Dr. Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick and Terry Southern
Lincoln and Washington used to have separate national holidays for their birthdays. Then the holidays were combined into Presidents’ Day. It is now a bit of history, a lot of sales and shopping.
Lincoln is highly-regarded by historians. An overview of expert evaluations, across the ideological spectrum, is that the he was the greatest or near-greatest president in America’s long and sometimes rocky history.
Above is an editorial cartoon from 1963 by Bill Mauldin, an earlier time of American upheaval. Looking back now, we realize that we hadn’t seen anything yet.
Lincoln is crying, and the reasons for his tears may have changed over sixty years. Today the greatest President looks on the nation and the party he founded and they are somewhat unrecognizable. Lincoln also knew what Ben Franklin said when asked about what kind of government the new America had: “A republic…if you can keep it.”
Keep the faith in what America can be. Lincoln did—and sacrificed for it. We can too.
If you say “pitchers and catchers” to a baseball fan, they understand. It is the beginning of Major League Baseball Spring Training. Pitchers and catchers arrive first, to get more work in. Then the rest of the roster arrives, along with prospects invited for evaluation. We are a little more than a month until the regular season starts.
Baseball as a distraction is no sin, just as being a fan of other sports, or music, or any cultural phenomenon needs no justification. As regularly pointed out, Bart Giamatti was President of Yale University before he became—a tenure cut very short by his death—Commissioner of MLB. He loved the game, wrote movingly about it. If it was good enough for him, it’s good enough for anybody.
That this spring, this year, some of us might seek distraction is no secret. The thing about distraction is that like everything it should be in balance. There is a life to lead and a nation to tend. As citizens we should pay attention and act appropriately. As fans, though, we know about fresh starts. Every game, every inning, every pitch and at bat is a new possibility. It all starts here and now.
Trump has friends or at least sympathizers on the Supreme Court. He is hoping to appoint more.
Already in the first few weeks, Trump has taken executive actions that are clearly unconstitutional. Then yesterday, Vance said that judges don’t have the right to control presidential power. Vance and other Republican lawyers know better. The Trump Justices of the Supreme Court know better.
Those Justices are scared.
Knowing that Trump will continue to act in unconstitutional ways that threaten the core concept of separation of powers and checks and balances, and knowing history, they are concerned about the trajectory of the republic.
As the constitutional challenges work their way through the judiciary, they know that the challenges—and ultimately interpretation of the Constitution—will end up on their bench. Whether or not they want to take on Trump, his Republican supporters, and tens of millions of Americans who believe that Trump should be able to do whatever he wants, they are going to have to.
Maybe they decide that centuries of precedent in interpreting the Constitution should stand, and these executive actions must stop. Or maybe they decide that these are extraordinary times, and under these circumstances, the constitutional structure must give way to the president.
Either way, as students of history, the Justices would rather not have to face that crossroad, since whatever they decide, they know the last time the Constitution itself was so deeply contested, the result was the literal division of America. They—at least one Justice—would rather be touring America in a luxury RV, rather than deciding the fate of the republic.
Bob Schwartz 