Category Archives: Blogs' Archive

They’re calling it the Camp Fire, which seems confusing to me, because it conjures up images of hot dogs and marshmallows and all around pleasantness, but apparently it started near a place  called  Camp Creek Road, although it’s well beyond that now.  This one just seemed to come out of nowhere.
At least 5 dead so far, and it’s nowhere near contained, like the process hasn’t even begun because firefighters are focused on getting people evacuated the hell out of there.
The town of Paradise, apparently, has been destroyed, and that is either ironic or just a headline writers twisted dream.
And it’s not the only fire going on, apparently they are all over California.  Now, California does  get wildfires a lot, and maybe the reason this one is freaking me out a bit is that I thought fire season was over, but I guess dry is dry, and you can’t tell the fire it’s out of season, come back next year.
Anyway, between that and the recent floods in Venice, I don’t see how anyone can not be taking global climate change seriously.
A town can be  rebuilt, and it should  be.  Forests can be replanted, and they must be.  And increased.

How the Democrats expect to win in 2020 is beyond me.  Tuesday’s election was a blue trickle, not a blue wave, and they actually lost ground in the Senate.  Now is the time, therefore, for Democrats to analyze what they did wrong (because this election really should have been a blue wave) and to act differently  from now  until 2020.

1.  They need to be aggressive as hell about impeaching Trump.  Taxes.  Corruption.  (not Russia.  That’s just a bullshit distraction.)  Win or lose, they keep him on the hot seat and build their own support.  When Republicans wanted to hamstring Bill Clinton, they impeached him over a blowjob.  They didn’t get a conviction, but they did win the next presidential election.
   2.  They need to fight for some causes that people like.  Health care would be a good one.  Raising the minimum wage would be another.  Cleaning up the environment would be great.  Legalizing marijuana, ending private prisons, and getting big money out of politics are all popular positions with the American public.  Keep proposing legislation and make the Republicans fight against every one of these things.
   3.  Forget reaching across the aisle, or being bi-partisan.  Do NOT elect Nancy Pelosi as speaker.  She doesn’t want to impeach Trump, she fucking loves Donald Trump.  She got along fine with George W. Bush, too.
   I’ve seen Barbara Lee mentioned as a possible Speaker of the House.  That would be a good choice.
   4.  Embrace your progressives.  Work with them to fight against Republicans, and do not ally yourselves with Republicans to fight against progressives.  That’s what cost Claire McCaskill her seat.  It could easily cost the Democratic Party the next presidential election.

It was less of a blue wave than it was a mixed bag.  Enough for all sides to claim victory, enough for all sides to be disappointed in defeat.  Sure, Democrats won control of the house and that’s something, but Nancy Pelosi has already announced that the Democratic party has no plans to do anything radical with that victory, such as opposing Trump.
Sure, Beto O’Rourke came close and all, but he still lost.  I hear all sorts of people talking him up this morning as a potential presidential candidate in 2020.  What kind of bone-headed logic is that?  You wouldn’t bet on a boxer who’d lost his last fight, would you?  If the Democratic party wants to win in 2020, they should look to the Senator from Vermont, who was re-elected to a 3rd term with 80% of the vote, or the Hawaii congresswoman who carried her district with similar numbers.
The one Democrat I respect more today than yesterday is Stacey Abrams, who is refusing to concede.  They have done everything possible to cheat her out of a fair election, and she is not backing down.  I wish O’Rourke and Gillum had responded similarly.
It was a big night for identity politics, for sure.  First lesbian Native American congresswoman, first Muslim congresswoman, first openly gay governor, youngest congresswoman ever, etc…  They’ve put together memes of this.
It’s not really a bad thing, in the signs and omens of our changing society sort of way, but it is not the point.  I have been hearing a lot of talk today about how over 100 women were elected to congress, and I’d like to think that represents change, but…not all of those 100 women were progressives, and not all are even Democrats.
In short, I think Democrats missed the point in a lot of ways during this election, and that’s why they didn’t do better.  It should have been  a blue wave.  It should have been a slam dunk.  But the Democrats didn’t put forth a vision, they didn’t come out full-throated for health-care, or a higher minimum wage, or saving the environment.
So, all they got was a blue trickle.  Which is about all they deserved.

Got sweet fuck all done today.  Haven’t done anything in a week on my best of my blog book, but if I keep selecting the way I’ve been selecting, I’ll wind up with a selection I need to go through again.  So much extra work, and it is my worst flaw as a writer.  I tend to like everything I’ve written.  Maybe that’s a form of narcissism.  I suppose it is, but I think that level of ego is inevitable with any writer, or musician, or visual artist.  Maybe not.  There’s more than one kind of person in the world, and probably almost all personality types are represented in almost every field of endeavor.

Started yesterday to put together all the poetry I’ve written since March, which is when my last book was published, and to clean my ‘desktop’ at the same time, and I believe I’m 90% done with that task, but that is always the danger.  I think I’m 90% done so, instead of completing it, or moving on to the next task, I let it slide.
Didn’t get any of my ‘short poems’ that I’m working on lately, done.  The idea there is like 4 or 6 line poems (very quick and easy to write)that I can add a picture to and it makes a nice, little Facebook post.  On the other hand, it’s got about the same artistic limitations as Haiku or Limericks.  I’m not saying something has to be epic length to be epic, but snappy one liners are not going to be enough to change the world.
Ah, well, tomorrow’s another day.

Tomorrow are the American mid-term elections and so that’s all  anybody on my Facebook page is talking about.  It’s worse than Halloween or Mother’s Day or any of those days were everybody’s talking about the same thing.  At least with Halloween it leads to some good photos, what with the costumes and all.

That may sound a bit cynical.  Of course it’s important, the fate of the world hangs in the balance, I’m not disputing that.  But, we have to be prepared to continue the struggle where there are losses, and we have to be prepared to continue the struggle where there are victories, and there are bound to be some of each.

Yes, I’d like to see a blue wave (defined as Democrats taking both the House and the Senate) but I’ll be surprised if it happens.  The Democrats haven’t really done anything to MAKE it happen.  They’ve just counted on their usual whining at everybody to get out and vote, and hoping that everybody who thinks Trump is really horrible will get out and vote, and that will be enough.
If they’d embraced universal health care, if they had moved forward with some kind of impeachment attempt, if they had fought Trump’s military budget instead of adding to it, they’d be in a lot better shape right now, but that’s just not the way they roll.  Certainly in Missouri, where the Democratic candidate is running on a platform of “I work very well with Trump,” Democrats have no reason to be enthusiastic.
So, we will see.   I fully expect to see skullduggery rear it’s ugly (think Ted Cruz ugly) head.  If O’Rourke or Abrams lose, I will be certain cheating has happened.  The Democrats need to be ready to fight some of these races in court, and not just blame it on Russia this time.