I HEAR THE PEOPLE SING

It might seem like we have lost our collective minds, but I think we have just been fed a lot of misinformation by a small group of nasty people who are so lost inside, so unable to connect to reality, so in need of love and compassion, that all they can do is try to make the world a petty, awful, sad place, where greed is good, might makes right, and winning is the only thing that counts. I reject all those precepts. I reject the constant denial of a reality that is so clear, it takes a huge effort to pretend things aren't the way they basically are. As many are saying of late, enough. We are in a global pandemic. People are dying. People are sick. Fact. We live in a country with institutionalized racism, where being a person of color is truly a danger to your life. Fact. We have a ruling class that wants the rest of us to fight, argue, riot, and kill each other. Either that, or they are just the stupidest bunch of assholes ever assembled. Fact.

Let me say this first. Killing people is bad. Killing people when you are a cop or soldier is worse. You have a sacred duty to serve and protect. Maybe that phrase should be extended out to "serve and protect your fellow citizens". Right now, it feels like the main thing these folks are serving and protecting is the powers that be. And it's getting worse. Having cops on horseback riding through the city streets, knocking people over, doesn't install confidence. It installs fear. We aren't supposed to fear the police. But we do. I know there are good cops. There are also bad cops. That's probably because they are human beings. But on top of that, there is this culture of never questioning authority, of acting like anyone who wears a uniform is instantly a saint. Which is madness. It gives these folks a feeling of autonomy, of not having to play by the rules, of being able to kneel of someone's neck until they are dead in front of a crowd. I never trust someone I am told to trust. I can't help it. Just because someone is a cop, or a boss, or a school principal, or a President of the United States does not mean they are smart, wise, good, kind, or sane. I base any sort of trust and/or respect on what that person actually does. Not on their demand of it from me just because they say so.

Also, can we please stop pretending that Fox News is a news show? That it's just the conservative version of CNN or MSNBC. They don't just present things from a right wing perspective. They play cheerleader. They spread misinformation. They have Tucker Carlson thinking the President, the guy who tear gassed people exercising their constitutional right to peacefully assemble to that he could hold a Bible up- rather stiffly and strangely, and pose for photos.- was too lenient on the protesters. What the fuck? Would Mister Carlson like to Mister Trump to do, exactly?

I am sick and tired of the phrase "main stream media" being used like it is code for "those lying bastards who work for George Soros." It's all smoke and mirrors, tricks from Sylvester McMonkey McBean designed to trick the Sneetches in to fighting with each other while he takes all their money. The powers that be would like to get rid of the free press, and since they haven't been able to yet, they just chip away at it, with phrases like that and false comparisons between their propaganda machine and actual journalism.  But that only works when things are relatively okay in the world. Right now, with a global pandemic, looming economic depression, and riots, the live feeds of people getting the shit beat out of them are pretty much undeniable. The mass graves on islands off NYC are hard to ignore. The lost jobs, with one in four in this country filing for unemployment, are something even Tucker Carlson can't banish. The shit has hit the fan, several times, and no amount of extra shit thrown at it by the folks on the right will make this better.

I am tired. I am angry. I have had enough. I am hopeful we can find a way through this. That we can all listen to our better angels and rise to the occasion. But if martial law is declared, if we keep having curfews, if the dragoons ride down my street, if Trump and his allies start filling the Bastille with rebels, then I am heading for the barricades.

Here's a song. It's Do You Hear the People Sing from Les Miserables.