Deplorables

I truly hope "the best" have some conviction but it is increasingly obvious "the worst are filled with passionate intensity." As the social fabric is shredded, there will be a correspondening tendency for liberals to preach tolerance and understanding. But we should not tolerate intolerance. History is nothing if not a record of how quickly society can slide into barbarism and to assume civilty will somehow reign is both delusional and dangerous. Reactionaries don't want dialogue. They see it as weakness, the thing they despise above all else. Liberals owe Hillary Clinton an apology. She was endlessly castigated for the term "basket of deplorables" but as the images of armed militia thugs increase, as the racist, nationalist, nativist rhetoric grows louder, as the threats against the left grow more violent and extreme, we have to admit Hillary pegged it. This is Tea Party 2.0 replete with sophisticated weaponry, flags and fascist symbolism. It is irrational and passionate and way beyond resonable,civil debate- precisely because liberals have for too long prefered to ignore the signs and look away and wish away all conflict and confrontation. I heard the sentiment expressed at a vigil for RBG last night. It is New Age fantasy. Some will insist on trying to persuade and recruit the deplorables to the cause of human emancipation but given my experience here in the heart of Americanism, you would be wasting your breath. These people are damaged on so many levels and will do what the tribe asks. At a presentation this afternoon, Kali Akuno of Cooperation Jackson said they are asking people to mobilize en mass as the election results are released. He envisions chaos or worse. I have been insisting we need to heighten the contradictions and accelerate a rupture. For better or worse I may be granted my wish...

A Lasting Resentment

From my mailbox I extract the latest agitprop claiming that Steve Bullock accepted campaign contributions from "Hanoi Jane". Wow. You have to be of a certain age to even get the reference, but when Jane Fonda went to Hanoi in 1972 it opened a wound old cultural warriors can never, will never, heal. They will hate her till their dying breath while supporting a billionaire New York con man who got a deferment due to "bone spurs". Yeah right. The ultimate "Fortunate Son", totally clueless about the meaning of the lyrics. (shocker) Fonda never called our soldiers "losers and suckers" but she did correctly point out the US as an imperialist aggressor fighting revolutionaries trying to defend their own liberation. And getting their asses kicked, despite millions of tons of bombs and agent orange and napalm. I have no problem calling those soldiers who volunteered losers and suckers. Anyone with half a brain could see the injustice of supporting a corrupt regime and slaughtering peasants. Those who were drafted faced a horrific dilemma. Either way, so many came home damaged, physically, mentally, spiritually, and have yet to fully recover. Many ended their own lives, many glorify/ reify the experience and adopt it as a permanent marker of their identity. And live each day with a bitter hate for "Hanoi Jane".