what's in a word?: Friday - Weird Fourth of July weekend during the pandemic

Friday, July 3, 2020

Friday - Weird Fourth of July weekend during the pandemic - and what's the sTrump'et up to?

I watched the James Baldwin documentary, "I Am Not Your Negro," this evening. It's quite powerful and as much as anything else I've been reading or seeing, maybe even more, it made me realize I cannot see the America as a Black person sees America. As a White person, it is as if I live in a different world. When he said the White people want to believe that "Birmingham [Alabama] is on Mars," and goes on to say it's only a step away from Los Angeles, you are either deaf or willfully blind if you don't begin to get it.

There is a point, maytbe 1/3 or 1/2 way through the film where he says, and I give you the whole quote, “I’m terrified at the moral apathy — the death of the heart which is happening in my country. These people have deluded themselves for so long, that they really don’t think I’m human. I base this on their conduct, not on what they say, and this means that they have become, in themselves, moral monsters.” This was true when he said it and I believe it is true now.

It is not that we are all "moral monsters," but anyone who doesn't care, who doesn't act in any way, or who believes that what was is how it should be, is one.

As it happens, we are governed now by a passel of moral monsters, no quotation marks needed. When you think of the A-hole-in-Chief sayingthere were many good people at the White Supremacy demonstration in Charlotesville, VA where a young woman was deliberately run down and killed, a man who thinks he has done more for the Black people of America than any President, who posts videos of people chanting "White supremacy" then you have a moral choice - either you are with him and the haters, or you are against him.

Tomorro, the Doofus Donald, Putin's cats paw and puppet, is off to South Dakota to hold an outdoor rally rather than a celebration of our independence. You can be sure if there are any people of color there, they will be protesting against his presence and possibly in support of the the Native Americans whose land was stolen to build the monument.

Of course he won't be wearing a mask and the crowd of his angry zombie supporters, as small as it might be, won't be required to prevent the spread of the disease. As Tulsa has turned out to be an ulcer in the sTrump'et's plans, seeing him on top of Mt. Rushmore, well, it's like seeing a fool on the hill, and what a fool he is.

It's time for us to work at making America better, and one of the things we need to do is unelect the sTrump'et and his lackies, his toadies and his minions. When you look at him, you are seeing the face of a vain man who exemplifies the banality of evil.

I say it again: UNELECT him.

Oh, and if you haven't seen it, watch "I Am Not Your Negro." It's streaming.

A few photos, all street photos and street portraits. They make sense to me.