Picked up some new subscribers this week (yay!) so want to remind people that while I do email the newsletter only once a week Monday follows Friday fast in the rotation so you may feel bombarded right now. After this one (my haiku, written by me—the “Maiku” in “Maiku Monday”) you won’t hear a peep from me for eight days.
Being literally fractured in a world that is figuratively fractured sets the stage for us this week. (And with only one hand, counting the seven syllables in the middle line was a challenge.)
Things. They fall apart.
Breaking, broken, healing…fixed.
They come together.
I’m doing fine. I mean, I am kind of annoyed, was a little uncomfortable over the weekend, and am going a little stir crazy, but all considered, it’s all good. I’ve had more time than usual to think about things and the TV has been flooded with the circus of the impeachment hearing, which I have not been watching too much of, but still…plus my screen time has (not surprisingly) gone up, so I’m aware what’s going down.
I’m glad that for me it feels like the flaming political rhetoric has died down a bit, whether it actually has or hasn’t I don’t really know. Maybe it hasn’t but my strategy of proactively managing my social media feeds has helped. Either way, I’m better off.
In general, when I think about the situations I find myself in that are the most frustrating or seemingly unjust or whatever, they seem almost always to be tied to a lack of ownership, a lack of accountability, or some debilitating combination of the two. And when I watch what’s been happening in our Nation’s capital, I see that those seem to be common root problems, evidenced in—among other things—the soaring popularity of the “I’m sorry I got caught” apology.
And there also seems to be some power-structure dynamic or hierarchical impetus or ulterior motive behind so many of the offending actions too…and it’s such total bullshit. I’m pretty sure the Democrats aren’t doing this because they’re afraid of Trump running again. And I have no idea why so many Republicans seem to be playing to extremists—what are they so afraid of? Take back you’re f-cking lives you big pandering babies. I also feel like there’s a legitimate opportunity to mobilize the middle to restore the balance. Why continue to cede logic and reason to extremism on either end? Now is not a time to stand on a principle you can’t quite articulate. But here we are. The big orange golfing goon, acquitted, again.
Anyway, about the impeachment…it should have been simple: actions (should) have consequences, but alas they did not and here we are confused and confounded by the changing rules and almost-constant doublespeak that have us on a really slippery slope, socially and politically.
Let’s not overlook the horrifying details of what happened…we all know it was bad but I’m not sure we really knew how bad. The newly released footage shows the intensity and heresy of the mob. These bipartisan terrorists were clear that they wanted to hang Mike Pence and shoot Nancy Pelosi in the brain. This was not about stopping the steal (that wasn’t) or overturning (valid) election results…this was about the destruction of democracy, an overthrowing of the government.
It’s 2021. We’re the most (allegedly) civilized nation in the world. How can any patriotic American watch that costumed pep rally makeup wearing band of clowns and not be embarrassed and enraged? What percentage of insurgents do you think could speak specifically about why they were participating or what specifically they thought they would accomplish? This is not a partisan problem…humanity is crumbling. And if you think for a second that this motley collection of morons was smart enough to mobilize on their own and was not stirred to action by the Cheeto in Chief, I just…can’t…
Logically the whole thing doesn’t add up, you know? I mean when it comes to the presidency you can have enough votes to win a majority and still lose. Winning the acquittal seems to be a different permutation of the same flawed math system. A majority (57 of 100) found him guilty but the majority isn’t enough. But him being acquitted has nothing to do with innocence or guilt. (Anyone remember OJ Simpson?)
A few other takeaways: 1) These are painful lessons in lying and bullying and ego, and the pain is only worth it if we can learn from this. 2) Mitch McConnell is a f-cking joke. As if Trump will be tried as a private citizen. How do you assert that Trump is responsible after you acquit him and then still sleep at night? Who votes for you? 3) We’re long overdue for change…there’s partisan politics and then there’s sycophancy and enablement. Idolatry and fanaticism. Using people’s hatred and bias as a means to an end. 4) We see your hypocrisy. Like if blue lives really matter, what could possibly explain the blatant hypocrisy of the insurgents? You have one Capitol police officer killed during the attempted coup. Reports of 140 officers injured, and two officers who died by suicide since January 6th. How can you profess to support law enforcement and then subsequently (attempt) murder? I’m telling you, I bet many of these people don’t even know what they stand for—do blue lives really matter? Do any?
All of these shenanigans are yet another example of how removed we are from the things we tend to grouse about…and how if we really want change (vs simply opining and complaining about others) we have to start closest to us and generate the ripples from inside our spheres of control. We need to make ripples to make waves…and then learn to surf!
How do we break the system and build it back up? Politically, how about some term limits, an overhaul of the electoral college, and new rules for prosecuting lawbreaking presidents? Or as Stacey Plaskett suggested, “more senators with spines.”
Personally, particularly as it relates to politics, I think we’d all do well to break down our belief systems and then build them back up. What’s important and why? What do we want and why? What are we willing to do to achieve it? Who do we want to be? Even if we end up with the same system as we started with (which I think is unlikely), we’ll probably understand it differently. Reexamining our belief systems has no downside, if you ask me.
Plus there’s something gratifying about putting things (back) together, literally or figuratively, better than ever. Sometimes we trigger the collapse and sometimes we’re a victim. Ether way, the trick, if you ask me, is to not allow yourself too much time wallowing in the rubble after whatever collapse.
Things. They fall apart.
Breaking, broken, healing…fixed.
They come together.
But don’t let my little haiku fool you. “Fixed” is temporary, and it’s not fixed at all. If I came at today from a different perspective my 17 syllables might have read quite differently. That’s ok. Life is motion. Living is healing. Every laugh, every breath, every tear…every second, every minute, every year…all of it. Healing isn’t an end point. It’s a process. Healing never ends.
Thank you for being here. Have a great week. No day but today.