Home-cooking: That Good Old-Time Religion

I wondered if America would take advantage of this COVID moment, and grow. Not. We have only pitied ourselves and regressed. We have refused to abide by the simplest rules of mask-wearing and social distancing. The proof is in the numbers:  17,000,000 COVID cases; 300,000 deaths. That these numbers far exceed that of any other nation on Earth is a testament to our lack of self-discipline, and our reluctance to make sacrifices.  

I was fortunate to come up during a time when there were women who cooked - mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters. We loved our fathers and uncles, but we treasured the women in our families. They cooked for us; they fed us; they did it wonderfully. And for that, we cherish them forever. 

During this pandemic, America had a chance at some of that "good, old-time religion." Instead, it complained that lockdown has forced restaurants to close, as though restaurants were our salvation. They are not. The aroma of dinner rolls and apple pie wafting from our humble kitchens, and plates being set at the dinner table is at the heart of America. It is the effort cooking takes - the time- that draws families closer, not the money it takes to order meals. 

Being made to stay home is a tough gift Americans have squandered. We could have made ourselves better, strengthened our family ties. Rather, we complained of too much time with the family. Now, the vaccine is here and we cry, "Hallelujah!" No more sacrifices, (as though there were many made.)

We've learned nothing. We havening even learned (yet) how much more weakened we have become during this national crisis. It has tested our character as a people and found us sorely lacking.  

Straight Outta Compton

I watched it. It resisted watching it because I had a bad feeling about it. Then, I watched it, probably because I thought I should... just to be sure that my inclination was right. It was. 

The very way they portray black women in that movie is shameful and shameless. "Straight Outta Compton"? How about straight out of 18th century America when the slavemaster could denigrate black women however they pleased? The only thing more detrimental to the black community than many of these rap artists - who revived and popularized the "N-word" for everyone's use - is drug dealers, themselves. 

Watch the movie, if you must. Then, throw it away.

Snakebit in Georgia

President Trump declared Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, "an enemy of the people," simply for doing his job. Now, the secretary of state, and his family, are being subjected to death threats. 

Over these past four years of the Trump presidency, Raffensperger has seen Trump eviscerate many other Americans simply for disagreeing with him. He watched Trump call Omarosa - the only black woman to work in the Trump White House - "a dog." Yet, in 2020, Raffensperger voted for Trump again, as though it mattered not how Trump treated other human beings, just as long as voting for Trump benefitted him. Perhaps he felt he and his family would be treated differently. Not so. In Trump's world, Raffensperger is no better than Omarosa.  

A lesson to all those cowardly Republicans - Mitch McConnel, Governor Kemp, Lindsey Graham, et al; who continue to the last moment to bend to Trump's ill will:  You sleep with a snake, and you, too, will be bitten. It is its nature.  

Selling Souls (The Poem)

Trump cuts standards

The stock market soars.

Such a permissive parent

      to give his teens carte blanche.

401K accounts shoot through the roof

So does COVID

Has one to do with the other?

Only on a metaphysical plane.

They predict the Dow will 150,000 points!

The rich, rich, rich get richer

Salaries rise,

     and prices

So that the rich, rich, rich

Can make more, more, more

While the poor, poor, poor are priced out

    of the house and car and shoes.

The stock market, like Lucifer, 

    laughs in our faces.

We thought we were thriving

    we were dying.

Desperate Americans called up Trump

Like bored teens summon demons

    to jettison their doldrums.

There is safety in boredom

   (but fun in action). 

Sans boredom

    the ground shook beneath us

We called up Biden (lest the earth opened up)

    though he be boredom incarnate.

No worries

We only wish to catch our breath

    give ourselves time...

Death can be so exciting.  

Selling Souls (the essay)

Trump is so proud. Here he is boasting again: “I cut regulations.” That is like a permissive parent declaring. “I give my teens carte blanche!” Big banks can cut corners: industry can pollute with impunity. “Laissaz faire” all over again, and the stock market soars. Retirement accounts shoot through the roof. Money, money, money! That’s America. More money than anybody, and more COVID cases to boot. Does one have anything to with the other? Not in a practical sense. But, on a metaphysical level, they are bound eternally. (“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle…” etc., etc.) 

 

How is it the stock market continues to climb even as a pandemic decimates our lives? It laughs in our faces – the stock market – kind of how Lucifer, in the old Hollywood films, laughs in the face of poor farmer who, having bargaining his soul for riches, at his most wealthy moment, cruelly comes face-to-face with his doom. 

 A Wall Street analyst on Fox’s Neil Cavuto, predicts the Dow Jones will rise to 150,000 points – five times higher than today’s record numbers. Does that mean we will all be rich? No. The rich, rich, rich will get richer. Salaries will rise; so will prices so that the rich, rich, rich can make more, more, more. And, the poor, poor, poor will get priced right out of their homes, their cars, and their shoes.  

President Trump is a product of our boredom – bored with the same politicians posturing, bloviating, and going about with such phony abandon that we had become cynical, and sickened, at once. We kept voting them in because that is all there was. Then, along came Trump. Now we understand why we voted for the others. 

Boredom has always been safer. In its absence, the ground shook beneath our feet. That is why we voted for Trump. We wanted some “shaking.” We felt we could handle that action. We could cast aside boredom, and not only survive, but thrive. (After all, we’re “exceptional”). And, we made money, (so says the stock market). But, we do not thrive; we die – not because of Trump, but because of our choices. 

Excitement is exciting. It is in our blood. We would rather die than be bored. Yet, we picked Biden to be president (lest the earth open up), though he is boredom incarnate. No worries. We only want to catch our collective breath…give ourselves time. Death can be so exciting.