DEMOCRACY, GUNS, ABORTION, SANTA MONICA
There’s a lot of deep doo doo these days. Seems non-stop, and getting worse. You could not watch or read the news. Don't talk with anyone, don’t even leave your house.
But a lot of this is on a collision course with your life. Do you shut your eyes tight and just let the termites who have come to roost destroy your home, or do you fight the evil little bastards, down to the last mindless muncher? You are a lot bigger and hopefully smarter than them, you know. There seem to be millions, but really, we do outnumber them. They are intent and focused. They want your home and they are armed and positioned to take it.
You can’t reason or compromise with termites. You could just give up and live with the results…. Nope. No way. At some point it’s us or them, and if we are not quite there, it’s too close for comfort.
DON’T YOU EVER LIGHTEN UP, CHARLES?
Hey, if you want humor with your apocalyptic world news, read Jack Neworth’s "Laughing Matters" column every other Friday in the Daily Press. Jack and I are friends, and he would probably agree that I’m more of an optimist than he is.
I do lighten up. Ask my friends, both of them, they’ll tell you I’m a fun guy. (Or maybe they said, fungi,) I watch Jimmy Kimmel’s monologues, I’m getting back to basketball, which is more comedy than sport, the way I play. I am a gushing fountain/broken sewer pipe of puns and other bad jokes. I love "Pearls Before Swine'' and dearly miss "Calvin & Hobbes." (Our young son named our cat Hobbes.) But the world doesn’t go away, does it? It seems to be getting more outrageous and in your face than ever.
So the first job is to figure out a way to not despair. Lying balled up in a corner is no way to make things better. Use meditation, medication (not too much!), rationalization, organization, therapy, religion, whatever blows your hair back and allows you to become part of the solution, not part of the problem. All hands on deck! Do nothing and we are all screwed.
The above list of what I consider our four biggest and most pressing looming disasters, is more or less in order. I know, that leaves out a few biggies. Climate change. Nuclear war. Economic collapse.
STAY WITH ME, NOW
Because I may have finally figured all this out. It's got a lot of moving parts, though. And no manual. (But we men don’t read no stinkin’ manuals anyway.) But the best solutions are often the simplest ones. Here’s my logic. If we lose democracy, and we are pretty darn close, nothing else matters, because only a handful of not so nice, not very magnanimous folks will be making all the decisions, and I can guarantee, you will not like those decisions and how they affect your personal life. Handmaid’s Tale, anyone?
The decision about outlawing abortion pills will likely go to the Supreme Court, where D. Trump and Mitch McConnell ensconced for life justices who are Christian nationalists, who believe God’s law (as they interpret it) trumps secular law, like the Constitution, and precedence, and science and fact, and they are vehemently opposed to abortion. God spoke to them pretty clearly about that one. Biggest mistake Joe Biden made, first day in office, was to not appoint several more (very liberal) justices, to balance the packing that had already been done. Not politicizing the Court is a train that left the station long ago.
You are hearing not only pundits but elected politicians (some), even Republicans, saying that the only way to chip away at the horrendous gun slaughter in this crazy country is to show up at capitol buildings. 5-10,000 strong. Chant, scream, demand. Getting re-elected is the top if not the only priority for many politicians, so we must put the fear of being cut loose upon them. They do it in Europe and the Middle East, and it works.
VOTE
I know, I’ve said it a few times. But my recent ruminations have convinced me that voting is indeed the solution. Voting, on steroids. And in record-shattering numbers. Which means the very daunting task of finding good people who will run. Right now that seems like an oxymoron. But maybe we’ve been looking for love in all the wrong places. We need to check IDs and go with the young’ns.
The two state legislators (27, 28) in Tennessee who were the objects of an authoritarian coup attempt by the Republican supermajority, courageously speak the truth, most eloquently. As does Maxwell Frost, only 25 when elected (in Florida!) last November to the U.S. Congress. If Gen Z is willing and apparently able to save us, move over and give them room. (But keep them away from the Kool Aid. But – I think these "kids" are different. I do.)
That’s not necessarily the case in Santa Monica. Jesse Zwick, 27, elected last fall to City Council, embraces the notions about government and development that I believe are the ones that have led us down the path to ruin. Santa Monica is indeed different. The letters D and R are virtually meaningless. In fact, I believe the local and state Democratic organizations have been more of a stumbling block here than the GOP, for governance for the good of the residents.
GUNS
Are now the leading cause of death for American children. That’s nauseating, even to write it. By the time you read this we likely will have had 150 mass shootings THIS YEAR, and it’s only day 102. A Trump judge in Texas has ruled that the very safe abortion pill (now the only practical way millions of women can get a needed abortion), FDA approved 25 years ago, 10 times safer than Viagra, is "unsafe" and must be banned nationwide. Many "red" states continue to restrict voting, and loosen gun laws, even though common sense limits are greatly favored by all Americans (including Republicans, and gun owners). For the love of God, we can’t even get the GOP thugs to ban assault rifles? – that destroy a child victim’s body so massively that they often have to be identified by clothing remains. I agree with Coach Popovich: it’s obscene.
All this is insane. That our barbaric elected officials can enable all this. The next time you vote – after you have nominated good people, really good, compassionate, incorruptible candidates – use three markers to judge. Guns, abortion, climate change. Or just take the shortcut: don’t vote for a single Republican, not even for dog catcher.
Charles Andrews has lived in Santa Monica for 37 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or rebuke to him at therealmrmusic@gmail.com
