A Monster.

“And, though the past had it share of injustice 

Kind was the spirit in many a way

But, it’s protectors and friends have been sleeping

Now it’s a monster and will not obey.”

Yesterday Monster by Steppenwolf, came on the stereo in the car. A fantastic song describing the rise and fall of a dream. An imperfect beginning, a troubled middle passage and a disastrous end. All the elements of a great story. I really like the song, the power, the imagery, the story.

Today, I saw the director of Homeland Security defend the actions of the agents on the southern border, taking children from families, locking them in little prisons. “Just doing our job,” was the message. And by God, she was sick of people criticizing these fine men and women for just doing their job.

And I thought of another song, Who Killed Davey Moore by Bob Dylan about a boxer that died in the ring from traumatic head injuries, in a fight that should have been stopped. Everybody from the referee to the trainer to the boxing promoter denied any responsibility, just doing our job, was their reason. 

And I wondered how many times throughout history that was the excuse people used, “just following orders,” for some heinous action, and separating children from their families is an indefensible act of tyranny. No amount of righteous indignation, legal subterfuge, or biblical justification will change that. It is not the way a country founded on freedom and liberty should behave. 

And I worry about what it means for our future, I worry what it means for our present. To what depths have we sunk, and how much lower can go?

“The spirit was freedom and justice
And its keepers seemed generous and kind
Its leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won't pay it no mind
Cause the people grew fat and got lazy
Now their vote is a meaningless joke
They babble about law and order
But it's all just an echo of what they've been told”

I watch the news and I wonder if maybe John Kay’s prophecy is coming to pass. Empires rise and fall, Rome, Babylon, Jerusalem, we managed, through sheer American know how and determination to write the Rise and Fall of the American Empire in less than three hundred years. We are such over achievers. It makes me a little melancholy to see it end this way. I hope it isn’t too late.

Cinco De Mayo, We are One.

I have written a couple of posts about the celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Both of them were at least a little lighthearted and carefree. Parts of them, were, I thought, hilarious. But, in light of things I have seen, read, heard lately I decided to go a different way today. I decided to go back to a time and place in the past.

I grew up in the Midwest. I listened to the body counts signifying progress in the Vietnam war on the nightly news. To my childish mind it seemed we had to have killed everybody in that poor country several times. But, there were ominous signs even then, abuses of power, commanding officers inflating the numbers to make themselves, and their commands look more lethal. Turns out this may have happened several times, so nobody could ever be sure how many people were actually killed in battle.

These were not bad men, bad officers, they were being coerced by a structure that demanded progress, and dead bodies were the chosen standard. It was a difficult war and progress offered some hope of eventual victory, or at least escape. They knew they were not losing, but they wanted so desperately to prove they were winning they were willing to inflate the numbers. Supervisors have used the tactic for years, inflate the numbers on measurements that are hard to disprove, and walk away happy.

Then came Watergate, and the nation exploded. It was espionage to salvage a presidency. And the outrage was complete. Later on, it seems that Nixon really thought his presidency may have been anointed. He was only trying to do the best thing for the country, by authorizing all of that illegal, unscrupulous, immoral activity, it was for the common good, he thought.

Of course, there were other things as well. But, we, as a nation came to view authority without a certain amount of healthy skepticism.

We were not wealthy, in fact we were probably poor, by most measures. And we were Catholic. So I had a lot of Mexican friends. Mostly immigrant parents, or grandparents who had come to America to make a better life for themselves. They took the most physical, demanding jobs, and worked hard for their money.

Anytime I was playing with their children, and it always seemed like there were hundreds of kids, all living in a small house, they shared everything. Warm, fresh homemade tortillas, covered in melting butter, and a little honey, just enough to make your hands sticky and your heart sing. They would laugh at how good I thought it was. They were the epitome of the American Dream.

Somehow the nation has changed, and now we trust our elected officials. Allowing them to manipulate laws to increase the wealth of the largest donors, alter voting districts to maintain an iron grip on power, strip protection from the poor, needy, children, anybody who can not make obscene donations to the hallowed towers of the ruling elite. And we demonize these poor immigrants, who are willing to work at difficult jobs, performing back breaking labor, settling for low wages, and little actual respect.

And somehow I am supposed to believe this is the path to making America great again. I miss the old days.

Insanity, it is commonplace.

Life is getting stranger almost daily. It is all a sane young man can do to maintain stability in the midst of all the madness. And madness it is, there is no doubt. Look around, read the newspaper, watch the news, have a conversation, but don't pay too much attention, or you will go insane.

"Bill Murray will appear in upcoming all female Ghostbusters reboot." Something seems a little off with that headline.  Maybe Bill Murray is trying to win a spot on Sport Center.

Tom Cruise is thinking of leaving the Church of Scientology but is concerned they will release embarrassing information. He has turned to Lisa Marie Presley, Daughter of the king of rock and roll, and ex wife of the king of pop, for help. She claims to have secret, possibly incriminating evidence concerning the church. Long live the daughter, and ex wife of the king.*

Recently, through a very elaborate, extensive and probably expensive experiment French and Spanish scientists nurtured to life a bucardo, or Pyrenean ibex. At one time thousands of these animals (resembling mountain goats) lived in the Pyrenees, the mountain range that divides France and Spain. Until they were hunted into extinction.

Unfortunately, the kid did not survive, it was born with a birth defect in the lung, and could not breath. Bringing back an extinct species,whether it is right or wrong, has happened. They will continue to improve the process until it works. De-extinction is the term they use. However, as one looks through the annals of history, mankind becomes much more intelligent, and technically able, but not really any smarter. With that in mind I am thinking of copy-writing the phrase re-extinction. I see an wealthy retirement.

In a field crowded with presidential hopefuls the man who is getting the most attention is advocating the construction of a wall to block foreign invaders. Not occupying armies, but foreigners invading in small groups, or individually. People are unabashedly enthusiastic about the idea. But, this has been attempted before, and history has shown that the Great Wall of China was not completely successful as a defensive structure, and it certainly was no match for a determined group who were not bound to horses. But, hope springs eternal, and there are many potential benefits as a tourist attraction, and the jobs created for construction and upkeep will be a boon. Let's hope they don't all go to immigrants.

Insanity is epidemic, and keeping a brave, smiling face it getting increasingly difficult. But, we have to, the world depends on us, bloggers, instagrammers, facebookers, tweeeters, linkedin, pinterest. It is a terrible burden, but we are the willing. Thanks, now get back to work.

*I need to thank +Jeremy Crow, leader of the Whacko Nation, and amazing storehouse of knowledge. I had made the horrendous mistake of confusing Lisa Marie and Priscilla, Sorry Elvis, I hope you can forgive me.

Dr. Dawg for President.

It is almost time to choose, it is almost time to make a decision.  Who will be suited to carry us into the future, who will be the one to make a difference, who will we choose to lead the country?   

Oh, sure there are a lot of choices this early in the pre-season, virtually everybody who has ever run for office, is still alive, and hasn't been president yet is a potential candidate, has an exploratory committee, and is raising money.  Plus, there is always the threat of a wealthy, unelected, dark horse candidate, who doesn't mind the insurmountable odds, and rushes headlong into the fray, without a chance of winning. Though, if a person is looking for fifteen minutes of fame this is perfect, and if you can manage one misstep, gaffe, or indiscretion you could go down in history.  Please, stay tuned for this seasons model. 

However, for those who are tired of career politicians, and all of their experience, and knowledge about what makes the government work, for those who grow weary of Washington insiders, and all of their accomplishment, and connections, and credibility around the world, we offer you a fresh choice, a new solution to an old remedy of a non existent problem, we offer you Dr. Dawg for President. 

Not only does he not have any governmental experience, at any level, he has never even held a real job.  He is the ultimate political outsider, he has never even voted, and he knows nothing about almost everything political.  If you are tired of all of the coiffed, tailored clowns trying to give away the whole circus Dr. Dawg is your man, well not really your man, he is your candidate.   

Let's look at several questions from our panel of experts.  In the sake of honesty, we are not sure how many people a "panel" requires, so it might be a forum, or a group, if anybody knows the qualifications, please post a message with the details. 

Q:  "Do you have a plan to balance the budget, without raising taxes?" 

A:  "Yes, I do have a plan to balance the budget, and unlike my opponents, the fools, buffoons, and clowns, I am not going to slash spending, and unlike the idiots who are stupid enough to oppose me in this election I am willing to share the details of my plan.  Phase one of my plan is to use the police department as a taxi service.  They spend most of their time driving around anyway, right?  Why not have them pick up fares, and bring in some much needed "revenue enhancement."  Here is the beauty of the plan, if you are running late, and need to pick up the pace just tell the officer, and for an additional fee he will flip on the lights and sirens, and get you there in a hurry.  And, if you are lucky enough to be in the car during a high speed chase, ending in a shootout, and have the necessary funding available we will let you squeeze off a few rounds.  The ultimate thrill ride.  We are going to open Fire House Pizza, and Chili Burgers, in real fire houses.  Delivery in thirty minutes or less, or your next ride to the emergency room is free!  That alone should provide a budget surplus like this country has never seen.  If not, we are noodling with some plans involving Armed Services Demolition Co., but these are still on the drawing board." 

Q:  "Where do you stand on immigration?" 

A  (sort of): "I have a very strong stand on immigration." 

Q:  "What is it?" 

A (more of a Q, really):  "What is what?" 

Q:  "What is your stand on immigration?" 

A (not really, but we pay by the letter)  "That is all the time we have for today, I am going to work on some very important policies, and procedures, and reforms, and maybe a quick nap.  Thank you all for coming."