Sunday, September 18, 2016

My Week in Review - 9/18/16


Last week I was in a particularly good mood. Then Trump self-destructed with his birther statement and I felt even better.

I feel more grounded, better able to see my situation, more accepting of my limits, and clear about how I want to try to contribute to social change.

Reflecting on and modifying the “Drowning Children” metaphor deepened my commitment to do all I can to reform the social system that daily kills 8.000 children and end the poverty in this country that daily kills 2,400 Americans. I feel morally obligated to do all I can about that.

As Bob Dylan sings in “What Good Am I?”:

If my hands are tied must I not wonder within
Who tied them and why and where must I have been?
What good am I if I say foolish things
And I laugh in the face of what sorrow brings
And I just turn my back while you silently die
What good am I?

I’ve concluded that I’ll try to contribute to the Cause my summing up my thinking in a new book, a booklet, tentatively titled, Transforming America: How to Fix the “Rigged System.”

The following developments bolster my confidence that my conclusions are sensible.

My reading of the excellent book, Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt by Sarah Jaffe, reassures me that my critique of the conventional leftist thinking she affirms is solid.

My reading of the beautiful book, Kiss the Sky: My Weekend in Monterey at the Greatest Concert Ever by Dusty Baker, the baseball manager, reinforces my belief in an alternative stance that holds more potential.

Hillary Clinton’s comments about the supposedly irredeemable Trump “deplorables” exposed for all to see the liberal elitism I’ve been talking about for years. Unfortunately most of her supporters seem inclined to defend her.

Her comments also clarified the important distinction between saying “that is a racist comment” and “you are a racist,” or saying “he is a deplorable politician” and “he is a deplorable person.” As I’ve argued, we can make judgments without being judgmental.

Hillary’s decision to ignore the Democratic Party platform (and promote her own proposals instead) and her weak support for the Party in general as she focuses on her own election (which has infuriated many Democrats) highlights a key weakness in the Party that I addressed in “The Convention: What Was Missing.

Bernie’s decision not to build a new, democratic, grassroots organization, but rather focus on electoral politics, as does Barack, reduces the possibility that “Our Revolution” will fill the need for a new national organization, which I unsuccessfully tried to address by encouraging Bernie and/or the San Francisco Democratic Party to help transform the Party into an activist organization

Those and other developments lead me to believe that I am on a wise path. It’s not the only one, but it is a wise one nevertheless.

Unfortunately, so far, not many San Franciscans seem to share my vision (though some online friends elsewhere seem to).

So I plan to stop trying to organize projects myself and put my thoughts down on paper in a way that may be more convincing and/or inspiring.

At the same time, I’ll continue to keep my eyes open for a holistic community that I can join. And I’ll remain open to soulful face-to-face connections if and when those opportunities emerge.

My interactions with my passengers provide me with most or all of the superficial connections I need.

So my plan is to write as much as I can on Sundays and weeknights, watch some political comedy at 9 pm before going to bed at 10 pm (I’ve invited some neighbors here at Western Park to join me for that and I hope they will), read on the bus to and from work, and on Saturday, my Day of Rest, socialize some and commune for at least a few hours with Mother Nature (as I did on a recent hike on Land’s End and my outing to the beach yesterday that I captured with these photos and these.)

As Dusty Baker told his son, I tell myself:

It requires more strength to be different. You don’t go out of your way. But you don’t worry about being accepted. And if you’ve got the lead in life, you keep the lead. You just stay on that path wherever it’s taking you. If they say you’re “weird,” who cares?

I could count at least ten or fifteen times in the past when I’ve been ahead of my time on major issues. I sense the same may be true with regard to my search for holistic, or deep, community. No one knows if I “have the lead” on that issue. I may not know before I die.

All I can do with my remaining time is to minimize self-indulgence, keep the faith, walk the walk, and keep my eyes on the prize.

With my new book, if I can tie my thoughts together well enough, perhaps I can plant some seeds that will eventually bloom (as did other seeds that I planted).

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For are links to last week’s Wade’s Wire posts. Click on the links to read the full post.


I wish Hillary would say the following:

I’m human. When others call me a name, sometimes I call them a name. When others disagree with me, sometimes I call them irrational. That’s what I did with my comments about Trump supporters. For that I apologize....

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By Michael Cornwall

If it Takes a Village to raise a child as Hillary once insisted, then it assumes that all children are born innocent beings who are shaped by the social forces around them. At what point does the village fail a child?

Does the would be leader of the village declare a child or teen or adult an outcast based on the level of toxic and destructive beliefs the person may have been exposed to and may have tragically internalized?...

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Two conversations I had today with passengers in my taxi indicate that the controversy generated by Hillary’s comments about Trump’s followers has created a potential “teachable moment.” Unfortunately, however, so far Hillary has not taken advantage of the opportunity....

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My monitoring of today’s news indicates that many of Hillary’s supporters have learned little from her deplorable comment about “irredeemable” Trump supporters.

That issue is important. It affects how we treat one another throughout society.

It’s not merely a question of strategy. It’s also a question of truthfulness....

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In the concluding paragraph of “Hillary Clinton was wrong: Donald Trump’s voters are not ‘irredeemable’” Sally Kohn used italics to emphasize an important point:

We shouldn’t tell them they’re deplorable. In fact, we shouldn’t tell them anything at all. We should listen to their anger and their concerns and try to understand.

An obvious way to increase understanding is to ask questions.

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...In light of those facts, imagine the following scenario.

A town with 10,000 working-age residents is located next to a rapidly flowing river.

Each day 8,000 children under the age of five float down that river on the way to rocky rapids downstream......

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The following is a possible format for a series of public forums that could enable richer interaction than is usually the case with such events. Feedback is welcome.

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I also posted the following to Facebook. Click on the links to read the full post.


Thousands of prisoners in over 24 states began a labor strike on September 9, the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, to demand better conditions and healthcare, the right to unionize and what one organizing group calls an “end to slavery in America.” But one would hardly know it watching major U.S. media, which has mostly ignored the largest prison labor strike in history. One week on, the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, ABC News, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, and NPR have not covered the prison strikes at all.

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...While they waited, and waited, Trump provided what amounted to a campaign infomercial and shamelessly promoted his new Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington....

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NOTE: This may be the best up-to-date November prediction.

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Gov. Mike Pence came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday on a mission to promote Republican unity, attacking Hillary Clinton for describing many supporters of the G.O.P. ticket as bigoted “deplorables” and urging Republicans to rally behind their nominee, Donald J. Trump.

But Mr. Pence struggled to press the attack: In separate news conferences, House and Senate Republican leaders declined to join Mr. Pence, the Indiana governor and vice-presidential nominee, in rebuking Mrs. Clinton over her remark....

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...Today, however, I give you permission to start paying attention, beginning with the polls that come out later this week–mid-September is when things really start taking shape. But note a few well-known caveats before you start devouring the numbers:...

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There’s been much scrutiny of the Clinton Foundation after reports indicated donors may have been given special treatment from the government while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state. Since then, the Clinton Foundation announced it would not accept foreign or corporate donations and former President Bill Clinton said he would resign from the board should Hillary Clinton take office.

Now, the focus is on Republican party candidate Donald Trump. David Farenthold of The Washington Post recently published an investigation that showed Trump profited from charitable events and passed on donations from others as his own.

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