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Another Lovely Day

February 14, 2021 by mountainmornings

Happy Valentine’s Day people!

Who doesn’t love a good romantic story? There was a time when I’d devour the coveted wedding announcements in the Vows Section of the Sunday New York Times, but now I read the digital version of “Modern Love.” If you haven’t discovered the Style Section of the Times, you’re in for a treat!

“A series of weekly reader-submitted essays that explore the joys and tribulations of love.”

Currently the paper is accepting submissions of “tiny love stories” of 100 words or less. The last one was a tale as old as friendship – one woman gets married and has a child, the other doesn’t. The single woman wonders if she’ll lose her best friend, especially as the coronavirus began to spread. But on a Zoom call, she sees the toddler crawling through a doggie door and realizes the baby is just as weird as they are! How could she be jealous?

While trying to avoid watching the fore-ordained Impeachment Trial, I happened to read about another weird love story playing out in the Politics Section. My two favorite things combined! It seems a Nashville native, TJ Ducklo, who was a deputy press secretary in Joe Biden’s White House, just resigned his position yesterday over claims that he verbally harangued a female Politico reporter who was working on a story about his love life.

“Per Vanity Fair, in January, Palmeri — who is a co-author of Politico’s Playbook — was assigned to report out a story that fits neatly into her beat: the then-unreported relationship between Ducklo and Axios political reporter Alexi McCammond, and the ethical questions it raised. On January 20, Palmeri contacted McCammond for comment, while one of her male colleagues reached out to Ducklo for the same. Things escalated rapidly. After Ducklo received the message, he called a Playbook editor to voice his disapproval, and was directed to speak with the reporters themselves. Rather than call the man who contacted him, Ducklo reached out to Palmeri and allegedly lashed out.

https://www.thecut.com/2021/02/biden-spokesman-reportedly-had-sexist-meltdown-at-a-reporter.html

To be fair, both Ducklo and his girlfriend Alexi McCammond told their bosses as soon as their relationship turned serious and McCammond was switched from the Biden beat to Kamala Harris and other Progressive legislators. Also, Ducklo had just finished chemo treatment for stage four lung cancer. He also thought the conversation he had with Palmeri was off-the-record, still he allegedly said, “I will destroy you,” and told her she was just jealous of McCammond.

It’s strange how my feminism plays out in a situation like this; my initial reaction was, “Good”, because when the news first broke at Friday’s WHPresser, Jen Psaki told reporters that he would be suspended for one week without pay. A day later he’s quitting, and I’m thinking why do Democrats have such high moral standards when Mr T could get away with literal murder? Oh, and what about Mr T’s sexual harassment charges – 26 incidents of “unwanted sexual contact,” and 43 instances of “inappropriate behavior!”

Ah the joys and tribulations of amour. In my hundred word essay, I’d write about Bob getting the Keurig ready to go every morning before I get up. I pull out my mug that says, “Mrs ALWAYS Right” (a gift from a dear Italian friend – Bob’s mug says “Mr Right”) and never have to fill up the water chamber. He also keeps the pantry full with my special Starbucks French Roast pods. Every morning I think to myself, he must love me!

We’ll be staying put today since an ice storm is coming. Stay weird, warm and safe with your loved ones, the two and four legged varieties, and a very Happy Cupid Day and Year of the Ox. This was us at Bob’s 40th birthday party, a come as you were in the 60s affair of the heart.

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

Target

February 9, 2021 by mountainmornings

Let’s face it, I miss Target.

Ever since a friend back in NJ told me to call it “Tar-jay” I’ve been addicted. It’s lost the French cachet long ago, yet I’m still drawn to the red bullseye. It’s kind of a happy place, is that the appeal? The friendly salespeople and cashiers, the Starbucks right at the entrance, the great selection of toys for the Grands? It’s been almost a year since I stepped foot in a Target.

Two years ago, when we moved Great Grandma Ada down to Nashville after she broke her hip, we had a little “incident” at Target. It was our first outing together and we were both looking forward to it since Target provides huge, red, motorized Smart Shoppers (electric carts with big baskets) for people with mobility issues. I knew that Ada had used these carts back in NJ at Costco, and I thought this shopping expedition would help her to feel more independent.

Unfortunately, she accidentally went forward instead of back, and rammed me into the men’s shorts I was scanning for Great Grandpa Hudson. It must have been forceful since I ended up in her lap with two broken ribs. I’d never seen so many red shirts appear at once and it didn’t help that one young woman said, “Don’t worry, this happens all the time!”

Ada didn’t want to go near Target again, and would carefully avoid me at the Nashville Zoo on a motorized cart. But that wasn’t my first rodeo with the discount chain.

I was a newly transplanted Yankee who was surprised to see signs on stores and restaurants in Virginia about allowing or NOT allowing guns into their premises. I’d never seen so many signs about guns in my life. And right after I started my wedding blog to inform friends and family about the Bride and Groom’s wedding plans in the Blue Ridge, there was a big social media push to ban guns from shops like Starbucks and Target.

Naturally, I got involved because Target was slow to buy into the idea of not letting guys in camo roam freely with their rifles slung over their shoulders like so many Rambos. I joined the boycott of Target, writing #Target! I missed it then too. It was before one would even think of buying something online after all.

When did Target become a bastion of Liberal ideology? Is it so wrong to not want a child to reach into his mother’s handbag, while she’s looking at shorts, and pull a trigger? When did Democrats decide that this was the one and only place to shop for paper products, or dog food? It is one of America’s largest Publicly Traded Companies that started out as a high-end private department store named Dayton’s:

“Target Corp. engages in owning and operating of general merchandise stores. It offers curated general merchandise and food assortments including perishables, dry grocery, dairy, and frozen items at discounted prices. The company was founded by George Draper Dayton in 1902 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN.”

https://www.forbes.com/companies/target/?sh=64e6650e5274

I double-downed on my commitment to Target once they saw the light and decided to ban guns from all their stores. And here in Nashville, there are two Targets within a 5 mile radius!

Now I know I could’ve used Shipt to deliver things from Target, like we do with Publix groceries, but that’s not the point after all. It’s more of an experience, like the time I spotted Reese Witherspoon in a Draper James dress and sunhat!

After hugs from the Bug and Pumpkin, will Target be my very first post-pandemic trip? Here we are in a Bateau Mouche on the Seine; we were visiting the Bride in Paris for the Millennium.

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Unity

February 4, 2021 by mountainmornings

This morning Bob volunteered to make a hot breakfast.

This happens randomly; maybe it’s really cold outside or maybe he’s just pulled a loaf of steaming sourdough bread out of the oven. I was sipping my first cup of coffee and watching a report on the new Vanderbilt “Project on Unity and American Democracy” – my man crush Jon Meacham was speaking about Lincoln. I said “Yes” to oatmeal.

When a man cooks, it’s like an Army drill sergeant has commandeered the kitchen. Everything is set and ready to go, whether it’s scrambled eggs, pancakes or oatmeal, Bob has his methods and I never question him. I have no idea how much cheddar cheese he puts in the eggs for instance, I simply wait at attention for the meal to be served. And granted, it’s usually delicious.

There is just one little thing I ask of him when he’s making oatmeal, “Please let me fix it myself!”

All I want is the hot, hard, congealed lump of Irish steel cut oatmeal in a bowl – don’t make mine like yours. Don’t add milk and salt and butter. Call me crazy, but I like to add bananas and peanut butter.

As I was waiting for breakfast, Eunji Kim, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Vandy, was speaking about the importance of listening. After all, how can we even hope for unity in this country if the right and the left don’t listen to each other?

“In this age of political inattention, governing is inherently thorny and communicating is impossibly difficult. President Obama frequented late-night comedy shows, yet for a while they have been the spearhead of satire only for blue America. Reaching out to the inattentive public may require unusual approaches to presidential messaging, even if it means setting up a virtual Biden Island in Animal Crossing, a squishy Nintendo game.”

https://www.vanderbilt.edu/unity/2021/01/11/the-republic-of-the-inattentive/

Granted I don’t play video games but I get the analogy. Mr T was elected precisely because people thought they knew him from The Apprentice. Who wants to read all those lengthy real news articles about his underhanded dealings in Atlantic City, when most Americans are getting their news on social media. And social media loves to fit you into its algorithm, so that you not only consume its message, you get really mad about it! Then you click on their adverts.

The oatmeal was being served! I paused Professor Kim and walked into the kitchen; there was Bob stirring my oatmeal. Every single time he makes oatmeal I feel the need to remind him about the way I like it, just as I did this morning.

“What are you doing?” I said.

He proceeded to tell me that he had added a little milk because otherwise it would be too hard! My first inclination was to throw the bowl in the sink and make myself the usual morning meal of yogurt and fruit while not saying one single word. Yes, I hate to admit that at times in the past I’d used the passive aggressive technique of total silence. Instead I said,

“I might just have a heart attack if you ever actually listened to me.”

He looked at me and smiled, because we’ve been doing this marital dance for over forty years, and humor has always served us well. I proceeded to fix my oatmeal the way I like it, smushing in a half a banana and adding a plop of maple peanut butter, while he poured salt into his bowl.

And I thought to myself, if we want the other half of the country to listen to us, to listen to the facts and science, to wear masks and to care about the poor and disenfranchised, we are going to have to be willing to listen to THEM – and not in a demeaning or deprogramming way. A heart attack is not equivalent to an infectious respiratory disease, ie #wearadamnmask. https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/florida-grocery-store-captures-country-s-divide-over-wearing-masks-100487237927

Because we must have some common ground in the post-truth Trump world if we want to hold these United States together. And it doesn’t matter who starts listening first, if we truly desire unity, maybe President Biden needs to appear on The Daily Show, or even FOX? And we need to mind our manners (and disregard my poor attempt at photoshopping).

.

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Pup Pilates or The Problem with Marjorie

January 30, 2021 by mountainmornings

We’ve been doing a bit of grandpuppy sitting lately. And today I forgot we had a scheduled Pilates class when the Bride’s Frenchie, Watson, showed up for some stretching too. He’s learning his polite dog skills and usually scratches the door for a potty break. Poor Ms Bean has learned to give up her dog bed and reluctantly give in to playtime. But she still doesn’t understand why Watson gets to eat lunch and she doesn’t!

I only had to get up twice to let the dogs out, so I missed out on our “stomach series.” And my tummy thanks them. Then the feminist in me was triggered when I read a text about another interloper – only this one wore heels and red lipstick. A Tweet wondered why White feminist writers were not calling out the latest Republican NRA devotee to Congress.

Elected this Fall, the freshman House member from Georgia is a known QAnon conspiracy theorist, and full blown pro-Trump insurrectionist. Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn’t wear face paint or Viking furs, she strolls through the Capitol with impunity carrying her concealed weapon around the metal detectors. She has verbally assaulted her colleague, Democrat Cori Bush, causing Bush (who is Black btw) to move her office further away from Greene in the interest of her staff’s safety. What other disrespectful and incendiary things can one congresswoman do?

“Ms. Greene suggested in 2018 that a devastating wildfire that ravaged California was started by “a laser” beamed from space and controlled by a prominent Jewish banking family with connections to powerful Democrats. She endorsed executing Democratic lawmakers, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She served as a prolific writer for a now-defunct conspiracy blog called “American Truth Seekers,” writing posts with headlines including “MUST READ — Democratic Party Involved With Child Sex, Satanism, and The Occult.” And she argued that the 2018 midterm elections — in which the first two Muslim women were elected to the House — were part of “an Islamic invasion of our government.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/us/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-republicans.html

Imagine my surprise on Holocaust Remembrance Day to see “Jewish space laser” trending on Twitter.

But the feminist in me wasn’t surprised. Sarah Palin wrote the playbook for conservative Christian women running for office. The largely male, White Republican party thought oh great, we need the new blood, we need women, let’s just see how far they can go. The old GOP didn’t count on the public electing delusional and destructive Breakers. And yet, here we are. Let’s not forget another gun-toting-loving woman Rep from Colorado, Lauren Boebert.

Boebert also vowed to carry her Glock all around the US Capitol and in the streets of Washington, DC. So far she hasn’t assaulted other members of Congress or said that the murder of schoolchildren in Parkland was a hoax.

Sometimes you can think something abnormal is a “one off,” but after January 6th, we would be deluding ourselves to think the enemy is not already within the gates of power; and Marjorie Taylor Greene is flush with power. Does it make it better if it’s women flaunting the rules, brandishing guns, instead of men?

“… (Greene) issued what amounted to a threat to top Republicans who might be contemplating punishing her, warning that they would pay steep consequences.

“’If Republicans cower to the mob, and let the Democrats and the fake news media take me out,’” Ms. Greene said, “’they’re opening the door to come after every single Republican until there’s none left.’”

Greene’s choice of words here is instructive – letting fake news “take me out,” sounds ominous enough, and then her facile reference to a Holocaust prayer by Pastor Martin Niemoller:

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

From space lasers to paranoid thinking about Democrats opening every door to punish Republicans who only want to overturn an election. Seditionists. Using anti-Semitic tropes while looking totally rational is a skill set we’ve seen before.

If Republicans can’t clean their own house, well maybe they need to watch Watson as we crate train him? Amirite Ms Bean?

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Gamers and Breakers

January 27, 2021 by mountainmornings

Who wants to dwell on the past? Well, maybe some people can only cope with their present circumstances by living and reliving history, but not me. I’m not one to reread novels or stories, I’ve never gone to see a movie twice for that matter. Bob is even better at focusing on today, or better yet tomorrow! But this election cycle has me thinking – how did so many millions of people buy a Big Lie of election fraud, and how could over a hundred legislators return to the Capitol, after it had been breached, and still want to disrupt the certified votes for Biden and Harris on January 6th? I had to know!!!

Speaking of which, 45 Republican senators this morning would rather just move on, and forget that riotous insurrection of just a few weeks ago. They have said that impeaching Mr T now would be unconstitutional!

I found this essay in the Sunday NYTimes Magazine, “The American Abyss” by Timothy Snyder, to be enlightening:

“Post-truth is pre-fascism, and Trump has been our post-truth president. When we give up on truth, we concede power to those with the wealth and charisma to create spectacle in its place. Without agreement about some basic facts, citizens cannot form the civil society that would allow them to defend themselves. If we lose the institutions that produce facts that are pertinent to us, then we tend to wallow in attractive abstractions and fictions.” 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/magazine/trump-coup.html?searchResultPosition=1

And wallow we did. Snyder weaves many aspects of fascism from the past into our current culture. Mr T started his political career lying about President Obama’s birth, although he was certainly a liar before that. Birtherism set the stage for bigger and better lies. He called the facts reported by independent media “fake news.” He capitalized on his charming, mob boss charisma. And according to Snyder, he seems to have fractured the Republican Party into two factions – the Gamers and the Breakers.

The Gamers are Republican politicians who would like to hold onto their power. Guys like Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul jump to mind. They use the lies, even though they may not believe them, as a method to advance their agenda of appointing conservative judges and giving out tax breaks to their buddies. Think about Josh Hawley’s raised fist. Think about the very sinister Ted Cruz.

Cruz brought up the “Compromise of 1877” as a precedent for the January 6th insurrection. Summoning that episode in American history was a calculated move. Compromise? What was the compromise? Well, Rutherford B Hayes was allowed to ascend to the presidency only if he pulled federal troops out of the south. Get it? Racism was the compromise; Jim Crow laws were enacted and legal segregation began anew, just as Reconstruction ended. This was America’s second original sin against previously enslaved African Americans.

To this day, Republicans work hard at voting restrictions and gerrymandering districts, largely aimed at Black, mostly Democratic voters.

“Republican legislators across the country are preparing a slew of new voting restrictions in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s defeat. Georgia will be the focal point of the GOP push to change state election laws, after Democrats narrowly took both Senate seats there and President Joe Biden carried the state by an even smaller margin. But state Republicans in deep-red states and battlegrounds alike are citing Trump’s meritless claims of voter fraud in 2020 — and the declining trust in election integrity Trump helped drive — as an excuse to tighten access to the polls.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/24/republicans-voter-id-laws-461707

The Breakers are the MAGA hatted disrupters who honestly believe all or most of the lies because once it’s said loud enough and often enough by Mr T it must be true?! They want a small government, with little in the way of rules and no regulations. Once called the Tea Party, the group that single-handedly stopped any path to legal immigration, their revolution has morphed into a crazy quilt of conspiracy theorists, malignant militias, white supremacists calling for a wall to be built and ultimately for VP Pence’s life – the mob at the Capitol wanted to hang Mike Pence – simply because he didn’t follow Mr T’s orders.

Certainly not all conservatives fit into these two constructs. Maybe most actual conservatives don’t; but stop the vote Trumpers do. I wonder if the GOP will actually split in two – a more extreme right, and a more moderate group. We barely avoided becoming a fascist state, for now…. President Biden has said he is intent on bringing Truth and Transparency back to government. But can we as a nation heal without accountability?

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Mitten Memes

January 22, 2021 by mountainmornings

Friends and family were positively giddy on Inauguration Day. Happy tears were shed over our new VP Kamala Harris in her sorority pearls, and a most graceful young Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman. We were transfixed throughout the day as Tom Hanks displayed our Hollywood talent to the world. Why go back to a bunch of Washington mega-donor inaugural balls?

This celebration, those fireworks, were for The People!

Then Twitter exploded with, of all things, Bernie Sanders. I guess he came to the Capitol Mall on his own; I’d heard that legislators could only invite one guest to the swearing in ceremony. Many didn’t want to bring a spouse because they had small children; imagine that kind of fear, in our country. So there he sat, Wednesday with Bernie, sitting all alone on a bleacher, legs crossed trying to stay warm and awake, like any other grandfather. Except that he is the Independent senator from Vermont, and he was wearing hand knit mittens!

Turns out, one of his constituents gave him those mittens five years ago. Her name is Jen Ellis and she used to sell her wares at arts and craft shows, but today she’s a teacher with a small child and she doesn’t have time to knit. Little did she know her mittens would become a meme sensation

“Ellis, who has sold her mittens — which she calls “swittens,” a portmanteau of sweater and mittens — online and at craft fairs. “I’m flattered that they want them, but there are lots of people on Etsy who sell them and hopefully people will get some business from them,” she said. “But I’m not going to quit my day job. I am a second grade teacher, and I’m a mom, and all that keeps me really busy.”

“There’s no possible way I could make 6,000 pairs of mittens, and every time I go into my email, another several hundred people have emailed me,” Ellis added. “I hate to disappoint people, but the mittens, they’re one-of-a-kind and they’re unique and sometimes in this world, you just can’t get everything you want.”

https://jewishinsider.com/2021/01/jen-ellis-bernie-sanders-mittens/

She sounds just like any other New England mom, you can’t always get what you want! And every mom knows that mittens keep your hands warmer than gloves, it’s a fact. My Berkshire roots are showing because I love, love, love the casual predictability of Bernie along with the pragmatism of his independent followers. One of my favorite tee shirts from our Pittsfield, MA era had a picture of American Gothic on its front emblazoned with, “Welcome to Dalton, now go home!”

On Wednesday there was no cow jumping over the moon, or three little bears sitting on chairs. But Bernie was there in all his everyman glory, with a manila envelope containing the inaugural tickets and a very unique pair of mittens. I’m not sure what all the fuss was about, but it was fun for the younger generation to blow off four years of pain and suffering under a demagogue by flooding social media with Bernie memes.

And we are all glad they did! Here are just a few.

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On Alert

January 17, 2021 by mountainmornings

Do you feel as if your limbic system is on constant high alert?

In a nutshell, the limbic system is a part of the brain that is in charge of the “fight or flight” reflex; run away from the lion or fall in love with the lion tamer. It’s a bunch of cortical cells responsible for our very survival.

“These nuclei serve several functions, however most have to do with control of functions necessary for self preservation and species preservation. They regulate autonomic and endocrine function, particularly in response to emotional stimuli. They set the level of arousal and are involved in motivation and reinforcing behaviors. Additionally, many of these areas are critical to particular types of memory. Some of these regions are closely connected to the olfactory system, since this system is critical to survival of many species.”

https://www.dartmouth.edu/~rswenson/NeuroSci/chapter_9.html

Smelling danger is one thing, but feeling as though a casual walk during this pandemic might endanger your life is another. It’s become almost normal for us to second guess and debate every decision. Should we go to the Walgreens early in the morning, is it safe? Can’t the Bride come inside our house now that she has been vaccinated twice? What about the Grands? I must admit to feeling much better since my daughter and the Groom have received their second Covid vaccines, but according to the CDC the next peak of deaths is expected in mid February. Don’t let your guard down!

After all, you don’t want to be the last person to die of this virus before the vaccines are completely distributed.

And speaking of distribution, state governors are reporting that the promised vaccines kept in reserve by the federal government don’t exist. That along with the BIG LIE about the election, we’ve been served another BIG LIE about vaccine distribution. I didn’t find this surprising, because Mr T has shown his true colors time and time again. Expecting him to be something he is not would drive anybody’s limbic system crazy.

We are a nation on guard. Barricades have gone up around Nashville’s Capitol building. State capitols around the country are on “High Alert” this inaugural week – DC is teeming with our National Guard, looking more like Paris during the Jewish high holidays. I remember when the Paris police almost didn’t allow the Bride to enter a synagogue, because she “didn’t look Jewish.”

The rest of Europe cannot believe America has come to this. Today, Germans wonder if Americans ever heard of the word Volksverhetzung, in English “incitement to hatred.” This is a crime in Germany, as it should be all over the world. Unfortunately, parents continue to teach their children to hate. Racist, anti-semitic tropes were never gone, they have only just been allowed to grow through social media. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would see a confederate flag in the Capitol; Nazi slogans and swastikas flying along with Trump flags last week.

Jewish families know we must never allow silence and indifference to win, we must always be ready to flee a mob of red shirts or red hats. This will be my last post before Joe Biden becomes our 46th president. He has an ambitious agenda ahead of him. First and foremost, attacking this pandemic. After many unanswered phone calls, and rebooting of websites, to try and obtain a Covid vaccine, we got lucky. By the end of this month, Bob and I will be fully vaccinated. It wasn’t easy. Obtaining a vaccine for a population not totally familiar with technology has proven nearly impossible.

“It feels like I’m trying to get a Beyonce ticket!” a daughter said while trying to help her mother navigate vaccine portals.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/16/covid-vaccine-hunt/?

Bob heard through the medical grapevine about a public health facility giving drive-thru vaccines. The Bride told us to get in our car and take a chance. And because he is an ER physician, on call for Covid emergencies and willing to put shots in arms should the need arise, and because we showed up at the break of dawn, we’re halfway to Covid immunity.

I could finally breathe. My limbic system however, will take awhile to calm down.

Ada’s favorite quote

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Crybabies

January 13, 2021 by mountainmornings

Taking care of babies is my jam. Human babies, animal babies and puppies in particular. I love it when the Love Bug’s four month old French Bulldog starts to wind down, big eyes drooping and legs wobbling. He fights naps so hard! But once you hear that distinctive snore – part purr, part outboard motor – you can cuddle him up, no problem. And later, because Bob and I are just the occasional granddog sitters, we get to give him back.

Human babies, otoh, take a bit more work. Bob always had a way to soothe our crying babies. With the baby Bride, he would bundle her in the car seat for a ride and turn on Beethoven. The Baby Rocker required a different approach, Bob would blast Led Zepplin!

“Don’t be a crybaby” is buried deep in my amygdala. It must be a primal holdover, after all if you’re fleeing a predator you don’t want a baby to signal your whereabouts. The tribe depended on your ability to keep your baby healthy and happy! There is no sound more distressing to me than a crying baby; unless it’s a whining, crying adult.

I just finished my morning coffee with an article in the Washington Post titled “Trumpist masculinity reaches its high water mark with the riot,” by Monica Hesse. It caught my eye because its subject was the Nashville bartender who was recently arrested for jumping over a balustrade like a ninja with zip ties, aka the Zip Tie Guy. He’s a handsome, white, ex-honky tonk employee, a 30 year old who was seen in previous footage with his mother! They were caught leaving their hotel with coffee last Wednesday, before storming the Capitol that afternoon.

“A whole taxonomy of Trumpist right-wing manhood could be developed from the Internet investigations, wanted posters and arrest affidavits now trickling out in the wake of last week’s riot at the Capitol. En masse, the photos show a conglomeration of weird beards, ammo and camo, and a very specific brand of looks-like-somebody-got-a-Bass-Pro-gift-card-for-Christmas raging White masculinity.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/capitol-riot-zip-tie-guy-men-trump-masculinity/2021/01/12/486a516e-5447-11eb-a08b-f1381ef3d207_story.html

It seems the Cville khakis and white shirts have been replaced by strange costumes. Between Viking chic and lumberjack plaid, toxic masculinity was on full display. Like any good feminist, I taught my son that it’s alright to cry, even though every other cultural interaction he ever had told him the opposite. And likewise, I told my daughter NOT to cry in public. Not very gender neutral, I know.

But the GOP has become a party of crybabies.

When Mr T told his followers last week not to show “weakness” it hit me. He was a high school cadet playing dress-up at a military academy before the Vietnam War. Mr T developed “bone spurs” then and today he watches TV or plays golf; never getting his hands dirty. What we are witnessing this morning is incredulous. Enraged Republican legislators bemoaning the installation of metal detectors at the Capitol. Why should they have their bags searched and not be able to carry their sidearm into chambers? The audacity of Congress to want to protect legislators of both parties!

And why should they be fined for refusing to wear masks while hunkered down during the insurrection last week? Isn’t it their God-given, natural right to infect anybody they so please?

The sheer cloying white selfishness, entitlement, and privilege is appalling.

And they called us snowflakes! But hark! A second impeachment is about to happen, just as we are being told that these home-grown terrorists are planning another seditious attempt at insurrection. Closing down their absurd conspiracy websites and banning Mr T from his social platforms is just the first step. Weeding white supremacists out of the police and military is essential. In just one week we shall have a new President; a Scranton guy who has the capacity for empathy and compassion.

I just hope Biden has the determination of a bulldog!

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The Soapbox

January 10, 2021 by mountainmornings

Sleep has been eluding me lately because these days are hard to fathom. Mr T used his soapbox to preach conspiracy falsehoods and push an angry mob to desecrate our Nation’s Capitol. More and more video has surfaced since Wednesday. An Air Force veteran came from California, a QAnon believer, only to be shot in the neck. A Capitol policeman was bludgeoned to death with a fire extinguisher. Another was crushed between doors. Blood was shed.

And blood is on the hands of every single Republican who ever supported this mad president, and thought it might be a good idea to stage an insurrection last week.

Usually reading before bed is a calming ritual. “The Cold Millions,” by Jess Walter has been my escape from our current political dystopia. The book was delivered to my front door, like most things these days, human contact unnecessary. The author’s previous novel, “Beautiful Ruins,” is a favorite so I couldn’t wait to dig in; instead of flirting with the good ‘ole days of Hollywood, Walter aimed his pen at the wild west – Spokane, Washington in 1909. It was a formative time for labor unions.

I like to think my Great Great Grandmother hosted many a union organizing dinner in her Scranton, Pennsylvania dining room. Grandma Mullen was born in Ireland in 1844 and raised 23 children! She lost a few husbands along the way to the coal mines. Over the years, I’d heard that she ran a boardinghouse for miners, and she would feed them IF they would read her the newspaper. I wonder if my ancestor, on the Flapper’s side, could have imagined the future me, writing for newspapers?

In “the Cold Millions,” two dirt poor brothers, Ryan and Gig, are pitted against the emerging upper class of industrial/publishing/judicial elites. And because they stand on a soapbox in the middle of a union rally for the “Industrial Workers of the World,” they are hauled off to jail. It’s not hard to think of a juvenile in an adult jail, our country still manages to make such arrangements.

But peaceful rallying in the street is nothing new. Walter’s fictional characters are based on real life union organizers at the beginning of the last century sick of being swindled by job brokers, their heads beaten with clubs. Over the years, our family has been known to take to the streets. Bob protested the Vietnam War in Washington. I’ve traveled to DC a few times to rally for Reproductive Rights. I was in DC at the 2017 Women’s March and passed many buses filled with our National Guard at the ready… just in case.

Where were they last Wednesday? And why were they late to arrive after Pence and Pelosi summoned them?

All of the action in the book takes place before and after a free speech rally. And this morning I find myself wondering about free speech, feeling self-righteous because I believe in the freedom of the press and glad that Twitter has finally silenced the Toddler-in-Chief. Don’t get me wrong, our liberty hinges on this First Amendment right, but I never thought our government should be run by Tweets! Mr T has been coddled and allowed to spew his lies long enough, I’m just sorry it took so long to silence him.

Yes, sometimes peaceful protests can turn violent when night falls. But these Capitol rioters were signaled by Mr T to turn their anger against the very people who are our legislators. They were chanting “Hang Mike Pence” because our VP refused to overturn an election. The very same people who were carrying “Blue Lives Matter” flags were raging against the police. The same mind-set that led some to attend Black Lives Matter protests, to supposedly protect federal property, were destroying our nation’s artifacts.

In the midst of a worldwide pandemic, the Capitol mob had the trappings of a war they had been deluded into following. Men wore body armor, some carried weapons. Free speech is fine and dandy, so long as no one gets hurt. Facebook and Twitter give everyone a soapbox, but can their algorithms keep us safe from this fire?

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“Four Die Amid Capitol Riot”

January 7, 2021 by mountainmornings

This is today’s headline on https://www.bbc.com/news ,along with a picture of a man carrying the Confederate flag, and others dressed like Vikings in war paint. They were taking selfies with Capitol police, they were scaling walls and prancing around the Rotunda swinging metal stanchions. This is where we are, and if you say we’re better than this, I’m not so sure anymore.

I’m honestly lost for words, and that rarely happens. They were trying to take down the American flag and replace it with a Trump flag? It’s time to put away foolish things like red hats. It’s time to stop believing in conspiracies and “alternative truths.” Mr T is a lier, a psychopathic, clear and present danger – does it matter if he actually believes these delusions of voter fraud and machine tampering, or if he’s playing us for another get rich quick scheme? Should he be committed or arrested?

T has been blocked from Twitter, yet he still has all of the power of an American President. This is untenable. VP Pence is already in charge, he and Speaker Pelosi called for the National Guard yesterday. I just heard Facebook has finally blocked T – where is his Cabinet and the GOP? Why haven’t they invoked the 25th Amendment?

This is domestic terrorism fueled by the words of a psychopathic liar, our president. Over half of House Republicans backed the effort to reject the votes of the American people. Even after the riot, in the small hours of the morning, “….these are the senators who voted to object to some of the results of the election (and the states they objected to:

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (Arizona, Pennsylvania)

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley (Arizona, Pennsylvania)

Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall (Arizona, Pennsylvania)

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (Arizona, Pennsylvania)

Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (Arizona, Pennsylvania)

Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy (Arizona)

Florida Sen. Rick Scott (Pennsylvania)

Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis (Pennsylvania)

https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/washington-dc-election-riots/h_102b6c46f9c4776e2eb4541bc97a106e

Remember those names.

A peaceful transfer of power will not make this go away. Racism and hate run deep in our country, one rioter sported a tee shirt that said “Camp Auschwitz.” We must stop calling these people militia, or protesters – this is white nationalism, domestic terrorism and they must be accountable. Every act of vandalism at the Nation’s Capitol must be prosecuted to the fullest. Don’t look away.

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