Note December 21, 2024: Need to read the below and edit the spleen and try to understand what is worth noting and what is just bitter herbs

The overlap of MAGA propaganda and anti-US propaganda from the dictatorships of China and Russia
A nation of babies
pouting their way from one election to the next
A nation of fools
asking what their leaders can do for them and never what they can do for their nation
A nation of ingrates
seeing only the cracks in the stone and never trying it for substance for depth for durability for reinvention
And the democrats failed them
And the democrats let them down
And the democrats are to blame
And the democrats must find a way to appease them
Or maybe they need to admit to themselves that they had a route forward and ready allies
and instead they chose the blow-up button
and they did this because they are a bunch of babies
and they are to blame for what they have chosen
for the dark paths they have trod
for the dark certainties they have whined and moaned and bellyached into being
for believing a cherry-picked and dopily-spun narrative
created by organizations calling themselves conservative news outlets
but being actually just orchestrators of pouts whines whimpers and bellyaches designed to keep self-indulgent couch potatoes from experiencing so much as two seconds of cognitive dissonance, so much as two seconds of reality

and what’s funniest is how easily Donald Trump would’ve won if we had kept to the old traditions of white males holding all the votes. They turn out to be the most gullible, the most eager to believe in their own pouty minds
oh but the democrats have let them down
oh but the liberal elite have left them out in the cold
ah but we saw quite plainly Biden’s turn away from liberal economic policies
in a nation where the people take responsibility for their own futures, the Biden administration’s decision to dismantled monopolies and create robust job programs would’ve been applauded, lifted up, joyously pursued
Biden should’ve been a better communicator!
or maybe you could put forth the bare minimum effort of a republic’s citizenry and pay a little attention and chose plausible accounts and workable plans over conspiracy theories wild pouts and madcap schemes of grandeur through making your world narrower, meaner, less honest, less interesting, more rambling arrogant boring boring so boring

there’s no perfection
and everything works together
but I cannot stop spinning around Lydia from NY Times statement as it became evident Trump would win in 2024
She said that she’s been in war zones, and she thinks the pain of US Americans is emotional, rather than physical
She hastened to add that that doesn’t make it any less real
I hasten to add that it actually does, it makes it way less real, it makes it in their heads, it reveals them to be a nation of babies

not that the economics shouldn’t be revised
but a free people shake off the noise and choose carefully and wisely
a nation of whiny babies pouts their way to a stupid, cruel, and boring choice

who knows what comes?
just because Donald Trump behaved badly in his first administration and while campaigning
well,
who knows
maybe he could defeat the fools by changing for the better
but what would make him do so?
The Prophet of the Irreducible
The Weaver of the Wisdom Meme
The Singer of Something Deeperism
has grown bitter
and stale
has begun himself to pout
has begun himself to sour
like old wine
past its prime
tired

what am I to say to you?
you applaud deceit revenge cruelty and incompetency
you worship deceit lying revenge cruelty and incompetency
you become deceit revenge cruelty and incompetency
how am I to deal with that?
where am I to stand when you dump that on all our heads?
oh poor you???
a person’s politics is not their person; and many choose politics that do not mirror their souls; indeed, soul-mirroring is only available to those who carefully craft their political approach, and that’s one can do one’s duty to oneself and others without being obsessed with politics; so at what point does incompetency in political thought conversation and voting become a crime against God and man? And how bad does the second Trump Administration have to be for those who voted for him to be guilty of that crime? Or shouldn’t they be guilty independent of how he governs? But if he doesn’t govern disastrously (as in do serious harm to our shared resources, including our most critical shared resource of a representative government that rewards standing up for honesty and competent faithful service), are those of us who warned against him just silly? Or worse? Are we the ones sinning against God and man? Or can we by agitating or, perhaps more effectively, by seducing him away from the worst remain citizens in a basically-functioning democratic republic while still having been right that choosing the 2024 Trump and his 2024 GOP was a crime against both all of us and the Love that Is? After all, all decisions are based on information available at the time, and that information remains, even if Donald Trump reforms and/or somehow his handpicked administration amplifies his best rather than his worst impulses?

Writing about politics is so boring
And this politician is perhaps the most boring human ever to live
What is more boring than truth-and-false-are-meaningless-tools and might-makes-right and winning-at-all-costs and kiss-the-ring-or-get-squished? That’s the oldest and most boring politics ever. And attempting to replace a wobbling but still basically functional representative government with that old boring baloney: Has there ever been a more boring political project? Yes, it may succeed, as we all know many bores who through this or that upper hand are able to dominate conversations for decades. But why would we help boredom succeed? Unless we ourselves had completely lost our souls?

But it’s all my fault because I always thought you were an idiot and that hurt your feelings?
Well, huh
Anyway, my thoughts about you were more nuanced than that. Now you’ve backed me against the wall and my thoughts are even more nuanced since I’m noticing you more. And I think, “You are an idiot; but who is wise? You are a fool; but humans have opinions: only the God Knows. You are a little pouty baby, but what great selfless wisdom did I live? We are all sinners here and I was content to let you slide on by down your stupid little rabbit holes — that was fine when you were mostly focused on sports and money and A-or-Not-A religiosity; but now you’ve decided to play bigtime oligarch; now you’ve decided that you should be King and everyone should bow to whatever great notion pops into your head and that people who study and think and make considered decisions are the fools and people who just do whatever and then keep doubling down on that whatever are the greats of this world; or what? What are you doing? You’ve always been a fool; the trick was always to keep you from the gears and levers of great power. Philosopher kings are a myth, but a will towards honesty, competency, and fair play isn’t: You have chosen to undermine that will with a will towards shoving the other person’s nose in the dirt using any dirty trick. That is evil. How am I to understand this? Are you evil? How do the ascendent forces within your current conscious moment shade into the political evil you are pursuing? And how does that motion shade into personal evil? What is going on? Did I look down on you? I never thought too much about you. I was working on the project. But now you’ve forced the project to evolve into a political one. I still can’t see you. I still can’t fathom you. Is this from a lack of interest? A lack of empathy? What portion of our current disaster springs from how much I’ve always squiggled my nose up at you versus how much I’ve not even thought about you for like a real full fat sopping wet second (a second of compassionate interest is a moment out of time, I guess)? How nuanced can one’s thoughts of x be when they never bother to focus on x except to give a little narrowed-eyes scrunched-lips head-shake of, ‘what is this nonsense?’?”

I come like that
I come off the water
The Fates shape me up
The Fates shove me across the distance
The Fates cut my throat
Always the same

in between I laugh
and tell you
that I love you

every time
always the same

every time
and the sun sprinkles itself across the reaching waves
and I love your smile
and we’re just people
again
and we’re just daydreams
reflected on the surface of the water
again
and it’s so nice to see you
again

so nice for you to take a human form
and feel a human hand
to make a human smile
and listen to a human voice
so nice
to be a human with you

walking across the moon
a man in craters
shaped of cheese
moon creatures with capes and tridents in black and white
before we knew
that of course
the moon was a lifeless rock
with no tunnels flowing with industrious moon men
and their fertile young wives with outrageous moon curves
I love those moony curves!

never mind
where’s my mind?
where’s my manners?

where’s my girl?
I’m a little
concerned
that
we’ll have to never mind
the whole show
which is a shame
and a disappointment
but the Fates
hold all the cards
all the earth cards

the God holds the heaven card
but life is held here on earth
it’s like a jamboree they hold it every second here on earth I don’t know why

am I a mist
rising off the waters?
is this a mistake
tumbling out the the interface?
are we a soul line
turned inside out?

There comes a time
When we heed a certain call
when the world must come together as one
there are people dying
oh and it’s time to lend a hand
to life
the greatest gift of all
we can’t go on
pretending day by day
that some one somewhere will soon make a change
we’re all a part of
God’s great big family
And the truth, you know love’s all we need
we are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
there’s a choice we’re making
we’re saving our own lives
it’s true we make a better day
just you and me
well send em your heart
so they know that someone cares
and they’re lives will be stronger and free
as God has shown us, by turning stone to bread
and so we all must lend a helping
we are the world, we are the children
we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
oh there’s a choice we’re making, we’re saving our own lives
it’s true we make a better day, just you and me
when you’re down and out and there seems no hope at all
but if you just believe, there’s nowhere we can fall
oh woah woah just realize that a change can only come
when we stand together as one
we are the world
we are the children
we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
there’s a choice we’re making
we’re saving our own lives
it’s true we make a better day, just you and me
we are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
we are the children, we are the ones who make a better day, so let’s start giving, just you and me
we are the ones, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day

harmonica solo
for sure
and I
never thought I’d feel this way
and as far as I’m concerned
I’m glad I got the chance to say
that I do believe I love
and if I should ever go away
well then close your eyes and try
to feel the way we do today
and then if you can remember
keep smiling
keeping shining
knowing you can always count on me
for sure
that’s what friends are for
for good times
and bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
that’s what friends are for

well you came and opened me
and now there’s so much more I see
and so by the way I thank you
and then for the times when we’re apart
well then close your eyes and know
these words are coming from my heart
and then if you can remember

keep smiling
keep shining
knowing you can always count on me
for sure
that’s what friends are for
in good times
in bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
oh whoa that’s what friends are for
keep smiling
keep shining
knowing you can always count on me
that’s what friends are for
in good times
in bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
that’s what friends are for
keep smiling

I remember rocks shaped like fingers
I remember a curving dam sparkling in the summer sun
I remember flimsy rubber rafts and knowing we were friends always
Where did you get to?
How much evil did you accumulate with all that certainty?
And now the pistons are churning makes one thump one’s fingers against the cool stones with little caves and other great mysteries salamanders in the water wiggling against the long water boas that get caught on cheap plastic paddles
Did you sell us out?
For some more certainty?
For a little more certainty?
Why would you do that?
When faith is all about uncertainty
when God is made entirely of what we can’t figure
?

There will be
no certainty
in this life
in these forms
with these eyes
against these library cards
with yes a parking lot in the basement
yes I was there too
still am
always there with you
all things hang forever
in what has been
all things hang forever
in the giggle exploding in every direction
infinite no-need to exist meets infinite no-need to not-exist
a giggle bursts forth
humans have notions
only the God is certainty
humans have opinions
only the God knows
humans have one another
and they should be careful with one another
humans have each other
and they should cherish each other
like God does

God is enough for everyone
with infinite Love left over
that’s all one can say of God
God soaks through
God overtakes
God overflows
God overwhelms and salvationates
everything everyone always
the rest is theology
is conjecture
is paintings more or less worth viewing
is human work
is okay
is fine
is not Truth

Christianity is not better than Judaism
Christianity is not better than Islam
Christianity is not better than Buddhism
Christianity is not better than Hinduism
Christianity is not better than Jainism
Christianity is not better than Something Deeperism

Actually, everything reduces to Something Deeperism
Because everyone knows that
we need Godlight to light our way
but that Godlight cannot be caught
in human ideas and feelings

nations
rise and fall

evil finds
nooks and crannies to crawl inside
and therein expands like so much pimple pus

but so does the Good
so it does
so we will
so we may
so we might
flourish
with a type of love
that remembers Love
with a sort of song
that moves with What Is
in the turmoil
lapping against the edges
where the tadpoles wiggled
where the ladybugs crawled
so many on that little tree so high
atop the thumb of granite
with your dad scolding
with the sunlight streaming
with time running forward forever
sustaining all our forevers
certainly we’d run forever
through the dry air
through burritos on the porch
across horned toads in jars so many that year and the next like none what was that?

you know what?
never mind
let it ride
I don’t even care
no I don’t
whatever dudes
whatever babes
whatever dreams
let’s hand this whole operation over to violent certainty and the noble lie
let’s do it!
that’s cool
I was wrong to
believe
in people
that they were
adequate vessels
for Godlight
that they could
tell the truth
to themselves and each other
Let’s drown them in your certainties
that’ll go much better
like freeze dried walnuts
atop an ingenious mix of corn syrup and hydrogenated palm and coconut oils
with some dyes perfumes flavors the barf of tortured cats and the spleens of frightened and misused frogs
it’s all so perfect
it’s all so romantic
it’s all so eternal
it’s all so clearly
evil