White Culture

American Presidents have to explain why Black people haven't prospered. Their first theory was that Black people haven't done better because they are biologically inferior.  When that theory eventually faded, because it was stupid,  a second theory was developed: Black people are biological equals, but they have an inferior culture. According got this theory, the legacy of slavery is that Black people have dysfunctional families, lazy workers, a lack of interest in education, etc. 

Also the Sioux had an inferior culture, and their children needed to be made White and so on. That once seemed self-evident.

Brown vs. the  Board of Education took the cultural supremacy  theory seriously. The goal of public education--as the Warren court saw it--was to move Black children out of Black culture and into White culture. And the way to do that was desegregation, seating Black kids next to White kids in classrooms. Juxtaposition would do the trick.

The court meant well. Many people of color agreed with its approach at the time. Today the assumption that White culture is the best culture of all strikes some scholars as an overreach. What we call "White culture" draws on the achievements of Mesopotamia, Peru, Rome, China, Egypt, Mexico, Greece, Austria, India and so on. White people in different places have different cultures, and the same is true for Black people, the Chinese, the Arabs, etc. The explicit claim by Warren that an all-Black school must necessarily be inferior to an integrated school is founded on racism (and underfunding Black schools). 

I'm committed to integration and intermarriage. I was delighted last week to learn that my granddaughter is 1% Nigerian. But I learned from reading Ibram X. Kendi that the Warren court conclusion that separate cannot be equal was based on unwarranted assumptions about the superiority of the so-called White culture. Think again.

Raising a Child

Racism and sexism are hard to talk about, but if you want to end a friendship, your best chance is to differ on child-rearing principles. 

The most truthful comment I can make is that no matter which system you follow, there will be bad consequences. 

In a recent article (THE NEW YORKER, Jan 29, 2018) Adam Gopnik quoted Alexander Herzen: “Because children grow up, we think a child’s purpose is to grow up. But a child’s purpose is to be a child.“  One part of life (the early years ) is not inferior to other parts or preparation for other parts. It’s there to be lived a day at a time. Make them good years, a day at a time. Also do a little preparation. 

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Oakbutt

The problem is that many people these days confuse our local old folks hamlet of Oakmont with a somewhat related business called Oakmont Senior Living. (I'm not sure where either gets the "mont." It's flat-land out there.) 

"Oakmont" is not a good name, people. It's bland and not distinctive--Oakmonts exist in great numbers. The name is not worth a squabble  In fact, in Sonoma County the name conjures up a well-known history of crabby old farts trying to ban bicycles and all sports that include moving balls. That's why I suggest that the hamlet members call a meeting and change the name to Oakbutt. Oakbutt is memorable and reminiscent of constipation, the area's most common health problem other than death.

Counterpart

The Trump White House seems confused. The right hand doesn’t know what the far right hand is doing. They're getting paranoid. Meanwhile on television there are many series that are based on one paranoid theory or another.  I don’t want to watch them, but I sometimes allow myself to choose one (and one only) to try out. I am currently following COUNTERPART on STARZ, and I find it fascinating. It's a doppelgänger plot. 

Something for Nothing

Politics runs on emotion rather than reason, which is, I suppose, common knowledge. Everything we do runs on emotion. We make our choices.

CHIP funding had run out last week. Children were beginning to die.

Over the weekend the Republicans and Democrats in the senate struck a deal. The Democrats got medical funding for 8 million poor kids (of all races), a billion medical dollars for Puerto Rico and more. The Republicans got three extra weeks to come up with a budget. Not settled in this deal was DACA . (No one brought up the fate of the other 90% of Latinos without papers, older people—they can expect merciless persecution.) The Republicans, President Chaos and my favorite politicians of the left have called this deal a GOP triumph.

I’m no longer a Democrat, but I have a major emotional commitment to funding medical care for 8 million poor kids, so the Democrats made headway with me. They got something important (CHIP) in exchange for a patch of time. But getting something for nothing wasn’t satisfying. No heads rolled. A one-sided deal does not satisfy the need to fight symbolically to the end. (?)

The Bones of Our System

Last week my granddaughter asked why we didn’t like Donald Trump. We didn’t really answer her. I suppose no one wanted to upset someone that young.  

American history is packed with bad Presidents, most of them chosen to provide quicker service for the 1%. Many Presidents have had sex with hookers, held down people of color, fought stupid wars, denied children needed medicine and misled voters. Trump is different. He’s added a new element.

Trump isn’t taking us back to the eras of Nixon or Hoover or Andrew Jackson. He resembles more ancient, weirder characters we’ve read about (and forgotten) from deeper in our sordid human history, nutty rulers-in-chaos like the Roman Emperor Nero, who murdered his mother, executed his first wife, etc. Like Trump, Nero loved real estate and burned Rome (most but not all historians say) to make room for a golden mansion and 300 acres of garden. Like Trump, Nero bought golden replicas of himself. Nero coped with the outcry by blaming Christians and burning them. He kicked another pregnant wife to death. The Roman Senate eventually revolted, and Nero ran until cornered and then had his secretary kill him, lacking even the courage of a Hitler. 

Trump lacks courage and lacks much of what makes us human. He’s leaked his own wild chaos into our system. We have no way to predict what this looney will do next, nor does he. But his thrashing about has made the brittle bones of the American system more visible. 

Stormy Daniels

I have no idea which sexual positions President George Washington favored, and let’s keep it that way. Besides, Washington, supposedly the man who could not tell a lie, would seem unrelated to a subhuman Donald Trump. It's bad luck to mention them in the same paragraph.   

It’s my misfortune that Stormy Daniels, porn star, once said that Trump in bed was “textbook generic.” Apparently Trump told her that she closely resembled one of his daughters, the one he later claimed he’d like to date, the daughter Steve Bannon claimed was as “dumb as a brick.” So I credit the President with a little imagination.

The Size of President Lardbottom

Trump's constant lying seems to be contagious. Yesterday two senators went on TV and obviously lied about the shithole incident, a department head with a Scandinavian name pretended not to know that Norwegians are White and a medical doctor’s report on Trump’s health smelled like a man-sized pile of cat poop.

First, the doctor told us that Trump is 75 inches tall, but when Trump stands next to someone 75 inches tall on television, Trump is several inches shorter. I figure he was 74 inches tall in his youth, and then his enormous bum dragged him down an inch in old age. 

Second, and even more obvious, the doctor listed Trump’s weight as (I think) 238 pounds, just one pound short of the obese classification for someone two inches taller than Trump actually is. That means Trump and I weigh the same, give or take a pound or two. I am three inches shorter than Trump and half as wide. That blob must weigh 300 pounds with his high black socks on. Even Trump's government doctor—a naval officer, I think—is lying for the balmy creep, which is disgusting. 

Resistance Is Futile

There’s a debate going on between those who believe in assimilation (the melting pot) and those who believe in identity politics, except that nearly everyone is on the same side. The Right opposes assimilation for racist reasons. The Left opposes assimilation because why should everyone act like White people?

I agree with everyone else in defending identity politics. Meanwhile, when it’s time for lunch, I eat more salsa than ketchup. I’m not entirely loyal to my European identity. I love potatoes, corn, tomatoes, Lima beans, chocolate and vanilla, none of which were developed in Europe. I eat sushi, for God's sake. I admire Beyonce and the old Chuck Berry songs and the athletic women and men who represent America in the Summer Olympics. I can't stop watching Black comics and the Warriors. I voted for Obama in the primaries. I try to support my identity group, but it might be the case that resistance is futile.

Our Next President

A guy I know who sells bumper-stickers on the 'net has decided that it's time for forgive Al Franken and run him for President. Here's the problem. Franken was kicked to the side because he was in the habit of goosing women while they were on camera. (He badly needed to have his face slapped, on camera, but America's women have lost the reaction that would have humiliated Franken in public.)

So Franken lost his job, the wrong punishment (not sufficiently humiliating). He's available. It's now time to forgive the man, but he will need a running mate who can add to the Democratic vote and who has impeccable credentials when it comes to sexist behavior. This guy I know has suggested Jill Stein. He argues that  the Democrats can't lose with a Franken-Stein ticket. He may be right.

Chocolate Weed

Compared to the weed stores in Seattle, the stores in Sonoma County limp badly. I assume they will improve to a trot over time. 

In Seattle buying edible weed is like buying a bottle of wine. 

In Sonoma you go into a store and a clerk behind a window directs you to another clerk. The second clerk has you sign in and takes your driver’s license and runs tests on it for ten minutes. Then he returns the license and enters your name in a computer, you go back to the first clerk behind a window and he buzzes open the speakeasy door, so to speak. You enter. 

In Seattle you would find a great many edible products to choose from. In Sonoma you’ll see find a few things, but the store is out of edibles. You go home. Fortunately you still have what’s left of the chocolates you bought in another state. 

The Stable Genius

Trump has told us that he is a stable genius, but he's too modest to go into what that entails. Folks, a deep commitment to horse care is basic. You must be adept at cleaning stalls and paddocks.  Feeding and watering will test your ability to employ hay hooks and to turn on taps. You also need to be able to plan an individualized equine exercise schedule (and it won't hurt if you have a knack for grant writing), but what you need most of all is a lifelong familiarity with horse shit. 
    

Scoundrels

America’s struggle to deny entry and citizenship to people of color continued as usual yesterday when Agent Orange ended a humanitarian program that allowed 200,000 Salvadorans to stay in this country. Many have been here for 17 years. They have children born here, citizens. 

Make no mistake about what this is about. Central Americans are often not entirely of European descent. The same is true of Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese and the descendants of enslaved African-Americans. Our racists have been trying to whiten our nation since 1776, usually on the grounds that non-white-skins are naturally criminal, stupid and rapists. At the moment the racists’ leader is a wealthy, degenerate President, who attended “the finest college.” Makes you wonder what sort of scoundrel he paid to write his college essays. Probably someone like me. I worked cheap. 

Why Bannon Became a Rat

Michael Wolff, who wrote FIRE AND FURY, has explained why Steve Bannon turned on Trump and leaked negative inside information about the White Shack.

Wolff believes that Bannon planned to take over the Republican Party. Bannon figured that his senate candidate in Alabama, Roy Moore, would win, and this would put the fear of Bannon into Republican officials nationwide. While that victory was being absorbed, Wolff’s book would come out: Trump would be disgraced by the book; and Bannon, no longer a Trump dude, would look like the savior of his party. But Moore lost, of course, and the plan unraveled, leaving Bannon holding an empty paper bag. He's now trying to kiss Trump's ring again, but Agent Orange's tiny hand has been pulled back.

  

I doubt if the Bannon plan had a chance. Bannon is a puffed-up nobody without a following. He's the Lavar Ball of politics. Bannon overestimates himself—like Chris Christie, who announced yesterday that if Trump had not run, Christie would have been elected President. This from a nasty slob discredited in his own state. 

Old Vs. New History

About 65 years ago I read an essay on the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, who was portrayed as a wise  and gentle man intent on knitting the country back together after the Civil War. I’m now finally able to translate that. Johnson was a racist intent on making what became Jim Crow legal in the South. 

In the original essay, some lunatic radicals in the House of Representatives had impeached Johnson (for his efforts to deny black people civil rights). The anti-slavery Senate was about to remove Johnson from office, but they needed one more vote. That vote, if I recall correctly, belonged to a junior senator from Kansas. The senator voted in favor of keeping the racist President, which cost him his career, but to this day (which was 1950) we supposedly should be grateful for his integrity and courage. 

I was so impressed by this essay and its message of self-sacrifice and courage that I remember it today.

That should give you some idea of the sort of history Californians were taught in 1950. We were taught that anti-racists were mad radicals. We were taught that the South had been overrun with thieving  “carpetbaggers” (anti-racists), who had to be run out of the South, a land with impeccable White kindness and good will (where Black men were lynched at the rate of about two a week). Brutal Jim Crow, unchecked by the North, terrorized Black people into a condition very near slavery for about 70 years. But it took our high school history texts 100 years to catch on. 

The Existential Question

Do you and I have to die because Trump has a small penis? 

The answer might be yes. At this point nearly everyone in Washington understands that the man with the nuclear football is addled. He reads nothing, knows almost nothing and does not take advice.  On the outside he's a malignant narcissist, and on the inside he's a moron. He's out of control. But Republicans control the platform with the power to remove Agent Orange from office. Republicans in Congress are keeping Orange in charge of our and their fate, although nearly all of them understand that he is mentally and emotionally  defective.

I grant that all of us are delusional at times. That's one reason we can get along with each other. For example, you or I might think people like us when they do not. But Orange has an imaginary button to push that can kill us all.  He and his delusions should be escorted to the family attic where a padded room and locked door await. 

Stoner Alert for Healdsburg

When I retired I moved to world famous wine country (Healdsburg in Sonoma county), not because I focus on pinot gris but because wine country (high class tourist country) sells excellent food, the most liberal magazines and newspapers. You can enjoy free music and stores that sell garlands for your horse's mane. The climate is great, too, and the Pacific is an easy drive. 

Yesterday recreational weed became legal in California, and marijuana boutiques opened in Cotati and Sebastopol. Given the county's closeness to the emerald triangle, which produces most of the nation's finest weed, added to Sonoma county's nationally-best wines, l expect Cotati and Sebastopal to do well. Both have nifty areas where you can find, comfortably, the best America can offer. In the past these towns have had to take a backseat to the more glamorous Sonoma and Healdsburg. Fortunately Sonoma and Healdsburg have decided no weed will be sold inside their borders. Tourists will have to buy weed in the more smiling towns of Cotati and Sebastopal, where superb local restaurants will no doubt prosper. 

There may be less tourism in Healdsburg and Sonoma, of course, and tourism provides the main tax support, but, as the towns see it, 20th century standards must be maintained for the next few months.

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No Plan at All

Agent Orange has abandoned America’s leadership position in the world. He's stuffing his pockets to bursting with cash and letting the world blunder along willy-nilly. That seems odd. America is still the world's largest economy, supporting the world's largest military, yet Orange is ceding leadership to China and Europe. His team is incapable. We've had incapable Presidents before (Wilson, Reagan), but they had strong teams. What we have now--the strongest nation ceding power because of an inability to comprehend--is new in history.

Under some circumstances I'd think it might be good to shake ideas up a little. American leadership did some good things, like help rebuild Japan and Europe after World War Two; we kept a lid on a possible World War Three. We did bad things, like waging a pointless war in Vietnam and setting the Middle East on fire. And so on. You could make an argument that it's time for new ideas and leaders. But is there a choice? Trump is a moron. He can't lead a coalition of nations--how many foreign countries will follow an American moron? We have no plan; and we live in a chess game where a bad plan beats no plan. That's not going to lead to anyplace nice.