Are Airport Demonstrations Useful?

Some I know have given up on political demonstrations, which is their right. 

When our politics change, it’s hard to assign credit. Did the massive demonstrations in Washington City gradually turn the American voters against the Vietnam War? Maybe. I was there, but I can’t prove anything. Did massive demonstrations against the second war against Iraq prevent the war? No. But they did help gradually turn public opinion around, which contributed to Obama’s primary defeat of Clinton. (Back then we prudently  nominated candidates the voters liked.)

At this moment there are huge crowds at airports protesting Minority President Trump's executive order banning entry to people from seven largely Moslem nations. Trump, a malignant narcissist, is trying to keep his loony pledge to ban Moslems in general.  So far the narcissist has quickly released everyone in our airports that his stooges have detained. I’d say that that has happened in part because of the airport protests around the country—and also because even spineless politicians like Sen. Schumer have denounced the bans and because  lawsuits have been filed and because a few Republicans, braver than the gutless Schumer,  have spoken up and so on. Many things contribute, and protests do matter at times, apparently. 

Willie Nelson

One of the following guitar players was the biggest influence on the playing of Willie Nelson, Highwayman. 

!. Jimi Hendrix, rock legend
2. Sharon Isben, classical guitar legend
3. Chet Atkins, country music legend
4. Django Reinhardt, French-Gypsy jazz legend


Yeah, it was the French Gypsy, according to Nelson. Reinhardt famously played at the Hot Club of France about 75 years ago. 

How To Win

The first chance progressives have to block Trump will be to win the House in 2018. The Senate may be out of reach. Also many Democratic senators lack spines and rely on propping up by Wall Street.

If you live in a congressional district that is safely Democratic, as I do, you should focus on the nearest swing district. To find out where that is, google "swing left." 

Debating Slavery

My granddaughter is ten. In her classroom, the teacher, well intended, divided the children into two groups to debate the pros and cons of slavery. This was apparently an attempt to bring history to life and to teach children how to structure an argument. My granddaughter, however, objected that there was no pro side to argue in favor of slavery. She had a point. Arguing the pros and cons of slavery or of the Holocaust is not for ten-year-olds. 

These might be topics for adults interested in mental pathologies. The strange ability of some people in the American South to defend slavery and later to defend Jim Crow and the New Jim Crow and today to defend the disenfranchisement of people of color is interesting. The warping of brains needed to defend bigotry probably carries over into other areas. That's why the South can accept a man who assaults women as President and reject global warming no matter what science tells them. The paths of electricity in their brains keep doubling back and flipping around in their heads like stranded fish. 

Replacing Opioids

Our county’s Committee for Healthcare Improvement has issued a set of guidelines for doctors to use in prescribing opioids. Some of the guidelines encourage shifting pain patients off of opioids and onto non-drug approaches. Instead of prescribing pain killing drugs:

1. Doctors can teach their patients “to think of something else, maybe a new sailboat.”
2. If that doesn’t work, doctors might slap the patient in the face 12 times while reciting, “I’ll show you what pain is.”
3. If that doesn’t work, a nearly certain non-drug cure for pain is death.  

The Return of Torture?

Trump's pick to head the CIA is Mike Pompeo, a troll who is open to bringing back legal torture. Rand Paul is the only Republican to vote against him. Thank you, Rand Paul. Below is a list of Democrats who voted to confirm Pompeo.

Joe Donnelly of Indiana

Dianne Feinstein of California

Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire

Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota

Tim Kaine of Virginia

Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

Joe Manchin of West Virginia

Claire McCaskill of Missouri

Jack Reed of Rhode Island

Brian Schatz of Hawaii

Chuck Schumer of New York

Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire

Mark Warner of Virginia

Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island

This was a test of whether the Senate Democrats led by Schumer will function as a united opposition to the barbarism of Trump. The answer is that the Senate Democrats are not united and will do little. If you oppose torture, you have no major party in the Senate to support you.

We Protest Minority-President Creamsicle

I got in my van in the rain and set out from near Montgomery Village. I immediately saw a group of  women, men, children and dogs walking toward city hall, three miles away. People were streaming toward the center of town wearing pink hats, heading toward a march for women's rights.

Meanwhile American border guards refused entry to the United States to some Canadians who admitted they didn't care for Minority-President Creamsicle and wanted to join a protest. 

My brother and his wife, our cousin and his wife and I reached the city hall area and found a crowd about four times the size of the largest protest march I'd ever seen in Santa Rosa. I looked for the Healdsburg Peace Project, but finding someone was hopeless. We couldn't get close enough to see the speakers. We heard a little girl sing a protest song into a microphone, and we joined in. We ended up having lunch at Mary's Pizza Shack. 

(Note: Never tell a border guard in any nation anything useful. Be totally colorless.)

I have no idea why I cannot change the size of the type above.

Devolution

Henry Adams, the son of a speaker of the house, grandson of a President and great grandson of a President, knew some things about politics. In his autobiography, one of the best American autobiographies, Adams wrote that a friend in power was a friend lost. Harry Truman said that if you wanted a friend in Washington, get a dog.

Another great autobiography was written by Ulysses S. Grant. I don’t really remember what Adams thought of Grant, but I believe  Adams held President Grant in low regard. Grant had not been to Harvard. It was from Adams that I learned the term “devolution,” as in the devolution of the Presidency from Washington, trending downward, to Nixon, Bush and now Minority-President Golden Shower.

Anyway, I’ve had a number of friends who went on to do good things in politics and who were lost as friends, not for a bad reason but because political life becomes all consuming. Either you are working with them daily, a productive member of the political team, or you fall away and live your own life, which can be sweet.

(also on Facebook) 

THE TWO MARCHES

Not My President: Sonoma County Inauguration Day Protest
Friday, January 20, marching at 5:00 PM (see details)
This event is being planned by the Community Action Coalition of Sonoma County. The Protest will take place on Inauguration Day. 3-5PM- Assemble, build community, make art. Meet in the SRJC quad for a time to: make connections with local political, social, and environmental justice organizations, make a sign or other art to carry in the march, and gather together as we prepare to step off together in resistance of Donald Trump, his cabinet and the whole damn system. 
5PM- MARCH ON DOWNTOWN
Departing as one from the SRJC front lawn we will make our way downtown and make our voices heard! Please check back for more details or visit the Community Action Coalition FB page to ask questions or to find out how to get involved. https://www.facebook.com/events/677892999044299/
Santa Rosa Junior College - 1501 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa


Sonoma County Stands Together for Women
Saturday, January 21, Noon
We will unite in front of City Hall for a non-violent rally in support of the Women’s March on Washington. We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families -- recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country. All are welcome and wanted: women, men, girls and boys.
For those unable to attend in the march in DC, please join us to stand in unity. This is an INCLUSIVE rally giving us the opportunity to stand peacefully together for love, respect, and inclusion. HEAR OUR VOICES! For more info: www.facebook.com/events/1749972928661468/
Santa Rosa City Hall, 100 Santa Rosa Ave, Santa RosaThke Two Marches