Seven Poets Who Have Shaped Me

 

A Tale of Two Books

 

As Regime Change (which could have been entitled Smoke and Mirrors) makes clear, Trump and his cronies are really just the latest iteration of what we’ve been dealing with since at least the Clinton years. 

If there are any lingering doubts about that, Gore Vidal’s book, Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace (2002) should put those doubts to rest. 

 

Vidal reminds us of some pertinent history: Bill Clinton signed into law the “anti-terrorism” bill (1996) that set things up for Bush Jr.’s post-9/11 “security state”—that Obama and Biden only continued and strengthened—and now we have the likes of Stephen Miller (perhaps the only true ideologue in that den of thieves) whispering in Trump’s ear. 

Vidal also hints at the possibility that the OKC bombing was a dry-run for 9/11 (but I digress). 

It is crucial to recognize the ways in which the Trump Administration is not a deviation but a continuation of decades of white Christian supremacist policy. Trump himself is a clueless buffoon and easily manipulated; Netanyahu sees that clearly. 

But all of this is backdrop. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Zohran Mamdani, and now Dr. Abdulrahman El-Sayed, represent a rising generation of Americans with an Islamic sense of justice—at the 11th hour. 

This country is getting an education it didn’t bargain for. Will the lessons be learned? I’m not particularly optimistic, but what is important to remember is that there is nothing new under the sun.

Clintonian Democrats Need Not Apply

 

Regrettably, I decided to take a chance on Bill Clinton in the 1992 Presidential election—although I didn't make up my mind to vote for him until two weeks before Election Day. What really decided my vote was asking myself this question: Can you stand extending the Reagan-Bush era to 16 years of your life? 

After watching Bill Clinton's first State of the Union address in January 1994, I knew we'd been had: I realized then that, by voting for Clinton, I had in fact voted to extend the Reagan-Bush era—in sheep's clothing.

For three decades I have been calling for the end of the Clintonian Democratic Party. With Dr. El-Sayed's victory this morning, I feel that we have finally made progress on this long, hard, slog for an end to corporate Democrats and a beginning of a party of, by, and for the people.

But I won't be re-registering as a Democrat any time soon. I need to see results. Nevertheless, alf mabrouk to Dr. El-Sayed on defeating AIPAC in this round. And thank you to the great state of Michigan for giving me this moment of joy. 

Part Irish, part Dervish...

 

Rachel Zegler and Glen Hansard

 

A Failed Species

 

Pro-Semite, Anti-Israel

 

Harvest Moon

 

The Gulf Stream by Winslow Homer

                                                     And here we are...

Wisdom from E. B. White

 

Heart of the Country

 

Why We Continue

This photo is from an event that took place recently at the Fine Arts Center of Colorado College. Just look at the expression on that child's face. The adults allegedly in charge of this country, and many others, have made daily life into a surreal circus. They lie, they cheat, they steal, they kill. But every day some new innocent enters this vale of tears in laughter and wonder. And that, in my eyes, makes the rest bearable.

Baraka Blue

 

American Virtues

 

Eternity

On the one hand, there are the reptiles running our governments, corporations, hospitals, colleges and universities. On the other, an old man in a garden chanting Blake. I'm with that guy.

A Day In The Life

 

Mevlevihane Galata

 

Celebrate Juneteenth with Richard Wright

 

Everything

 

Turkiye

 

Dear Congress

          For Chrissakes, end this clown show!

Questions

 

Remembering Camus

 

Remembering Spinoza

 

Remembering Cairo, Remembering Husayn

 

A. R. Ammons on "Easter Morning"

 

The Prophetic Tradition

 

I estimate that I spend at least 2 hours each day scouring the internet looking at a variety of news sources trying to figure out what is actually happening in the world. I see many claims made, often unsubstantiated or only thinly so. I see a great deal of speculation passed off as reporting. Journalism is all but dead. I am reducing my "news" consumption to 15 minutes and dedicating the remaining 105 minutes to reading Blake.

The Secret of China's Success

 

Nils

 

Elvis P.

 

Seen In Pittsburgh

 

How White People Learn About Muslims

 

As Robert Burns wrote:

 

O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!

 

 

 

William Blake's Radicalism

 

Northrop Frye on War

 

Sounds Like Art

 

The Coming Home Holler

 

On this Day in 1930

 Mahatma Gandhi began his Salt March on his way to driving the British from India.

The Soft Parade

 

We Interrupt This Program To Recall Our Shared Humanity

 

Mahfouz

 

How Many More Times?

 

                                                The first album.

ganavya - Nine Jeweled Prayer (Official Audio)

No Country for Old Men - You Don't Have to Do This

Wild Gods

See No Good...

 

Robbie Robertson Talks About Bob Dylan and the Basement Tapes

Itlay: 1972

 

The Common Denominators

 

Nur al-Khizer