Only We Can Save Us

While pessimism is a waste of time, optimism without some kind of plan is just a low-grade narcotic…certainly not long-lasting with long-lasting ill effects. If there was ever time for clear thinking, that time would be now.

By any indicia and from any perspective we are living in dangerous times. The catastrophic predictions of climate change are no longer predictions. We are living in a world of storms, floods, droughts, earthquakes and the planet heating wherever we may stand.

But, in a bizarre and unfortunate result of evolution, the creature that was able to rise on to two feet and develop a brain that could do more than provide for survival, this creature also developed a brain that could literally destroy the entire planet. Whether through nuclear destruction, environmental degradation or simply by turning forests into deserts and hundreds of species into extinct memories, this particular species has also found a way to literally self-destruct.

And at this point in the history of the planet, the United States of America is a classic illustration of how humans can come together and rather than find a way to progress, actually work diligently and assiduously to literally degrade a nation and to also find a way to make it virtually impossible for the national community to work together – where everything from the survival of the species to the progress towards a more humane and decent society become battlegrounds where there is no longer any common ground much less room for reasonable and rational dialogue and sense of community.

Obviously, the rise of Donald Trumpf is a classic example of how a frustrated minority can somehow turn its dissatisfaction with any segment of society making anything resembling progress into a cause of complaint and rebellion. And sadly, Trumpf’s ability to use his powers of ruse, prestidigitation and downright falsehood into a political power has taken too much of this country down a path that resembles something out of Animal Farm where bad is good.

It should be a cause for true alarm to realize that a total con artist like Trumpf who only believes in the brutality of his own enrichment could somehow become a major political force in this country and, in the process, become an existential danger to the entire planet. But as that alarm is sounded we should be clear that this next election is no longer about Joe Biden or any other candidate that might be running against Trumpf.

The critical existence of this flawed democratic experiment called the United States of America is dancing on the precipice of self-destruction in its embrace of Trumpf.

It is time that we all opened our eyes to this clear and present danger and focus on that peril for our own sake.

The Global Migration “Crisis” – A Case of Reaping What is Sown

The current global migration crisis has been the subject of much turmoil in the so-called Western countries. All throughout Europe and certainly here in the United States. And taking a step back one has difficulty understanding what is the source of shock and total alarm regarding the migrant “crisis”.

The next time you visit the magnificent cathedrals and palaces in Rome and Seville and Brussels and Paris and London and you need not wonder where all that gold and silver came from. You need not wonder where all the diamonds and rubies and rare jewels came from.

Consider the fact that the foundation of the entire wealth structure of Europe is based on the constant and focused exploitation of the people and resources of Africa and what is now called the “Americas” for over four hundred years.

Because you know that they did not come from Europe. And you do know that they came from Africa and the Americas not through some rational mercantile process but rather through systemic pillaging and theft.

The next time you take a flight anywhere in the United States and you will see the marvelous expanses of land and farms and factories and cities. And during that next time please remember that four hundred years ago tens of millions of indigenous people lived there. And please remember that tens of millions of indigenous people were exterminated in the name of white American progress.

And while you are at it, remember that much of the foundation of America’s great wealth was built on immigrant labor. First, the coerced slave labor of kidnapped Black Africans. Second the labor of subsistence wage immigrants also helped to create the wealth that became the basis for the American Behemoth.

It is also important to remember that, except for direct descendants of the indigenous people of the Americas, all Americans are the descendants of immigrants. And it is impossible to argue that the constant influx of immigrants over two centuries has kept the American population growing – unlike most of Europe and China – as well as fueling industrial and economic growth.

And now, when the carnage wreaked upon Africa and the constant exploitation of the people and resources of the Americas has reached a tipping point, when there are simply no viable economic strategies, and the people of these countries are now coming to America and Europe.

But consider a few examples and ask the people of Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti – countries that have been especially exploited and economically repressed by the United States – why they would take rubber boats and jungle journeys to come the America, they would tell you that there is simply no way for them to live – thanks to the very intentional policies of the United States beginning with the birth of the Haitian nation in 1804, the Cuban embargo in 1961 and the multiple trade embargoes imposed on Venezuela over the past 20 years.

European nations have presided over the dysfunctional governmental systems in Africa since the so-called Treaty of Berlin in 1885 which literally divided up European spheres of interest with no concern for existing national and tribal boundaries. This has resulted in dysfunction among countries that are the sole creation of European cartographers, much to the continued benefit of European economic interests – to this very day.

And now, when the people of Africa and the Americas and the Caribbean are speaking with their feet and saying “no more”, the Americans and Europeans, having literally feasted and the exploitation of these parts of the world, are saying “no more” and that there is a “crisis”.

The sad part is that while much of Africa and the Americas have lived in some kind of crisis mode for years, the United States and Europe are now reaping what has been sown.

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When People Tell You Who They Are – Believe Them

It has been noted on these pages that one can do well to remember the words of Maya Angelou – “…when people tell you who they are, believe them.” And during these trying times it is quite clear that Republicans and the Right Wing of the Right Wing are intent on letting us know exactly who they are.

Consider that very recently a federal appellate court ruled that the 48-year interpretation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which permitted private parties (like the NAACP, ACLU, etc.) to bring cases to prevent or overturn race-based government policies that restricted voting should no longer be permitted.

It is important to understand that over almost half a century there have been 182 successful actions by private entities as compared to 15 by the federal government and that this ruling, which if sustained by the Supreme Court (a very real possibility) will literally eliminate a critical weapon in the balance against racism.

It is also important to note that the federal appellate judge who wrote this opinion was one of the first appointees of one Donald J. Trump and a former clerk for one Clarence Thomas. Proving once more why it is important to pay attention to voting and for whom and for what. Something certainly to keep in mind as the 2024 are right over the time horizon.

Meanwhile, every single day Trump continues to work on his twisted (but not too inaccurate) imitation of the rhetoric employed by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in their rise to power. When we hear him refer to his political opponents as “vermin” and the “pollution of our blood”, he is parroting the language of demagogues who, once in power, engage in “ethnic cleansing”, “racial purification” and the extermination of “vermin” he is using the script employed by dictatorial fascists who have already come to power (to one extent or another) in Turkey, Hungary and several other nations.

The most troubling aspect of Trump’s rhetoric is that the criticism from the Republican Party is virtually nonexistent. And it is becoming increasingly clear that January 2025 will mark the beginning of the end of the United States as we know it.

It is beyond time to ring the alarm. Before it is too late.

Donald Trump has told us who he is.

We need to believe him.

Republicans in Congress – An Insult to Clowns Everywhere

As this is being written the Republicans in Congress have nominated someone from nowhere by the name of Tom Emmer to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

By the time you are reading this it is almost certain that the Man Named Tom What’s His Name will (a) been installed as Speaker accompanied by Gordian knots of concessions that will make him absolutely ineffective as the leader of the house or (2) his nomination will have been cratered by Matt (Go Get ‘Em Matt) Gaetz and his Gang of Eight who have somehow managed to tie up the entire workings of the entire United States Congress and by extension the government of the United States.

While no one has seriously expected this Clown Show Going Nowhere to conclude honorably or even rationally, the fact that this level of dysfunction within a major American political party can actually result in major immediate damage.  Consider the following:

1. The Ukrainians (remember them?) are up to their eyeballs try to resist Russian aggression and terrorism. Any significant diminution of American aid at this point could spell irreversible disaster – not only for Ukraine, but also NATO and by extension the United States.
2. The Middle East conflagration featuring Israel v. Hamas v. Palestinians v. Hezbollah v……you get the idea, can turn into a true firestorm that will consume that region. Certainly American military (and as importantly) humanitarian assistance is not an optional position for this country.
3.  Last but not least, the budget for the United States government will expire in less than three weeks. Assuming the G.O.P. Clown Show were to end today, it is not difficult to see that the next three weeks may turn out to be critical to the immediate future of the American economy.
4. And then….as this was being written there is this…

House Elects Mike Johnson as Speaker After Weeks of Chaos Worn down by infighting, mainstream and hard-right Republicans united to elect the deeply conservative lawmaker, who is a leading 2020 election denier.

Obviously, there is not enough confusion and conflict in Congress for Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt “Mad Dog” Gaetz and their cabal. By electing as Speaker of the House of Representatives a man who doubts the legitimacy of the election of the current president (Mike Johnson is a “leading 2020 election denier”), the new Speaker is poised to create Congressional Chaos at the drop of a MAGA hat.

And it is of critical importance to understand the satanic irony of the person who is second in line to be President of the United States believes that the President of the United States is not duly elected. This is beginning to sound like the beginning of some Shakespearean plot with Brutus and Cassius and Iago and Lady Macbeth lurking in the wings.

History tells us that the greatest danger to any democracy comes from within. When enough people (not the majority but a critical mass) seriously doubt the legitimacy of the government that is the time when some form of authoritarian neodemocratic structure gets put into place.

And right now the polls tell us that despite his multiple indictments and probable convictions, Donald Trump is a viable candidate who could very well be the next President of the United States. And there is no need to guess as to the authoritarian version of the American government will come to pass.

As Maya Angelou said…. “when somebody shows you who they are, believe them the first time”.

Trump has shown the world who and what he is. The fact that the Congressional leadership of the Republican Party and tens of millions of American citizens embrace who he is should be more than a cause for concern.

It is a cause for alarm.

Exactly Who Is an Immigrant Anyway?

If the polls are to be believed – admittedly a very big “if” – the so-called migrant crisis is at the top of mind for the majority of the American public. Which of course has made items like racial equity, climate change and the challenge of potential societal fracture somehow secondary concerns.

But, if the polls are to be believed, it would be useful for us to understand the thinking with respect to exactly who is an immigrant, exactly who are the “migrants” that represent a supposed existential threat to the United States of America  (the “huddled masses yearning to be free quote” at the foot of the Statue of Liberty is now clearly just a marketing slogan that has outlived its usefulness and was really a statement of aspiration at best).

But back to the migrant/immigrant issue, it would be helpful to come to an understanding as to who is a migrant/immigrant. After all there were millions of indigenous people living in wherever you are in the United States for thousands of years before anybody from Europe or Africa set foot anywhere on this North American continent.

The fact that the indigenous peoples were the victims of vicious and intentional systemic genocide does not magically establish the first immigrants and their descendants as “natives” of the North American continent (a continent named after a European who never saw it). And certainly, all the so-called Americans who now live in the United States cannot begin to call themselves native Americans with the specter of genocide and land theft shadowing ever aspect of these United States of America.

Yet through some sort of magical amnesia or intentional ignorance we have so-called native Americans hysterically brand the current wave of immigrants as some kind of epidemic that must be stopped at all costs.

And, if that wasn’t bad enough it appears that very few people choose to take the time to ask why hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are showing up at the borders of the United States. After all, while there have always been “migrants” from Central and South America and the Caribbean seeking entry to the United States – there is something different.

What is different is what Malcolm X referred to as “the chickens coming home to roost”. The United States has intentionally destabilized the economy of Venezuela for more than a decade, a legacy of the contrived fear Hugo Chavez. And Venezuelans are leaving the U.S.-inspired wreckage of their country in order to survive.

Also, the United States has mounted a campaign of destabilization and exploitation of Haiti ever since it became the first republic in the Western Hemisphere established by formerly enslaved men and women – an event that was an affront to every American concept of white universe. And, along with self-inflicted wounds, should there be any wonder that Haitians are fleeing for their lives from the cataclysm for which the United States must carry major blame.

And, of course, the American embargo of Cuba for over a half a century could only result in the dysfunction of that country.

While there are certainly some “migrants” who will not be good citizens, the overwhelming number of these men, women and children are seeking a way to stay alive. And maybe today’s descendants of refugees from the Potato Famine or the Holocaust or Communist in Europe or Asia might take a moment to reflect on the serendipity that allowed their ancestors to find a way to literally stay alive and then……perhaps take a few minutes to understand that the Cubans and Venezuelans and Haitians and Mexicans are literally no different than their ancestors and abandon the vitriol and hate that seems to attend this so-called existential crisis.

The only people who have cause to oppose immigration have largely been the victims of genocide. Hopefully a country founded on genocide and land theft can find a way to experience a charitable view of this matter and abandon the hateful vitriol that dishonors their own ancestors.

Not All Bad Guys Are Created Equal and Lying Dog Faced Pony Soldiers

Every week seems as if the improbable becomes reality and the impossible becomes just another gust of madness that sweeps across the mind. It would seem as if we are reaching a point where no sense actually makes sense and what happens next is literally anybody’s guess. Consider the following items of recent news:

1. Not All Bad Guys Are Created Equal
2. Danilo Cavalcante is a convicted killer, about to go on trial for a second killing. Cavalcante is also accused of murder in his native Brazil.
3. Cavalcante escaped from a maximum-security prison.
4. Cavalcante was able to avoid capture for almost two weeks despite hundreds of law enforcement personnel searching for him.
5. Cavalcante is known to have stolen a rifle with a gunsight on it
6. Cavalcante was captured earlier today in the woods west of Pennsylvania having been subdued by a police dog
7. Cavalcante is alive and relatively well after frightening hundreds of residents who lived within the radius of his efforts to escape justice.

But the question must be asked, if an armed convicted killer who has escaped from prison can be captured alive, why is it that so many Black men and women are killed or seriously injured by law enforcement for a missing tail flap on a truck, or shoplifting or a minor league traffic violation.

The answer to that question is as clear as Black and white.

Meanwhile….

• Lying Dog Faced, etc.

At the end of a grueling trip from Washington to New Delhi and several days of wrangling at a rather unique G20 Summit (which among other things called for the inclusion of the African Union in future summits – news bulletin, the G20 nations recognize the existence of Africa) any reasonable human would be jetlagged and in need of going into rest and recovery mode.

Instead, a well-paid set of genius advisers to President Biden thought that he should “drop by” Vietnam on his way back Washington and something resembling “rest and recovery” where Tommy Tuberville is working on gutting the U.S. military and the MAGA Republicans are threatening to collapse the entire national economy.

Of course, when you are President of the United States there is no such thing as “dropping by”. There are

ceremonial niceties and geopolitical formalities that are part of every waking moment for any president.

However, at what was supposed to be the end of President Biden’s “dropping by” Vietnam, another member of the Presidential Genius Team thought it would be a swell idea for him to do a live press conference at 9p.m. (time in Vietnam, 10 a.m. Sunday morning in Washington and Lord knows what time in Joe Biden’s jetlagged octogenarian body).

This high wire press conference was going alright, with just a few Bidenesque flubs until…. until the President of the United States went on an impromptu riff, referring to a John Wayne movie from over a half century ago where an indigenous warrior (Joe Biden called him an “Indian” …really) referred to Wayne as a “lying dog faced pony soldier”).

There was a certain beauty to the madness of this brief voyage into the twists and turns of the mind of a jetlagged and exhausted 80-year-old man. But in reality, it was hard to watch, because this 80-year-old man is the President of the United States who is the presumptive candidate for president in 2024 and who will be 85 at the end of his second term if he is reelected.

Very few people who are reading this will want to be very critical of Joe Biden’s battle with the undefeated Giant of Fatigue. But, of course, Republicans (and others) will not let The Legend of the Lying Dog Faced Pony Soldier simply ride off into the horizon of Old News.

The takeaway is that the President’s staff has to do a better job or this President will not be President too much longer.

Cornel West Could Actually Make Nightmares Come True

If he weren’t so dangerous, Cornel West would be a curiosity – yet another example of the dangers of an inflated ego with a very real capacity to gain attention – just because it seems to make him feel like he actually is somebody more than he actually is.

When he was doing bit parts in the “Matrix” movies or nipping at the heels of Barack Obama because he didn’t like his Inauguration Day or engaging in faux academic battles at Harvard and Princeton, he seemed like a harmless charlatan that warranted brief attention, if at all. The fact that he could charge – and receive – $30,000-$100,000 for each speech to share his not particularly useful vision of the world, the nation, whatever, could be written off as just more proof of truth of P.T. Barnum’s wise observation that “there is a sucker born every minute”.

But, as is the truth with all charlatans, when he started believing that he was possessed of some magical powers and the ability to see what only his presumed genius could perceive, that he has started to become truly a clear and present danger. The danger is not that he can become exceedingly wealthy sharing his limited perspective, the danger is that, as he has started to believe that he actually has some kind of magical or messianic powers, he has decided to run for President of the United States.

In a somewhat normal world Cornel West running for President would not even elicit a chuckle. But we do not live in a normal world. And competency challenged George W. Bush can become President, and a miserable excuse for a human being names Donald J. Trump can become President, it would be foolish to think that West’s campaign is simply a quixotic exercise in self-indulgence.

In this fractured, balkanized political environment Cornel West has decided that he is qualified to be President of the United States and given past history, Trump and George W. immediately come to mind, it is clear that competence, clarity of vision and some sense of what leadership means are not necessary qualities in order to become President.

West’s candidacy would just be a sad sign of the times except for the fact that he represents a clear and present danger to whatever is left of democracy in America. And if that reads like alarmist fantasy consider the following facts:

1. While losing the popular vote in 2000 George W. Bush became President due to the fact that in a few states, including Florida, the vote for Al Gore was less than expected. That was due to the fact that one Ralph Nader thought that the ego trip of a presidential campaign was worth the risk that Bush would win. Of course Bush did win, and this country ended up in “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq and Bush appointed John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court – building blocks for the conservative court with which we live to this very day.

• Hillary Clinton did not become President although she won the popular vote because just enough people voted for Donald Trump in five states. It is widely thought that her diminished popular vote was due to the fact that just enough disenchanted supporters of Bernie Sanders did not vote for the Democratic candidate even though the specter of a Trump presidency should have scared the wits out of the most dedicated opponents of Hillary Clinton.

• Now, in 2023, the latest polls show that even though he has been indicted four times and is clearly responsible for the January 6^th debacle and was arguably the worst President since Herbert Hoover, Donald Trump is positioned to beat Joe Biden in November of 2024.

One has to believe that Cornel West follows the news. One has to believe that his fake pseudo-intellectual celebrity status will draw some small number of voters. One has to also believe that every one of the votes for West would or could be a vote for Joe Biden (there is not a leaving breathing MAGA man or woman who would ever vote for Cornel West).

This bit of political reality seemingly has no effect of West. He continues to poll at somewhere between one and two percent and you can bet that by and large these would be potential votes for Biden.

And so, if Cornel West is responsible for the re-election for Donald Trump he will (1) deny any responsibility for the ensuing national/global debacle associated with Trump redux and (2) his speaking fees will increase exponentially.

It is amazing that one human being not names Trump could be so self-absorbed that he refuses to believe that clear and present danger that faces every American.

One can only hope that Cornel West will have a conversion like Saul on the road to Damascus – who became Paul.

We can only hope.

We better pray.

Vivek Ramaswamy – Remember That Name and Then Forget Him

It appears that the current political environment has emboldened creatures from some swamp filled with hate and stupidity in equal portions -and they spew a toxic brew that sadly, is being consumed by too many Americans who are getting just what they have wanted all along. The likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Michael DeSantis and Lauren Boebert and Josh Hawley and Matt Gaetz and Tommy Tuberville represent the underside of the right wing that has always been there.

But most studies of evolution will note that sometimes the most dangerous and toxic species show up over time and ultimately consume their predecessors. And such may be the case with one Vivek Ramaswamy. And we ignore him and his ilk at our own peril.

Ramaswamy has somehow determined that the path to success in the Republican Party is to plumb the depths of the racist swamp in which the GOP seems to thrive. Presumably he believes that because he is not blond and blue-eyed he will be immune from attacks that he is a racist who could very will be part of the next wave of the Hate Brigade which would be as good a description of too much of a so-called major political party.

Ramaswamy most recent deep dive into the filth of American racism was to refer to Ayanna Pressley, the first Black woman elected to Congress from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a “Grand Wizard of the modern KKK”. It is difficult to know where to begin in commenting on such an incredibly offensive, ignorant and racist narrative.

For an alleged graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, Ramaswamy is supremely ignorant of the Ku Klux Klan – its origins, its reign of unimaginable terror against Black people and its descendants that scuttle around the outskirts of too much political discussion like creatures that should be extinct.

To refer to any Black person and the KKK in the same sentence would be akin to referring to a Jewish person as an SS Storm Trooper in the service of the Nazis. It is so unspeakably horrific that whatever political point he was trying to make is submerged by the racist sewage that he continues to spew to this day.

In the meantime, it is time to flush Ramaswamy down into the sewer of history which is where outright racists and provocateurs of the unspeakable terror which is their hallmark belong.

I am not aware of what qualifies Ramaswamy to wade into a discussion regarding what rhetorical themes best might advance the historical needs and aspirations of Black people, but it is quite clear that with his KKK reference he is not even trying to speak to Black people. Instead he is engaging in dog whistle politics in the manner of Shoeless Joe Jackson and Huey Long to signal to the sons and daughters of the Klan that he is their man – Trump gets too busy taking mug shots.

Of course, in dancing with the devil of white American racism Ramaswamy thinks that he will get some kind of pass he is cordially invited to attend a Proud Boys private event – without his entourage and without introduction, just a skinny, dark skinned fool who stumbled into the Stairway to Race Hell. Of course, Vivek may be stupid, but he is not dumb – well, he isn’t both, he will never take up that invitation.

Sadly, we haven’t heard the last of Ramaswamy and there are more mimics in the wings – ask Josh Hawley.

And if Ramaswamy has never seen a white supremacist it means he has never looked in a mirror

Brother Can You Spare a Billion and the Myth of America’s Mayor

Part I.

As we are watching the utter devastation of one of the United States of America, we have to be struck by some very real diametrically opposed aspects of American policy. Consider that during the past eighteen months the United States has committed approximately $110 billion to support the Ukrainian government and its people against the aggression of Russia.

We can leave it to foreign policy discussions as to whether this country should engage in a proxy war with Russia. Indeed, we can leave it to another day to determine the extent to which the United States and its allies should support Ukraine and for how long.

But the reality is that $110 billion is a lot of money.

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the fires and storms that besieged the people of the Hawaiian island of Maui, the Federal Emergency Management Administration has brought some level of aid. And one has to be struck by what was meant to be a positive articulation of American compassion in the announcement that each of resident of Maui would receive $700 as a one-time allocation of assistance.

Keep in mind that huge parts of Maui are still smoldering as you are reading these words. Keep in mind that we may never know how many men, women and children have died in this disaster. And keep in mind that the most optimistic estimates predict many years of recovery and reclamation for the residents of Maui to be able the enjoy anything resembling their pre-disaster lives.

And then keep in mind that while the United States can allocate over $100 billion in support of yet another geopolitical venture that may last for decades (please remember Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq), this same federal government was not embarrassed to announce a one-time allocation of $700 to American citizens who are the survivors of an apocalyptic disaster.

Something is truly wrong with this picture.

Part II

One can keep hoping that Rudy Giuliani will scuttle back under the pile of rocks and offal which is clearly where he is most comfortable. Instead he finds himself embroiled in the criminal litigation stemming from his part in trying to overthrow the United States government, acting as Donald Trump’s sewer rat.

We can only hope that Giuliani will receive the justice that he denied to so many during his misadventures as Mayor of the City of New York. And hopefully, one day the term “America’s Mayor” will no longer be used when referencing this man.

It should be noted that “America’s Mayor” ran an overtly racist campaign against New York’s first Black mayor, David Dinkins. Even going so far as to be the lead speaker at a riot of white NYPD officers outside City Hall where Mayor Dinkins was hung in effigy. Instead of refusing to participate, Giuliani egged the crowd of thousands of rogue police officers who hurled racist epithets and attacked the unlucky nonwhite citizens who happened to be walking by.

America’s Mayor?

It should be noted that while in office “America’s Mayor” rarely, if ever, met with representatives (elected of otherwise) of New York’s Black community. And “America’s Mayor” had barely a handful of Black men and women who served in anything resembling responsible positions in his administration.

America’s Mayor?

And it should be noted that Giuliani is given far too much credit for the reduction of crime in New York. The reality is that crime rates were declining for more than a year prior to his inauguration. Indeed, Giuliani taking sole credit for the reduction of crime in New York brings to mind the rooster who takes credit for sunrise.

America’s Mayor?

It must also be noted that Giuliani through his over the top racist rhetoric empowered and enabled way too many members of the New York City Police Department to engage in unjustified acts of murder, violence, brutality purposeful degradation – behavior that Giuliani defended as he assumed the mantle of the New York City’s defender against the lawless hordes of Black and Latino criminals.

America’s Mayor?

And last but certainly not least, Giuliani assumed the mantle of “America’s Mayor” in the aftermath of the 9/11 catastrophe. It is certainly true that he was mayor during that time of death and horror and it is also true that:

1. The New York City Emergency Command Center was destroyed in the early moments of that day because Giuliani did not want the Center to be near the New York Police Department Headquarters even though the World Trade Center was the target of a terrorist attack only eight years earlier. And because of this incredible act of ego gratification, the city’s response to the destruction of the World Trade Center was compromised.
2. After running from the destruction like everyone else, Giuliani assumed the mantle of being in charge when it was the men and women of the NYPD and the NYFD and ordinary citizens of New York City.

America’s Mayor?

Not hardly.

Hopefully that myth will go up in smoke along with the shreds and tatters of what is left of a career built on lies, brutality and self-promotion.

What to Do as the Earth Burns and Melts…and What Happens When the Victim Strikes Back

Part I.

 “There are none so blind as those who will not see”. This phrase has a collective application to the human race as climate change is no longer a possibility it is a reality beyond denial. And yet we engage in collective denial. Consider some of the most recent climate catastrophes:

1. Part of the state of Hawaii is on fire. To be more precise, the island of Maui is literally on fire. Not due to volcanic eruptions but due to typhoons and storms of biblical proportions that threaten to burn everything on the island down to the ground.

• The cacti in the Arizona desert are dying from the excessive heat. Keep in mind that cacti evolved to live and thrive in the desert. And now it is too hot for cacti to live.

• Antarctica is not a land mass like other “continents”. It is actually a huge block of ice the size of a continent. And now it is melting. And while it is hard to fully comprehend the global implications of a diminished South Pole, try to imagine entire seaports and peninsulas disappearing under the waves of the ice melt and you will get a pretty good idea of the looming disaster.

• China is experiencing the worst typhoons and floods in over a century and most of Europe has been living with temperatures that have literally never been seen in that part of the world.

• And throughout all of this the opposition to using energy efficient and climate friendly energy sources has been facing an uphill fight as best and there is a very good chance that by the middle of this century this planet will be on the precipice of self-destruction after a mere 40,000 cameo appearance by humans on a planet that has been around for billions of years.

Part II

The history of Black men, women and children in America has been punctuated by unspeakable violence and abuse. During the era of enslavement and in the 163 years after the abolition of enslavement random, intentional, institutional and demonic cruelty has been the heritage of too many Black people. And, it should be noted, that resistance, where possible has been meant with even more unspeakable violence that is impossible to explain or understand.

Yet resistance has been a largely unwritten and ignored aspect of the Black American historical journal. But it has always existed and which is why the recent altercation between white terrorists attacking a single unarmed Black men doing his job by a gang of white men and women turned into a spontaneous reaction from the victim’s co-workers resulting in a major league beat down of the attackers.

To date the only arrests have been of three of the white attackers. But already that there are calls for the spontaneous Black Avengers to also be arrested and charged.

But when is self-defense or the defense of an overwhelmingly outnumbered colleague a crime?

The aftermath will be a commentary on what happens when white people are on the receiving end of what certainly seems to be justifiable defense of a victim.

We shall see.