Remember the Alamo!
“I'd like to take a walk
But not around the block
I really got some news
I met a man from Mars.
He picked up all my guitars
And played me traveling songs.
And when we got on ship
He brought out
something for the trip
And said, It's old but it's good
Like any other primitive would.”
Neil Young; Ride My Llama
I was listening to this song, and it got me thinking. Neil Young's music does that, I suppose. I was thinking about the issues that political – social activists are confronted with today, compared to back when I was young.
Keeping in mind that John Lennon's favorite Harry Nilsson quote is, “Everything is the exact opposite of what it really is,” it seems like things are almost the same, and way different, at the same time. And that's because human beings, as part of the natural world, experience cycles and stages. Understanding those cycles and stages, as did Kennedy family historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. did, can provide advantages when considering today's challenges.
Living in the northeast, an obvious example of a cycle is the four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. It's been a fairly consistent cycle for the past 1200 years or more. That doesn't imply those seasons are always the same; some summers are warmer, some winters bring much more snow. Yet, we recognize the cycle as it progresses.
Within the cycles, there are stages. Some are distinct to one part of the cycle, while others overlap. An example that fits our current example of “spring” would be the tiny frogs, known as “peepers,” singing their song when the sun goes down. Despite what the calander says, every farmer knows that the true warm season does not begin until there have been three “freezes” (frost, ice, and/or snow) after the first peepers do their duty.
Only then will the next stages take place: the wood frogs, then the toads, then the pickerel and leopard frogs, then the cricket frogs, followed by the green frogs, and finally the bullfrogs will sing their songs. And when those bullfrogs are doing their duties, you are enjoying the summer weather. It's the same sequence every year, although the frogs do not follow our calanders.
Every person who has an intimate relationship with the natural world here knows that, as a direct result of climate change, some plants and animals are behaving in manners we interpret as “confused.” Farmers, gardeners, hunters, and those who go fishing – and pay attention – notice the differences. This is a reality that we can ignore, but not avoid. The Supreme Court cannot overturn Natural Law. Even a president cannot claim executive privilege.
However, those who hold the real power – people – can address the environmental realities we face. And while this includes things like individuals re-cycling, composting, etc, it requires that people have an understanding of the social-political cycles of our society, including the options for doing our duties in stages within each cycle. For while we inhabit the eternal “now,” an understanding of the past allows us to prepare for a better tomorrow.
We are, for example, witnessing a large segment of “the system” attempting to expel a president, not unlike when a previous phase of that system spit Richard Nixon out. Nixon and Trump are both the same and different simultaneously. Older forum members may feel like they are watching a re-make of a classic film.
Nixon's “plumbers” broke into Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office, looking for “dirt” to make public, before eventually breaking into the Democratic Party's headquarters in the Watergate. Trump's mob associates broke into Democratic Party computers, and then his thugs raided his personal physician's office for files on Trump, to hide dirt.
Both Nixon and Trump can correctly be identified as having paranoid personalities. This includes a marked demand for loyalty from others, equal in measure to their willingness to sacrifice those same people for personal benefit. Nixon feared his brother's financial misdeeds would be tied to him; Trump worries about his children and son-in-law's criminal deeds. Both presidents fired at least one person investigating the series of crimes associated with their campaigns and administrations. Both considered the options of presidential pardons to protect themselves from legal consequences.
Trump, like Nixon, is attempting to use”executive privilege” to avoid their criminal nature from being exposed to investigators, a grand jury, and prosecutors. Nixon's attempts led to a US Supreme Court ruling that determined a grand jury's rights are more important that executive privilege. Trump will be exposed to a similar ruling, rooted in the Nixon case. There is something almost humorous about Trump's legal team preparing to oppose the Trump Department of Justice and FBI in the Supreme Court.
After allowing ourselves a brief giggle over Trump's fate, we still must consider the environment in Washington, DC, as well as in our state houses, and county, city, and town governments. For these are as connected just as are small streams, rivers, and oceans. Indeed, toxic politicians dumped into the local environment often flow downstream to Washington, polluting everything along the way.
We can change things. We have to, because the alternative is unthinkable. So let's consider some important cycles, including the 2018 and 2020 elections. Let's consider using stages to begin turning Washington from a swamp to a garden. There are, of course, valuable plants in a swamp, and we want to not only keep those, but encourage and nurture their growth. There are also some toxic weeds, collectively known as republicans, that we need to weed out, and toss upon the compost pile. Now, that's not something that can possibly happen quickly, or all at once. It takes place in stages, and each of those stages, within each cycle and overlapping two cycles, takes a lot of hard work.
We need gardeners across the country, willing to turn the soil, and plant the seeds of change. Perhaps we should form a DU Garden Club?
Peace,
H2O Man
= new reply since forum marked as read
...would this do? 
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1159
Merely removing the goons will not be enough this time around.
This time those toxic weeds must be sent to prison.
And yes it's Spring so gardeners are needed. 
