A Poem for Our Times

Pity The Nation
By Lawrence Ferlinghetti
2007 

Pity the nation whose people are sheep,
and whose shepherds mislead them.
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced
and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice,
except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero
and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.
Pity the nation what knows no other language but its own
and no other culture but its own.
Pity the nation whose breath is money
and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.
Pity the nation - or, pity the people who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away.
My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.

Caitlin: Athlete of the Year

Click here for the Time Magazine article on Caitlin Clark, named Time's Athlete of the Year.

Who is this Dave Portnoy guy?

Just kidding -- pretty well everyone who has anything to do with sports knows who Dave Portnoy is -- he's the founder and owner of Barstool Sports, and an outspoken sports fan. Thing is, I thought he was a MAGA guy. He came out for Donald Trump in 2015. Here's a quote from his Wikipedia page:

In a 2015 blog post, Portnoy said: "I am voting for Donald Trump. I don't care if he's a joke. I don't care if he's racist. I don't care if he's sexist. I don't care about any of it. I hope he stays in the race and I hope he wins. Why? Because I love the fact that he is making other politicians squirm. I love the fact he says shit nobody else will say, regardless of how ridiculous it is."

In addition, over the years he's been known to say some -- ahem -- "insensitive" things. But there's a lot more to the guy than just that, as I've learned since seeing this video. In it, he puts up the best defense of Caitlin Clark over the Time Magazine Athlete of the Year controversy that I've seen, or that I expect to see. It's brilliant. (It's the second clip, titled "Caitlin Clark Rant incoming."

https://t.co/Sl4eOGZWuT

— BobInPerson (@Bips_braves) December 14, 2024

Exactly how stupid and hypocritical is Sheila Johnson?

Sheila Johnson is co-owner of the Washington Mystics. I love the "Readers added context": 31% of the Mystics total home attendance for the entire 2024 season came from the two games versus Caitlin Clark and the Fever. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/10/09/caitlin-clark-wnba-impact/

Caitlin Clark really brings the stupid opinions out of everyone. We’ve seen transcendent athletes in every sport over the years. These athletes always get more attention than other great comparable athletes. That goes for Bron, Curry, Serena, Tiger etc. CC is one of those talents https://t.co/A1fskKRRn3

— JP 🏀🎤✊🏾🥊 (@Whogonstopme26) December 13, 2024

In her spare time ...

pic.twitter.com/cqSRRtz0Ur

— uh oh (@snoozingsnoopy) December 9, 2024

The end of The American Century?

Click here for a longish essay at Politico by Joshua Zeitz entitled "Donald Trump Ends Decades of American Political Dominance," subtitled "Donald Trump is the End of the Modern Era: The post-WWII world order of American dominance is over. Donald Trump proves it."

In February 1941, Henry Luce, the influential publisher of Time and Life magazines, penned an article heralding the “American Century,” a post-war era in which the United States would apply its newfound standing as the “dominant power in the world” to spread “free economic enterprise” and “the abundant life” around the globe. Luce envisioned the United States as “the principal guarantor of the freedom of the seas” and “the dynamic leader of world trade,” and saw in this future “possibilities of such enormous human progress as to stagger the imagination.”

The article goes on to say that what Luce said was true -- until now, when Trump seems likely to bring this era to a close. It says The American Century framework rested on four pillars:

A rules-based economic order that afforded the U.S. free access to vast international markets.

A guarantee of safety and security for its allies, backed up by American military might.

An increasingly liberal immigration system that strengthened America’s economy and complemented military and trade partnerships with the rest of the non-Communist world.

And finally, in Luce’s words, a “picture of an America” that valued — and exported to the rest of the world — “its technical and artistic skills. Engineers, scientists, doctors … developers of airlines, builders of roads, teachers, educators.”

It says:

Maybe the turn against the American Century framework is fair. At its worst, it imposed American priorities and interests on weaker countries, often at the barrel of a gun. Voters might very well want to make a reasoned break with the past.

But the American Century framework also underwrote the country’s economic might, political power and security for many decades. What happens if we dismantle it?

What follows is an interesting study of the growth of American political power in the world -- growth that may be nearing its end, at least in its present form.

Whether Trump can or will pursue his agenda remains to be seen. But it’s also beside the point. It’s what nearly 50 percent of voters just endorsed — steps that would both dismantle and repudiate the American Century framework.

But the American Century framework has defined the nation’s trajectory for well over 80 years. For good or bad, it undeniably made the United States a very prosperous and powerful country. It’s what bound allies into strategic, security and economic relationships with the U.S., ensured our continued access to trading partners and lent the country favored status across a broad spectrum of international organizations. We’ve become accustomed to the benefits it delivers, without understanding how quickly those benefits could disappear.

 

Trump loyalists? No -- subservient lackeys.

Click here for an article on Substack by Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's labor secretary, entitled "The difference between loyalty and subservience." 

Reich says:

All politicians want their underlings to be loyal, but Trump wants them to be more loyal to him than to the nation, and he demands total subservience without regard to right or wrong.

For the FBI, Trump has picked Kash Patel, who has pledged to prosecute Trump’s political opponents and “come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig the presidential election.”

Trump’s selection for attorney general, Pam Bondi, has said that when Trump returns to power, “the prosecutors will be prosecuted.”

Moreover, Trump didn’t recruit these people or anybody else. They recruited him.

Every one of his nominees campaigned for these jobs by engaging in conspicuous displays of submission and flattery directed toward Trump.

He singles out some of the flatterers: Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, Elise Stefanik,  Kristi Noem, Mike Waltz, Lee Zeldin, and Stephen Miller. 

Ten of Trump’s picks so far were Fox News hosts or contributors who repeatedly mouthed Trump’s lies about the 2020 election being stolen, about January 6 being a “peaceful protest,” and Biden being the force behind Trump’s prosecutions.

Some of Trump’s picks showed up at his criminal trial in Manhattan, where they verbally attacked members of the presiding judge’s family on behalf of Trump, who was under a rule of silence.

Some picks appeared at his campaign rallies, expanding on Trump’s lies and lavishing him with praise.

Many made large donations to Trump’s campaign. Five of his picks so far are billionaires.

Reich concludes:

People who work for a president are often reluctant to be bearers of bad news. Presidents are typically surrounded by “yes” men and women afraid to say anything that will ruffle powerful feathers.

As a result, presidents can make huge mistakes — invading Iraq and Afghanistan, deregulating Wall Street and then bailing it out when its gambling gets out of hand, pardoning Richard Nixon, waging war in Vietnam.

Trump’s toadies are even less likely to cross him. To the contrary, they’ll egg him on.

The years ahead would be dangerous enough if Trump sought out unprincipled enablers.

The coming years will be even more perilous because unprincipled enablers have sought out Trump.

 

 

Hams.

Picture time.. 😊
pic.twitter.com/jFhbDZbda0

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) December 2, 2024

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