The mind is a curious thing. Oddball recollections can bubble up at the weirdest times. A few minutes ago I heard a voice in my head from some forty years back. The voice was that of Reverand Ike. Reverand Ike was a Black minister in South Bay, an area of Los Angeles County before you get to Orange County. Maxine Waters’ territory, if that communicates an image. Ike was a no nonsense guy. He did not allow self pity. And he was comical.
I well remember the first time I heard him. “You have been oppressed. You have been repressed. And now you are depressed. And do you know what I’m going to say to you about that? Tell me, now, what am I going to say to you?” (And he would cup his hand to his ear.) And the congregation, having heard this so many times before, would dutifully chime in, “Get off your Black ass and DO SOMETHING!” And Ike would repeat it back to them. “That’s right. Your only hope, your only prayer, your only salvation is to get off your Black ass and DO something!” Action was Ike’s mantra. Being grounded in the reality of the moment was his creed. “Do not worry about the pie in the sky. Your concern is to put a pie on the table.”
I think of Ike now because we’re in crisis and a lot of his parish was. He preached principals for dealing with crisis. And his no nonsense mantra “Get off your ass and do something,” was a call against lethargy and despair.
The American electorate just did something that will stun historians for many decades to come. They elected a guy who preaches fear and anger. Forget about the better angels of our nature, the American electorate in 2024 is dancing to the tune of fear and anger.
History is a pendulum. Politics is absolutely a pendulum. This time the pendulum has swung out extremely far. It will swing back again. It’s difficult to see right now. But a swinging pendulum is the nature of things political.
In the next three months or so that Joe Biden has left, we need to shore up whatever foreign alliances that we can. We need to help Ukraine. I pray that we don’t withdraw from NATO in 2025.
Try to get a grip on your feelings. Because the only way we can hang on and prevail and not lose our minds is if we get off our asses and do something.
We need to stand strong for what is right and stand up to evil whenever we can.
God help us.
If there was a god, or at least a just one someone like Trump would never have gained power. No, it’s up to regular ole people the way it’s been since we evolved into homo sapiens. People can give blame or credit to whatever they believe is god but in the end it’s people, individually and collectively that do good or do ill.
Those with a reason why can endure almost any how. Dr. Frankel…who survived the nazi death camp as a child. The one thing we can never do is lose heart!
“GOYAADS”
Women: spread ’em and breed like the cattle you are going to be. I understand the ‘pubes/magats got the entire caboodle so all those abortion initiatives and amendments are going to amount to squat now. All you white women who thought that because these initiatives, etc. at the STATE level and the “promise” of a known LIAR, meant you could vote ‘pube because of the economy (wtf? you f*cking morons)-hope you are f*cking happy now.
Sheeeit. americans are stupid and white women are the MOST ignorant of the breed.
You people are f*cked and I have nothing but contempt, well-earned contempt, for you now. Good f*cking luck now because you have no one to blame but yourselves.
You talk like a liberal, but you sound like a right-wing misogynist pig. White women are the most ignorant of the breed? Wow. I’m a white female Harris-voting liberal who hates stereotypes. Not gonna lie, though, because I’ve got you stereotyped as a toxic male product of the patriarchy masquerading as a “reasonable” liberal voice. Go blame someone else for your problems. To me, YOU are the problem.
Amen, sister! Spike, you sound like a disgruntled MAGAt!
I’m just so effing depressed right now.
As long as we have the travesty that is the Electoral College, we will never have fair elections.
And as long as we have a craven power-hungry Republican party, we will have the EC
I don’t see either going away in my lifetime. No passivity or self-pity, there’s only just so many times you can get kicked in the nuts before you just walk away.
This is me walking away…
I don’t blame you. But if you walk away permanently, you let them win all the election cycles. Not just this one.
My motto is, We each have a vote, a voice, and a wallet. Our votes have been cast. Now it’s
time to use your voice, but wisely: don’t waste your time debating or persuading MAGA fools. And definitely spend and donate wisely. Florida and Nevada will sure miss our tourist dollars, won’t they?
I made a vow never to step foot in the US whilst he was “president”. and I didn’t then, and I’m not going to now, either. Bang goes any plans to come over there in the next 4 years. *Not going to happen* Which will disappoint my daughter as she may well end up living there one day. But as long as he and his like are in power, I am not spending my hard-earned cash to line their coffers. NOPE.
What country are you in, can I ask?
Hi Ursula
sorry, literally just seen this (Happy Christmas BTW!). I’m in the UK, just outside of London. I was born in London, but left when I had my 1st child about 30 years ago (husband in the Royal Navy). We’ve moved back as close as we can, but both of us (and our eldest daughter and only son) work in London.