Pass the Spraypaint

And Put On Your Pussyhat

We’re currently dog-sitting for two weeks on Cape Cod — two dreamy weeks — which feels awfully weird while the Constitution is being shredded. Then again, if were we home, what would I be doing that would be any more effective? Watching our democracy being bombarded from above and below is reminding me how fundamentally undemocratic our system truly is, how little power the average person has to DO anything once election season has passed. We can file suit, maybe; we can spraypaint a wall (or create an artwork about spraypainting a wall); we can march around and chant some tired old chants. We can kvetch, and we can hope for the best. Meanwhile, we have lives to lead. (Winter is very beautiful on Cape Cod.)

Nu: If you’re actually doing more than filing suit, spraypainting a wall, marching around, and kvetching, please let me know about it. Seriously. I have my pussyhat on and I’m awaiting orders.

Here’s an example: folks along Route 4 in Paramus, NJ —

Yes, I despise Donald Trump. Two weeks into his presidency, he stands nakedly revealed, once again, as a racist, a sexist, a narcissist, a fascist, and a cruel, ruthless prick.

On the other hand (yes, I have two hands, even when one of them is raised in a fist), some of the unconscionable things that Trump is doing reveal not only his inhumanity, and not only the many vulnerabilities of our system, but the fundamentally sickening realities of that system. As I watch Trump do his dirty deeds, I do feel a certain “pox-on-both-your-houses” feeling arising in my heart.

Fundamentally sickening realities like immigration policies that cultivate the presence of more than 11 million undocumented people (many of them from countries that our own nation has driven to ruin) — mostly poor, terrified people who are nevertheless indispensable to our exploitative economy.

LET THEM IN.

Or like a globalized economy that has produced vast wealth for corporations and McJobs for millions of people.

SHARE THE PIE. THERE’S PLENTY OF IT.

Or like a heritage of racism that cannot be mentioned without first passing out the smelling salts.

LEARNING HISTORY IS PATRIOTIC.

Or like a leftwing style of communication that is bossy, shaming, self-marginalizing, and heedless of traditional people’s anxieties.

SHOW ME THE LOVE, DON’T TELL ME TO SHUT UP.

While I’ve never been a fan of disaster scenarios — how, the human race unites when the aliens invade, how the worse it gets, the more chance there is of positive change — if there is any silver lining to Trump’s reelection, it will be precisely that. For decades I’ve been saying how tired I am of having my politics amount to “Vote for Democrats,” for fear of having the bogeyman coming to power. Well, now the bogeymen have taken over. We can all be visionary once again.

PASS THE SPRAYPAINT. THERE’S RUBBLE TO TAG.

Here’s my version of a Bob Marley song, “Guiltiness.” May it serve as a curse on Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and all of the other soul-sick men who cherish power over all else.

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Join ALTE for a poetry and song performance at the Puffin Gallery in Teaneck, NJ on February 22nd, and see our show before it comes down at the end of the month.

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