stop
stop
take a moment
stop
listen
hear that?
it’s life
rushing past
at the speed of sound
the tiny earthquake of an infant’s wail
squabbling chickadees on a dew-dropped branch
a sink full of dishes
the dog’s nails snare-drumming on the kitchen floor
cars trucks vans cycles all shushing purring grumbling past
a familiar key in the front door’s lock
voices near, voices far, loud or quiet, laughing, shouting
the fermata of your breath, your heartbeat’s vibrato
a dry fingertip turning a dry page
ice cubes in a tall glass
this
this is life
heard and gone
it is all we are
an ephemeral fabric
uncountable strands
of gossamer
Posted in Creativity, Poetry | Tagged creative writing, modern poetry, Poetry, quiet living | 1 Comment »
William Roper: “So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!”
Sir Thomas More: “Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?”
Roper: “Yes, I’d cut down every law in England to do that!”
More: “Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ’round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down—and you’re just the man to do it—do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake!”
Setting aside my opinions about the real Sir Thomas More, I have always found the above exchange (spoken by characters in Robert Bolt’s play, A Man for All Seasons) to be a powerful reminder on the importance of the rule of law.
It is a particularly relevant exchange, today, when we have this same argument playing out in America. Why allow a terrorist to defend himself? Why allow a criminal the benefit of the law?
You may have heard of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man from El Salvador who had been living in the United States. You may know that he entered the U.S. illegally after fleeing gang persecution in his native country. You may have heard that Mr. Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang. You may have heard that his wife (a U.S. citizen) at one point received a Temporary Restraining Order against her husband. You may have heard Mr. Garcia referred to as a “terrorist.” You may also have heard that Mr. Garcia has always denied being affiliated with any gang, and that he has not been charged with any crime. And you may even have heard that the Trump administration admitted in court documents that Mr. Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error,” but that they don’t plan on doing anything about it. “Oopsie,” as the president of El Salvador said, with a nod and a wink.
You may have heard all of that. But all of that is irrelevant.
What is relevant is that Mr. Garcia was living within the jurisdiction of United States and was therefore subject to our laws—all of our laws—when he was taken into custody and deported without a hearing, without any charges filed, without a chance to challenge the assertions leveled against him. Based solely on an anonymous tip, he was designated a member of MS-13 (and thus a “terrorist”) and summarily sent to a notorious gulag in El Salvador.
So, why should we care if an alleged terrorist and gang-banger was “accidentally” deported to one of the worst prisons in the Western Hemisphere? Why should we care if Mr. Garcia didn’t get to mount a defense, to challenge the accusations made against him, to have his day in court?
Why should we care if our government has “cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?”
Consider this: It was only this February that the Trump administration designated MS-13 as a “terrorist organization,” making members subject (tenuously) to the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Pursuant to that designation, in March, Mr. Garcia was picked up as an alleged member (and thus, a terrorist), and renditioned without charge or trial to the prison in El Salvador.
Within six weeks, that happened. Also in that time, Mr. Trump has referred to protesters against Elon Musk and Tesla as “domestic terrorists,” and has mused publicly that next he wants to send “home grown” criminals—meaning American citizens—to that same Salvadoran gulag. Do you think, with “the laws all being flat,” that you or I or our outspoken friend or our activist cousin would be allowed our right to due process if we were deemed “terrorists” by this Administration? If anyone—including an American citizen—can be falsely designated a terrorist, would there be any laws left to protect us? Even if that accusation was merely an “administrative error?”
Our Constitution, in its Fourteenth Amendment, guarantees everyone person living within our nation’s jurisdiction—that’s every person, not just every citizen—equal protection under our laws and equal access to due process of those laws.
If it does not apply to Mr. Garcia, the it does not apply to me, and it does not apply to you.
Now, Mr. Garcia may be all or none of the things he’s accused of being. Though I have an opinion, I do not know for sure (and neither do you), because Mr. Garcia has never had a chance to face his accusers to defend himself, and the government has never provided any evidence—inside a courtroom our outside—to prove their assertions.
Mr. Garcia may be the Devil the Trump administration says he is, but I would still give him the benefit of the law.
For my own sake.
k
Posted in Culture, Politics | Tagged Bondi, constitutional crisis, donald-trump, due process, El Salvador, gulag, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, MS-13, news, politics, Rubio, rule of law, Trump | 1 Comment »
What you are trying to teach me?
To harm? To hurt? To hate?
That a worthy reputation
is only built through fear?
That honor is irrelevant,
an antiquated ideal?
That rules, golden or base,
apply only to governed
and not the government?
What do you want me to learn?
Cruelty + Money = Power?
That everything, even a life,
has a market value?
That caring for others’ well-being
is a sucker’s game?
That discord and outrage
are the privilege of the rulers
and not the ruled?
Because that is not the lesson
your actions drive home.
The lesson I am learning,
the lesson that you teach, is
that bullies have no friends, only sycophants,
that predators prey on individuals, not unified fronts,
that small-minded men use power as a weapon, not as a tool,
that loyalty born of fear lasts only as long as the loyal are afraid,
that plans of destructive intent always birth unplanned consequences,
that masses move slowly, react slowly, but once in motion, stay in motion.
The herd now smells the wolves.
Tick-tock.
Posted in Creativity, Poetry, Politics | Tagged cruelty, empathy, modern poetry, Poetry, politics, project 2025, Trump | 2 Comments »
It was during a recent MRI that I discovered how much my relationship to music has changed.
I’d just been informed that this imaging session would include the use of a contrast agent, gadolinium, which was unexpected. I’ve had MRIs with contrast agents before—specifically back during our search for the cause of my TIA—and I find them annoying, not only because of the (admittedly slight) discomfort, but also because stating that “Heavy metal is in my blood!” is never as funny spoken out loud as it sounds in my head. And so, I was a little off my game, what with the plastic shunt in my arm, the supposedly noise-canceling cans over my ears, and my head deep inside the tube upon which angry ogres would soon begin to pound with ill-tuned hammers, when the technician spoke into the cans.
“Would you like some music?”
“Sure.” Music is almost always a good idea.
“What would you like to listen to?”
It should have been a simple question, and there was a time when it would have been a simple question, back in the day when I actually bought albums and played them so often that, even today, if I were to hear Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick, I could tell you the exact spot where my LP used to skip. But I don’t buy albums anymore. I stream them. More to the point, I rarely queue up specific albums, but rather I stream individual songs, lists of similar-sounding tracks, all curated by an algorithm. I don’t even know the names of many of the artists I listen to; their songs play past without my knowing who they are or the albums they’ve released. (That is, of course, if they release albums, instead of a long parade of singles and EPs.)
This simple question caused my brain to seize up. I tried to think of one of the artists I do know, but I also needed one whose name was easy to relate from the inside of a torpedo tube. The only names I was able to recall would either require that I spell them out—Halestorm, Les Friction. Ursine Vulpine—or were names that I didn’t even know how to pronounce—Nemesea, SVRCINA—so, instead of simply pulling up one of the clearly-named bands from my youth (Genesis, Yes, The Beatles), my brain went to its default, the music to which I was first introduced.
“Classical is fine.”
Turns out, J.D. Vance isn’t the only one who finds listening to classical music unusual, because as my little cubbyhole began to hum and whir and thump and bang, my technician treated me not to Mozart or Beethoven or Bach, but to orchestral renditions of popular songs—at least I presume they were popular songs; I only recognized one of them—which is rather like watching a very self-conscious person try to dance for the first time.
Thankfully, the supposedly noise-canceling cans over my ears didn’t, so the music was mostly drowned out by the MRI’s percussion section, and I found my toes tapping to the ogres’ hammers rather than to the milquetoast rendition of Sia’s “Chandelier.”
Thus, my Twenty Minutes in a Tube ended and I was released from my purgatory, free once more to return to my scattershot playlists of jumbled songs from artists I cannot name.
Progress? I’m not so sure.
k
Posted in Culture, Music | Tagged audio, MRI, Music, new-music, playlist, reviews, rock, streaming | Leave a Comment »
If you’ve watched Law & Order, you’ve heard the term. “Depraved indifference” is a disregard for human life; it’s not that you intend to harm anyone, it’s that you just don’t care.
With that as prologue, if I did something that any reasonable person could see might easily cause others harm, I could be accused of acting with depraved indifference. Let’s say, for example, that I abruptly cut off funding that provides lifesaving treatment, or that I suddenly decided to eliminate a meteorological department upon which literally millions rely for information about deadly hurricanes and tornadoes, or that I capriciously renege on agreements even though it would cause immense hardship and possible deaths. I think my actions could arguably be seen as falling under the rubric of “depraved indifference,” and I should not be surprised if I was charged with a criminal and/or civil offense as a result.
Our president has done such things, personally with the stroke of a pen or by siccing his attack dogs on the targets, but sadly, SCOTUS has given him the immunity of kings for anything that falls within his “core constitutional powers.”
But wait a second . . . If what he has done is not constitutional, it can’t possibly be within his “core constitutional powers,” right? And the consensus is building that the Executive cannot stop, halt, deter, or misdirect funds approved and specified by laws passed by the Legislative branch.
Hmm.
And I would also point out that Elon Musk has no such imperial immunity. He’s just a guy who’s going around delivering mass layoff notices and shutting down services wholesale.
Again . . . hmm.
Posted in Politics | 2 Comments »
I used to write you love letters
with age-old tools
with pen and paper
with flowers delivered to your desk
with gifts left to be found on a car seat
But since then my love has found voice
in other media
in home-baked bread
in racks of clean dishes
in beds made, ready to be rumpled
I write letters
in gestures and gifts of freed time
I sing songs
in tiptoed footsteps on lazy mornings
I craft poetry
in items checked off to-do lists
After so long, so many years,
my words, mere words,
seem insufficient to relate
the depths and breadth
of my heart’s compass
But perhaps a cup of tea
that I know you want
presented without
your having to ask
speaks better of my devotion
Posted in Poetry | Tagged creative writing, love, love letters, modern poetry, Poetry, Valentines Day, Writing | Leave a Comment »
If you are anything like me, this last fortnight has felt like it was two years long. The constant barrage of cruel and often inept Executive Orders, the firehose of incompetent actions and rescissions, not to mention Congress’ total abdication of the “advise” portion of their role in “advise and consent,” has made the simple act of getting out of bed each morning a ponderous chore. And this, after I’ve already dramatically reduced my intake of current events. Frankly, there are times when I don’t know if I can make it through . . . however this is going to go on.
But then I remind myself: That is the entire point.
Proposing wholly unqualified candidates for high office, demolishing decades-long diplomatic agencies, purging competence and expertise from critical sectors, shuttering life-saving research and aid activities, starting a totally useless trade war with our closest allies, blaming every perceived woe on multiculturalism, threatening to invade/take over friendly nations, issuing pardons to persons who committed violence and riotous mayhem against the Capitol police and the seat of Congress, giving a wholly unreliable and arguably unhinged billionaire complete and unfettered access to the personal data of every single taxpayer in America (and more). Where to start? What to do? Where to look?
Take a step back, and you will see it. This is a blitzkrieg maneuver, a “shock and awe” tactic, to carpet bomb the Left into complete disarray, to start so many political wildfires that those who, like me, believe that our government should be by and for the people, become stunned into ineffectiveness simply because we do not know which fire we should fight first.
There is a famous quotation attributed to Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, who was by all accounts a brilliant military strategist. Translated and distilled over the centuries, it comes to us finally as this:
He who defends everything, defends nothing.
There is no hidden meaning to this quotation. It means what it says: if you run around trying to defend every inch of territory—political as well as physical—you will eventually lose; one must take small losses to focus on the primary points of contact.
And so must we, to counter this wholesale dismantling of systems that, though flawed, do provide safety and comfort to Americans. We must focus our efforts, concentrate our will, and do our best to “not sweat the small stuff.”
Pick two issues, maybe three. Read about those so you know what exactly is going on—you don’t want to get bogged down in conspiracies or tripped up by mis/disinformation—and then call your congress-critter, go to one of the town hall meetings they will be scheduling or, better yet, both. Register your concerns. If we all do that, our representatives and senators will have either (for Dems) data they can use to hone their focus or (for GOP) an idea of how upset their constituency truly is.
My main issues? Of the myriad choices, my two bugbears are:
- Giving Elon Musk and his JV Squad of tech-noobs my personal information and total access to petabytes of sensitive government data. Having worked in the health insurance industry, the concept of providing the “minimum necessary” amount of data is a standard precept; no one—especially a group of unvetted non-government employees—should have full read/write access to the entirety of any government database.
- The shutdown of USAID, which only takes up 0.7% of the national budget but which saves lives, promotes democracy, provides alternatives to growing drug crops, feeds starving kids, and has been the front line of our diplomatic “soft power” for over half a century. Shutting these efforts down is a huge gift to autocracies such as Putin’s and Xi’s, because who do you think is going to rush into the vacuum just created?
Those two might change as this sh!t show continues its run, but they’re what I will try to defend for now.
Find your focal points. Marshal you resources. Decide the issues that fire you up the most—personally, morally, legally, ethically—and defend those things. Then take a break. Then get back to it.
Onward.
k
Posted in Culture, Politics | Tagged autocracy, cronyism, elon-musk, gabbard, hegseth, history, musk, news, noem, politics, project 2025, Trump, usaid | 3 Comments »
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 