Yes, the Trump campaign makes me think of BLAZING SADDLES. Lots and lots of similarities.
Links:
Donald Trump Declares Himself 'Presumptive Nominee' After Tuesday Wins (NBC)
Trump sweeps GOP races (CNN)
Donald Trump completes sweep of five northeast states (USA Today)
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I didn't post on this blog for quite a long time, and in the meantime, stored up a few stray links to discuss later.
And you probably know what happened, right?
About half of these are gone already, especially the tweets. Must have been some hard-hitting, gotcha tweets, for me to make a quick footnote of them. And now they are gone.
Dear Radicals, as I said two days ago, GET A GRIP! Citizen Kane and the Twilight Days of Empire await us. Stop feverishly erasing whatever it was that desperately needed to be said. STOP BEING AFRAID! Charles Foster Kane is who you need to be afraid of right now, not some damnable tweet that might have been heavy-handed, might have hurt some liberal's feelings. (Or worse, brought out the attack dogs.)
To sum up: Whoever deleted that tweet is not someone I want in my radical cell. If you are afraid of the consequences of a tweet, you are not going to be there when they start rounding people up, you will be out hiding in your shed or under your SUV. Count on it.
This is serious, people. THIS IS SERIOUS.
[Aside: See how it is? I eventually devolve into a hysterical splay of capital letters and explanation points because... what else can you say? How do we get the suburban white kids to panic? Take away all the phones?]
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Other links of note:
[] Written during the 2012 election campaign, this post is now more pertinent than ever: Rethinking how we think about voting. THIS MEANS YOU!
[] Suzanne Vega found her old letter from Prince. (sigh)
[] Ted Cruz, John Kasich join forces to stop Trump. A day late and a dollar short, guys.
Speaking of old letters, I wish I had saved the nasty note I once received from Kasich, back when he was in congress and I was a born-and-bred citizen of the great state of which he is now governor. I wrote to him first and I was nasty, he replied and he was nasty right back, and we understood each other just fine.
I never dreamed he would be governor, let alone run for president.
My advice: Save those nasty letters from even the low-level politicians, kids! They could be worth something someday!
[] The diversity rally I tried to avoid, but in this town, I am spotted everywhere I go. Really.
Sometimes I wonder what life might be like in a really BIG town.
[] What you need to say to the smug atheist liberals who assure us religion is on the skids and down for the count: Not so fast.
Please understand, when they dwindle to "the remnant" -- that is exactly when they will fight like hell. And perhaps that is exactly what is happening right now.
Who among you, like me, grew up on the Christian term REMNANT? It was considered a compliment; the diehards who stay loyal until the Second Coming... and do you get it? They WANT to be The Remnant!! Looking around and deciding they are the legendary REMNANT will crank them up like nothing else you can imagine. They will REMNANTIZE the entire discourse, with Armageddon, the Rapture and the Tribulation right around the corner.
And see, here's the thing: they will MAKE Armageddon if they have to.
They will PUT US ALL through the Tribulation, my friends. (Does the term SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY mean anything to you?)
Fight them from within (as I once tried to do) or fight from without, but fight. Armageddon is an evil concept, and we must fight it that way. Accuse them of wanting to start it themselves, which I've learned, DOES make them blink and hesitate for a second.
Because I am sorry to tell you, its true. They can't wait for the endtimes war. Its behind everything they do.
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Postscript/Obit
I wrote a few words on tumblr, with photos. I always tell everyone that one of the worst aspects of aging is losing your friends, your teenage idols, your neighborhood, etc. Even though inevitable, it deeply hurts; what Buddha called "the suffering of change" (vipariṇāma-dukkha).
Tricia Earle always encouraged me and thought I was creative; she gave a generous speech/introduction for me once, and presented me with my 10-year AA chip. I realized, in reading the Facebook pages about her: not everyone knew she was in AA. After all, its supposed to be anonymous, and everybody isn't like ME, broadcasting all their innermost secrets to the world. I therefore didn't know if I should mention our friendship or not. Finally I decided, yes, I would. "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions," but it does not extend beyond death.
And what I needed to say about Tricia was also about Alcoholics Anonymous itself.
Tricia, whose last name I didn't know for years, came from an elite old-South family. And I didn't know it. ME, the ultra-class-conscious socialist who can ferret out Harvard posts online... I did NOT KNOW she came from THE EARLES (there is a street here named after her family). She did not in ANY WAY act like she was elite, and this was the power of AA. We were "all in it together"-- and just as the homeless and poor are part of that deep, blood-brotherhood fellowship, so are the rich, so are the famous. When AA works correctly, when people are working the program correctly, you shouldn't be able to tell who the rich people are.... and I couldn't tell.
This means she did it right.
This is the greatest thing I can say about her, the highest compliment I could give her.
And you know what? She would hands-down agree with me. :)
Rest in peace, dearest one.