And, in part, because I'm not crazy from the heat this year, it gives me the inclination to reflect on the state of the nation in these waning days of June before the 4th is upon us.In the big picture, there are things to celebrate: the Supreme Court finally knocking down DOMA, this past week is a big one. (For a great piece on the heart of the 'debate' over the rights of gays to marry, read Mr. Sulu/George Takei's Op-Ed this week in the Washington Post. He succinctly identifies the stance of people opposed to the notion of two men or two women marrying, rightly, as 'the ick' factor. And while that reaction might be fine for the demographic that watches Sesame Street--i.e. little kids who don't know any better--thank GOD the Court finally (albeit narrowly, sigh) came to its senses that a bullshit, childish, uneducated, narrowminded reaction shouldn't be the basis for laws that discriminate against millions of this country's citizens. Also: I give little kids more credit than that--they, by nature, are not homophobes. Unfortunately, that shit is taught and reinforced by a chilish not a childlike mentality.) [1]
Then there was Obama (possibly just for show and definitely late) making his big speech on climate change. Good for him, because I predict that despite abundant evidence to support the notion that the weather is seriously messed up—see recent examples like the Moore, OK EF5 tornado, raging wildfires in Colorado and well, the recent rainy conditions here in the Midwest—it's going to, grievously and unfortunately, take another Hurricane Sandy-level event to finally knock some sense into the climate change deniers.
Not until Megyn Kelly is all but drowning in Fox's Times Square studio will the Koch Brothers and their moneyed cronies of the same ideological bent—many of whom have anonymously funded the messaging campaign against climate change—stop with their jihad of nonsense and get on-board with reality all-fucking-ready.
(By the by if you're like me, you enjoy daydreaming about Megyn Kelly disappearing under the waves, never to be seen or heard from again. According to this study by Climate Central, that day could be just a blessed 7 years off. Perchance to dream. I just mourn the fact that most of New York would go down with her.)
Again, maybe it's been the moody skies or maybe it's because I'm pushing onward to 40 during this year's trip around the sun...but I've been thinking a lot about the tone of this country and how we came to be where we are: saddled with a completely dysfunctional Congress, years behind the rest of the world on social and environmental issues and still arguing about whether we can 'afford' to pay for elements in the social contract that, duh, led to the rise of the middle class, which, in turn, fueled the great wealth engine that's driven the whole damned thing since the end of WWII.
New York Times staffer George Packer calls all this and his new book, "The Unwinding." It is still summer, so if you're not down with being down over the (sorta sorry-ass) state of these United States, then just read this article in the Guardian by Packer that neatly sums up his book's thesis. He identifies 1978 as the year the American character changed from one that at least acted like it cared about the welfare of its citizens to the more unabashedly mean-spirited, gleefully greedy, recklessly short-sighted one that reigns today.
I was 5 in 1978 and far too caught up in Bert & Ernie and the rest of the Sesame Street gang to know about or understand what was going on in this country. (I'm sure I even thought B&E were straight then...)
But I do vividly remember August 1981—that's when Ronald Reagan fired the air traffic controllers, breaking their strike. And was the moment when my Dad, a union electrician who had, in fact, voted for Reagan in 1980 (which he remembered as 'the biggest mistake of my life') turned to the 7-year old me and said:
"This country is screwed."
He probably got, in a way that I couldn't possibly have at the time, that the tone, the character of this country was changing and not for the better. That with a sweep of Ronnie's hand, the pendulum swung away from workers and the middle class, firmly into the corner of business and its strictly bottom line-driven interests. And the swing in that direction has only become more profound and more debilitating for this country in the thirty plus years since.
Needless to say, the book is next on my list.
And it's a good reminder, as we head into another Fourth with cookouts and fireworks and some justifiable national pride—made sweeter this year with DOMA gone and Obama hopefully, finally taking up the issues his base voted him in for in the first place—that the reality of The Unwinding means there is still a profound amount of work to be done in this country to put us back on...well, not even 'the right' track, but any track that doesn't lead us further into despair, decay and dysfunction.
Can The Unwinding be rewound?
This is 'merica and I do have hope—but my guess is it'll take double the time (probably more) to build back up all that has been undone in those 30 years. And if we're talking at least 60 years to make things better, then there's a good chance I won't be around to see the change.
Which is maybe why, for me anyway, things like DOMA coming down are sweet and to be savored.
Because progress is slow...and summer is short. And we have to enjoy our victories in the moment, for as long as we can.
Happy July 4th, everyone.
[1] Personally, I think the Court should next take up the issue of whether or not girls have 'cooties.' If they did, you can bet all the usual suspects of the lunatic fringe Right would be screaming that God, Ronald Reagan and the Founding Fathers all agree both should be banished from this fine nation of ours. Think of how much fun it would be to watch Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin insist on Fox that 'girls have cooties and cooties are against God's law and what makes this country great!'
If that day ever comes, I'd happily vote those two morons off the island of girldom/womanhood in a heartbeat. If only because they drag the fucking bell curve down, big time.
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