The Barrister for The One-Third

Jonathan D. DeViney: Chris Bridges. After all this time, some five, six or maybe even seven years since my time carousing in rock & roll bands, working sound booths and tending bar, et cetera came to an end and I left the Gulf South for the US Navy…all of that water under the proverbial bridge and here, at long last, the Bayou iteration of Jagger/Richards, the yen and the yang, the liturgical Christian and the true, pretense-stripped-down, straight and narrow Satanist, the Steve McQueen and the Jason Statham…I mean, it’s obviously damned near impossible to fully convey just how amazing our immediate bond as friends was when we met in the summer of 2003, how it grew into this inseparable brotherhood that was defined by a lot of commonalities, like loyalty, being protective one of the other, and of course hard, gutbucket, blues-and-country-driven rock and roll…and here we are today, almost exactly twelve years after we met. None the worse for wear, both having grown, adapted, bloomed as elder Gen X statesmen of sorts, but at heart, unscathed and unchanged. As the Keith to my Mick in the infamous Bridges/DeViney songwriting team, a penny (and 665 more) for your thoughts on this topic.

Christopher Bridges: Man, it has been a Hell of a ride. I could tell so many stories of those years between then and now. Between car wrecks, jail terms, finding love, losing love, moving three or four times, it has just been wild. The constant has been music. Anywhere I have been, anyone I have been around, it has always the same. A steady diet of Willie Nelson, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Conway Twitty, Black Sabbath and Frank Sinatra. That is the secret. Lots of newer folks to the music scene don’t have respect for the older acts these days. You wouldn’t have any modern metal without Sabbath, no modern rock without Zep and Van Halen, no pop music without Ole Blue Eyes. The country I see as a split, you have this god-awful style of pop country that has been put to the front of modern country radio and that style I see as coming from the Conway Twitty, George Straight, Garth Brooks line. Then you have acts like Hank III, Unknown Hinson, and other more outlaw country musicians that you can draw a straight line to from Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and David Allen Coe.

I digress though. It has been years since our initial meeting. Also we met in the spring of ‘04 at JCJC (Jones County Junior College). You kept saying that I needed to grow a pompadour. I kept telling you that you were full of shit. Man, we were like brothers. Joined at the hip almost. Time keeps rolling forward and we keep getting older I guess. I look back fondly on those days though. A bottle of whiskey, singing and playing by that piano at your family’s home in Hattiesburg. Those were the days.

DeViney: Obviously there is a lot of misperception amongst the general public about the Church of Satan. In all fairness to freedom of religion, speech & assembly (each in their own right) I think it’d be nice if you’d go ahead and cut through the fat for us all: you’re not praying whilst laying on a pentagram drawn in goat’s blood, dining on human adrenal glands and secretly branding your cats with an insidious “666”. So could you describe some of the major points of your faith and what it means to you as a red-blooded American man?

Bridges: While the Church of Satan is probably the most recognizable Satanic organization worldwide, it is one of the few that I am not a member of. I am a member of The Satanic Temple, which is a non-theistic religious organization with strong political undertones. I am a member of The Greater Church of Lucifer, which is seeking to become an actual church in the truest sense of the word. Their focus is one of self-enlightenment and unlocking of the mysteries that surround us, as well as breaking the constraints and mental chains that bind us. I am also a member of Satanic International Network (SIN for short). This is really nothing more than a networking site for like-minded Satanists and other practitioners of Left Hand Path theologies. We as Satanists, for the most part, don’t believe in an actual Satan, but rather we seek to base ourselves on that mythology. I like the idea of Satan giving of the tree of knowledge in the book of Genesis. It’s the same as the Roman Lucifer, the one who brings the Sun, or the Light Bearer, shining truth into all the dark places. Even the Greek Prometheus we see as an aspect of Satan. He was a Titan that defied the Gods to deliver fire into the hands of mortal men. Hence the kick-start of our technology. In all religions we see a Satan, some have this as a balancing force, others as a destroying force. We all know that knowledge can sometimes lead down a destructive path. Some others see him as merely a jovial trickster, like Pan or Dionysus. We see Satan more as a literary hero from works such as The Revolt of Angels.

DeViney: Speaking of which, 99% of the time the prior statement of “red-blooded” in reference to being ‘Merikan is juxtaposed with the phrase “God-fearing”. Now obviously in any religious sense in Western sense, God’s opposite number is viewed as being a spiritual powerhouse. In the Roman Catholic pantheon, for example, Lucifer (dubbed “Satan” upon his expulsion from Paradise) is viewed as near-omniscient, near-omnipresent. How do you think of your faith along the lines of your being a patriot, or do you?

Bridges: I like to think that I am very much a patriot. Why else would a person like me do what he does? America is founded on the sense that everyone is equal, that all religions or lack thereof should be a kept out of Government, and that your [i]nalienable rights to free speech, free press, free worship, gun ownership (for those responsible enough for it), fair trial, certain public programs (such as healthcare, education, and a good LIVING wage) should never be taken from you. Isn’t that the ultimate oppositional idea to the status quo? America was not founded to be a theocracy. Slowly it has eroded into a country ruled by Christian privilege. I can drive 1 mile in any direction and see 100 church signs. If one sign with a pentagram or a Baphomet goes up people lose their minds. That is why you see groups like The Satanic Temple doing what they are doing. It is a revealing of the true nature of conservative law-makers. They say things like “It’s an open forum for distribution of religious materials” and when a Satanic coloring book (off the record I have a copy I will send to you so you can see how PG it is.) shows up alongside Christian religious materials in public schools they shut down all distribution of religious materials in that school. Still a win. I think it is hilarious that it was conservative law-makers in a thinly veiled attempt to strip women of access to contraceptives (so that big businesses would not have to pay extra to cover it on company insurance policies) that brought this on. They claimed a religious freedom argument to strip people of rights to basic healthcare. The contraceptives would be easier on the taxpayer dollar than another child we have to pay for. Patriotism is loving your country. Your country is your people. So I equate patriotism to love for the people of this country. You don’t have to love everything about a country to be patriotic. Just the people.

DeViney: Was Lucifer truly compelled to flee Heaven with one-third of the Angels (now “Demons”), or is the narrative different in your book, so to speak, or is there another storyline altogether wherein you don’t adhere to the traditional, linear stories of God and Man and Lucifer at all?

Bridges: Because that[‘s] what the Bible says happened right? (I am truly laughing right now) I like the Bible. It’s a really-well written book for the time period. Beowulf is better though. Imagine how awesome a parallel universe (where Beowulf is the Bible) would be. The old stories are just that. Stories. Crowley was on to a bunch of things with his comparative study of religion in the 777. How everything in every religion is connected and how it is all one giant puzzle to be put together, except that when you put it together the whole thing fades to nothing. A favorite author of mine, Lon Milo Duquette, once said, “It’s all in your head. You just have no idea how big your head is.” That is the whole of the thing. Angels, Demons, God, all that is nothing more than thought processes that lead to manifestation of a desired result. People call that magick, when simply it is just using your raw will to manifest a desired result. “Hey get me a drink.” I announced my will into the universe and it is made manifest before me through nothing but my sheer will and force of personality. And maybe a few dollars. People dig too hard in their searches for Gods, Demons, and Angels in exterior sources, and they forget to look where all that originates: Self.

DeViney: There’s this prevailing thought, one that generates a good amount of fear in our accursed culture here in America, where Satanism is all about “sinning”. I.e., if you can get away with murder or rape in demonstration of your dedication to rebellion against God, so be it. Clear that up for the Sheeple, please Chris?

Bridges: Satanism is about self-accountability. I know that rape and murder are bad things. Unnatural things. I don’t need a book or a God to tell me what I already know. If I don’t feel guilty about doing something I don’t see the harm in doing it. As long as all parties involved are willful consenting adults and no one else or their property come to any harm, what I do should not involve anyone other than me and a bottle of rye. Sin should be something defined by the individual, not by the man with funniest hat, not by Sky Daddy, not by whomever sacrifices the most virgins (or virginities). If you do something and you feel bad about it, make amends and try not to do it again. If you don’t feel bad about doing it, then maybe it’s not a sin to begin with. People’s perception of what is and isn’t sinful boggles my mind. Homosexuals clearly aren’t remorseful of their homosexual lifestyles. Why should they be? Because an ancient text that condemned homosexuality so as to ensure the proliferation of the Jewish Race said so? You can’t take literal meanings and laws from the Bible or any other religious book. There are no books where the prophets spoke on Corporate Personhood, Cloning, hell, even which lane to ride a bike in. We are talking about people wanting to drag a draconian piece of literature into making rules for a society where one person could wipe out 10000 with a flick of the wrist. It’s inconceivable.

Keef II and The Frost Knight thinking "The Establishment" would become just that. It did not. — Keef II and The Frost Knight thinking “The Establishment” would become just that. It did not.

DeViney: You mentioned it in passing during a prior conversation of late that you’d really like to see the Satanic Temple develop a real bastion in the State of Mississippi, and that while it’s going to be “hard work” (it must be for you to call it that) you think it’s a realistic possibility. While anyone reading this should, again, bear in mind that you are NOT an official spokesperson for said Temple, by mission of action you really are and, I mean, you were there on the ground, so to speak, for the unveiling of Baphomet in Detroit and are supporting its placement in Arkansas in the capitol complex next to The Ten Commandments. So please, talk a little bit about this commitment, your passion, and where you see it in five years, not just nationally, but in the Bible Belt, specifically.

Bridges: I will say this: I am in the process of trying to organize secularists, atheists, Satanists, Left Hand Pathers, anyone politically minded and willing to work in some activist campaigns. As far as a Satanic Temple MS Chapter, I hope we get to see one. Organizing something like this in a state where the Christian stranglehold on everything from local to state politics and everything in between is really tricky. When I worked with The Temple in New Orleans we were very focused on community outreach and helping younger people who arrived in a less privileged setting through no fault of their own. One of my favorite projects to work on in New Orleans was the Parisite DIY Skatepark Project. Some of my friends there were skaters and got me into skating. One day we went to skate the ramps and the city had torn them down because they were too close to the railroad tracks. So some of my friends started doing some research and found that the area under the 610 was zoned for recreational use. So they did some fundraising and a couple weeks later we started building ramps under the 610 at Paris Ave and Pleasure St. We fought the city for almost two years about the skate park. Last year was the grand opening of the Parisite Skatepark after a generous donation from Red Bull and Spohn Ranch. Now every Monday there are free red beans, skate contests for all the folks, the skate companies come out and give those kids that live around there all kinds of gear. It has just grown and evolved into almost a subculture in New Orleans. That’s what I want Satanism to be in MS, a community for those religiously disenfranchised to feel like they belong and together to make our voices heard in the community at large. A far as where I see myself in five years, that’s a good question. Hopefully a lot wiser and a lot more ruggedly handsome.

DeViney: Chris, win, lose or draw you and I never lost a party and we’re not likely to start any decade soon. Thanks for taking the time to indulge your Christian rock & roll brother, here. And, by the way: you’re going to Hell.

Bridges: I’ll see you there. I already got a spot picked out for me, [so] you [had] better get a real estate agent down there before all the good property is gone.

P.S. – The crew here at ModState is very appreciative of the sustained faith and continued support of our families and friends during what proved to be an unexpectedly tough 2nd beta test. The actual process of coordinating the direction of a staff (to include both editorial & graphic design efforts) is something I’ve had over seven years of experience with prior to my recently-concluded five years in the U.S. Navy. That’s almost embarrassing to admit considering when paired with finishing, editing and posting the entire beta got bumped back by three entire days and nearly got dropped until the coming week.

In the end, we ate our meat and now may all have some pudding (according to Pink Floyd, naturally). As a caveat to the reposting of the enlightening interview with Keef, he (Chris Bridges, that is) has managed to score a freelance interview with a candidate for POTUS. And no, you naysayers, they’re neither running as a Green or a Libertarian. Why he’s going to these lengths to lend a hand in the prelaunch trials and tribulations here at ModState is a testament to both his character and the staying power of the friendship formed somewhere around thirteen years ago: simply out of the goodness of his heart (although he made me promise I wouldn’t say things like that about him) to help his longtime friend.

As a small token of my gratitude for his relentless insistence on helping me with anything or anyone I deemed important, Mr. Bridges has officially been added to the Mississippi element of the “ModState Caucus“…more on that later. #TTFN #YNWA

DeViney, Jack

Fabriqué en Babylon: Meanwhile

With the majority of public discourse non-existent and what discussion does occur usually ending acrimoniously, I recalled a lesson (from the past) learned the hard way: in life, there are times the rules are such that, indeed, sometimes the only way to win is not to play.

Politics is considered the art of the compromise, or “the game of compromise,” to suit the lesson. Now, I don’t know if IQs dropped, if we forgot, if the entire paradigm changed despite the entire pantheon of examples (of public discourse), or if it’s an all-of-the-above that’s closer to where we’re at, but we’ve forgotten. One way or another, it’s that simple.

As “The Great Experiment”, that means that this is a failure as a nation. A failure to even try to communicate and find some semblance of common ground, to find a way to even try to be civil and respect one another’s time to speak, to actually listen to a message before deciding what it means and how we view that meaning, to even agree to try and communicate at all.

You see, the trick is in self-control. Before picking up your pitchforks and torches or, worse, leaving altogether, let the damned man have a few final words.

Fistfight breaks out in Turkish parliament

I say “self-control” is the key, if there is one, because in order for public discourse to function where there’s debate, dialogue and (hopefully) resolution at some point, we must individually approach this forum with the intention of conducting one’s self in a civil manner no matter what the opposition says or how they say it.

The first impulse is outrage, I’m aware, followed by some variant of, “So what do we do when [insert example of national Democrats and/or Republicans] start acting the fool?” And that’s precisely where, following my abandonment of my personal Facebook and Twitter accounts that the lesson learned previously (“sometimes the only way to win is not to play”) I remembered that silence isn’t always concession. Sometimes, it might be easy to think, “Ahp! Yep, see, DeViney’s silent so he’s conceding,” when, the truth is, I’ve also come to embrace another tactic summarized best as, “Let them talk; most people will hang themselves given enough rope.”

CNN was really on to something when they debuted the policy debates, featuring an epic duel between Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) versus Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) engaged in an actual, substantive, non-campaign debate. Too bad they didn’t keep the series alive.

In order to pull this off, one must listen to their opponent’s words and, I don’t have chapter and verse from Harvard or Little Sister’s of The Poor and this that or the other study to cite, but I do know that it is humanly impossible for you to absorb as much of what someone else is saying while you’re running your piehole. An easy life “hack” for this (I’m trying to meet you halfway, my fellow Millennials) is to engage in one of America’s most obvious traditions and gently shove, well, pie or any other food one prefers into their gaping maw, which should, advisably, prevent the pie-eater from interrupting while someone else is speaking.

Another idea, and I only mention it in passing, is to teach your children these same concepts so that there’s a generational sort of reboot here, if you will.

Another really good concept, and this brings me back to what we’ve lost in terms of public dialogue, as a nation, as a people, is drop the assumptions. Do I really need to say that, as a Federal republic of 325 million-plus people scattered across 50 nation-states over 3 million-plus square miles, people come from different backgrounds and therefore automatically have their own way of doing things?

Apparently. Just remember: how good is it? Really good.

“Why does any of this matter?” one might ask, certainly a wise and reverent question, and unscripted at that!

As I face the active task of delivering closing remarks that are dually comprehensible and comprehensive, my personal political platform has never stood out more and conversely never kept me directly out of the fray as often. That’s weird. We’re living in a weird era.

As a centrist, I see, for instance, the keen insight President Trump into the general failings of a bloated Federal bureaucracy that feeds right into the national angst of an alienated body of followers who argue the value they get for their investment as taxpayers isn’t worth spending in excess of $4 trillion annually. However crude one views his “one-in, two-out” policy regarding regulations, he was onto something. Specifically, the broader argument that, not because of lack of desire and hardly because of lack of money but because of the inadequacies and failings that are part of the very fabric of a bloated, administrative state; in short, our Federal government is a monstrosity. A monstrosity, I might add, that needs to be shrunk, not given more money.

On the other hand, I also see the benefits of a strong, but limited, leaner Federal government with a decisive Executive having multiple opportunities for reform in bipartisan areas (fringes on both sides notwithstanding) with Congress, and I see those very same opportunities going wanting right now. And that is where, yes, I can see the personality crises stemming from being willing to be at odds with anyone, anytime over anything bringing about, indeed, a sort of “Trump Fatigue.”

That cuts both ways as well: while the people grow weary of the constant drama President Trump’s approach relies upon, they also tire of every single failing in DC being laid at his feet.

The same President who picked a fight (via social media, but of course) with an Autistic foreign teenager over climate change he maintains doesn’t exist to begin with also felt like the status quo that denied opportunities to felons post-release was unfair (See: “The First Step Act”). The very same POTUS who inexplicably disavowed support (however briefly) for our Kurdish allies also did what every Administration since Carter had threatened to by being the American Executive who stood up to Communist China’s underhanded trade practices and illegal valuations of the Yuan (their currency), which gave them unfair advantage(s) in imports/exports against other countries.

I don’t blindly support any politician, and I’m leery of ideologues. I don’t have any heroic, holistic advice on how to approach the President or his (many) conflicts, some contrived and some born of circumstances outside of his control.

These thugs didn’t issue executive orders that restricted travel from other countries into their own. They killed people they didn’t like and/or want. Perhaps a bit of caution, then, before ascribing the President Trump to the ignominious league of names like “Hitler” and “Stalin”, methinks?

But I do know this: the sooner we can get one extreme to stop canonizing every wacky idea the President utters and convince the other side that, no, Sugar, dictators don’t ask other countries to stop immigrants, they just have them shot. Dictators don’t ask, and they don’t Tweet about being treated “very badly” by the judiciary and the media. They don’t have to.

Look at the big picture, and tell me where you’d rather be that would be a better country from which to launch Endeavor A or stand up for Civic Cause B, et al. So, you don’t like the President. I don’t know how much the President likes the President. But you ought to be able to know the difference in there being room for (bigly) improvement in our mixed capitalist system, and in living in a concentration camp as you and your fellow undesirables are systematically exterminated by an authoritarian state.

A dictator? Hitler? Really? See: “Godwin’s Law”

Sound extreme? So do y’all.

And somewhere, weeping in the still of the night, came bleating The Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun”

The following contains references to articles published by ModState over the past two years. If you don’t get it, then you didn’t read it. Tradition tells us this is our “cotton” anniversary, so if something sounds offensive, or racist, or derisive of a contributor, you’re a moron with cotton brains. Or you didn’t read the article(s) referenced. If you still don’t like what you hear, stick cotton in your ears.

And enjoy.

Quite less than a score* and a few months or so ago (30 April, 2016), our ModState fathers, DeViney and “staff” [creative name for more DeViney] brought forth on the World Wide Web a new concept, conceived in the rights of “these United States” (Dude, the Civil War is over. It’s “The United States.” Sheesh!) and dedicated to NeoSpeak (“Newspeak”), the hypocrisy of boycotts, and the belief that all versions of Trump’s Wall are created equal to the task of pissing off law enforcement in Arizona.

Now we are engaged in a great Civil War. A war over documents, a war over election interference. A war testing what the hell Devin Nunes (R-CA) was thinking getting into that limo to begin with. A war testing whether Lily Eldeen can single-handedly change the voting age, and whether Political Beast is named as a rip-off of the Daily Beast, or simply a mistype of “political beat” that no one ever thought to correct. Whatever. We are met on this, the “cotton” anniversary of ModState, on what is seen as a great battlefield of fake news vs. bold truth. We are come, fully-clothed in cotton polos, to dedicate a large portion of this site as the final repository of the ideas and inspirations of the contributors and columnists with whom ModState works. It is altogether irritating and frustrating to our editors to have to fix these articles before publication, but hey, shit happens.

“Nobody wails more sincerely than me, I can tell you that. Many, many people tell me this. Believe me.”

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground, not with all the cotton seed in the world. Not this, or the ground in Flint, Michigan Teresa Leary wept for in her 2017 article. Or the rainbow-colored ground of American diversity described by Anny Hughes. The brave men like Al Eldeen, risking insanity slogging through an exhaustive examination of our Constitution’s amendments, or DeViney and Wellein producing studio-quality podcasts, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say in this anniversary piece, but they will never forget the restraint we all showed in not saying what the Hell we really thought in the midst of this fiasco some dare label an administration.

They tried telling DeViney back in 2009 he wasn’t present for the aftermath of Watergate. He didn’t believe the blonde, and he doesn’t believe us. C’est la vie.

It is rather for us, the moderately sane, cotton-loving “staff” of ModState to be here dedicated to the unfinished work of finding sources like the eminent Mitch Tyner and the great Geoff Shepard to open to the people the truth about the causes and catastrophes men like this have witnessed in the struggles they so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. It is rather for us that in these articles we gain a real sense of devotion in DeViney’s play-by-play of Trump’s inevitable debate against Biden or Sanders in 2020, of interest in whom Gabe Coker will suggest as a laughable third option the night before the election; and of inquiry, as we wonder when Wellein is going to finally convince DeViney that our managing editor didn’t actually live through the Watergate break-in. And all that aside, that we here highly resolve that these articles should not have been written, edited, and published in vain. That this current events site, under brash, unapologetic and disrespectful leadership, shall have a new birth of offensive bravery. More Vietnam, more Nixon v. Kennedy, more stuff apparently fabricated somewhere in Babylon. That this magazine of the truth, by the truth, and for the truth, shall not perish from the Earth without cotton…the fabric of our lives.

* = Upon receipt, DeViney asked, “Score? Who’s scoring here? What and when do they score? Nobody tells me anything.”

Someday, we will look back knowing that Donald Trump gave birth to the 21^st century. In a time where life is cheap and peace a punchline from the footnotes of John Lennon’s obituary, populism reigns supreme. Whether that’s due to the abstract nature of the “ism” or in spite of it is really beside the point.

When paired with our podcast host and ModState associate editor Nate Wellein on the air, I’ve occasionally remarked “there are no experts.” No, really, it’s true. Several hundred trial lawyers haven’t prevented the long and torturous decline of American government. In fact, they have had an indelible impact on the rate with which the faith of the people in the Federal system has collectively descended into the nether realms of polling possibility.

Equally true is the inability of the greater portion of economists in America to predict the multi-market financial woes that came to a head in 2008. This is perhaps more egregious due to many educated in the field having woefully neglected their obligation to give independent assessments of data and use analytics to help craft effective policy measures. Instead, they’ve often been wooed by copious offerings of the Almighty Dollar into manipulating data and analytical trends to reflect pre-determined talking points. And we wonder why the field is viewed with similar colloquial skepticism as meteorology and clairvoyance.

My use of the term “we” is indicative of the fact I remain enrolled at Penn State seeking to complete my undergraduate studies in economics. A half-decade enlisted term in the Navy and what they call “life” happened and, well, in any case I make no excuses. My explanation(s) are far too lengthy to list here and inconsequential as, again, there exist no experts in any real sense. Those from the academic camp of the swamp will say one cannot claim to be an economist without a doctorate, while those outside of said bog consider a four-year degree sufficient.

The reality is that Jack Parsons never finished his college career and went on to such tremendous exploits in rocketry that a Federal agency called “NASA” came forth from his work. Sigmund Freud could hardly be considered educated in psychoanalysis (at least in modern circles of snobbery) as he invented the field. In his case, perhaps studying sociology and zoology were enough. Bill Gates didn’t need to finish even a bachelor’s at Harvard to co-found Microsoft Corporation just as Barack Obama’s tenure as a constitutional legal scholar at the same Ivy League school didn’t prevent his attempt to use Executive Power to enforce only portions of certain laws. And, last time I checked, Bill Clinton had no prior history of adult entertainment feats and yet forever changed the way cigars are viewed from the gutter of our, uh, “culture.”

The bottom line being that while I have some lengths to go before I finish my bachelor’s in economics (which I intend to be the end of my formal studies), I hardly need to do so to gain the approval of our cultural overlords in higher education and the Mainstream Media.

Yes, yes, yes: I was wrong in calling Utah for McMullin. Focus on THAT, naysayer!

And qualifications? Oh, right. Those. My qualifications are that outside of Michael Moore I can’t recall (without cheating and using a search engine) another more vocal prognosticator that Donald J. Trump would not only win the Presidency but sweep The Rust Belt. In the same election cycle I called the GOP retaining both houses of Congress and, as an aside, called Ben Carson winning the Iowa Straw Poll.

So what? I also called the return to vogue of white jeans in the early 2000’s, but who gives a damn?

Exactly.

Rosa Parks was no doctor of political science, yet she helped bring about massive societal change in standing up for social justice…by staying seated. Top that, NFL Player’s Association. Oh, and let’s not forget Ray Charles hardly needed to be a doctor of music in order to be banned from live performance in The State of Georgia.

“Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong” sang Buffalo Springfield in their immortal make-lunch-not-war anthem “For What It’s Worth.” True, very true. My feeling is that no one who always believes those they dislike are wrong regardless of evidence to the contrary are also, in fact, wrong. Case in point? The constant insults and smears hurled at those who didn’t vote for Hillary. For example, the reduction of Trump’s victory to “White Supremacy” when renowned racist David Duke only got 3% of the 2016 US Senate vote in his Louisiana election effort. Then there’s the ironic wrong committed by Eric Holder in snidely talking about the “orange President.” Ohhh…oh, I see! Making condescending remarks about someone’s skin color only matters when it affects your preferred group. And that’s all after President Obama spent considerable effort weighing down a soapbox ripped straight from the George Soros playbook about “The Bubble” that we find ourselves in where we listen only to those (long story short) we agree/identify with.

Huh. I guess he wasn’t talking to anyone to the right of Berkeley or Gertrude Stein.

2016 DJT Campaign Stop in “The Big Sleazy”

Trump is no villain. You know why? Because he is the reflection in America’s mirror. He did not confess to wrongdoing on the ignominious “Access Hollywood” recording, but rather stated the same inconvenient pop wisdom to be found in lyrics and music videos from The Rolling Stones’ “Starfucker” to Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.” He merely brought to a head a litany of woes lying in wait to burst through to a putrescent cultural landscape. It’s not illegal to lie to the media and it’s not illegal to talk to Russians. If it were, whoever attempted to denigrate Bernie Sanders’ being Jewish and whoever picked up the tab for the “Trump Dossier” (both in Hillary’s 2016 campaign camp, by the way) would be in trouble.

No, no, the GOP nominated a firebrand from the outermost limits of what can be loosely canonized within decorum, such was their desperation to win the 2016 POTUS election. In so doing, they failed to remain cognizant of the fact that those who live by the sword die by the sword. This blade swings both ways and it’s quite clear by now there’s no telling whom shall be cut down next.

In light of the comedy of mistakes compiled by The Democrats and GOP, it ought to be apparent that the greatest victim of this ongoing American tragedy is The Republic and Her citizens (if that means anything to anyone anymore). What world will the young find themselves confined to?

Aside from one with trillions of dollars in Federal debt, it will be one filled with alleged heroes (some sincere, many not) on the ascendancy amidst a rising tide of rage made to order for a truly hapless citizenry.

To those in that time feeling the woeful aftermath of the wrongs wrought now, I would humbly suggest they hearken back to a sage of yesteryear, one Friedrich Nietzsche, from whom I offer the following diatribe:

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

Take it from me, someone has long speculated that we’re content in ‘Merica to be “Keeping up with the Kardashians whilst Rome Burns” and, of late, that “The Filthy have inherited The Earth.”

Don’t like it? Me neither. So, let’s change it. But before starting out, let’s get one thing straight: if you want someone to blame for the fate befallen our hallowed Federal Republic and Her people, you need only gaze into the infinite abyss of a mirror. It has but one face, and that Is ours.

Let’s not lie to ourselves and think that America is the way She is now because it has been allowed, that we’ve accidentally tolerated evil to wreak havoc. No, the truth is that the denizens occupying the tea party of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” are running riot with reality because this is the America we fashioned with our own choices. Look at what we value as a people, what we place emphasis on, what all the “Dollar voting” (what we spend our money on) supports. That’s where our heart is. That’s who we are.

Donald Trump is America.

The Barrister for The One-Third

DeViney, Jack

Fabriqué en Babylon: Meanwhile

Political Beast: Two-Year (Cotton Anniversary) Retrospective

Fabriquè en Babylon: Here There Be Monsters