Democratic primary

The Republican Party under Donald Trump has no conscience. The Democratic Party has too much of a conscience. Some Democratic candidates believe that experience, pragmatism and toughness can defeat Trump. Others believe that  sweeping change in the name of equality and fairness will do the job.

The past Democratic history of Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Eugene Macarthy and Michael Dukakis shows how ruthless the Republican Party can be and how naively hopeful the Democratic Party can be.

Now as Trump beats up on innocent people and American principles, the Democratic candidates are beating up on one another. As much as I wish for the realization of Bernie’s proposals, I also wish for a leader with a proven track record of getting things done and a proven track record of making bipartisanship happen.

The Democratic candidates, as they fight it out, are simply uncovering the weaknesses that the Republican will pounce on. Maybe there were just too many candidates to start with. Maybe the top spot is just to big a prize requiring an all out fight.

Four more years of a Trump malignancy would be unbearably destructive. It’s already gone viral in the American populous. The Democratic Party has a lot of work to do to truly make American great again.

College, 1962

When I entered college in 1962, there were no campus tours by members of the football team or trips to the new student center with pool, sauna, climbing wall and juice bar.

We were invited to a lecture by a professor of classics. How he spoke about Plato made it clear to me that I had a lot to learn and much work to do to figure out what it meant to be educated and to be human. That was the purpose of an education for me, not a career and a comfortable income, which seems to be the thrust of much of college education now.

I often call myself a dinosaur, but really I am a creature of ideas and beliefs that are enduring and deeply human.

Tropes for dopes

Tropes for dopes:

The doofus dad

The nosy elderly neighbor

The beautiful, smart 20-something blonde woman who breaks all the glass ceilings at the police department

The dickhead who is transformed by love

The pudgy, bumbling sidekick to the handsome leading man

The beautiful, good-hearted prostitute

The one-night stand that leads to true love

The nice guy who always comes in second

The starving artist

The mentally unstable genius

The mad scientist

The nasty stepmother

The siblings who despise one another

Fear

The most basic human instinct is fear. It’s at the basis of bigotry, war, discrimination and hate. Fear can even be the basis for spiritual confusion.

This is why Christ’s message of love was so radical. Unfortunately, love is exhausting and doesn’t always come out on top. We’ve seen it win many little battles, but the big ones are still a challenge.

More on decency

We give awards for all kinds of achievements in athletics, entertainment, public service and science. These are generally given for excellence in an activity and the effort that brings that excellence.

But what about the individuals who live a life of quiet integrity, courage and compassion? The individuals who choose right, even when it’s not easy? The individuals who instinctively treat others with dignity? These are the decent human beings of the world, and I believe there are many of them.

They would never expect to get an award, but truly deserve one. If you know one of these people, remind them of their worth.

Spectacle vs. poem

The spectacle vs. the poem

The spectacle comes out shooting with all its artillery ablaze. The poem whispers its way to the heart and the mind.

The spectacle is full of sound, color and smoke. The poem offers rhythm, metaphor and voice.

The spectacle is soon over, leaving only echoes. The poem embeds itself.

The spectacle is remembered as nostalgia. The poem endures as itself.

The spectacle is meant to seduce. The poem is meant to enlighten.

The spectacle needs a crowd. The poem needs only an attentive ear.

The spectacle is a distraction. The poem is a necessity.

Visual art “should nots.”

Visual art “should nots.”

Visual art should not be arrogant.

Visual art should not hide behind technique.

Visual art should not be flabby.

Visual art should not lie about important things.

Visual art should not be narcissistic.

Visual art should not be silent.

Visual art should not be afraid of words.

Visual art should not work for the devil.

Visual art should not underestimate itself.

Visual art should not be a sign of status.

Visual art should not let viewers be lazy.

Visual art should not give in.

Visual art should not be for its own sake.

Pornography

Pornography for most of us is a matter of sex. But Joseph Campbell points out that pornography is really anything which has a single prurient aim, lacking any social or artistic merit.

That is why I think of Donald Trump as the first pornographic President. Not for his attraction to porn stars or his crotch grabbing attitudes, but for the fact that his most significant obsession is his ego driven, single-minded focus on himself, which puts all else second.

This pornography is much more destructive to the American psyche than all the porn on line.

Dear news media

Dear News Media

How can you give even a minute to Kim Kardashian?

How can networks give the same amount of evening news time to entertainment news and game shows as to world news?

How can you give so much time to books and authors (not visual media) and so little time to visual artists (on very visual medi?

How can you give so much time to speculative punditry, commentary and rehash of the news and so little time to fact checking, revealing stats and valid studies?

How can politics get so much time and science and the arts so little?