Trying to Make Sense of Horror

I write this with some trepidation and beg forgiveness in advance. The situation in Israel is well above average on a polarization scale that continues to recruit members at both ends of the spectrum at a frightening rate. Keeping in mind (Berndt) Rule #31: “If you’ve never offended anyone, you might ask yourself if you’ve ever said or done anything worth thinking about”…

At the invitation of one of my dearest friends, I attended a solidarity event last Tuesday at Temple B’nai Amoona, the synagogue at the school where I ended my teaching career. Ever since I have been trying to refine my thoughts about the multiple human tragedies unfolding daily since October 7 in the Middle East.

U. S. citizens have zero business judging the leadership of any other democracy, especially not since 2016. The similarities between Netanyahu and Trump, with a touch of Putin for flavor, are both glaring and frightening. Wannabe autocrats actively sabotaging freedom share many qualities, none of them admirable. 

Jews know their history, not just their history in Europe during World War II. For the current hostages in particular, but all Jews in general, how familiar must the events of October 7 feel? Innocents murdered, tortured, rounded up and hauled off to an unknown fate by people openly dedicated to their complete annihilation. Blatant anti-Semitism has emerged from its closet, not just recently but over the past several years, and it must create a frightening sense of déjà vu.

Listening to the reading of the 240+ names who have been abducted – and still remain – as hostages in the dark tunnels of Gaza, one family stood out for me (though it was just one of several). Two parents and three of their children were taken from their home on a kibbutz near the border, and dragged off to what is, essentially, an underground concentration camp, where they remain.

We all want simple solutions, simple answers to incredibly complex problems. I know enough, have read enough, have studied enough, to realize such a desire is completely delusional. No one, certainly including me, knows how this tragedy will play out, how it will end, and in some cases has already ended, for the many thousands impacted by it. All the analyses of causes and effects, all the political posturing, nothing will change that. Unfortunately. Abducting and holding innocent hostages only inflames an already open sore.

Poisonous hatred, and anti-Semitism is only one potent ingredient, has been steeping in the boiling darkness of our world for much longer than any of us are probably willing to admit, and the resulting concoction is, and, sadly I fear will remain, a bitter brew, with a polluting aftertaste that will last for years. 

Hostages. Did I mention Hamas continues to hold innocent civilian hostages? Over a month after their initial attack. Yeah, pretty sure I did, but it’s a fact that must neither be forgotten or ignored.

Wednesday Wonk

I ADMIT to being a bit of a political wonk (unless it requires truly extensive research, because I also admit that I’m not that energetic about providing enlightenment for free). So when the following crossed my “desk” this morning, it triggered a memory.

NOT that I get a lot of MAGA traffic here, but while this is critical of Trump’s tenure as President, it’s policy, not personally, focused. (There’s plenty of the latter out there, and if you’re not already convinced, nothing I or anyone else can say will move you off 5^th Avenue.) Just a tidbit to file away, if you want.

THE move to make LEDs the primary form of lighting in homes and businesses is shaping up to be huge when it comes to energy efficiency. In 2005, a typical commercial building spent 40 percent of its electricity just lighting the place; today it’s 6-8 percent. An incandescent bulb gets 17 lumens of light per watt, while your typical equivalent LED is looking at 70 lumens per watt.… Lighting accounts for 15 percent of global power consumption.... Switching to more efficient lighting not only reduces the costs of light, but also makes it more available worldwide without damaging the atmosphere. (Source: Vox via Numlock)

TRUMP made a lot of noise (because that was his primary focus and outcome across the board) about his battle to undo federal rules (started under George W. Bush in 2007, btw, but accelerated under Obama) on light bulbs. In late December, 2019, the Trump administration announced it would block a rule designed to phase out older incandescent bulbs and require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. 

REFLEXIVE opposition to anything progressive (or somehow connected to the Obama administration) was not only a hallmark of the Trump administration, but also now of the Republican Party, regardless of what positive effects those policies, rules,or attitudes might have. Never mind that LEDs help save both money and the environment. Not that there's a problem with climate change, of course, but $$$....

Hollow Victory — No Joy in Mudville

I suppose I should feel better about the 2020 presidential election outcome than I do. I really wish I could. After all, it was Trump who struck out (probably primarily because of his tendency to lash out).

As the process unfolded, I had one, and really only one, overriding concern – defeat the incumbent, a man so despicable that I’m repulsed to be lumped in the same gender category as him. 

He was, from my perspective, the worst president of my lifetime – 72 years, so, since Truman, although I obviously don’t have any real memories of HST other than his post-presidency, but I do read and know, have even taught, our nation’s history. In my view, no previous modern occupant of the White House comes even close.

While I think Trump was a bad president (again, the worst in my lifetime), he was a worse person, one who brought out the worst instincts in both his supporters and opponents, who enabled and encouraged white supremacists, who made even our friends abroad ask, “What the hell, America?” It will take a long time to rehabilitate our reputation abroad, to restore the trust and leadership that once was ours, to, pardon the expression, Make America Great Again. You can discount the opinions of your enemies, your rivals, but when friends and allies roll their eyes (Hello, Lincoln Project), you might want to rethink your choice. 

Donald.Trump.Is.A.Bad.Man.

Being anti-abortion doesn’t change that; he stands behind cruelty. Not that his supporters will likely believe them, but the revelations that will flow from the toxic waste dump that was his administration will probably surprise even me. To be clear, I don’t want to see him charged with any crimes (there’s little doubt in my mind that there are multiple legitimate possibilities). But then I also supported President Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon. Because Ford put healing the country ahead of politics, he may have cost himself the election of 1976. I hope President-elect Biden pushes all the tempting revenge scenarios to the bottom of his (necessarily lengthy, thanks to his predecessor) agenda, and encourages states’ attorneys general and governors to do the same.

Nor does the failure of the mythical “Blue Wave” to materialize discourage me, although I would have welcomed it. And I have little hope that Mitch McConnell will be anything other than what he’s been for the past 10 years, a Machiavellian politician with a private agenda to recreate a 1950s America (which was probably pretty good for a straight, middle class, white male, considerably less so for most everyone else). So I am resigned to a miserable stretch of at least two years, maybe longer if the 2022 elections follow recent patterns,  but I’ve managed to survive charting new depths of despair for the past four years....

So what disturbs me most about this election? The one thing it absolutely proves is that 2016 wasn’t an aberration. I had hoped, a false hope it is now obvious, that 2016 was a visceral reaction to frustration with the state of the country, to feeling ignored and invisible, to feeling like a pawn to be sacrificed. I conjured up various explanations, based on my own observations, based on what I thought I knew about those who voted for him. You know, “fine people on both sides.” I worked to understand why some of those people, people I knew to be decent and honorable, voted for Despicable He. I excused, rationalized, tried to defend their decision. Most of the people I knew weren’t 5th Avenue Trumpists; they may have been fooled once, or were so antagonistic toward his opponent that they voted AGAINST her, but these were good people who would come to their senses after witnessing the bullying, lying, and aggressive ignorance that consistently characterized our 45th president.

2020 has made it obvious that, once again, I’m a hopeless optimist not grounded in reality. 2016 is who we are, because in 2020, HALF of the American voters wanted to return this not very bright, incompetent, vulgarian bully to the White House. The most (and, quite frankly, only) charitable explanation that I can come up with (but recognizing my own blinders) is partisan blindness, a belief that only one political party cares about the future (and only their vision of that future) of the country. Trump’s rejection by a majority of the voters is a small relief, but that so many wanted the opposite, that so many continue to defend him, does not make me hopeful in the slightest about the future USA in which my daughter and granddaughter will live.

What can I do? My first action: abandon any hope that maintaining even FB relationships with those outside my belief system might open their minds. That was a fruitless and frustrating 4-year endeavor. So I will leave them to their hyper-partisan echo chambers, their Fox News, PJ Media, Daily Caller, Daily Wire, Breitbart, InfoWars, etc., etc. If that’s where they choose to live, so be it, but I don’t have to visit or even walk past their house, because my presence clearly changes nothing except to make me feel worse. 2020 has been bad enough – I don’t need to get burned by adding fuel to a dumpster fire.

Even if I think I know, I will not ask about your vote. I am not actively looking to shed connections, but if you insist of posting stupid, insulting, political memes, repeating absurd conspiracy theories, or echoing Doomsday/End of the World prophecies, sheepling (bleating) the words of others instead of your own, well, I have better ways to waste my time and fill up my feed. Bye, Felicia.