Saturday, February 22, 2025

Roses Of Success

Oklahoma native Krista Tippet wrote in this morning’s On Being email, “It feels important for me to say that when I speak of the general tumult and distress of being alive now, I know we are feeling this on every side of our life together, every side (and of course there are far more than two sides) of every issue. A burning reason in my mind that we must stop fixating on distant levels of power — as that barrage would have us do — is that our country needs healing. That healing is not merely political. The American (and global) political drama is a symptom of pain and fear, of uprooting magnitudes of change, of dreams and hopes shattered and betrayed, and alienation from each other and ourselves.”

How do we heal? Take a step back. Carve time out of your day when news apps are either turned off or ignored and engage in something completely different. It really is the only way that any of us are likely to retain a semblance of sanity. Our brains need a break from the 24/7 disaster cycle that has taken over our newsfeeds. Let’s be honest: nothing you do today is likely to immediately impact anything that happened yesterday. You can take a break, go to dinner, watch a movie, have sex, or any other number of things that are not watching the news.

I thought that was what I was doing last night when I streamed the 1968 musical interpretation of Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I keep returning to the movie time and again for multiple reasons. One, the scene where Dick Van Dyke is pretending to be a puppet is some of his best work ever. Two, the Sherman brothers’ music is still pretty kick ass. Three, my initial reaction to The Child Catcher was traumatizing and I need a reminder that bad things happen to bad people. It’s also fun to go academic and draw parallels between this book and Fleming’s James Bond character.

What I’d forgotten was an interstitial piece where the elder Potts, who has been mistakenly kidnapped and assigned the task of building a flying car, is bemoaning his fate. Flying car? Why, that’s impossible! The other inventor/scientist-type characters remind him of a well-known truth: There’s a lot of failure on the road to success. The song is so much fun that I decided to share it with you this morning.

As I sat here last night watching that song, I found it impossible to not correlate it with the ongoing disaster that is the United States government. The Friday Night Massacre at the Pentagon alone is enough to think that our world is hopeless. We’re sitting in a dungeon of despair wondering how we’re ever going to make this car/country fly. Nothing anyone has done seems to be slowing the constant barrage of illegal activities being perpetrated by this White House.

Yet, there is still hope. The Supreme Court won’t allow Felonious Punk to immediately fire the head of the whistleblower office. That’s a win, a small step forward to getting the country back. Another judge blocked executive orders eliminating DEI initiatives. And still, a different Judge upholds a ban on DOGE accessing sensitive Treasury information. See? It’s not that nothing is happening, we’re just having difficulty seeing the small steps forward because of the explosions coming from the administration.

Then, there was Punk’s exchange with Maine’s Gov. Janet Mills at yesterday’s Governors Conference. When President Shitforbrains threatened to take all federal funding away from her state, the Governor simply replied, “See you in court.” Those four words were a win. She stood up to the bully when no one else in the room dared do so. Oh, but that’s not the end of the story.

Allegedly, the Department of Education opened an investigation into Maine shortly after the exchange. The Governor responded, “Maine may be one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his Administration, but we won’t be the last. Today, the President of the United States has targeted one particular group on one particular issue which Maine law has addressed. But you must ask yourself: who and what will he target next, and what will he do? Will it be you? Will it be because of your race or your religion? Will it be because you look different or think differently? Where does it end? In America, the President is neither a King nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it – and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so.

“I imagine that the outcome of this politically directed investigation is all but predetermined. My Administration will begin work with the Attorney General to defend the interests of Maine people in the court of law. But do not be misled: this is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.”

Felonious Punk underestimates the power and determination of women all the time. I’m sure he’s thinking that he can just bully the Governor into falling in step with the president’s ridiculous stance on trans athletes. Gov. Mills didn’t get where she is by taking that kind of bullshit from anyone. Have you ever met anyone from Maine? They’re a unique group of people whose attitudes are hardened by the natural challenges that come with living in that far Northern state. They don’t put up with nonsense. They are extremely defensive of their rights. I have no question that they will go to war with the White House if necessary.

Okay, so Coffee Prices Are at a 50-Year High. I don’t like the headline or the reasons the problem exists. The coffee in my mug this morning isn’t high-end, but it’s good and hot, and keeping my eyes open long enough to type this update. I don’t expect anything major to happen over the weekend, so I’m planning on continuing to take a break from the news and finding other odd things to enjoy. There are plenty of possibilities.

Dare to enjoy the day.