I followed a piece of clickbait and arrived at this now classic quotation … from a character in a television series, no less. But as I chew on it and turn it around in my mind I have to agree with Omar Little. A lot of truth in this statement.
You come at the king, you best not miss.
Omar Little (The Wire television series)
There is a lot riding on the upcoming midterm elections, and more than a few shots are being taken at the king, who need not be named here. Those who are involved at even the most peripheral level (like moi) know that to effect change people need to stick their heads up to protest the madness of our version of King George, and we do what we believe needs doing.
Off I go to the domestic wars, waving my flags and holding up my signs. I do have a strong sense of regret in how long I took America for granted, believing that somehow it was too great an idea to ever fail completely. What I’ve learned in these perilous days is that it always depended on a mutual agreement that there was a Book of Rules to guide us all. But when someone or some group throws out the entire book we find ourselves in the mess we’re in now.
So … we are coming at the king …
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Yesterday Robin and I attended an Indivisible meeting, planning for No Kings events on October 17. If you are not involved in such matters, you may not know that there are serious obstacles to political protest, or at least to certain varieties. In our community, getting a permit to have an outdoor political gathering above a certain size in a public space requires a permit from the City of Montrose. Part of the process of acquiring such a permit is showing that you have obtained liability insurance. No insurance = no permit, no exceptions.
The problem is that no insurance company is available to us locally any longer. They have all removed themselves from that particular game, rather than even try to figure out what they should charge. So we have street corners and public sidewalks to occupy, but parks and plazas are off limits.
If any group was to take the next step, to take to the streets and parks and places of power without getting permission, as was done in the antiwar protests and the civil rights movement, that’s another matter entirely. That’s when people start going to jail, suffering fines, and there is the potential for physical injury.
But that is not where today’s protests are. We still believe in that Book of Rules mentioned above, and are working toward bringing it back to the center of our communities, where it belongs. But there is no doubt that the present atmosphere is stifling, and the opportunities narrowed.
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Periodically my scrambled bag o’ memories will serve me up a tidbit for no apparent reason. Such was the case this week when the song Lucky Old Sun, by Frankie Laine, became my earworm one morning. At one time in my life I was a big fan of his, and I can easily recall the lyrics to several of his tunes, even at this distance of time.
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Having heard that the leaves were turning beautifully at higher altitudes, Robin and I drove up to Silverton this week, and we were not disappointed. Not only were the leaves gorgeous, but there was a dusting of snow on the mountaintops along the way. Coming out of Silverton there was an electronic billboard warning drivers to be aware of “Leaf Peepers” on the road. I guess that’s what Robin and I were, all right.
Sighhhh … how tragic, to have become so uncool. A Leaf Peeper … my god.
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I’ve just completed a little project that has needed doing for a long time. Putting down on paper everything that I do as a part of the partnership of Robin and Jon Ltd. When you are together for a long time as a couple, many small day to day jobs get assigned to one person or another, and eventually there is the possibility that the right hand doesn’t even know all the things that the left hand does. And vice versa.
So I’ve created a three-ring binder that is essentially my “job description,” just in case one day I should slip on a wet patch at City Market and take a header into a stack of canned goods. This tedious collection has pages containing information like where do I keep the cashbox that holds the money collected as treasurer of our local AA group? And just as important, where have I hidden the key to it?
Stuff like that. Stuff that could annoy the very hell out of Robin if I should ever take my leave without proper ceremony. Now when I say that I’ve completed this project, almost certainly I have not, and other examples of these micro-responsibilities will pop into mind later that need to be added. But like the Tao Te Ching says, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Clever duck, that Lao Tse, wasn’t he?
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