The Lincoln Project’s latest ad is
Mourning in America.
Trump is attacking the Lincoln Project – thereby raising public awareness (and approval) of the ad.
The Lincoln Project creators are
thrilled with the president’s reaction. A fight on the front pages of news outlets, from Fox & Friends to websites, will benefit the project, not the president.
Live and let die
I appreciate the American sense of humor and irreverence, hallmarks of American culture.
Trump and his entourage hoped to assure the public that they had things under control when they created a photo-op at a N95 mask manufacturing plant in Phoenix, Arizona.
It did not go well.
Somebody or somebodies with an irreverent sense of humor coupled with courage, unmasked (
ahem!) the contradiction of those in power abusing their power.
That somebody (soon to lose her/his job?) blasted on-topic
music into the warehouse, including ‘Live and Let Die’.
Of this moment,[comedian] Jimmy Kimmel tweeted: “I can think of no better metaphor for this presidency than Donald Trump not wearing a face mask to a face mask factory
while the song ‘Live and Let Die’ blares in the background.”
***
Cognitive dissonance
Locked down in my security-enhanced South African home-away-from-houseboat-home (docked in California’s Sacramento Delta), I ponder cognitive dissonance: the “state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.
With the current global tally of confirmed infections at more than 3.6 million, at least one third of which are in my adopted country, and more than a quarter of a million coronavirus-related deaths, it’s weird to feel … as if I’m doing nothing.
My mother and her helper make masks, most recently for children, that I deliver. I make small online donations. I purchase the household’s groceries and related chores “outside the wire.” We four lockdownees adhere, best we can, to level 4 lockdown rules.
Yet the planet’s catastrophe “outside” feels distant, far away.
There’s enormous suffering “out there.” The incompetent leadership “out there” is too often a feature, not a bug.
We, the People, face enormous odds. I’m doing my best… but couldn’t I do more? If so, what more?
I’m caring for my microcosm.
Why does that feel like not enough?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Day 41 feels like a day to take stock.
Today’s walk around the garden – waving the anti-spider-web stick – revealed:
- more weeds to pluck (check!)
- a sink-hole to top up (check!)
- a pond-weed path to tamp (check!)
- flowers and bugs to photograph (check!),
- dogs to walk and entertain (check!)
- and an earth-bound freshwater crab with whom to chat (check!).
Now to tackle the tough stuff:
Attempting to sell real estate after South Africa’s financial status was downgraded to BB+ - 'non-investment grade speculative' or 'junk status' – seems like a fool’s errand. (BB+ signals to potential investors an increased risk that South Africa's government might not have enough money to pay back what it borrows.)
Attempting to sell real estate during a pandemic seems like a fool’s errand.
Attempting to explain these pertinent considerations to a stubborn 87-year-old resistant to change seems futile – more so as necessary change involves terminating her relationship with seven beloved dogs.
Bogged down by seeming futility in my physical yet emotionally isolating environment, I talk on the phone with American friends. Most recent topic of conversation includes the effect of emails from the US Consulate in South Africa.
Over the past week I’ve received three such emails. Each begins:
Event: The South African Ministry of Health confirmed "xx" numbers of cases of COVID-19 within its borders. (Today "xx" = 7,572 - up 352 since yesterday.)
The email continues with information on how residents can return to the US. Most recently:
- Fly Qatar Air to Doha, Qatar … and find/purchase a ticket in Doha to complete the trip home.
- Fly SAA to Washington Dulles International and find/purchase a ticket to California. (I thought SAA was bankrupt.)
Independent of the Consulate, I found a direct flight with Turkish Airlines from Durban/Shaka to San Francisco with a stopover in Istanbul. (Turkey's rate of infection: 129,491 confirmed with 3,520 deaths.)
Flying an almost direct flight would be nice.
Masked.
Sanitized.
Socially distanced.
But… what about my mother? her dogs? her staff? her too-large house? her too-many lawns? her piles of useless household goods? her real property? her well-being….
Today, taking stock - internal therefore uncomfortably passive - feels like a good direction.
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