More Fantastic [David’s blog on Flawed Wednesday]

I dreamed that there were grizzly bears swimming in my pool. I don’t have a pool. In the dream, the bears were friendly. I enjoyed their antics. They were showing off because they knew I was watching.

On our walk, the maples in the park are beginning to turn. I look forward to this time of year when the color of the leaves knocks my socks off. Isn’t that a funny image? My socks flying off my feet from the sheer force of color. It’s a dream image. Metaphors are like that.

They are pulling the boats out of the harbor. We watched as the rolling crane lifted an enormous yacht from the water – as if it was a toy – and then slowly rolled it into the boatyard for cleaning, shrink wrap and storage. A surreal experience.

These days I go outside with Dogga to keep an eye on him. He wakes us before dawn. I have been enjoying watching the moon wane. This morning it was a sliver. Orion was high in the sky. The only sound was a distant train engine idling. Dogga was suddenly at my feet. We sat on the cool stone of the patio and had a sweet pet.

Everything seems dreamlike to me in this era of mass disorientation. I don’t know about you but I’m having a much easier time believing that grizzly bears are swimming in my pool than I am that anyone still supports this pedophile president and his feckless republican party. Unlike the bears, he is not friendly and his followers are not a joy to behold.

Like me, do you dream of a time when truth is once again valued and integrity restored, when dreams are more fantastic than the daily tsunami of outrage and lies?

read Kerri’s blog about THE MAPLES

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Oh, NOOOOOO! [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Kerri thinks this Dogga-fuzz looks like the “Oh, No!” emoji: 😮 “That’s what my face looks like every day while I read the news,” I said. Making the oh-no-face I groaned, “Oh, NOOOOOOOO!!”

Do you remember Mr. Bill from SNL? He is quintessential humor. He’s like Wylie Coyote. We laugh because we know Mr. Bill or Wylie Coyote are about to get creamed.

Comedy is often based on the pain of others: the man slipping on a banana peel is funny. The National Institute of Health tells us that, “Comedy and pain are closely linked because humor serves as a psychological shield, a physiological pain reliever, and a way to process trauma.” This definition makes me wonder why the entire nation is not howling with laughter. There’s a ton of pain in these un-United States. Of course, it’s not funny if you are the man slipping on the banana peel; there is no comedy when the pain is yours. We call that “tragedy”.

Mr. Bill cries, “OH, NOOOO!” as he suddenly recognizes of what’s coming the moment before he’s flattened.

The rest of the world should be laughing at us, given that we are the person slipping on the banana peel, except the pain is ubiquitous. It is worldwide. We – all of humanity – with the exception of the maga-few – know that we are being flattened. This banana peel has all of humanity tumbling. “OH, NOOOO!” we cry! The maga-few laugh but we know they are being crushed, too, and have yet to realize it.

I suspect they know…but are too invested to show it. Their laughter is a psychological shield. A psychological fortress.

Someday historians will write tomes of this era. They will chuckle in disbelief at the mess we made. Their research will have them snickering as they ask, “How could they not see that coming?”

It seems we’ve elected a party of Mr. Bills and Wylie Coyotes, smug in their red hats, riding their ACME rockets all the way to the bottom. Poof. It makes me wonder if or when they will realize they are orchestrating their own demise? Will they allow themselves to see the rapidly approaching canyon floor? Through their laughter can they hear the nation – and the world – crying, “Oh, NOOOOO!”?

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE FUZZ

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Who We Are Not [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

For a few short weeks, peeking from beneath the tall grasses in the front yard, we had a single yellow flower. A volunteer. A bright yellow visitor that perked up our days. The question of what type of flower remains. “It’s definitely not mules-ears,” Kerri said, comparing the results of her Google search to the photograph.

We do not know what it is but we do know what it is not.

I’ve often heard that in our democracy, we must redefine ourselves every day. Democracy is a living thing. It is a relationship. Governance of, by and for the people is, well, dynamic. We rarely know with certainty who we are – by design. We are, by design, a diverse nation, fluid in our aspirations – not fixed as is the case in authoritarian regimes. However, in these times, it is increasingly apparent, and vitally important, to know who and what we are not.

We are not maga. We are not a cult of personality.

We are not supremacists, white or otherwise.

We are not fully conservative or wholly progressive.

We may currently be lost in the woods but we are not arsonists who would burn down the forest.

We may be gullible but we are not stupid.

We pride ourselves on our individualism. It is high time that the party of red, those who tout themselves as the guardians of individual rights, recognize what they have become. They no longer know who they are. They most certainly have become what they claim that they are not. Afraid of speaking truth. Afraid of acting independently. Followers of a man rather than stewards of a nation of laws. They followed a liar into the swamp but are they lemmings who will follow him over the fascist cliff?

Those wearing red hats with hearts full of fear have helped me know who I am by showing me unequivocally what I am not. I believe they are doing the same for the majority of this nation. At this juncture, amidst the wreckage and global humiliation, we may not know who we are but we are rock-solid certain in knowing who we are not.

In Prayer, 67″x64″ mixed media on canvas

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE YELLOW FLOWER

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Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

A “useful idiot” is a derogatory political term for a person who is manipulated into supporting a cause or agenda without fully understanding its true goals or consequences. They inadvertently aid a political group that may actually oppose their own interests. ~ Merriam-Webster

Historians will write of maga as a coalition of useful idiots.

Farmers. Hispanic males. Blue collar workers. Red-hat-wearing-flag-waving-women. People. Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, despite an insurrection, a first go-round that left the world slack-jawed at the incompetence, these people bit the lie hook, line and sinker. They voted a second time – in some cases a third time – for their own demise and the ruination of the very system they believed they were voting to protect.

I’ve ask myself everyday, “How is this possible?” And then…

And then I watch on-the-street-interviews with hardcore maga-mates who are honestly shocked when shown images of January 6th. It is as if they’ve never seen them – because they haven’t. Their news source – their information source – edited the facts to maintain the illusion within their bubble.

I am agog at the legion of Hispanic males who voted for a candidate who promised mass-deportation. What bubble gave them the illusion that masked immigration agents running amok, targeting brown and black people for deportation, would not impact them? What bubble gave them the illusion that they and their families would not be the target of the horror?

The current occupant of the White House destroyed the farm economy in his first term. What info-bubble made is possible for them to once again vote for the man, the party and “policies” so ruinous to their livelihood? “The number of farm bankruptcies in the second quarter of 2025 was double the number of bankruptcies for the entire year of 2024″. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…

I shake my head in utter disbelief at the Joe Rogans, the right wing media who are now gobsmacked that inflation is rising, that we are in yet another forever war, that this administration is throwing the full weight of the government behind protecting the Epstein Class, that billionaires are getting wealthier while the American dream is farther and farther out of reach for the rest of the nation. Why are they now surprised? They voted for it. They cheered it into existence.

What bubble prevented them from seeing the obvious? The grift. The lies. The corruption. The incompetence. Project 2025, the blueprint for fascism, was not hidden. What bubble promotes dross as valuable?

It’s possible that we’ve found the Achilles Heel of the 1st Amendment. None of us are impervious to misinformation. What happens when the right of free speech, the protected expression of opinion, is confused with the concept of “news”? What happens when fiction is juicier and more profitable than fact? Confirmation bias for you and for me. A people no longer seeking the truth, but opinions with which we agree. Bubbles, bubbles, here and there. Useful idiots everywhere.

read Kerri’s blogpost about BUBBLES

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Send It Packing [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

There’s lots of silverware sets in the antique stores. The felt cases are deteriorating, the silver tarnished. They come from another era, dare I suggest, another mindset. We moderns are more interested in the latest-new. Unlike our ancestors, we’ve grown up in a world of planned obsolescence. We do not expect our appliances to last. Our children – like us – are not interested in grandma’s good china or in the fine silver. There is no place for it to go so it inevitably lands in the antique mall.

We have a different relationship with time than did our ancestors. We have a different relationship with the stuff of our lives. We need not make things last or make things that are intended to last. Central to our day-to-day functionality is technology and it rapidly changes, it is out-of-date the moment it arrives on the scene. If we are to keep up, if we are to be relevant in our world, we need to be more fluid than our predecessors. Making stuff that lasts, durability, is no longer high on the priority list. Changeability is the necessity.

I hear these questions a lot lately: How is it possible that I didn’t know that? How is it possible that I do not know the full history of this nation? It’s a question I ask myself almost daily. Oligarchs aligning with fascists to erase democracy is not new to our era. White nationalism is a river that runs through all the pages of our history book. Sadly, our present turmoil is not new. We’ve been here before. My hope is that we see it for what it is and treat it like an old silverware set. My hope is that this is the last cycle, that we are the generation that sends it packing to the antique mall. We’re not interested in passing it down or enabling another go-round. We’d like our children to have a future free of the rotting relic of racism.

Changeability is the necessity. A democracy free of the ugly hubris of the morbidly wealthy, a democracy that thrives on equality, is necessarily fluid, ever growing and adapting with the diverse nation it upholds. There is no useful place in our nation-home for the tarnished mindset of maga-white-nationalism. It is a relic. Its case is deteriorating. It needs to go.

Notion, 33″x 60″, mixed media on canvas

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE GOOD SILVER

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Do What You Say [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

A note to the right-wing podcast ecosystem (as inspired by the fence-sitting-squirrel, a silhouette, an image obscured by a screen):

Dear Joe Rogan and Co.: With this latest betrayal – a war declared by your America-First president – it is probably occurring to you (at long last) that you have been deceived. I understand there was already a tiny crack in your unwavering belief since you’ve recently realized that, despite his full-throated campaign promise to expose the Epstein Files, he is actually implicated in them, and will go to great lengths, even going to war, to keep them concealed. He lied to you about the Files. He lied to you about America First. He lied to you about being a champion of the little guy. I hope it is not lost on you that the Epstein Class of billionaires are enjoying their massive tax break while the rest of us are finding day-to-day life less and less affordable.

He lies. Until now, you’ve either swallowed, justified or explained away his lies. It is my hope that you are finally opening your eyes and seeing the extent and pervasiveness of his lies. He has no intention of cleaning the swamp because he is the swamp. To that end I hope you are also now growing savvy to his endless claim-without-evidence that the 2020 election was rigged. It was not. That, too, is a lie. It’s more important now than ever that you awaken to this particular lie because he is claiming that all of our elections – especially the upcoming midterms – are rigged against him.

Do you see the pattern? While he lies to you he simultaneously strips you of your rights. Due process is a right that is already violated; it either applies to all or to none-at-all. A free and fair election is also your right. Despite what he proclaims we have always enjoyed honest, safe and fair elections – until now. Mail in ballots are safe. They always have been. You can check it out if you don’t believe me. “Illegals” are not pouring over the border to vote. That’s a straw man, an intentional misrepresentation meant to deceive you and keep you angry. His latest SAVE act would block millions of voters from exercising their right to vote.

Because of the success of his incessant lies our democracy now teeters on the edge of authoritarianism. The only chance we have is to come together, guard and secure our next election. We may not agree on much but I am assuming that we can all agree that our right to vote is worth protecting. Our vote is, after all, the epicenter of our republic and the liar is moving to take that right away. To do it, to be successful, he needs you to continue to believe his lies. He needs you to forget the Epstein Files lie. He needs you to believe every lie he tells about our latest war with Iran, Venezuela and Equador. He needs you to embrace every single lie he tells about voter fraud. Most of all, he needs you to promote and spread his lies.

He needs you to consider me and those like me, progressives, as the enemy. That, too, is a lie. We have the same goal: a healthy democracy – and deserve a government that serves us and not the Epstein Class. We deserve a government that honestly debates the best path forward which requires it to deal in truth and not hide behind lies.

You have a voice, a platform. I – we- can only ask that you take an honest look at the yawning gap between what you’ve been told, what you’ve been led to believe – and what has actually transpired. We are now at war. The president is actively covering up the Epstein Files. There is no truth or proof to his claims of voter fraud.

If you desire free and fair elections this fall, we, the nation, need you to challenge the lies and speak to what you now see. We-the-people need you use your platform to protect the veracity of our elections. Literally put America first – rather than assist the liar in his authoritarian takeover – do what you say you believe and lend your voice – give your voice – to the protection our democracy.

Weeping Man, 36″x48″, mixed media

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE SCREEN

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Join The Work [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

We’ve had more snow in the past two months than in the past three years. I am getting reacquainted with my snow shovel who, I imagine, is delighted to finally have some actual purpose in life. My shovel is not old enough for retirement and would rather work than play golf.

I just personified my snow shovel.

I also just betrayed a bit of insight into myself. I would rather work than retire so I’ve projected that onto my shovel. That is how projection works.

It’s an easy leap for my brain to make and I know the same is true for all of you out there. Personifying a snow shovel is only slightly different than investing in a conspiracy theory or embracing a big lie despite an overabundance of facts. Personifying my snow shovel is less destructive than storming the Capitol.

Personifying my snow shovel is all for fun and is far less ruinous than gulping an obvious misdirection narrative that claims poor-Black-women-are-taking-your-tax-dollars, all the while the wealth of the nation is actually, factually, picked out of the pockets of the middle and lower classes and stuffed into fewer and fewer morbidly wealthy pockets. Robbing Medicaid to fund a massive tax break for the already-wealthy is how an oligarchy is created.

I know I am personifying my snow shovel, I know I am projecting and playing make-believe. Can the same be said for maga-nation or all the AWOL republicans out there? And, of course, their projection onto we-the-woke is that we are trying to destroy democracy. They betray a bit of themselves. That’s the way projection works.

It’s also worth noting that my newly personified snow shovel is equally adept at clearing paths through heaps of bullsh*t as it is mounds of snow. I know the same is true for most of you out there. Every time you clear a path through the lies or shovel out the inanity, you give me hope. It’s how a democracy is restored. You inspire me to grab my shovel and join the work.

read Kerri’s blogpost about SNOW

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Plant The Seed [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

And just like that, fall is in the air. The harvest is happening and jalapeno poppers are on the menu. We have a bumper crop of tomatoes and are making an extra batch of pesto since the basil is outdoing itself. In the middle of nature’s man-made erratica, our garden thrives and reminds us to appreciate abundance where she shows her face.

Over the Labor Day weekend, a woman, an elder on the block, decided to host a neighborhood gathering. People came out of their houses with platters of food to share. Kerri has lived here for 36 years and has a long history with many of the people who sat in a circle and chatted. I’ve lived here for 13 years and although I’d seen many of the faces before, I’ve waved to many of the faces as we walked by, but I’d never actually had a conversation with most of my neighbors. They are delightful and quirky, each with an interesting story to share.

I decided that the people of this nation need one-big-block party with one rule: no talk of politics. Bring food to share. Shake hands. Ask, “How are you?” Talk about the real stuff, the plumbing problem or share photos of grandchildren. Talk about the zealous garden that the hot and humid summer weather ignited.

Kerri and I used to host many, many gatherings: slow dance parties, midnight X-mas eve bonfires, ukulele band rehearsals and choir potlucks. Since COVID and with the rise of ugly-maga-madness, we’ve “pulled up the drawbridge”. We keep and guard a tight circle of friends. We cultivate a sanctuary in our backyard.

This morning I read a quote by Noam Chomsky:

Neoliberal democracy. Instead of citizens, it produces consumers. Instead of communities, it produces shopping malls. The net result is an atomized society of disengaged individuals who feel demoralized and socially powerless. In sum, neoliberalism is the immediate and foremost enemy of genuine participatory democracy, not just in the United States but across the planet, and will be for the foreseeable future.

Maga is neoliberal. Project 2025 is neoliberal: it promotes “liberalizing” markets, meaning the removal of all regulation and oversight, while eliminating anything that smacks of service or a social program. Neoliberalism has been a disaster in the past; it promotes oligarchy and fosters dictatorship. Our Civil War and our Great Depression were in large part produced by a neoliberalist agenda. It worships business, undermines service, and fosters division. It is the toxic philosophy creating the national disaster we currently endure. Neoliberalism is a Roman orgy for the wealthiest few. It is an economic speeding car with no brakes and cares not-a-whit for who or what it runs over. It always ends in a nasty crash.

The phrase in Chomsky’s quote that struck a chord was “The net result is an atomized society…” Here we are. Atomized. It is undeniable. It is antagonistic.

On my growing list of responses to the question, “What can we do?” I am adding, “Host a neighborhood gathering.” Breaking bread together is an ancient tradition, perhaps as old as humanity itself. At the very least it is a step toward connection. Social power is a group sport and begins when neighbors gather and talk. A neighborhood gathering plants the seed for participation and active community, a someday-place-of-appreciation, a mighty harvest, where abundance will gladly show her face.

read Kerri’s blogpost about HARVEST

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Definitions [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

I’m a big fan of secondary definitions. Not only does the word addle mean to confuse, it also means to make an egg rotten. In my mind the two definitions are connected: addle a brain too long and it will rot.

A case in point: while forwarding our smack-dab cartoon on Saturday I happened upon a disturbing comment thread. Members of the maga-cult were abusing a woman who dared to defend the plight of immigrants.

2. Abuse (verb): treat (a person) with cruelty or violence.

The harangue included demands that the woman “get her facts” straight, which I found particularly obscene since the maga-abusers were astonishingly-fact-free while the woman was rooted in reality. The maga-big sticks included two easily debunked claims: 1) The Biden administration paid millions of social security dollars to “illegals*”, and 2) the “illegals” were bleeding the system without paying into the system.

This took less than a minute to fact check: Can undocumented immigrants collect social security? No.

Are undocumented immigrants eligible for Medicaid? No. (bonus fact: Is misinformation rampant? Yes).

And, here’s the kicker for anyone who cares to live in a world of easily checked facts: Undocumented immigrants paid more in taxes than Amazon, GM, IBM, and Netflix combined.

I recognize – as I believe we are all coming to recognize – that the maga-mind is particularly resistant to any bit of data or fact that contradicts their fever-fantasy. Their adamant defense of the indefensible has little to do with truth or fact or historical accuracy or hard science – they hold fast to their absolute right to muddled minds because it gives them license to abuse. They mimic their dear leader. The bully-impulse is the bond that unites them.

*Take, for instance, the fox-generated-and-now-widely-maga-touted-term “illegals”:

Illegals (plural noun. derogatory. north american): a person present in a country without official authorization.

In the fascist handbook it is a hard and fast rule to first dehumanize a group of people before subjecting them to inhumane abuse. For instance, making people wear yellow stars before herding them into train cars and disappearing them into concentration camps or – as is currently happening – calling people illegals en route to suspending their (and our) constitutionally protected right to due process – so that masked agents of the government can pluck people off the streets and disappear them into…concentration camps.

inhumane (adjective): without compassion for misery or suffering; cruel.

I hope we can all agree that the sadistic treatment of other people is barbaric. Well…if you are maga, your mind is so addled that your moral compass no longer functions, as is evidenced in daily celebrating ruthless savagery – like ICE – while claiming to be ethical, christian, and upstanding.

Addle a brain too long and more than the mind will rot.

read Kerri’s blogpost about ADDLE

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Mint And Magic [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

In folklore, garlic is supposed to ward off evil spirits and, according to Bram Stoker, it is especially useful at repelling vampires. I imagine that the protective properties dissolve once the garlic is sauteed with onions: evil spirits and vampires alike could not possibly be repelled by the intoxicating aroma of garlic and onions.

According to some traditions, mint, in addition to fostering tranquility, also has protective properties. Instead of vampires, mint defends against “negative energies and entities”. Since we in these un-United States are awash in negative energy and ill-intended entities, I am comforted that in our herb garden the mint is exploding out of its pot.

I suppose it is a silver lining to climate change that our summers are hotter and more humid which seems to be a super-steroid for mint growth. I’m considering planting a moat of mint around our house. I’m considering sending mint to all the people I love. It seems increasingly likely that they – and we – will need to fortify ourselves against the rising tide of negative energies and the entities that the republicans recently funded. I am considering wearing a necklace of garlic to ward off Stephen Miller and Russell Vought – the first legitimate vampires I’ve witnessed. Apparently Bram Stoker wasn’t just fictionalizing things.

In magic traditions mint has healing properties and is especially useful in enhancing mental clarity and sharpening focus. It is a calming agent. For these reasons I am pondering the virtues of sending mint to maga. Hey! That’s a catchy phrase for a campaign! Mint-To-Maga. Has there ever been a group of people in the history of humanity that was in greater need of mental clarity and calming down? That would require more mint than currently spills out of our pot but in the recent decimation of green energy in favor of fossil fuels, climate change is guaranteed to roar ahead unimpeded so my sudden mint production need has an unintended boost. After my mint moat is planted I’ll start looking for a farm.

I should have sent them mint before the election. I should have known this administration would suck the life-blood from the very people who voted them into power. Well, I did know but confess that I thought it would take longer to execute. Negative entities move faster than I knew. And, now that I think about it, I should have sent garlic prior to the election though I doubt it would have done any good. Maga seems hellbent on giving their blood to the Nosferatu. By now you’d think they’d have realized that they are being fed a steady diet of red herring and are, themselves, the primary food source of the Project 2025 vampires.

Fattened as they are on lies and gleefully cheering their own demise, I doubt that any amount of garlic can now protect them. It could possibly take a mountain of mint and more than a little bit of magic to calm them enough to reclaim a modicum of mental clarity – but I think it is still worth a last-ditch effort. My Spine-for-Congress campaign was a complete failure and now that their Mega-Murder-Bill is unleashed and aimed directly at the red states – and the rest of us, Mint-for-Maga just might help the red-hat-crew open their eyes before the negative energies suck them – and the rest of us – dry.

read Kerri’s blogpost about MINT

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