Lincoln

There are only eight days remaining to the virus-plagued year of 2021.  Today is the day for accomplishment of the state of dharani, for with it we hear the teachings of all the buddhas and are able to receive and maintain it. 

On this date in 2013, jazz composer and multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef passed away at age 93. Impermanence is swift. In the 1960s, for some reason Lateef performed for the students at my St. James, Long Island elementary school. The reasons may have something to do with jazz pianist Mose Allison, who lived in town and whose daughter was in my class, but I don't know. Anyway, we were told how fortunate we were to have someone of such renown and accomplishment play for us, but since his name wasn't John, Paul, George, or Ringo, it went right over our head. Oh, to be able to go back in time and listen to that show again!

Meanwhile, Republican voter suppression in Georgia continues.  Republicans took control of the local election board in rural Lincoln County and plan to eliminate six of the county's seven polling places.  I assume they figured that closing all seven and just declaring the winner themselves would look too obvious.  

Let's be clear - they're not doing this for the benefit of the people of Lincoln County. Republicans don't care about the rural citizens of Lincoln County, Georgia or serve the interests of anyone but themselves and their corporate benefactors. 

They seek to seize the election process to ensure they never lose power ever again. Even disgraced, twice-impeached, former so-called "president" Donald Trump has admitted that when more people vote, Republicans can’t win. 

They seek to empower and embolden their crazy-ass base.  That person screaming at the server at your favorite restaurant? They get to vote. That person having a meltdown on a flight over a simple mask? They get to vote.  That person that harasses minorities? They get to vote.  That kid who murders two people during a protest? He gets to vote and is elevated to hero status.

It’s time to take Georgia and the rest of this country back from the crazies and restore society, not to an old or previous standard, but to a new inclusive standard where we can once again trust our neighbors. Where we don’t have to worry about encountering emboldened crazies in our communities. Where we all get a vote that counts in elections.