Statement of Intent

Well, this used to be such a nice blog . . . but then the events of Election Day, November 8, 2016, changed this country in ways beyond even September 11, 2001, and it no longer seems appropriate to post pictures of toy lambs or Pokemons, or to leave cryptic Zen aphorisms and koans as posts.

About a week and a half ago, a little less that a quarter of eligible American voters decided to vote for the same man that had been endorsed by the KKK and by white supremacists, and essentially decided that it was okay to validate their desire for some sort of poorly-defined "change" at the expense of the safety, wellbeing, and civil rights of women, blacks, Latinos, the LGBTQ community, Muslims, the poor, and just about any other minority.  It doesn't matter that about 2 million more Americans actually voted for Hillary Clinton than for Donald Trump - what matters is that some 61 million Americans decided to overlook the bigoted, sexist, and intolerant remarks of the Republican nominee and elect the candidate that appealed to their basest, most vile instincts and that somehow, despite the popular vote, Trump won.

I'm not female, Muslim, or hispanic, I don't identify as L, G, B, T, or Q, I'm not black or brown, and I'm relatively affluent, but if you think I'm going to just stand around and do nothing while some of the most vulnerable people in this country are ostracized, persecuted, and prosecuted, then you don't understand me at all.

I'm constantly being advised to just relax and give Trump a chance.  "The election's over, don't be a cry-baby," I'm told.  "We need to reunite as a country," I'm told.  To that, I say that mass deportations, ethnic and religious registries, and rape culture were never American values we were ever united behind, so there's no "reuniting" with these reprehensible and deplorable (yes, I said "deplorable") policies.  And if you have any doubts about that being where we're headed, then you only need to look right now at Trump Towers, behind the gilded doors of which the worst of the nation's racists, fear-mongers, and extremists are being appointed to the highest levels of the Executive Office.

There are going to be some changes on this blog, and if those changes are not to your liking, you're free to go away and this blog was probably never for you anyway.  This is no longer a time for self-indulgence or whimsy.  It's time to get serious.