I feel powerless. You’ll tell me to vote, and I do, each and every time, the only time I missed an election was a California Democratic primary for which I was out of town, and I know voting makes a bit of difference, but it seems more about putting one’s finger in the dike as opposed to making positive change. It didn’t used to be that way, then again I came of age in the sixties, when everything was possible and everything was up for grabs. It was all about going forward, questioning norms and authority for a better life for everyone.

Yes, we live in a society. Even the white nationalists. The actions of the rest of us affect them. This reminds me of the wealthy, who always say they did it alone and are entitled to their riches. Well, no. You see if we didn’t buy your products, you’d have bupkes. We’re all interconnected, we all need to get along. Isn’t that what Rodney King said? Oh, he’s dead. And it won’t be long before I am too. Do I just shrug my shoulders and go on with my life? When did everybody in America become so narcissistic, only focusing upon themselves. Imagine if Kennedy were President again today, and I’m talking about JFK, not the conspiracy spewing RFK, Jr. who seems to be building a base of the uninformed looking for change. JFK said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” There are many people today who don’t believe in the country. Oh, they say they’re nationalists, but the government is evil and should be stripped down and out of their lives. How can this be? As for altruism… I’m not saying nobody cares, but it’s all about careers. You don’t want to take time out of your procession up the ladder to do for others. That’s someone else’s problem, the government’s. But isn’t this the same government that everybody hates?

So in the sixties we recognized that certain people were at a disadvantage and this needed to be rectified. Let me see… Do we want people of color to sit in the back of the bus? Be unable to go to college? Well, the dirty little secret is that many Blacks are forced into substandard schools sans the rest of society. And this impacts them their entire life. So they may not be as well-prepared for college as others who were the beneficiaries of a better education. But we’re all equal, right?

It wasn’t only about affirmative action in schools, it was also about voting rights. But the Supreme Court said racism was a thing of the past and laws were not needed. Everybody on the street knows racism is not a thing of the past. I’ll make it very simple, when you get in an elevator and you’re the only white person amongst Blacks or Latinos or…do you feel totally at ease? Admit it, in many cases you do not. You’re afraid.

But it’s their problem. They have to pick themselves up by their bootstraps. Why does everybody in America have to pull themselves up by their bootstraps? Oh, you were born handicapped? It’s your problem. Tough noogies. Or without a father? Well, you should have chosen better. What, I was unborn! And you told my mother that she couldn’t have an abortion. Are you proposing eugenics? Absolutely, we just don’t call it that.

As for the guy who started this Harvard lawsuit, it’s got nothing to do with Asians, he’s been on this tip for decades. This is his calling, to get rid of affirmative action, just like Grover Norquist wants no new taxes. Talk about the power of an individual. You can’t get a single Republican to raise taxes. Forget whether it’s called for, they’ll be excoriated by the party, they’ll be primaried. This is the result of gerrymandering. Yes, the seat is Republican, but without a Democrat who can possibly win the lunatic right winger gets the seat.

Yes, call me a Democrat. Call me a liberal. And don’t tell me it’s the same on both sides, because it’s absolutely not.

Then again, the Democrats don’t know how to fight back. Somehow Hunter Biden is the worst criminal in the world but Trump’s kids are saints? His son-in-law involved with the Saudis? As is Trump with LIV Golf. These are grifters, out to line their own pockets. Why if Trump is so rich does he keep asking for money for his legal defense?

Are there lunatic Democrats? Compromised Democrats? Of course. But the “Woke,” the language police, all those straw men the right puts up, are a tiny minority. Do we judge all Republicans by the Ku Klux Klan? Then why do we judge the Democrats by a tiny extreme?

So you’re born Black in the inner city which the Republicans label a hellhole. You’re branded before you even start. And now doors are being shut left and right, opportunity is fading. The rich have nincompoop kids who they keep trying to get advantaged. Maybe two went to Harvard and there’s one…he barely graduated high school, after being kicked out of prep school after prep school. But Daddy and his money get him one cushy job after another, because Daddy is connected. Who is doing the same for the nincompoops who are not white and rich? NOBODY! It’s their own damn fault. And we don’t want to give you no damn money, go out and work. But even if you do, we’re not gonna raise the minimum wage. Go live in a flophouse with many, eat fast food, it’s your fault you’re obese and you’ve got to pay for it. National health care? Where in the hell is personal responsibility?

Personal responsibility. Like five year olds know all about this. Like everybody in America is born equal.

Well, in the eyes of the Supreme Court they are.

Sure, in a perfect world we need no affirmative action, but we don’t live in a perfect world.

Let’s make it about women… The corporation doesn’t want you and if it does it pays you less. You might get pregnant. You’re just too risky. But we have laws to level the playing field. But if you’re a person of color? Too bad. The right wing Supreme Court justices might be going by the literal law, but not the spirit of the law. The MLB was playing by baseball’s rules. But the end result was games were getting impossibly long. So what did the MLB do? Change the rules to equalize the game and make it more appealing to the masses, who ultimately support baseball, because once again it does not exist in a vacuum. End result? It works! Games are shorter and baseball is on the way up.

But our country is on the way down. We can’t change rules, only tear them down. Because god forbid someone gains an advantage, that the law works in their behalf. It’s your fault that you’re gay or trans and we’re going to teach you a lesson by closing doors. We say we’re all about freedom, but it turns out that freedom’s for us, not you.

So everything they told us in the “Weekly Reader” turns out to be untrue. Anybody can be President? Let’s start from the beginning, who would want to be President?

And I won’t say the election fights of the past were fair, but now it’s all about defining the Democratic candidate unfairly, taking them out of the contest. Dukakis was weak on crime. As for Hillary? Didn’t she kill Vince Foster? Forget that she was educated, she thinks she’s above us. Well let me see… Do you want to have your car fixed by an amateur? Why are education and experience anathema?

The Republicans have got this game down cold. Start labeling left wing candidates negatively as soon as they pop up on the radar screen. Death taxes? Almost nobody pays them. As for the man who came up with this term…Frank Luntz is now fighting against Trump and the crazy right. But he’s to blame, the rest of them too, enabling the ignorant and racist to the point where the tail is wagging the dog. This doesn’t work in business, the CEO gets fired, but in politics it’s fine. To the point where the Republican party is now run by the tail, not the head. The uninformed.

All you’ve got to do is go on TikTok, there are a plethora of videos. Trump is a saint and Biden belongs in jail. The facts don’t matter. Fox News and its brethren, like Luntz, have created a monster, and since it’s all about money, all they do is feed the monster.

As for the Supreme Court… The voters are so ignorant.

They were told again and again to elect Hillary because of the Supreme Court and…they didn’t like this “mean” lady. I don’t care what you thought about her, but these Supreme Court decisions are a direct result of her loss.

People voting against their interests. They’ve got no idea what is going on. How can you run a country when almost nobody knows the truth? I’ll say it again, forget opinion, the number one factual resource in America is the “New York Times.” Forget the left, the right devours it and reacts to it. But the right has told its constituents to ignore the “Times,” live in darkness.

Back to the “Weekly Reader.”

Believe me, we were nationalists back in the early sixties, we believed in our country. But then we started to question.

But it didn’t occur to us that the game was rigged. That the Federalist Society would proffer inherently biased Supreme Court justices. There’s no responsibility, just fealty to the team. And if you’re not on that team…

Even worse, if your team is bigger, you still lose. Whether it be the Constitution’s two senators for every state, the massage of voting rules or… The deck is stacked against you. And if you win, you lost. Isn’t that Trump’s mantra? Play that out. Everything is up for grabs, the aforementioned baseball game, Wall Street…facts are fungible, emotions are everything, and there are takers everywhere, poised to push you into the gutter, so you’d better be alert and vigilant to make sure they gain no traction, no advantage.

Respect? How can you respect the Supreme Court? Lackeys, tools of the right. There’s an agenda, and it’s not in your favor, the majority, the average citizen, it’s all about protecting the whites and corporate interests, too often the same damn thing.

But there’s nothing I can do about it. You can’t get an abortion in your state? MOVE! But don’t move to California or New York City because they’re crime-ridden and morally bankrupt and… Well, which way is it?

Everybody’s so confused they’ve got no idea.

And all we hear is freedom, FREEDOM, FREEDUMB!

I thought freedom wasn’t supposed to hurt anybody else. And if it did, we enacted laws preventing the behavior. How does someone else’s abortion hurt you? If anything, the birth hurts you. That kid has needs, and they may have to be met by the government. But they shouldn’t be! Personal responsibility! Think about that every time you have sex, every time the condom breaks, every time the baby you’re carrying is gonna kill you but an abortion is illegal.

So we’re on our own. We can’t play in the MLB and we can’t really play in government and we certainly can’t play on the Supreme Court.

Sounds good in theory, that everybody has an equal chance to get into college. But the truth is everybody is not equal, everybody does not begin at the same starting point. Let’s talk about golf, the white man’s game. Everybody gets a handicap, to equalize scores in tournaments. Yes, you get an advantage at the country club, but not in regular life, it’s unfair!

Talk about unfair…

But I won’t. Because it won’t make a difference. The game is rigged and too often those on the side of right say their hands are tied.

We’re going backwards. I lived through the good old days of equality. Now society is much coarser and much less even. Sure, we’ve got smartphones. And yes, poor people have flat screens. But you can’t afford good food and you can’t afford a new car and…it’s capitalism. Any change will bring socialism and you don’t want that, do you?

Maybe you do.

Like Medicare.

And Social Security.

Nah, let’s just let our old people suffer. We keep hearing about deaths of despair. This didn’t used to be a thing. But I’ll tell you, if I run out of money I’ll kill myself, you can’t get a job when you’re ninety. Too many baby boomers are going to confront this situation, and then what?

Oh, too bad, it’s their own damn fault.

And it might be, but does that mean we’re going to cut them loose?

That’s what the Supreme Court says. We’re all born and then you’re on your own. However it plays out it’s your fault.

Hogwash.