Plague Journal, Snow
Today is Monday. Preparations for the impeachment trial of former president Trump are underway. I heard on NPR someone interviewed about what the president knew about the plans of the mob who overran the Capitol on January 6th. Does a mob have plans as such? There is abundant evidence that the former president feels much, and feels often, but none that I know of — that he thinks. Can he exercise reason? How does anyone know that I think except as evinced by my behavior? Is it possible to know directly the mind of another? There’s only the indirect evidence of behavior…
The topic becomes too philosophical, lost in the weeds. I sound like a devotee of solipsism this morning. Do other minds, does anything at all exist, outside of my mind?
WTF, just get on with life.
I wanted to mention snow this morning. Here in northern Illinois so far we’ve had a touch of winter. There’s been little snow and no bitter cold. Many winters ago when temps persisted in the neighborhood of zero, I remember the Chicago river frozen over, the broken ice floes were the size of small automobiles. Such a winter causes everyone to be delighted at the hint of March warming, a sure promise of springtime.
Now a magisterial poem about snow, about pausing to take stock of our kinship with Nature.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
6 thoughts on “Plague Journal, Snow”
I believe I exist, just as I believe you exist, my friend, but unfortunately, I cannot give you definitive empirical evidence to support my belief system. I’m afraid you’ll just have to take my word for it.
As far as planning mob violence, it’s fairly clear that some among the DC seditionists were acting with premeditation, quite aware of their desires to either foment chaos or even murder members of congress. Many of them came prepared for such an outcome, yet there continue to be members of the house and senate who remain supportive of the DC rioters (or at least refuse to hold them accountable, which to me is the same thing).
Below is a reply I wrote to a post from my friend Scott Ainsle when he posted about accountability for those who either stirred up the crowd or participated in the intended destruction of our democracy:
“I believe that a part of the reason we see so much vitriolic dialogue between folks on the internet is twofold. As you stated, the are no repercussions for spreading hate and denigrating those with whom one disagrees. The other part of this is assumption. One side assumes that the other has zero decency, that they cannot see the truth as it is represented by their point of view, therefore they must be either stupid of evil.
“A friend and I had the privilege of spending a wonderful Sunday afternoon at the kitchen table of Wendell Berry a few years ago. We spoke of his past and how he became the farmer/poet he is and we also discussed the recent election of DT. Many of his neighbors voted for DT because they felt ignored and disenfranchised by politicians in general and in particular the Democratic party. He did not blame them or call them names, but for the most part had a sympathetic sense of what they have endured as small farmers.
“Most of us who were horrified by the 2016 election immediately vilified those who supported DT, referring to them as ignorant buffoons. I know I did. But I was wrong and should have known better. Now, were there white racist morons who also supported him? Of course there were, but I’m certain that the majority of DT voters were not as repugnant as the Proud Boys.
“The bottom line, (and to get back to the original point), we do need accountability, but it must be handled in a way that does not blame or even seem to blame everyone who voted for DT. There must be a clarity of conviction between lawlessness and the large number of folks who have felt ignored and left out of the political process for decades. That is where the healing can be begin, by reaching out to folks we might initially find unsavory. There are bits of common ground among the vast majority of people, left or right, and that is where we begin the conversation. At least that’s my two cents on the subject.”
I guess that existence is self-evident unless one is prepared to court abject absurdity. One has to have somewhere, something upon which to stand before one can offer evidence, to make any truth claim at all. My poorly articulated blog post was that I doubt that the Senate has the fortitude, sufficient conviction of their own existence to convict Trump of the charges in the indictment. No quantity or quality of evidence is sufficient when there is no shared ground upon which to stand.
A good analysis of your reaction to the outcome of the 2016 election outcome. I confess to being in the same frame of mind at the time. That anyone could vote for a self-confessed philanderer, professional huckster made my head spin. But then I’ve been relatively fortunate, and not exposed to the systemic neglect, to the receding tide of prosperity that globalization has brought to the hinterlands. Presently the citizen in the voting booth has two choices, option A or option B. I suspect our quickly changing society, and the potential relationship to every other human with an internet connection, suggests that more than two options (parties)are called for. Another power center would greatly change the political conversation.
Rational members of the GOP are in both a very difficult situation and in the minority within their party. They have three choices:
1. Remain in the party of Trump
2. Switch parties and join the ideological opposite
3. Start a new party that will, no doubt, fail to garner sufficient support to mount a challenge to Trumpdom.
These are the folks who make up “Never Trumpers” and who have founded and supported the Lincoln Project. They are doing their best to move back towards the party of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, but it is a daunting goal. We do need a two party (or more) system in this country so that we do not end up with an autocracy, but those parties should not be “The Sane Party” vs “The Insane Party” since that is not a balance, it’s a nightmare.
All good points. It is very difficult to be rational in the aftermath of someone like Trump. The visceral response was to “get rid” of him by any means possible, as he was an immanent threat to the survival of the country. Thankfully the means of a regular election was efficient to achieve that outcome. Clearly the remaining rational members of the Republican party have a difficult decision to make. They can join and make common cause with the Lincoln Project. Who knows how that will turn out over the long haul. The Trump Party, may self destruct as the toxic, arrogant certainty of it’s devotees is likely to devolve into infighting. Trump was the maniac they were looking for. There are many in the Democratic party who are fiscal conservatives. Old school Republicans could find simpatico with like minded Democrats. No one can bear responsibility for anyone else, for doing the eight thing. They can choose to remain with the Trump party and feel bottomless self disgust, going forward.
A third Lincoln Party would have a great advantage of starting out with a blank slate, with no tradition to be hallowed or to be declaimed. That is what we need for the 21st Century. And the Democratic party needs renewal which hopefully will come with Kamala Harris and AOC.
I remember a winter as well, in the early 60’s. A rarely seen in size, ice storm occurred over one night. The following day, using side streets (although many of the major Streets were sheets of ice also), I ice skated all the way from Andersonville to Lane Tech H.S. – Clark and Foster to Addison and Western. Everything was coated with ice. What fun !
How nice, to have a pleasant memory.
Blessings
BTW: I don’t think third parties can gain much traction in the good ol’ U S of A. Remember, Ross for Boss?
Nature surprises us with the Real. Delighted sometimes and terrified sometimes.
I voted for Perot. The times have changed a lot recently. Perhaps a third party makes sense to enough of us, inclusive of a few with deep pockets? The party formerly known as the republican party is neo-fascist in outlook. The democratic party is captive by Wall Street, and is unlikely to effect structural change, paralyzed by disagreement between the status quo wing and the pro-left wing. Hello new party !