The Wild Reed

Thursday, June 08, 2023

Marianne Williamson’s Economic Bill of Rights

Author and Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson recently appeared on The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow where she talked about her candidacy and, in particular, her recently launched “21st Century Economic Bill of Rights,” a 10-point plan that offers a “vision for a moral economy.”

On her official campaign website, Marianne says the following about her Economic Bill of Rights.

Economists go on television day after day and tell us the economy is basically doing well, when in fact, this begs the question: doing well for whom? . . . America’s economy is not doing well for the 1 in 4 Americans who carry medical debt, or have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet, or struggle to feed their children. In fact, the rate of poverty in America is higher than in any other advanced democracy. The plight of the poor, the near-poor, and the afraid of becoming poor, is a national crisis largely ignored by the political elite in this country. Tweaking things here and tweaking things there might disturb the monster of economic despair; but it does not slay it.

Some level of economic anxiety is now a feature, not a bug, of the American experience. According to a recent CNBC poll, 70 per cent of Americans report feeling financially stressed. People’s job or career choices are too often determined not by a natural passion or proclivity, but by their need for health care benefits, enough money for child care, or an ability to pay off their college or medical debt. Quite simply, that is not the way to have an abundant or a prosperous life.

Such factors accumulate and result in a life riddled with lost opportunity.

I am running for president to address that – not just the symptoms, but also the causes, of this era of American despair. When you do, you see a great big elephant sitting on the coffee table in America’s living room. That elephant is our need for fundamental economic reform.

People are not struggling because one party has failed and the other might do better. Not at all. People are struggling because the entire political system over the last fifty years has left millions of people behind, creating and countenancing the destruction of America’s middle class. Forces of economic royalism that have sucked the majority of America’s financial resources into the hands of one per cent of Americans are headquartered in both political parties, and the Democrats will win in 2024 – as well as for the foreseeable future – by reclaiming its traditional values as the party that tells those forces to get the hell out.

I am a Democrat because I was raised to believe that the Democratic Party is the party of the people. That is not, however, a fact universally acknowledged by American voters today, and that is the fundamental threat to our party’s success. We will win in 2024 by becoming once again the party of unequivocal advocacy for the working people of the United States.

I see the Declaration of Independence as America’s mission statement. As with any individual or group, the principles of a mission statement are the set of commitments on which we stand. It’s in constant reference to what President John Adams called America’s First Principles that we find our North Star. Staying true to that vision, we move forward. When we ignore it or abandon it, we falter.

We are faltering now, and for just that reason.

We have allowed the economics of corporate greed to overpower the principles as well as the promise of the Declaration of Independence, and it is the responsibility of our generation to rescue them.

The Declaration of Independence lays out America’s social contract, namely that government is here for its people – and not the other way around. All men are endowed with certain inalienable rights and governments are instituted to secure those rights – the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Now, over two hundred years later, we need to ask ourselves whether government is or is not doing that job. For millions of Americans, the answer would be a resounding no. In the words of Franklin Roosevelt, “a necessitous man is not a free man.” A person dying from lack of health care due to an insurance company’s incalcitrance is hardly guaranteed the right to life. A child raised in a domestic war zone is not at liberty to play safely in her front yard. A person having to work two or three jobs to make ends meet; or struggling to feed their children; or being poisoned by environmental toxins spewed into their neighborhood because it’s a “sacrifice zone,” are hardly free to pursue happiness.

Make no mistake about it. Those are not hypotheticals; they are the lived realities of millions of Americans. Economic hardship is a form of modern oppression, in part underlying every single social problem in our midst, from incarceration to depression to addiction. There is no overstating the deleterious effects of chronic economic pain on our society – simply because of the effect it has on people’s lives – that the poor, the near poor, and the afraid-of-becoming poor now make up a majority of American citizens. For the 60 per cent of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, the fear of economic disaster is never far from one’s mind.

We all know this. The time has come to say it. And it’s time to do something about it.

Wednesday, June 07, 2023

Quote of the Day

The smoke is not normal. The air is compromised from Minneapolis to DC to Boston, [with] the worst from western New York to Ottawa.

– Capital Weather Gang
Quoted in Olivia Rosane’s article,
“‘Declare a Climate Emergency’: Biden Urged to Act
as Wildfire Smoke Chokes Midwest and Eastern U.S.”
Common Dreams
June 7, 2023

Sunday, June 04, 2023

The Latest on the Return of Dr. Algernon Edwards

As an admirer of actor André Holland, I was heartened to hear the following update from The Decider’s Meghan O'Keefe on the progress of the long overdue third season of The Knick (2014-2015). In this show, André stars as Dr. Algernon Edwards, an African-American assistant chief surgeon at a fictionalized version of the Knickerbocker Hospital (the Knick) in New York City during the early twentieth century.

In 2020, [director] Steven Soderbergh confirmed to The Playlist that a third season of The Knick was in development. This new season would focus on Andre Holland’s character, Dr. Algernon Edwards, and Academy award winning director Barry Jenkins would take over the directorial baton.

Of course, a little thing called COVID happened in 2020. Then in 2021 – when The Knick finally made it to HBO Max – Soderbergh could only confirm to Rolling Stone that he had read a pilot by [writers Michael] Begler and [Jack] Amiel and was acting as a “cheerleader” on the project.

Since then, all we’ve heard about the project is that Begler and Amiel were kicking around their Knick spin-off at HBO when Team Downey [aka Susan Downey, Amanda Burrell, and Robert Downey, Jr.] recruited them to take over showrunning responsibilities for Perry Mason Season 2. So does that mean The Knick is dead in the water? Especially since Begler confirmed to Decider he’s hoping for a Perry Mason Season 3 greenlight?

“I mean, it’s still alive. We’re still developing it. We’ve actually written – Jack and I wrote the first script – and then we have a writer who’s literally just finishing up a second script that we’re going to present to HBO. I know that they really loved the first script,” Begler said.

“The center of the show would be the character of Algernon, who was played by André Holland, and we would advance the story. We would start it actually in around 1919. And it would be really about him moving up to Harlem and him opening up a clinic in the Harlem Renaissance. So it would have a real sort of different, cool vibe to it.”

So, take heart, Knick fans! The spin-off focusing on André Holland’s captivating and brilliant doctor is not dead yet. In fact it’s still very much alive.

To read Meghan O’Keefe’s piece on the third season of The Knick in its entirety, click here.

Above: Doctor Algernon Edwards, powerfully and movingly portrayed by André Holland.

Writes Ben Travers: “André Holland is the best thing about The Knick. Admittedly, Cinemax’s turn-of-the-20th-century medical drama features a bevy of exquisite work, [with] everyone [involved] working at the top of their game. But Holland, somehow, has exceeded even the industry titans to create a fascinating character played by an equally compelling actor.”

Above: Juliet Rylance and André Holland in The Knick (2014-2015). In the first season of the show, Algernon manages a secret after-hours clinic in the basement for African-Americans, who ordinarily are turned away from the hospital. He also encounters constant racism from white doctors and patients, all the while engaging in a clandestine relationship with Cornelia Robertson (Juliet Rylance), head of the Knick’s social welfare office and daughter of Captain August Robertson (Grainger Hines), a prominent member of the Knick’s board of directors.

Above: In this scene from the first season of The Knick, Dr. Edwards’ care of a young girl is interrupted by the girl’s mother who objects to her daughter being touched by a black man. It’s just one of many slights and insults Algernon must endure on a daily basis.

Above: Meawhile in the basement of the Knick, Algeron establishes and maintains a clandestine clinic to treat non-white people turned away by the hospital.

Above: Dr. Algernon Edwards with his nemesis, Dr. Everett Gallinger (Eric Johnson). Gallinger, more than anyone else at the hospital, is overtly hostile to Algernon. In season two of The Knick, Dr. Gallinger becomes increasingly involved in the emerging eugenics movement of the time. In doing so, he becomes convinced that his labeling of Italians, Jews, homosexuals, and Black people as “social plagues” is not just an opinion but science-based. Therefore, reasons Gallinger, there must be a medical solution to the problem of these “social plagues.”

Above: André’s Dr. Algernon Edwards in a rare relaxed moment.

Above: A more typical look for the beleaguered Dr. Edwards.

Above: Season two introduces Opal Edwards (Zaraah Abrahams), Algernon’s European wife.

Above: André Holland as Dr. Algernon Edwards and Clive Owen as Dr. John Thackery in The Knick.

Interestingly, André’s character in The Knick is said to be based on the historical Dr. Daniel Hale Williams (left) and Dr. Louis T. Wright.

The lives and accomplishments of these two medical pioneers are among the many stories of African-Americans that are rarely told in films or TV series – something that André Holland is dedicated to rectifying.

Following is a 2015 interview with André about the character he plays in The Knick.

Related Off-site Links:
André Holland Talks The Knick, Research for the Role, Racism of the Era, Selma, and More – Christina Radish (Collider, October 17, 2014).
André Holland Exclusive Interview – The Knick – HeyUGuys.com via YouTube (August 10, 2015).
André Holland interview: The Knick – Michael Noble (Vulture, August 19, 2015).
The Knick Season 1: Inside The Costume Shop – Andre Holland – Cinemax via YouTube (October 16, 2015).
The Knick Season 2: Dr. Algernon Edwards Angles for Chief of Surgery – Gazelle Emami (Vulture, October 9, 2015).
André Holland Reacts to Algernon’s Surprise on The Knick and More Season 2 Shockers – Ben Travers (IndieWire, October 30, 2015).
22 Photos That Prove Moonlight’s Andre Holland Deserves Your Gaze – Nancy Einhart (Pop Sugar, February 25, 2017).
Is The Knick Based on a True Story? – Greta Bjornson (Decider, March 2, 2021).

For other André Holland-related news, see:
André Holland and Gemma Chan to Topline Helmer Duke Johnson’s Neon Pic The Actor – Matt Grobar (Deadline, April 4, 2023).
High Fyling Bird Is One of the Best Netflix Films You’re Not Watching – Dominic Griffin (Baltimore Beat, February 21, 2023).
Tiffany Boone Joins André Holland in Apple’s Huey P. Newton Series Big Cigar – Joe Otterson (Variety, June 15, 2022).

For more of André Holland at The Wild Reed, see:
• André Holland: “There Are So Many Stories in Our Community That Are Yet to Be Told”
• Vulnerability Is Power
• Stephen A. Russell on Moonlight

Thursday, June 01, 2023

Quote of the Day

I cannot vote for a bill that guts key environmental protections and greenlights dirty fossil fuel projects for corporate polluters who are poisoning our communities, pushes our residents deeper into poverty by implementing cruel and ineffective work requirements for our low-income neighbors who rely on SNAP and TANF for food and housing, terminates the student loan payment pause, and slashes IRS funding to make it easier for the rich to cheat on their taxes.

We cannot continue to capitulate to a far-right Republican Party and their extreme demands while they inflict policy violence on working-class people, gut our bedrock environmental protections, and decimate our planet.

– Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)
Quoted in Jake Johnson’s article,
“Here Are the Progressives Who Voted Against
the GOP’s Debt Ceiling ‘Extortion Scheme’”
Common Dreams
June 1, 2023

Related Off-site Links:
“This Is a Compromise”: How the White House Is Defending the Debt Ceiling Bill – Rachel Treisman (NPR News, June 1, 2023).
The Debt Ceiling Deal Bulldozes a Controversial Pipeline’s Path Through the Courts – Bill Chappell (NPR News, June 1, 2023).
A Dirty Debt Deal: Biden Blasted for Backing Fast-Track Approval of Mountain Valley Pipeline – Democracy Now! (May 31, 2023).
“Turning His Back on Student Debtors”: Biden’s Debt Deal Ends Freeze on Loan Payments for Millions – Democracy Now! (May 31, 2023).
What Would Martin Luther King Jr. Think of This Biden-McCarthy Debt Ceiling Deal? – Norman Solomon (Common Dreams, June 1, 2023).
“This Isn’t the End”: McCarthy Takes Aim at Social Security, Medicare After Debt Ceiling Deal – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, June 1, 2023).
The First Debt Ceiling Fight Was in 1953. It Looked Almost Exactly Like the One Today – Stacey Vanek Smith (NPR News, June 1, 2023).
Senate Races to Wrap Up Biden-McCarthy Debt Ceiling Deal Before Default Deadline – Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves and Farnoush Amiri (AP News, June 1, 2023).

UPDATES: Senate Approves Compromise Bill to Raise Debt Limit; Sends Legislation to President Biden’s Desk With Days to Spare – Claudia Grisales, Barbara Sprunt and Vincent Acovino (NPR News, June 1, 2023).
Rep. Ro Khanna: Avoiding Default Was Necessary, But Debt Deal Was Passed at Expense of “Most Vulnerable” – Democracy Now! (June 2, 2023).
Was the Debt Ceiling Fight a Charade From the Start? Just Follow the (Big) Money – Thomas Ferguson, Paul Jorgensen and Jie Chen (Institute for New Economic Thinking via Common Dreams, June 2, 2023).
For Corporate Media, Caving to GOP Debt Limit Blackmail Was a Triumph of Bipartisanship – Julie Hollar and Jim Naureckas (FAIR, June 2, 2023).
Biden Signs Bipartisan Deal to Avert Debt Default – Franco Ordoñez (NPR News, June 3, 2023).
Progressives Say Submitting to GOP Ransom on Debt Ceiling “Nothing to Brag About” – Jon Queally (Common Dreams, June 3, 2023).
This Dirty Rotten Deal Shows Why We Must Abolish the Debt Ceiling – Samantha Sanders and Jash Bivens (Institute for New Economic Thinking via Common Dreams, June 3, 2023).
David Sirota: Working Class Will Be “Deeply Harmed” by Biden’s “Big Win” on Debt Ceiling – Democracy Now! (June 5, 2023).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Lindsay Owens: Quote of the Day – May 28, 2023
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – May 10, 2023
• A Deeper Perspective on What’s Really Attacking American Democracy
• Republicans Pose an “Existential Threat” to American Democracy
• The Big Switch
• The Republican Party in a Nutshell
• Republicans Don’t Care About American Democracy
• “The Republican Party Has Now Made It Official: They Are a Cult”

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

The Biblical Roots of “From Each According to Ability; To Each According to Need.”

Earlier this month, Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson appeared on Sean Hannity’s show on the Fox News network. Hannity is a notorious blowhard who constantly interrupts and steamrolls his guests and attempts to play “gotcha” with them. He was true to form when “interviewing” (if you can call it that) Marianne, who, to her credit, more than held her own. “She was quick and clever and delivered,” noted one YouTube commenter in the days after the segment was broadcast. “She actually demolished Sean on his own show,” said another.

At one point when pressing Marianne on the type of economic system she supports, Hannity attemptd a gotcha moment by trying to get her to agree with the following quote by Karl Marx.

From each according to ability;
to each according to need.

Marianne clearly did not recognize the quote as coming from Marx, which was a pity as she could have turned it around on Hannity, a self-avowed Christian, by highlighting that this particular phrase has its roots in the Bible.

In a 2021 article for The Conversation, Belgian philosopher Luc Bovens notes that although the phrase “From each according to ability; to each according to need” was popularized by Marx (left) in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Program, its origins are in eighteenth and nineteenth-century France where a number of philosphers – “all committed Christians whose social programs were inspired by their faith” – borrowed versions of the phrase “from French Bible translations of the time, and defended them on scriptural grounds.”

Following is an excerpt from Bovens’ article.

“To each according to needs” comes from the Book of Acts documenting the practices of early Christian communities in Jerusalem. In the Book of Acts, believers “were together and had all things in common” and sold their possessions and distributed the proceeds within the community “as any had needs.”

In French philosopher Étienne Cabet’s utopian novel Voyage en Icarie, Cabet tells of a fictional community who practice similar communal living arrangements. He later went to the U.S. and founded a number of “Icarian communities” in the second half of the 19th century, that practiced communal ownership of goods and were governed by egalitarian ideals.

“From each according to ability,” is likewise found in the Book of Acts: “So the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.” Cabet and [French socialist politician] Louis Blanc both construed this phrase as a call for Christian servitude. They believed society to be a cooperative venture in which people of means should contribute more.

“To each according to ability” is in the Gospel of Matthew. In the Parable of the Talents, a master gives his servants different amounts of money – or “talents” – and goes away on a journey: “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.” Upon his return, he praises the servants who have invested and increased their allotment but condemns the one who buried the money and simply returned it.

For [French political theorist] Henri de Saint-Simon, the phrase meant putting jobs and resources in the hands of the most qualified and entrepreneurial people and taking them away from nobility. This would lead to greater productivity, benefiting everyone, and in particular, the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in society.

. . . [Today] “To each according to need” can be applied to the debate over health care. The aim is to take the provision of health care away from market forces and to make it freely accessible to all who need it. “From each according to ability” is what underlies a concern for the common good and a conception of society as a cooperative venture, with mandatory public service as a matching policy proposal.

“To each according to ability” is at the core of equal opportunity – an ideal that underlies affirmative action legislation and various policies to increase the accessibility of college. “To each according to work” maps onto the ideal of equal pay for equal work and the push for minimal wage policies, mainly benefiting manual labor jobs.

Monday, May 29, 2023

May Vignettes

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Spring Awakens!
• Beltane and the Fire Within
• Photo of the Day – May 8, 2023
• Spring . . . Within and Beyond (2022)
• Spring . . . Within and Beyond (2021)
• Photo of the Day – May 2, 2020
• Let the Greening Begin
• New Spring Green
• Following the Footprints of Spring
• Spring Blooms
• “Jubilation is My Name”: Spring in Minnesota
• Full Bloom
• Spring Garden
• In the Footsteps of Spring

Images: Michael J. Bayly.

Sunday, May 28, 2023

Quote of the Day

The [tentative debt ceiling] deal [between the White House and Republican leaders] represents the worst of conservative budget ideology; it cuts investments in workers and families, adds onerous and wasteful new hurdles for families in need of support, and protects the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations from paying their fair share in taxes.

– Lindsay Owens
Executive Director of the Groundwork Collaborative
Quoted in Jake Johnson’s article,
“Progressives Condemn Biden-GOP Debt Ceiling
Deal as ‘Cruel and Shortsighted’”
Common Dreams
May 28, 2023

NEXT:
Rashida Tlaib: Quote of the Day
– June 1, 2023

Related Off-site Links:
Biden and McCarthy Reach Debt Ceiling Deal to Avoid Default – Mike Lillis (The Hill, May 27, 2023).
Debt Ceiling Deal Keeps Non-Defense Spending Roughly Flat Until Fiscal 2024 – Reuters (May 27, 2023).
White House and McCarthy Move to Lock Down Votes After Striking Deal to Avoid Default – Claudia Grisales, Ximena Bustillo, Franco Ordoñez, and Joe Hernandez (NPR News, May 28, 2023).
Rep. Pramila Jayapal Says White House Should “Worry” About Progressive Caucus Support for Debt Ceiling Deal – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, May 28, 2023).

UPDATES: Debt Deal Raises Military Spending and OKs West Virginia Pipeline While Introducing New Work Rules for Food Stamps – Democracy Now! (May 30, 2023).
Manchin and Biden’s Horrible Mountain Valley Pipeline Push – Allie Rosenbluth (Common Dreams, May 30, 2023).
It’s on McCarthy to Find Votes for Ransom Package, Say Progressives – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, May 30, 2023).
Far-right Members Threaten a “Reckoning” Over McCarthy’s Debt Limit Deal – Barbara Sprunt and Deirdre Walsh (NPR News, May 30, 2023).
Debt Ceiling Bill Passes in the House, Advances to the Senate Days Ahead of Default Deadline – Christina Wilkie (CNBC News, May 30, 2023).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – May 10, 2023
• A Deeper Perspective on What’s Really Attacking American Democracy
• Republicans Pose an “Existential Threat” to American Democracy
• The Big Switch
• The Republican Party in a Nutshell
• Republicans Don’t Care About American Democracy
• “The Republican Party Has Now Made It Official: They Are a Cult”

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Remembering Tina Turner

I was saddened to hear this past Wednesday of the passing of the great Tina Turner.

Dubbed the “Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll” and ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as among the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time,” Turner died at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland, aged 83, after years of health issues that included high blood pressure, kidney failure, a debilitating stroke, and intestinal cancer. Her husband Erwin Bach was at her side.

Although I can’t say I was a dedicated follower of Tina Turner’s career, I did see her in concert at the now non-existent Sydney Entertainment Centre in 1985. She was in Australia as part of her Private Dancer Tour. Her 1984 album Private Dancer, considered her big “comeback” album, was a favorite of mine in the mid-1980s.

Subsequent recordings by Turner, though commercially successful, just didn’t appeal to me as much as Private Dancer, though “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” the theme song she sang for the 1985 film, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, in which she also starred as Aunty Entity, was and remains a definite favorite.

Above: A screencap from the music video for “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” featuring clips from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. To view this video, click here.

Above: Christmas Day 1985. I’m 20-years-old, sitting with my brother Tim and our next-door-neighbor and friend Jillian, and wearing the t-shirt I no doubt purchased at Tina’s concert earlier that year.

In remembering Tina Turner this evening for “music night” at The Wild Reed I share below the audio of “Steel Claw,” one of my favorite tracks from Private Dancer. (To view a live performance of the song click here.)

I love the pairing of Tina’s raspy vocals and knowing delivery with “Steel Claw”’s pointed social and political critique (though I don’t share the song’s overall cynicism with regards to trying to disrupt the status quo and thus transform society). I wish she had recorded more tracks featuring this fiery combination. We sure could have used as much of this type of critique as possible (sans the neoliberal-induced cynicism) in the hyper-consumerist and status-obsessed ’80s!

SongTell.com says more about the meaning of the song.

“Steel Claw” [written by Paul Brady and performed] by Tina Turner is a commentary on the corrupt and unfair nature of society, particularly with regards to power structures.

The song describes a world where those in power (“some rich bitch lying by the swimming pool”) make their own rules and benefit from the system at the expense of those on the fringes of society (“so many people hanging on the edge”). The “steel claw” in the song represents the cold and impersonal arm of the law that maintains this unfair status quo, making it difficult or impossible for ordinary people to break free from the system. The chorus warns against trying to fight against this system, as the “lock is on the door” and there will be “hell to pay.”

The song suggests that the odds are always against those who would challenge the system, as the wheels of power are heavily stacked in favour of the ruling class. This creates a sense of desperation and hopelessness for those living under the steel claw’s grip. The bridge suggests escapism and the temptation to ignore the problems of society through drug use and other distractions. However, this ultimately leads to a sense of despair and even suicidal thoughts.

Overall, “Steel Claw” provides a bleak and cynical view of society, highlighting the difficulties faced by those without power and the near-impossibility of challenging the established order.

It’s just a television wonderland
Just one more fairytale about a rich bitch
Lying by the swimming pool
Life is so cool
Easy living when you make the rules

Last Friday was the first time
It only took about a half-a-minute
On the stairway
It was child’s play
The odds come out even
When you give up believing in a

Cold law, steel claw
Try to get on board but the lock is on the door
Well, I say no way, no way
Don't try to get out or there’ll be hell to pay
I don’t know who’s right, who’s wrong
It really doesn’t matter when you’re lying in the gutter
It’s a see-saw
A long hot battle with the cold law
Is what you get for messing with the steel claw

The politicians have forgotten this place
Except for a flying visit in a black Mercedes
On election time
They cross the line
And everybody runs to catch the pantomime

If they could see what’s going on around here
So many people hanging on the edge
Crying out for revolution
Retribution
The odds come out even
When you give up believing in a

Cold law, steel claw
Try to get on board but the lock is on the door
Well, I say no way, no way
Don’t try to get out or there’ll be hell to pay
I don’t know who’s right, who’s wrong
It doesn’t really matter when you’re lying in the gutter
It’s a see-saw
A long hot battle with the cold law
Is what you get for messing with the steel claw

Sometimes I think I’m going crazy
Sometimes I do a line, make me laugh
Make me want to take a joyride
On the high tide
Sometimes I’m contemplating suicide

Meanwhile Eddy is on the west coast
I know he’s making out with some sweet senorita
Up in Frisco
You and I know
The odds come out even
When you give up believing in a

Cold law, steel claw
Try to get on board but you find the lock is on the door
Well, I say no way, no way
Don’t try to get out or there’ll be hell to pay
I don't know who’s right, who’s wrong
It doesn’t really matter when you’re lying in the gutter
It’s a see-saw
A long hot battle with the cold law
Is what you get for messing with the steel claw

The Wild Reed

Thursday, June 08, 2023

Marianne Williamson’s Economic Bill of Rights

Wednesday, June 07, 2023

Quote of the Day

Sunday, June 04, 2023

The Latest on the Return of Dr. Algernon Edwards

Thursday, June 01, 2023

Quote of the Day

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

The Biblical Roots of “From Each According to Ability; To Each According to Need.”

Monday, May 29, 2023

May Vignettes

Sunday, May 28, 2023

Quote of the Day

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Remembering Tina Turner

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