"A Lefty With Soul": Why Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson Deserves Some Serious Attention

"A lefty with soul." That's how Ed Kilgore describes spiritual author and Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson in his latest piece in New York Magazine.

As someone who has a lot of respect for Williamson and supports her presidential bid, I am happy to see her getting more and more mainstream media attention.

Following, with added links, are excerpts from Kilgore's May 16 piece.

Marianne Williamson deserves some serious attention, and not just because she’s written four books that hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list. At a time when the leftward drift of the Democratic Party is regularly in the news, she is by any measure the most rigorously progressive candidate in the field of 23. That she wraps her progressivism in a syncretic spirituality instead of socialist materialism may even be an advantage for a politician in this God-haunted country of ours.

Pick an issue, and odds are Williamson is going to out-Bernie Bernie and out-Warren Warren. She’s for Medicare For All, unsurprisingly, but she’s also for heavy investments in preventive medicine and nutritional education, and a pretty heavy regulatory arm on those she feels are poisoning our bodies, including those who produce “high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated fats.” So far as I can tell, she’s the only candidate committed to reducing national stress levels, too.

[She also] goes well beyond the Green New Deal in addressing climate change. . . . She isn’t just for criminal justice reform: She’s for an official national policy of encouraging the maximum feasible release of prisoners and a shift from punishment to rehabilitation. . . . [And she] is the only candidate who is flatly for a tangible program of monetary reparations for the descendants of slaves.

. . . In the international arena, she has been closely associated for years with the idea of creating a Department of Peace (mostly notably promoted by former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, a close friend of Williamson) that would actively address conflict prevention. It’s fair to say she thinks we can get by with a relatively small fraction of today’s Pentagon budget.

. . . Williamson is the rare religious professional who is firmly committed to both reproductive rights and protections for LGBTQ folk.

And she matches or exceeds the progressivism of her rivals. Like Andrew Yang, she’s for a universal basic income. Like Bernie Sanders, she’s for free college, and like Elizabeth Warren, she’s for full college debt relief. Like Cory Booker, she’s for baby bonds. Like several other candidates, she’s for universal pre-K. She’s even equaled Pete Buttigieg’s commitment to a robust national service program.

Many progressives, of course, will be put off by the New Agey stuff. And it’s impossible to ignore: Williamson never stops insisting that America’s and the world’s problems are spiritual as well as economic or institutional or interpersonal. . . . But here’s the thing: Her version of metaphysical spirituality is so all-encompassing that it transcends any exclusive creed or teaching. One expert explains that the tradition she represents combines influences from “Freemasonry, early Mormonism, Universalism and Transcendentalism before the Civil War and, subsequently, Spiritualism, Theosophy, New Thought, mind cure and reinvented versions of Asian ideas and practices.” She’s less a theocrat than a pantheocrat.

So certainly for those who think Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are too timid and compromising, Marianne Williamson is worth a respectful hearing. An awful lot of people have read her books and watched her on television and come back for more. She’s very unlikely to become a viable candidate, but assuming she’s on the debate stage she may turn heads. And if nothing else, perhaps she can win an appointment as Secretary of Peace in a Democratic administration.

– Ed Kilgore
Excerpted from "Marianne Williamson Is a Lefty With Soul
New York Magazine
May 16, 2019

Above and below: Marianne Williamson campaigning (and advocating for justice and peace) recently in South Carolina. (Images: Marianne2020.com)

Said Marianne about this experience:

Campaigning in South Carolina over the last couple days. What a beautiful, beautiful place. There are two different political universes: the dog and pony show you see on cable news at night, with who’s up and who’s down and what percentages candidates have in polls and all of that; and then there’s the real thing, where adults get together and discuss the things that matter. That is the real thing, the profound thing, the democratic thing. That is what a campaign is all about. And it’s all day, every day. But it’s far more exhilarating than exhausting, and just when I think my physical fatigue is going to get the best of me the energy at an event lifts me up. People are amazing, and almost everyone gives me a bit of information that is helpful. There is so much goodness in this country and I feel like I’m swimming in an ocean of it.

UPDATE: On May 20 Marianne was interviewed about her campaign and a number of current events and issues by ABCNews.go.com.

As one commentator has noted:

Marianne's presence in this interview is a true depiction of a candidate who will stand with us and help us realign with our true essence. Her language is a language that opens, not closes. She embodies what she says, which makes what she says easier to believe and connect with. Energetically her message is a message of "we have the power to" vs the traditional, subtle, legalistic message that communicates a "power over."

Below is the video of this interview.





Related Off-site Links:
A Conversation with Marianne Williamson – 1A (May 15, 2019).
Don't Tell Marianne Williamson She Can't Win – Max Greenwood (The Hill, May 15, 2019).

For more coverage at The Wild Reed of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, see:
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – November 5, 2018
• Jacob Weindling: Quote of the Day – November 19, 2018
• Something to Think About – February 19, 2019
• Quotes(s) of the Day – February 26, 2019
• Bernie Sanders: Quote of the Day – March 2, 2019
• Talkin’ ’Bout An Evolution: Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Bid
• Why Marianne Williamson Is a Serious and Credible Presidential Candidate
• Pete Buttigieg: Quote of the Day – April 17, 2019
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – April 24, 2019
• Marianne Williamson: Reaching for Higher Ground
• Progressive Perspectives on Joe Biden's Presidential Run
• Beto, Biden and Buttigieg: “Empty Suits and Poll-Tested Brands”
• Pete Buttigieg, White Privilege, and Identity Politics

Flower Moon Rising

(Part 5 of Australian Sojourn – April-May 2019)

As is my want when in Guruk, I try to spend the twilight hours, that special in-between time I love so much, down by the ocean. There is just so much beauty at such a time and place.

Last night when on Guruk's Nobbys Beach I was treated to an extra sight of beauty – a full flower blue moon.

Known as a flower moon for short, this rare lunar wonder rose at dusk today and is named after the spring flowers that bloom in the northern hemisphere in the month of May.

Reports the British Independent . . .

As the saying suggests, a blue moon is a rare event. This weekend’s full flower blue moon is even rarer still, happening only every dozen or so blue moons.

But despite what its name suggests, this full moon is not actually blue. The name simply refers to the fact that it is the fourth full moon of the season, when typically there are only three full moons in a season.

In 2019 there has already been a blood moon, a pink moon and a super worm moon – each named (in these cases) after its colour or occurrences that take place at the time of year the full moon appears (a “worm” moon is named thus as it comes at time small creatures – such as worms – emerge from the ground, signifying the end of winter).

The flower moon, which is set to rise at dusk on Saturday May 18, is appropriately named after the flowers that bloom in the month of May.

NEXT: A Walk Along Lighthouse Beach

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Thomas Moore on the Circling of Nature as the Best Way to Find Our Substance
• Guruk Seascapes, from Dawn to Dusk
• Seascapes
• An Evening Stroll (and Theological Musings)
• On Sacred Ground

See also:
• Australian Sojourn, April-May 2019 – Part 1: Guruk
• Australian Sojourn, April-May 2019 – Part 2: On Sacred Ground
• Australian Sojourn, April-May 2019 – Part 3: In the Land of the Kamilaroi
• Australian Sojourn, April-May 2019 – Part 4: Meeting a Living Legend

Images: Michael J. Bayly.

Pete Buttigieg, White Privilege, and Identity Politics

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg delivered the keynote address at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) annual dinner last Saturday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The 37-year-old Buttigieg attended the event with his husband Chasten, and spoke about his coming out experience and what he calls the "crisis of belonging" in America.

"I may be part of the LGBTQ community," he said, "but being a gay man doesn't tell me what it's like to be a trans woman of color in that same community, let alone an undocumented mother of four, or a disabled veteran, or a displaced auto worker. But being gay, just like every other fact about me, means I have a story. And if I look to that story, I can find the building blocks not only for empathy, but for the impetus for action. The more you know about exclusion, the more you think about belonging, and we have a crisis of belonging in this country."

"The walls I worry about most," continued Buttigieg, "isn't [President Trump's] fantasy wall on the Mexican border . . . [but] the very real walls being put up between us as we get divided and carved up. . . . The struggle for equality for the LGBT community on everything from workplace discrimination to trans servicemembers' dignity doesn't compete with the other struggles of Americans yearning to get to another side of an ugly wall. It reinforces those struggles, and obligates all of us to do everything we can to lift one another up. We have to be there for each other, no matter what."

At first glance, I find Buttigieg's comments at Saturday's HRC gala dinner heartening, even inspiring. Yet I also appreciate Jeff Campagna's thoughtful take on what Buttigieg had to say.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to Pete Buttigieg’s white privilege/identity politics speech at the Las Vegas HRC dinner. I’ve seen many criticisms. But I’ve also seen many people, mostly gay white men, praising the following passage from the speech:

And these divisive lines of thinking have even entered into the consciousness of my own party. Like when we're told we need to choose between supporting an autoworker and supporting a trans woman of color without stopping to think about the fact that sometimes the auto worker is a trans woman of color and she definitely needs all the support that she can get.

First off, I don’t recall any Democrat ever telling anyone they couldn’t support racial justice, LGBT equality, and the manufacturing industry at the same time. . . . Nonetheless, some people seem quite moved by the statement that the black trans woman and the factory worker may be the same person and thus need our help for similar reasons. But the Eric Garner trial should remind us all, sometimes black people just get shot by police while white factory workers don’t. And black trans women are more likely to get murdered than just about anyone. Further, the black trans woman in Indiana can be fired for being trans. And that’s not a trade issue. That’s an identity issue.

When there are life and death issues like these, sometimes identity politics are unavoidable and necessary. Someone who came out three years ago might not know it, but the reason for the explosion of people coming out of the closet in the early 90’s was not a sudden mass hysteria about dating, but the existential threat of the AIDS crisis.

What I get from Buttigieg’s speech and other remarks he’s made about activism is that activism makes him uncomfortable and to him, seems unintentionally polarizing. But activism is not easy and it is not supposed to be comfortable. It is supposed to create a moral crisis to effect change. Whether it makes him comfortable or not. The more he talks about political theory the more arrogant and out of touch he sounds. It doesn’t have to be this way. He could put out policies instead. But he’s made it clear that’s not his style.

At the conclusion of Buttigieg’s speech he suggests that black people and women should trust that he will use his privilege to solve their problems. When he says things like that he convinces many people (obviously not the ones praising his remarks) that he doesn’t have any understanding of what the problems are.

– Jeff Campagna
via Facebook
May 15, 2019

Another worthwhile analysis of Buttigieg's recent comments is provided by Andrew Romano, who (like Campagna) points out that these comments were "carefully crafted" by Buttigieg to "solve the issue of identity politics in America" by putting forward himself as the solution.

Writes Romano for Yahoo! News:

Early reports framed Buttigieg’s speech as a repudiation of identity politics altogether – a “risky” decision, as one NBC News report put it, to “cal[l] out fellow Democrats” for “pitting one group’s grievances against another’s” that “had echoes of Bill Clinton’s ‘Sistah Souljah moment’ in 1992, when he distanced himself from a black political activist who had made controversial comments about race.”

But the entirety of Buttigieg’s remarks make it clear that the mayor is in fact attempting something more subtle, and ultimately more risky, than a mere repudiation.

Instead, he is trying to redefine identity politics altogether – and to do so in a way that puts his own identity front and center – and his solution is Pete Buttigieg.

. . . It remains to be seen whether Buttigieg’s nuanced strategy – his attempt to transcend identity politics by embracing identity itself – is enough to silence critics and persuade skeptics.

Though Buttigieg vowed to “to fight for a fairer criminal justice system, even if no one in [his] immediate family has experienced the racial inequity in that broken system,” and to “fight for the Central American asylum seeker looking for a better life” for “the same reason” he “fight[s] for transgender troops,” it may be that women or minority voters who otherwise share his values nonetheless choose to support candidates, such as Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris or Cory Booker or Julián Castro, who have more directly shared their struggles.

It may be that such voters scrutinize Buttigieg’s elite background and his record as mayor of South Bend and see in him someone who instinctively identifies more with the forces of gentrification than with the communities of color those forces tend to displace.

Or it may be that some Democrats, worried about losing again to Donald Trump, decide that America isn’t ready to elect a gay president. . . . Yet Buttigieg is betting otherwise.

– Andrew Romano
Excerpted from "Pete Buttigieg Wants You
to Know, As a Gay Man, He's a Minority Too
Yahoo! News
May 14, 2019

Okay, I should say for the record that I'm happy that there's an out gay man running for President of the United States. I don't share, however, the same amount of enthusiasm about either Buttigieg or his campaign as many other gay men do. In fact, I'm somewhat perturbed by the amount of media attention Buttigieg is getting compared to other Democratic presidential candidates. He and his husband have even appeared on the cover of TIME magazine. Can we expect to see Andrew Yang or Marianne Williamson on future covers?

It's as if "Mayor Pete" has been anointed by the mainstream corporate media as both a front-runner and one of the most likely candidates to defeat Trump next year. I don't see either of these to be the case. From everything I've read it seems as if Buttigieg is just one more centrist Democrat, one with an alarming lack of actual policies. We all know how such a centrist candidate fared against an authoritarian populist in 2016. Given that the economic and social climate has only deteriorated further since then, I really think that only a progressive populist can take on and defeat Trump in 2020. And I just don't see Pete Buttigieg fitting that bill.


UPDATE: Since I published this piece, my friend Rick has notified me that Pete Buttigieg has updated his official website to include an "Issues" section. Up until now, Buttigieg had been criticized by many for a lack of policies and proposals. I look forward to reading through the pages of this section and learning more about Buttigieg's understanding of the issues and problems facing the U.S.


Related Off-site Links:
Buttigieg Laments "Crisis of Belonging" Across Nation During Human Rights Campaign Speech – Jackie Valley (The Nevada Independent, May 12, 2019).
Pete Buttigieg Wants You to Know, As a Gay Man, He's a Minority Too – Andrew Romano (Yahoo! News, May 14, 2019).
Why I’m Not Here for Pete Buttigieg’s Moderate Politics in the 2020 Primaries – Lucy Diavolo (Teen Vogue, May 10, 2019).
America Is At a Gay Rights Crossroads, Thanks to Pete Buttigieg and the Supreme Court – Steven Petrow (USA Today, April 23, 2019).
Elizabeth Warren's the Professor and Pete Buttigieg Is the Charismatic Student Without His Homework. Guess Who Voters Like Best? – Nia-Malika Henderson (CNN, April 23, 2019).
Pete Buttigieg’s Bad Take on Bernie Sanders – Greg Sargent (The Washington Post, April 24, 2019).
Pete Buttigieg’s Campaign Website Has a Color Scheme Page, But Not an Issues Page – Katelyn Kivel (GritPost, April 24, 2019).
Pete Buttigieg Has Everything Except Positions on Major Issues – Doyle McManus (Los Angeles Times, April 17, 2019).
The Pete Buttigieg Boom – Zack Beauchamp (Vox, April 3, 2019).
Have You Heard? Pete Buttigieg Is Really Smart – Liza Featherstone (Jacobin, April 1, 2019).

UPDATES: Buttigieg Unveils Wide-Ranging Policy Positions – Josh Lederman (NBC News, May 16, 2019).
Pete Buttigieg Calls for Carbon Capture and Tax – Climate Proposals Backed by the Fossil Fuel Industry – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, May 19, 2019).
Pete and Chasten: Heterosexuality Without Women – Greta LaFleur (Los Angeles Review of Books, May 209, 2019).
Buttigieg Won't Win the Nomination, and That's a Good Thing – Michael Sean Winters (National Catholic Reporter, May 29, 2019).
If Pete Buttigieg Is the “Opposition” to Trump, We Are Screwed – Daniel Uncapher (TruthOut, June 1, 2019).
Do Pete Buttigieg’s Donors Know Him Better Than We Do? – Adewale Maye, Eleanor Eagan, and Jeff Hauser (The American Prospect, June 25, 2019).
Pete Buttigieg's Disingenuous Attack on Medicare-for-All – Ryan Cooper (The Week, October 15, 2019).
Mayor Pete Created the Cringeworthiest Moment of the Campaign, and Was Rewarded for It (God Help Us All) – Jacob Weindling (Paste, November 7, 2019).
The Progressive Group Justice Democrats Accuses Pete Buttigieg of Abandoning Medicare for All After Taking “Tons of Cash” From Corporate Interests – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, November 13, 2019).
Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg Are Not to Be Trusted – Norman Solomon (Common Dreams, January 2, 2020).
Pete Buttigieg Proved Last Night That He's Not the President America Wants or Needs – Carli Pierson (Independent, January 15, 2020).
Pete Buttigieg Skipped South Bend Meetings on Police Oversight to Attend Campaign Fundraisers Across the Country – Akela Lacy (The Intercept, January 23, 2020).
The Creation Myth of the Buttigieg Campaign – Norman Solomon (Common Dreams, February 3, 2020).
Buttigieg Confirms Status as “Austerity Candidate” With Call for Democrats to Prioritize Reducing Deficit – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, February 9, 2020).
Mayor Pete’s Health Care Plan Is a Joke – Matt Bruenig (Jacobin, February 10, 2020).
Pete Buttigieg Is the Embodiment of White Privilege – and Black Voters Know It – Benjamin Dixon (The Guardian, February 11, 2020).
Union President Accuses Pete Buttigieg of “Perpetuating This Gross Fallacy” About Union Health Care: “This Is Offensive” – Jason Lemon (Newsweek, February 12, 2020).
South Bend Politician: I Worked with Pete Buttigieg. He Did Not Respect Black Residents’ Struggles – Democracy Now! (February 12, 2020).
Buttigieg Is a Wall Street Democrat Beholden to Corporate Interests – Kenneth Peres (Common Dreams, February 17, 2020).
As a Corporate Tool, Buttigieg Is Now a Hammer to Bash Bernie Sanders – Norman Solomon (Common Dreams, February 24, 2020).
“Loyal Soldier”? Ahead of Super Tuesday, Pete Buttigieg to End Presidential Bid – Jon Queally (Common Dreams, March 1, 2020).
Buttigieg Drops Out of Presidential Race – Elena Schneider (Politico, March 1, 2020).
Pete Buttigieg Ends Historic Presidential Bid – Barbara Sprunt, Benjamin Swasey and Sam Gringlas (NPR News, March 1, 2020).
“Political Consolation Prize”? President-Elect Biden Picks Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary Despite His Lack of Relevant Experience – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, December 15, 2020).

For more coverage at The Wild Reed of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, see:
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – November 5, 2018
• Jacob Weindling: Quote of the Day – November 19, 2018
• Something to Think About – February 19, 2019
• Quotes(s) of the Day – February 26, 2019
• Bernie Sanders: Quote of the Day – March 2, 2019
• Talkin’ ’Bout An Evolution: Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Bid
• Why Marianne Williamson Is a Serious and Credible Presidential Candidate
• Pete Buttigieg: Quote of the Day – April 17, 2019
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – April 24, 2019
• Marianne Williamson: Reaching for Higher Ground
• Progressive Perspectives on Joe Biden's Presidential Run
• Beto, Biden and Buttigieg: “Empty Suits and Poll-Tested Brands”

See also the previous posts:
• Michelangelo Signorile on the Rebellious Purpose of Queer Pride
• Police, Pride, and Philando Castile
• Reclaiming and Re-Queering Pride
• Quote of the Day – May 4, 2013
• Quote of the Day – March 29, 2013
• A Lose/Lose Situation
• Making the Connections . . . Then and Now

Images: Ethan Miller/Getty Images.

Meeting a Living Legend

(Part 4 of Australian Sojourn – April-May 2019)

It's not every day that one gets to meet a living legend. But that's exactly what I was fortunate enough to do this past Sunday, May 12, when I met Petula Clark after seeing her perform at The Glasshouse in Port Macquarie.

The British singer, actress and composer whose career spans eight decades (she started singing as a child during World War II), is currently in Australia as part of her latest world tour.

After her show last Sunday, I briefly met and talked with Petula at the concert venue's stage door. It's a tradition of hers to meet with folks in this way after every show.

She's a lovely person, very warm and down to earth. She expressed surprise when I told her I live in Minneapolis, and I sensed that she wondered why I would do so when, as an Australian, I could live in a place like Port Macquarie.

Petula clearly loves Port, speaking glowingly about it from the stage and staying in the city for a few days after her show. Mum and Dad and I saw her and her musical director Grant Sturiale strolling through the main part of town the next day.

Her show, by the way, was wonderful. She performed for over two hours and sang many of her era-defining pop hits from the 1960s ("Downtown," "I Know a Place," "Don't Sleep in the Subway," and This Is My Song") as well as songs from the various films and stage shows she's been involved with over the years. (Films like Goodbye, Mr. Chips and Finian's Rainbow, and stage shows such as Sunset Boulevard.)

Between songs she shared a number of insightful and entertaining anecdotes about working with people like Charlie Chaplin, Fred Astaire, Francis Ford Coppola, Peggy Lee, Elvis Presley, and John Lennon (whose anthem "Imagine," Petula interprets with grace and authority).

She also sang a number of songs from her more recent albums Lost In You and Living for Today. And I love how the title track of the latter includes a resolute though non-strident denouncement of mass destruction, corporate greed, and political corruption. Go Petula! . . . Of course, it's not the first time she's taken a stand for justice and peace.

For an 86-year-old, Petula is in remarkable voice, and she looks great. When she sings something wonderful comes over her. She positively glows with an inner warmth and light, which makes her look 20 years younger. Singing and performing is clearly her calling and passion.

I'm very happy and honored to have had the opportunity to not only experience Petula Clark in concert, but to also meet and briefly talk with her.

Above: Petula Clark in concert earlier this year in the U.S. This photo was taken by Clément Brillant and shared on the Facebook Petula Clark Appreciation Group. I include it in this post as the outfit Petula is wearing was one of two she wore for her May 12 concert in Port Macquarie.

Following is the official music video for "Sacrifice My Heart," one of a number of standout tracks from Petula's 2016 album From Now On.





NEXT: Flower Moon Rising

Related Off-site Links:
The Amazing Petula Clark – Luke Davis (2GB Radio, May 3, 2019).
At Age 86, Petula Clark Is So Much More Than "Downtown" – Randy Cordova (Arizona Republic, November 13, 2018).
Petula Clark On Her Marriage, New Partner, and Touring – Loose Women (September 30, 2016).
Petula Clark: "I Have An Iron and a Bottle of Port in My Dressing Room" – Candice Pires (The Guardian, September 3, 2016).
How Petula Clark and Harry Belafonte Fought Racism Arm in Arm – Simon Goddard (The Guardian, April 2, 2018).
Petula Clark's Offical Website

For more of Petula Clark at The Wild Reed, see:
• Petula Clark: Singing for Us, Not at Us
• "Pure Class": Petula Clark's Latest Offering Captivates
• Happy Birthday, Petula!
• Pet Sounds
• Well, Look Who's Coming to Port Macquarie . . .
• Petula Clark: Still Colouring Our World (which includes my mum's review of Petula's 2014 concert in Port Macquarie)

See also:
• Australian Sojourn, April-May 2019 – Part 1: Guruk
• Australian Sojourn, April-May 2019 – Part 2: On Sacred Ground
• Australian Sojourn, April-May 2019 – Part 3: In the Land of the Kamilaroi

Beto, Biden and Buttigieg: “Empty Suits and Poll-Tested Brands”

In a recent piece over at Jacobin, Luke Savage examines the Democratic presidential candidacies of Beto O'Rourke, Joe Biden, and Pete Buttigieg – “the three Bs.” He finds them wanting, noting that “all come from the same mold – they're empty suits and poll-tested brands.”

When I shared Savage's article on Facebook I received push back from some of my liberal friends. I personally don't identify as “liberal,” preferring instead either “progressive” or “radical” (in the deepest and truest sense of the word). I'll say more about this push back and my response to it shortly. But first here's an excerpt from Luke Savage's May 13 article, “We Can Do Better Than These Guys.”

Democratic power brokers and consultants have already auditioned several Anything But Bernie vehicles and are likely to test-drive a few more before the race is through. Even at this early stage, the primaries have become a kind of phony war in which an array of functionally indistinguishable establishment candidates compete to make the contest about something, anything, other than a decisive break with the political and economic status quo.

. . . Biden’s potential appeal is to a broad swath of voters who felt reasonably comfortable and secure during the Obama presidency and simply want to restore something resembling it. Far from being a hawkish, corporate sycophant and one of the principal architects of mass incarceration, their Biden is the one of early 2010s internet memes and late-night comedy fodder: an avuncular, slightly potty-mouthed but ultimately loveable good guy who wants things to get better in a non-threatening sort of way (perhaps to a lesser extent, he also appeals to some older or more conservative Democrats simply because he reflects their beliefs). Cashing in on Obama nostalgia – and presumably hoping his association with the still-popular former president will innoculate him against criticism – Biden has become the third figure [after Beto and Buttigieg] to emerge from the party establishment’s ongoing Anything But Bernie cavalcade and he may not be the last (who’s ready for a Klobuchar breakout?).

. . . From a pundit perspective, the Three Bs (Beto, Buttigieg, and Biden) appear disparate. . . . [Yet] consider how much they have in common: All three enjoy big political and media constituencies, both in the Beltway and its adjacent bases of power and influence; all three have been boosted by party mandarins as potential antidotes to the insurgent populist current represented by (among other things) the surging candidacy of Bernie Sanders; all three have been the subject of tremendous media buzz despite saying very little of substance (compare this to the ambivalence with which many of Elizabeth Warren’s proposals have been received or the withering skepticism that typically characterizes mainstream coverage of Sanders). Each favors campaigning on personal signifiers rather than any coherent program they hope to see actualized in office, appealing above all else to people’s desire for a return to normalcy during the Trump era.

Beto, Buttigieg, and Biden – their variations notwithstanding – are all different reflections of the same, largely post-political strand of liberalism, one that has so thoroughly acceded to the logic of neoliberal capital that it no longer recognizes the difference between campaigning and marketing and is stubbornly uninterested in having it explained.

– Luke Savage
Excerpted from “We Can Do Way Better Than These Guys”
Jacobin
May 13, 2019

As I noted previously, after sharing Savage's article on Facebook I received push back from some of my liberal friends. One, for instance, said that Savage's piece was “reductive and dismissive” of Beto, Biden, and Buttigieg as individuals, and that Savage was “yet another writer who thinks he knows just what we need to defeat Trump and get the U.S. back on course.”

In responding to my friend, I suggested that “what we need” becomes clear when we look back over the last 40 years or so and take note of how as a society we're devolved from the rule of the people (democracy) into the rule of money (plutocracy). The various individual traits and personalities of the candidates, though important to a degree, are secondary in my book to how a candidate understands and names the fundamental problem before us. I think it's fair to stay that what distinguishes liberals from progressives is that the latter understand this fundamental problem as the previously mentioned movement away from democratic and humanitarian values to such things as the primacy of stock holders, the power and influence of moneyed interests and lobbies, and various other destructive characteristics of the neoliberal economic doctrine.

There are a handful of Democratic presidential candidates (Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson, and Tulsi Gabbard) who recognize and name this problem, and who have developed proposals and policies to, yes, get the U.S. back on course – politically, economically, and ethically.

In short, I have little time for candidates who view, declare, and/or imply that Trump is “the problem” rather than a symptom of a much bigger problem. Making this distinction is key for me in determining the candidates I want to support. From everything I've been reading about “the three Bs” – Beto, Biden, and Buttigieg – it seems very clear to me that they are not among those candidates.

Above: The 22 Democrats running for president – (L-R top row): U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Michael Bennet. (L-R middle row): Former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, U.S. Representatives Tulsi Gabbard, John Delaney, Eric Swalwell, Tim Ryan, Seth Moulton, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. (L-R bottom row): Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Former Gov. John Hickenlooper, Gov. Jay Inslee, Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson, Mayor Wayne Messam, and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. (REUTERS/Files)

Related Off-site Links:
What Joe Biden’s Diagnosis of Trump Gets Wrong – Dara Cass (Slate, April 25, 2019).
One Big Difference Between Biden and Every Other Recent Democratic Nominee – David A. Graham (The Atlantic, May 1, 2019).
“Electability” Is a Terrible Reason to Pick a Candidate – Ryan Cooper (Common Dreams, May 2, 2019).
Joe Biden's “Electability” Argument Is How Democrats Lose Elections – Peter Hamby (Vanity Fair, May 7, 2019).
Joe Biden Is a Bad Bet – Robert L. Borosage (The Nation, May 11, 2019).
Clinton-era Politics Refuses to Die. Joe Biden Is Its Zombie That Staggers On – Hamilton Nolan (The Guardian, April 25, 2019).
Bernie Sanders Is Everything Joe Biden Is Not – Norman Solomon (TruthDig, May 2, 2019).
New Poll Suggests Trump Would Beat Biden in Key Battleground States in 2020 – Carl Gibson (GritPost, May 14, 2019).
Bernie Sanders Can Win, But He Isn’t Polling Like A Favorite – Nate Silver (FiveThirtyEight.com, April 23, 2019).
Beto O’Rourke Swings and Misses with Working-Class Michigan Voters – Valerie Vande Panne (In These Times, March 25, 2019).
Is Beto Losing His Mojo? Did Mayor Pete Steal It From Him? – Ed Kilgore (New York Magazine, April 26, 2019).
All About Pete – Nathan J. Robinson (Current Affairs, March 29, 2019).
Stop Trying to Make Pete Buttigieg Happen – David Marcus (The Federalist, April 3, 2019).
The One Big Takeaway From Every 2020 Democratic Primary Poll So Far – Dylan Scott (Vox, April 25, 2019).
These 2020 Candidates Are the Darlings of Wall Street. The Numbers Are Proof – Branko Marcetic (In These Times, April 22, 2019).
Our Crisis in Democracy Is Taking Center Stage in the 2020 Campaign – Katrina Vanden Heuvel (The Nation, April 9, 2019).
Fearful Democrats and the False Allure of Policy Centrism – Paul Waldman (Common Dreams, May 6, 2019).
More Than 20 Democrats, Two Republicans Vie for Presidential Nomination – Reuters (May 18, 2019).
Why Do Democrats Love Limp Dishrag Centrism? – Ryan Cooper (The Week, July 25, 2018).

UPDATES: Joe Biden’s Family Has Been Cashing in on His Career for Decades. Democrats Need to Acknowledge That – Ryan Grim (The Intercept, October 7, 2019).
Democrats Can't Ignore Their Biden Problem Forever – Jacob Sugarman (Common Dreams, November 1, 2019).
Mayor Pete Created the Cringeworthiest Moment of the Campaign, and Was Rewarded for It (God Help Us All) – Jacob Weindling (Paste, November 7, 2019).
The Progressive Group Justice Democrats Accuses Pete Buttigieg of Abandoning Medicare for All After Taking “Tons of Cash” From Corporate Interests – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, November 13, 2019).
Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg Are Not to Be Trusted – Norman Solomon (Common Dreams, January 2, 2020).
Pete Buttigieg Proved Last Night That He's Not the President America Wants or Needs – Carli Pierson (Independent, January 15, 2020).
Pete Buttigieg Skipped South Bend Meetings on Police Oversight to Attend Campaign Fundraisers Across the Country – Akela Lacy (The Intercept, January 23, 2020).
The Creation Myth of the Buttigieg Campaign – Norman Solomon (Common Dreams, February 3, 2020).
Buttigieg Confirms Status as “Austerity Candidate” With Call for Democrats to Prioritize Reducing Deficit – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, February 9, 2020).
Mayor Pete’s Health Care Plan Is a Joke – Matt Bruenig (Jacobin, February 10, 2020).
Pete Buttigieg Is the Embodiment of White Privilege – and Black Voters Know It – Benjamin Dixon (The Guardian, February 11, 2020).
Union President Accuses Pete Buttigieg of “Perpetuating This Gross Fallacy” About Union Health Care: “This Is Offensive” – Jason Lemon (Newsweek, February 12, 2020).
South Bend Politician: I Worked with Pete Buttigieg. He Did Not Respect Black Residents’ Struggles – Democracy Now! (February 12, 2020).
Buttigieg Is a Wall Street Democrat Beholden to Corporate Interests – Kenneth Peres (Common Dreams, February 17, 2020).
As a Corporate Tool, Buttigieg Is Now a Hammer to Bash Bernie Sanders – Norman Solomon (Common Dreams, February 24, 2020).
“Loyal Soldier”? Ahead of Super Tuesday, Pete Buttigieg to End Presidential Bid – Jon Queally (Common Dreams, March 1, 2020).
Buttigieg Drops Out of Presidential Race – Elena Schneider (Politico, March 1, 2020).
Pete Buttigieg Ends Historic Presidential Bid – Barbara Sprunt, Benjamin Swasey and Sam Gringlas (NPR News, March 1, 2020).
“Political Consolation Prize”? President-Elect Biden Picks Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary Despite His Lack of Relevant Experience – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, December 15, 2020).

For more coverage at The Wild Reed of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, see:
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – November 5, 2018
• Jacob Weindling: Quote of the Day – November 19, 2018
• Something to Think About – February 19, 2019
• Quotes(s) of the Day – February 26, 2019
• Bernie Sanders: Quote of the Day – March 2, 2019
• Talkin’ ’Bout An Evolution: Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Bid
• Why Marianne Williamson Is a Serious and Credible Presidential Candidate
• Pete Buttigieg: Quote of the Day – April 17, 2019
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – April 24, 2019
• Marianne Williamson: Reaching for Higher Ground
• Progressive Perspectives on Joe Biden's Presidential Run

Quote of the Day

[T]he specter of war with Iran bears both hallmarks of terrible military adventures: Washington is again overestimating Iran’s bellicose intent and underestimating its capacity to defend itself. Make no mistake: war in the Persian Gulf will bloody, indecisive, and nearly impossible to disengage from. It’d be Iraq War 2.0, only worse – since Iran is bigger, more mountainous, and has a more nationalistic population than even Iraq.

. . . It is war that the unelected hyper-hawks like John Bolton and Mike Pompeo want, and, with an apathetic citizenry, uniformed Congress, and pliable president, it is war they may just get. Such a fight would be bloody, difficult, costly, and hard to end. It would shatter any remnants of regional stability and only serve to empower the two hidden hands behind this bellicosity – Saudi Arabia and Israel. To invade and/or attack Iran would, once and for all, spell the end of any fiction of the U.S. remaining a representative republic governed by the popular will and international norms. Instead it’d be exposed for what it has long been becoming – a rogue, hegemonic empire bent on power and destruction.

– Major Danny Sjursen
Excerpted from “War With Iran Is America's Endgame”
AntiWar via TruthDig
May 15, 2019

Related Off-site Links:
John Bolton Is Doing Everything He Can to Get the U.S. Into a New War – Paul R. Pillar (Business Insider, May 8, 2019).
Trump Says He'd Send More Than 120,000 Troops to Fight Iran – Justin Sink (Bloomberg via Fortune, May 14, 2019).
White House Reviews Military Plans Against Iran, in Echoes of Iraq War – The New York Times (May 14, 2019).
Is John Bolton the Most Dangerous Man in the World? – Ben Armbruster (The Guardian, May 16, 2019).
Pompeo Says U.S. Doesn't Want War with Iran But Warns of "Swift" Response If Provoked – Nicole Gaouette, Barbara Starr and Ryan Browne (CNN, May 10, 2019).
Medea Benjamin: We Need to Build Up the Anti-War Movement to Oppose War Against Iran – Democracy Now! (May 15, 2019).
We Have Spent $32 Million Per Hour on War Since 2001 – Stephanie Savell (Common Dreams, March 21, 2018).

UPDATES: Neocons Won’t Stop Until They Get Their War With Iran – Sonali Kolhatkar (Common Dreams, May 17, 2018).
Amid Murky Intel, Experts Say Time to Be Clear: Threat of War With Iran "Solely and Unequivocally" Trump's Fault – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, May 17, 2019).
Four Simple Steps the U.S. Media Could Take to Prevent a Trump War With Iran – Mehdi Hasan (The Intercept, May 17, 2019).
Iran and the Coalition of the Weird – Mike Lofgren (Common Dreams, May 18, 2019).
War With Iran Would Be a Murderous Disaster – Noah Kulwin (Jacobin, May 18, 2019).
Media Setting Up Iran as New “Threat” That Must Be Confronted – Janine Jackson (FAIR, May 19, 2019).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The War Racket
• Quest of the Day – May 15, 2019
• Resisting the Hand of the Empire
• Quote of the Day – March 20, 2018
• Making the Connections
• Saying "No" to Endless U.S. Wars
• The Tenth Anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq
• A Letter to "Dear Abby" re. Responding to 9/11

Image: Kristen Solberg.

Australian Sojourn – April-May 2019

Part 3: In the Land of the Kamilaroi

I recently traveled inland from Guruk to the place of my birth, the northwestern New South Wales town of Gunnedah in the heart of Kamilaroi country.

Gunnedah and its surrounding area were originally inhabited by Indigenous Australians who spoke the Kamilaroi (Gamilaraay) language. The area now occupied by the town was settled by Europeans in 1833. Through my maternal grandmother’s family, the Millerds, my family can trace its connection to Gunnedah back to the town’s earliest days. For more about the town’s history and my family’s connection to it, see the previous Wild Reed posts, My “Bone Country” and Journey to Gunnedah.

Above: A memorial to Gambu Ganuurru, "Red Kangaroo," the aboriginal warrior and leader of the Gunn-e-dar people of the Kamilaroi tribe. After his death in the late 1700s, he was buried in the traditional way inside a carved tree. This memorial is located at Pensioners Hill.

Right: With my Aunt Ruth, my Mum's younger sister, with whom I stayed when in Gunnedah.

Above: Out to dinner with my last remaining uncle and aunt – Michael (right) and Ruth, my Mum's younger siblings. Also with us is my childhood friend Diane and her partner Daz.



Left: Ruth's two Italian Greyhounds, Betty and Bella.

Above: With Gunnedah friends Peter and Cathy at the Court House Hotel – Wednesday, May 8, 2019.

Above: With my childhood friend and neighbor Jillian – Thursday, May 9, 2019.

Last July, Jillian and her husband visited me in Minneapolis. For some pics of their time there, click here.

Above: I asked Jillian to snap this pic of me at the Bitter Suite Cafe and Wine Bar as the sofa I'm sitting on is very similar to the one my paternal grandparents, Belle and Bill Smith, had in their home when I was a child in the late 1960s and early '70s. This particular style of sofa is known as a "club lounge," and dates back to the 1930s.

Above: With Aunty Ruth (center) and my cousin Therese (second eldest daughter of my late Aunty Fay and Uncle Bertie) – Friday, May 10, 2019.

Above: Teaching little Henry (my cousin Greg's son) how to play Snakes and Ladders. . . . He doesn't look too sure, though, does he!

Above: This display in a gift store in Gunnedah reminded me of the short story my maternal grandfather, Valentine Sparkes, wrote about me and the white rooster I formed a bond with as a child.

Above, right, and below: Views of Gunnedah - May 2019.

Located in the Namoi River valley of north-western New South Wales, Gunnedah has a population of approximately 10,000 and serves as the major service centre for the farming area known as the Liverpool Plains.

Above: Gunnedah's Miners’ Memorial.

Erected in November 2000, the Miners’ Memorial honors the twenty miners who have died in a little more that a century of coal mining in the Gunnedah district.

Notes local author and town historian Ron McLean in his book The Way We Were:

Mining started in the Gunnedah area in 1880 when well-sinkers found a coal stream on the Backjack frontage to Wandobah Road. First miners Barney McCosker and James Pryor sank crude pits and started mining the seams, carting by dray to the railhead in Gunnedah.

The first fatality occurred in 1897 when 23-year-old Bernard McCosker, a nephew of Barney McCosker, was killed in a fall of rock at Gunnedah Colliery.

My maternal grandmother’s first husband, Jack Louis, was killed in a mine workshop accident in nearby Werris Creek. The eldest of their two children, Eric (my Mum’s half-brother) was hit and killed by a coal truck while traveling to work at the Gunnedah Mine on his motor cycle. He was only in his early twenties. Both father and son are honored on the Miners’ Memorial.

Above: Looking across the Namoi River valley towards the Kelvin Hills, which I hiked in my childhood and youth – and most recently in 2001.

Located 20km north-east of Gunnedah, the Kelvin Hills are characterized by sandstone ridges and steep bluffs that rise above the surrounding farmland.

Isolated from the mountain ranges to the north and east, the highest point of these ridges is 885 metres. The Kelvin State Forest covers much of these hills and contains a waterfall, numerous feral goats, a cave that is home to a colony of bent-wing bats, and (as you can see from the photo at right) sweeping views of the surrounding forest and farmland.

In my youth, I would often go on hikes through the Kelvin State Forest - usually with our good family friend Gwen Riordan and members of her family. My last visit to the hills of Kelvin was in January 2001, when I accompanied my older brother Chris and his family to the area. (They were visiting Gunnedah from their home in Melbourne). The photo of me above was taken at this time – which was about a year or so before my parents left Gunnedah and relocated to Port Macquarie.

Above and below: At the top of Pensioners Hill is a number of carved tress created "as a remembrance to the Kamilaroi people and their ancestral animal totemic beings."

Above: Gunnedah's memorial to author and poet Dorothea MacKellar (1885-1968).

MacKellar is probably best known for her poem “My Country.” Her writings appeared in London's Spectator, the American Harper's Magazine and the Sydney Bulletin. She also had four volumes of verse published, The Closed Door (1911) The Witchmaid, and Other Verses (1914), Dreamharbour (1923) and Fancy Dress (1926).

The MacKellar family owned several properties in the Gunnedah area, including “Kurrumbede” and “The Rampadells”. Throughout Dorothea’s early life, she and members of her family made regular visits to their Gunnedah country residences from their Sydney home.

The first draft of what was to become one of Australia’s most quoted and best loved poems, “My Country,” was written in England at a time when Dorothea was feeling homesick. Never quite content with the verses, she wrote and re-wrote the poem several times after returning to Australia and living in the apartments above her physician father’s consulting rooms in Liverpool Street, Sydney.

Gunnedah’s Dorothea MacKellar Memorial was erected in 1984 and is located in the town’s ANZAC Park. It depicts her as the young woman who wrote “My Country”, and gazing in the direction of her beloved “Kurrumbede.” That same year, Gunnedah resident Mikie Maas created the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards, which has grown into a nationwide poetry competition for Australian school students.

Above and below: Gunnedah's Water Tower Museum, which now displays "memorial murals" to veterans of the Vietnam War.

Writes Vanessa Hohnke: "The mural on the southern side depicts 'Huey' helicopters and a group of soldiers, and the mural on the northern side depicts soldiers gazing on the Long Tan Cross."

The murals were painted by award-winning artist Jenny McCracken and dedicated this past Anzac Day, April 25, 2019.

Above and below: Views of the village of Curlewis, 16 kilometres south of Gunnedah.

Above: The grain silo at Breeza, a hamlet about 43 kilometres south of Gunnedah and situated in the heart of the Liverpool Plains agricultural region. The area directly around Breeza is called the Breeza Plains, with the name "Breeza" possibly deriving from an Aboriginal word meaning "one hill."

The message on the silo refers to the ongoing struggle to prevent mining companies (both Australian-owned and foreign-owned) from engaging in the highly controversial practice of longwall mining underneath the deep alluvial irrigation aquifers of the Liverpool Plains.

Notes ABC News:

A Chinese mining giant is being accused of underestimating the impact a proposed open cut mine will have on groundwater on the New South Wales Liverpool Plains.

The University of New South Wales' Water Research Laboratory conducted a study into the Shenhua Watermark Mine's environmental impact statement (EIS), and in particular its findings around the project's potential effect on water.

The research was commissioned by the Caroona Coal Action Group (CCAG), which is opposed to the project.

The study has found that the modelling used by the mining company was flawed, because it relied upon incorrect data on the storage volume of groundwater aquifers.

"The values used were implausibly high based on our research," Ian Acworth, UNSW Emeritus Professor, said. Dr Acworth peer-reviewed the UNSW study.

. . . The CCAG has been fighting Shenhua's Watermark proposal for more than a decade.

Landholder and CCAG chair Susan Lyle addressed a roomful of people at the Breeza Hall, and said the report confirmed their worst fears.
"We have never expected that mining below the aquifers would result in zero harm for our groundwater."

Above: The memorial wall in Breeza that remembers the famous Australian bushranger Ben Hall (1837-1865). At one point, Ben Hall was believed to have been born in Breeza. It has since been determined that he was actually born in the New South Wales town of Maitland.

Right: Australian actor Jack Martin as Ben Hall in the 2016 film, The Legend of Ben Hall. (For a review, click here. To view the film's official trailer, click here.)

Because Hall was not directly responsible for any deaths, he was sometimes referred to as the "gentleman bushranger," with the Forbes correspondent of the Western Examiner (Orange) writing in 1865:

[W]ith all his crimes, I believe he has never been accused of being bloodthirsty, nor did he directly kill any of the victims he robbed. It is claimed by his relatives and those who knew him best that he was affectionate and generous.

Hmm . . . Sounds like my kinda guy.

Above and below: My "bone country."

NEXT: Meeting a Living Legend


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Australian Sojourn, April-May 2019 – Part 1: Guruk
• Australian Sojourn, April-May 2019 – Part 2: On Sacred Ground
• A Visit to Gunnedah (2017)
• Australian Sojourn, May 2016: Part 9 – Gunnedah
• Australian Sojourn, March 2015: Part 12 – Gunnedah
• A Visit to Gunnedah (2014)
• Journey to Gunnedah (2011)
• This Corner of the Earth (2010)
• An Afternoon at the Gunnedah Convent of Mercy (2010)
• My “Bone Country” (2009)
• The White Rooster
• Remembering Nanna Smith
• One of These Boys is Not Like the Others
• Gunnedah (Part 1)
• Gunnedah (Part 2)
• Gunnedah (Part 3)
• Gunnedah (Part 4)

Gunnedah images: Michael J. Bayly.