Susan Corso's Blog — iAmpersand

Day 96 We Must Start with Why; and, The Revelation of How

Opinion columnist Frank Bruni commented this morning, “The first time I saw President Trump referred to as “Cadet Bone Spurs” I laughed, the second time I smiled and the third time I cringed. It’s an apt slur, but it lumps him together with all the other politicians whose military huzzahs contradict their personal histories and whose insult to our men and women in uniform can be reduced to dodging the draft.” David Marchese has a long interview with comedian and social commentator Jon Stewart in The Magazine. It’s called “Jon Stewart is Back to Weigh In;” full disclosure, he has a film coming out. When he spear-headed The Daily Show, Jon Stewart could reliably make me laugh about things that I didn’t think were funny. That’s talent, but it’s more than that. It’s smart talent. Jon Stewart has always been smart. Now I think he’s crossed over into wisdom.

Day 95 Distractions Notwithstanding; and, Committing to What Matters

I’ve read fairy tales with more facts in them than were to be found in the Pretender-in-Chief’s commencement speech at West Point yesterday. It’s a wonder the man doesn’t die of embarrassment. As reported, “[I]t was a visual that a president campaigning for re-election would surely cherish.” “Mr. Trump’s suggestion that the military was ‘depleted’ when he entered office and had seldom received such a large amount of money is wrong.” “While the Islamic State has been pushed out of its so-called caliphate, the extremist group continues to carry out attacks. And some of the territorial gains made by American troops and their allies predate the Trump administration.” “Mr. Trump campaigned on a promise to end wars in the Middle East but has yet to fulfill this promise.” West Point was a distraction.

Day 94 Reformation Is Not Transformation; and, What Price Trust

Allan Adam is chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in northern Alberta, [Canada.] Video released recently shows Royal Canadian Mounted Police attacking him in a routine stop for an expired license plate. His face is ravaged in the pictures. Mr. Adam said that the bias woven through the ranks of the R.C.M.P. “ends today.” The coronavirus has mutated. “Researchers at Scripps Research, Florida, found that the mutation, known as D614G, stabilized the virus’s spike proteins. ... The number of functional and intact spikes on each viral particle was about five times higher. ... As a result, the viruses with D614G were far more likely to infect a cell than viruses without that mutation.” “Dr. Choe, the senior author on the paper, said that the virus spikes with the mutation were ‘nearly 10 times more infectious in the cell culture system that we used’ than those without that same mutation.” Those sentences could just as easily be used to describe the growth of the nationwide pretests which continue to grow over police brutality and systemic racism.

PandemicSusan CorsoJune 13, 2020metaphysics, coronavirus, COVID-19, #GlobalVaccine, trust, reformation, transformation

Day 93 Listening to Endemic Racism, Bearing Witness; and, How Civilizations Heal

The theatre is my home. I’ve worked in community theatres, nonprofit theatres, summer stock theatres, repertory theatres, touring theatres, Off-Broadway theatres, Broadway theatres, West End Theatres. My theatre work has taken my attention from Rio to Toronto to Sydney to London to New York to Los Angeles to Phoenix to Ohio and back again. I write a series of mystery novels, The Mex Mysteries, all of which take place around a musical. When there is writing in the press by or about the theatre, I read it. I never know when I’m going to find a little theatre tidbit that will be useful in a mystery plot. The solve to each of the mysteries is found in the lyrics of the musical. Theatre and its messages have held a lifelong fascination for me. I know the theatre world—from amateur to professional—has a case of endemic racism. Without question, I have experienced rampant sexism in the industry. I am far from the only one. It should not surprise me that institutional racism plagues the business, and it doesn’t, but it does disappoint me.

PandemicSusan CorsoJune 12, 2020metaphysics, coronavirus, COVID-19, #GlobalVaccine, theatre, endemic racism

Day 92 The Oversight of Imagination; and, The Next Willy Wonka

Senator Grassley is holding the Flaunter-in-Chief hostage over several departmental appointments until he coughs up some damn good reasons for firing Inspectors General willy-nilly as regularly as he lies. There was an op-ed piece about that very bad habit today called “Why Does Trump Lie?” by Michael Tomasky. “On the morning of June 4, he tweeted: “[Robert] Mueller should have never been appointed, although he did prove that I must be the most honest man in America!” I’m stammering. That’s hard to do that to me. “As of May 29, the most honest man in America had uttered 19,127 false or misleading claims in his 1,226 days in office, according to Glenn Kessler of The Post, who has been tracking them since Day 1. That’s 15.6 falsehoods a day, or roughly one per waking hour, every hour, every day. That puts him on track to hit 20,000 lies by Wednesday, July 29; by Nov. 3, at this pace, he’ll be north of 22,000—but of course that period will constitute the heat of the campaign, when the frequency seems likely to increase.”

PandemicSusan CorsoJune 11, 2020metaphysics, coronavirus, COVID-19, #GlobalVaccine, imagination

Day 91 Cry Us An Ocean; and, Questions at the Crossroads

New York Times Contributing Opinion writer Thomas B. Edsall asks this morning “How Much Is America Changing?” Consider these factors. “America is at a racial and political crossroads. Protests over the past two weeks in response to an interrelated set of issues and events—the killing of George Floyd, police brutality, the Covid pandemic, a nation in lockdown, joblessness, a devastated economy and a presidential election.”Each of these issues asks an urgent question at this moment. Given the human penchant for reductionism and simplification, it’s no wonder a lot of us haven’t even been asking the questions. The subtext might be: It’s too big to change.

Day 90 The Bubbles of Our Oblivion; and, From Surviving to Spiritual Thriving

I cannot be the only person who squirms uncomfortably that Liberty University, a bastion of social conservatism that allegedly educates “Champions of Christ” by their own report is headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia. “Blackface and Ku Klux Klan imagery tweeted by [Jerry] Falwell, [Jr], who tolerates little dissent at the evangelical university he leads, has spurred staff resignations, demands for his firing by influential alumni, an incipient boycott and a raucous protest.” This is a champion of Christ? It cannot be. “‘Your actions have shown you really don’t care about the black community, and that’s sad,’ Keyvon Scott, an online admissions counselor who had resigned in protest, said upon learning of Mr. Falwell’s apology. ‘You can’t say this is a Christian university, but then everything that comes out your mouth is about Trump.’” It was a sorry-not in the least sorry, vain repetitions apology. Form without substance of any kind.

PandemicSusan CorsoJune 9, 2020metaphysics, coronavirus, COVID-19, #GlobalVaccine, bubble

Day 89 The Belief Borrowers; and, How You Came to Believe What You Believe

The New York Times has seen days of considerable turmoil since they published Senator Tim Cotton’s incendiary Op-Ed on Tuesday. Over one thousand staffers and reporters of The Times objected to the piece. The Opinion page editor has resigned. In an article detailing the story, the author wrote, “‘American view-from-nowhere, “objectivity”-obsessed, both-sides journalism is a failed experiment,’ Wesley Lowery tweeted of the Times debacle. ‘We need to rebuild our industry as one that operates from a place of moral clarity.’” Wesley Lowery is the white, male reporter who began the cascade of truth after the shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. Attorney General William Barr “said he did not think racism was a systemic problem in policing, though he acknowledged general racism in the United States. ‘I don’t think that the law enforcement system is systemically racist,’ he said on the CBS program “Face the Nation.” ‘I think we have to recognize that for most of our history, our institutions were explicitly racist.’” Uh, what? Could it be a little more they-went-thataway? Um. And Archie Bunker wasn’t racist, right? Puh-lease.

PandemicSusan CorsoJune 8, 2020metaphysics, coronavirus, COVID-19, #GlobalVaccine, belief systems

Day 88 Coming to This Tipping Point; and, Metaphysicians of the Heart

Peaceful protests continued unabated across the country and around the world. As Andy Ramos, 72, mayor of Alpine, Texas had it, “My generation, we did a lot of good, but we stagnated. We need a push in the butt and you guys are the ones who have to do it. You have to bring social change to this world.” One of the largest protests was in the nation’s capital, where new fences, concrete barriers and a force of unidentifiable guards have shrouded the White House, projecting a new symbolism of militarized defensiveness rather than openness and democracy. Roger Cohen did not pull his punches this week. “No, the point would be this: to assert with a great show of force, after the slow-motion murder of George Floyd by a white police officer, that the oppressive system that produced this act is not about to change and armed white male power in America is inviolable. That is Trump’s fundamental credo. His Bible-brandishing, American Gothic portrait this week outside St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington is one of the most disturbing portraits of psychopathic self-importance seen since 1933.”

Day 87 The Horns of a Dilemma; and, Begin Within

Americans are notoriously protective of our privacy, deeming it a fundamental human right. I agree, and ... “Amid a protest movement ignited by a video showing police brutality—a police officer pressing his knee against the neck of George Floyd for nearly nine minutes—hundreds of other incidents and videos are documenting cases of violent police tactics in the United States. “They are often captured by bystanders and sometimes on live television—a compilation posted on Twitter by a North Carolina lawyer included over 300 clips by Friday morning. And they have occurred in cities large and small, in the heat of mass protests and in their quiet aftermath.” It’s because there are cameras in cellphones that we are able to have this evidence. For which I’m grateful, and ... this is the flip side of our insistence on privacy.

PandemicSusan CorsoJune 6, 2020metaphysics, coronavirus, COVID-19, #GlobalVaccine, no h8

Day 86 Heart Broken Open; and, An Embarrassment of Justice

I am deeply spiritually indebted to Dr. Kihana Miraya Ross, author of “Call It What It Is: Anti-Blackness—When Black people are killed by the police, “racism” isn’t the right word.” Dr. Ross is a professor of African-American studies. In one essay in yesterday morning’s New York Times, she graciously exploded both the innocent and ignorant complacency that have been mine as an educated, privileged, white woman. There was no calling out. There wasn’t even any calling in. No, there was a call, a clarion call, to a willingness to educate myself and to be educated by those who know much more than I do. I am appalled at how little I am educated on the subject of racial justice.

PandemicSusan CorsoJune 5, 2020metaphysics, coronavirus, COVID-19, #GlobalVaccine, anti-blackness

Day 85 Reactivity, Too Much, Too Little; and, The Dramatics of Scale

Nicholas Kristof’s column this morning was entitled, “Trump Uses the Military to Prove His Manhood: The president’s response to the coronavirus that killed more than 100,000 people was lethargic and ineffective. But when it came to anti-racism protesters, it was time to call in the troops.” What is it about America that consistently provokes one or the other of two entirely inappropriate responses to everything? Either we pussy-foot around, and do nothing or not-quite-enough to solve a problem. Or, we pathologize whatever the issue is and hit it hard with an over-the-top reaction. Where’s moderation? Where’s the middle ground? Where’s considered, thoughtful, logical response?

Day 84 The Forgiveness Mistake; and, Afflicting the Comfortable

It takes some chutzpah, granted, to disagree with a sitting pope, but I disagree strongly with Pope Francis. He’s wrong. “Pope Francis said on Wednesday that he was watching the ‘disturbing social unrest’ in the United States with ‘great concern.’” Okay, it is disturbing. Not the social unrest per se, not the actions of the protesters either. What’s disturbing is what’s under those things. Brutal, discriminatory police violence. Blatant disregard for systemic racism. Bellicose government reactivity. FWIW, the protests are meant to be disturbing because unless the complacent are ‘disturbed,’ it’s patently clear, and has been over a long, long time, that nothing will be done to root out and dissolve the racial discrimination woven into the very fabric of our democracy. Duh. A five-year-old could tell you this.

PandemicSusan CorsoJune 3, 2020metaphysics, coronavirus, COVID-19, #GlobalVaccine, police violence, new normal

Day 83 Listen is An Anagram; and, A Purposeful Silence

“On #BlackoutTuesday, artists go quiet to focus attention on protesters’ message” read the headline. Millions of people worldwide are heeding a call for a day of silence on social media to amplify black people’s voices under the hashtag #BlackoutTuesday. Maybe every Tuesday should be #BlackoutTuesday for a while? Leave it to the artists to do something simple, clear, and immediate. Always. Always it’s the artists who lead us. If only we could remember that, and look to them instead of the political arena for leadership.

Day 83 #BlackOutTuesday #BlackLivesMatter #BlackOutTuesday #BlackLivesMatter

#BlackTuesday #BlackLivesMatter #BlackTuesday #BlackLivesMatter

Day 82 It Only Takes One; and, Could That One Be You?

“In Louisville, Ky., a confrontation on a crowded street was partly defused when a woman stepped forward and offered a police officer in riot gear a hug. They embraced for nearly a minute. There were reports of clashes later in the night, however, and a local news outlet reported that at least one person had been fatally shot.” A hug. After demonstrating peacefully for three hours in Seattle, police officers opened the downtown area to protesters. “Rashyla Levitt addressed the crowd through a megaphone, telling them the group had made history. “We marched for justice. We marched for peace,” she said. “We marched for each other. We marched for our streets.” For justice. For peace. For each other. For our streets. Also in Seattle, “Others weren’t ready to end the night. They approached a line of officers in riot gear, shouting and cursing. Some protesters—including Elijah Alter, 24—rushed to intervene, pushing them away from the line of officers. ‘Because of our solidarity, we made them change their mind,’ he said. ‘Do not ruin it on a violent end.’” Intervention. Solidarity. Change their mind. From Atlanta, “The demonstrators stopped—hundreds of them, black and white—and sat. A self-appointed leader among them, an entrepreneur named John Wade, praised them for their nonviolence.” Sat.