The Poetry and Peril of Public Speaking

I flew the flag on the porch today. A patriotic day for old Joes.

Ever since the mob attacked the Capitol, I’ve been full of thoughts. I’ve wanted to blog about many things:

• Reforms we need to our election system. No, I don’t buy into the Trump “steal” lie, but there is plenty to think about. How money corrupts the system. How gerrymandering keeps state governments and the U.S. House unrepresentative. How I actually don’t care for mail voting. It’s not that I worry so much about fraud—although even without it, the fact that so many don’t trust it still causes me to pause—but that I want elections decided, by and large, by a vote on election day. I don’t want voting over weeks—I would rather the campaigns play out to the end.

• The need for new ways to think about the marketplace of ideas. I don’t want to curtail free speech, but the interconnected nature of the internet has created all kinds of odd alternative universes. As Hank Green ruminated in a recent post, the need to appeal to eyeballs online drives us to more extremes. Our walled gardens and echo chambers are getting deadly dangerous, and I want to explore ways to break out of that structure—without killing free speech.

• The tragic need to advocate for reality. Big Lies are winning, in some segments. A huge number of Republicans, despite a lack of evidence and the fact that their main source is a known liar, don’t believe Joe Biden won fairly. Which is rich, considering that Trump’s win was a more bitter pill to swallow—at least Biden also won the popular vote. Trump did win, but only because of odd American electoral quirks in which votes are not counted equally. I don’t dispute that those are the rules of our game—but the rules need to be questioned, and, anyway Joe won both ways, in the popular vote and the Electoral College. Wake up and smell the fraud. The “steal” wasn’t trying to bring Trump down after he lost, it was Trump trying to negate a free and fair election. But we don’t all agree on that. Reality is ephemeral, elusive, subjective and without some anchoring in the real world, you have delusional idiots in horns invading the temple of democracy with murder on their feeble minds. In today’s screen age, rationality needs better PR, and that’s a shame.

But the crush of a busy condensed school term, my own mixed emotional reaction at unfathomable events; in the end I have written none of the planned essays.

As was most of America, I was horrified by the events of Jan. 6. A president whips his basket of deplorables into a frenzy, and they attempt to toss sand into the gears of democracy. They even hunt for Mike Pence, only because the vice president decided, in the end, to do his constitutional duty as he saw it. Think about it—they were ready to hang Mike Pence not because he violated a law, but because he was doing his best to follow it.

Yes, violence was predictable. Yes, I think there are a lot of questions about who helped who and why security was so lax.

So, I’ve been on edge during this final fortnight of darkness. “Democracy dies in darkness” and Trump threw way too much shade.

Then today. Trump climbed aboard the chopper and said some final stupid before jetting off to rudely snub the incoming Joe. And I was in my office working and checked the CNN live feed on my computer when it was almost time.

I caught Kamala Harris taking the oath and could not believe the sense of relief that washed over me. And a few minutes early, just before noon in Washington, John Roberts began to feed Joe Biden the words of the oath.

And with that, Old Joe was President. Praise God, I have survived the Trump presidency, something that lately I had not been so sure of.

Then the little Black lady poet approached the microphone. I thought my heart would burst.

Amanda Gorman: “We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: a country that is bruised, but whole; benevolent, but bold; fierce and free. We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation, because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation. Our blunders become their burdens. But one thing is certain, if we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy, and change our children’s birthright.”

Joe Biden spoke well, too—words that were articulate, in complete sentences. He didn’t try to scare us with the false bogeyman of “American carnage,” but soberly talked about the great challenges we face.

And now, as it ever was despite what tangerine depots may have said, Journalists are again not our enemies. The media you traduce brought you the sounds and images of today.

On the other hand, our bruised and battered country is not healed. And our media, a vital piece of the democracy built over generations, is in a state of flux.

I feel some hope. Change has come.

Still, we have to look back and try to figure out how a reality TV star captivated enough of the nation to capture high office. The Trump legacy must leave us asking: How did it happen? How did we come so close to descending into fascism? How did democracy almost die in delusion?

Today we saw some examples of soaring rhetoric that can lift our nation. But it comes after four years of crude, cruel, churlish language that was too popular and makes us look diminished. Public speaking is one of the keys to our continued public life, and we both live and die by it.

And how can we keep our freedom and yet ensure that this fragile, flawed form of government, imperfect yet better than any alternative, continues to endure?

The ongoing work must continue. The fight is never over; our liberties we prize and our rights we must maintain. But how? I don't yet know, but I am seeking. And taking some solace in voices like Lady Gaga's:

 

So Now the Rest of History Begins

Watching MSNBC Saturday night. After rousing intro by Kamala Harris, Joe Biden jogs out to give his speech. He's older than Trump, but I struggle to imagine Trump having the moves like Biden.

Joe Biden jogged to the lectern Saturday night. He spoke clearly, well, and powerfully. At 77, he seemed fit, aware and presidential.

It was a fine end to a beautiful day. I was surprised this morning when suddenly the news came. The first hint was a family message on WhatsApp, which is my headline news service, I suppose. I turned on the TV, and Morning Joe on MSNBC was telling me, a Joe, of the triumph of another Joe. I had not realized how on edge I have been for the past few days when suddenly the weight of this long count was lifted. The land of P!nk and also of Elizabeth Cochrane (a.k.a Pink, but a famous 19th century journalist writing as Nellie Bly, not a 21st century singer) had spoken. The boy from Scranton, Pennsylvania, will reside on Pennsylvania Avenue.

And before Biden spoke, we got to hear from the vice president-elect, Kamala Harris. She was rhetorically powerful, not just a wonderful warmup act, but a woman who is ready to lead the nation, should the need arise.

Kamala! In suffragette white she spoke, noting 100 years since the 19th Amendment, promising that she’s the first woman in her position—but she surely won’t be the last.

I think it turned out that old Joe chose well. Kamala delivers as VP-elect. Again, I'm watching MSNBC.

It’s to Joe Biden’s credit, as others have noted, that he picked one of his most effective opponents in the primary race to be his running mate, and tonight she delivered a speech that shows what a great choice that was.

I like Joe Biden even though he was never my first choice as a candidate this year, and honestly age was a factor in that. I would like a new generation of leaders to emerge. Well, inevitably they will, and seeing Joe speak so well tonight gives me some comfort. He seems to have the makings of a decent president, and I hope that's enough, because the problems loom larger than a tribble-headed orange autocrat.

An American president in the first quarter of the 21st century has to be effective in use of media. They have to be a TV personality, but also come across well on social media: YouTube, Twitter, etc. President Trump, for all my loathing of that loathsome human being, certainly was a media star in his own right.

And Trump came fairly close to winning a second term. The popular vote margin is not all that larger in 2020 and in 2016, and Biden’s campaign succeeded partly because it did not take the old “blue wall” states for granted this year.

Joe on my screen as I watch speech on MSNBC.

So, now the hard work begins. This country is deeply divided, and many in the Trump camp are convinced an election was stolen from them, mostly because it’s a lie their Dear Leader repeats over and over. A greater man and better president than Trump would calm the waters and offer transition help to the next president—but that’s not in Trump’s nature.

He’s a fighter, not a thinker. He does have some skill in media manipulation, in drawing attention, in firing up his base with incendiary rhetorical fire bombs. Sadly, he has shown no skill at governing. He claimed in 2016 that it was easy to act presidential, but has not tried to since. Damaging democracy is not even a thing he worries about, although I wish he did.

And Trump is wounded but still dangerous because he wields enormous power. I can’t help but think the raucous, wrong-headed protests at sites where election workers have quietly tried to carry on the task of making democracy work is due to Trump’s ill-advised, divisive rhetoric. Despite my happiness today, I can’t help but think that until Jan. 20, we’re living in a powder keg and giving off sparks.

Still, Trump the communicator is clearly not always skilled. Contrast the rambling, angry, incoherent and factually challenged address the Donald gave Thursday night with Joe’s performance tonight. One man was presidential, the other an angry, crazy old uncle, and the crazy one is the actual president today.

To most of the world, there’s no contest. America picked the right horse. See how Ireland's largest TV network covered the rise of Pennsylvania's most famous person of Irish ancestry:

US president-elect @JoeBiden reads the words of Irish poet Seamus Heaney pic.twitter.com/kWADRBFstw

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) November 7, 2020

But that's not the reality in Trumpland, which is close to half of America. I’m deeply disappointed that my state, Iowa, was on the wrong side of history in 2020. There is lots of anger and resentment in the red lands, and while Biden vows to be president of the whole United States, not just blue states, it remains to be seen if he can make it happen. Four years ago it was liberals who vowed "not my president," an equally toxic reaction on the right is already bubbling away. I hope Joe's conciliatory words helps heal that divide, a little, but it's been brewing for years, and I don't think one nice speech will quell this storm.
 

Yet, the media show tonight was great. Joe and Kamala were both compelling speakers. Let’s hope that the reality that follows the TV show will also turn out well, but I'm sure it will take some time.

MSNBC shot of crowd. Perhaps I watch "Firefly" too much. In my head, I hear a guitar chord followed by a man singing: "Jooooe! The man they call Jooooe!" In my estimation, any man who has had a statue been made of him is one kind of son of a bitch or another, to paraphrase the wisdom of Mal Reynolds. Still, tonight was a good night for Joes. May it be a sign of better days ahead.

Maybe The Fly Is All That Makes Sense

 

Fly on Pence. I watched most of the debate on MSNBC, but a bti on ABC, too. I think this was ripped off from ABC.

I feel some sympathy for Mike Pence.

In the middle of a nationally televised debate, a fly landed on his head and became the enduring symbol of the 2020 vice presidential debate. It’s odd how asides become “the thing” in media—a candidate’s ride in a tank, a yowl to an Iowa crowd, one remark about a bucket of deplorables.

But sometimes the asides resonate because they are consistent with some larger reality. That’s reading too much into the fly, which didn’t mean a thing despite all the memes about what flies are attracted too and what that means about Mike Pence. Because, honestly, it doesn’t mean anything except that’s where a mindless fly happened to land.

I wrote a reaction to the presidential debate, which was another level of shit show all its own. And the fire-hose of crazy that is our deranged, drug-addled Dear Leader has made the VP debate last night seem like a month ago. Perhaps this was the last debate of 2020, because if someone else controls the megaphone, our loudmouthed lout of a leader can’t lower himself to participate.

Such is 2020, but I’ll carry on and comment a bit on the Kamala show, even though it probably doesn’t mean a thing.

Vice Presidential Debates: The Xander of politics. Everyone loves them but they don’t mean that much.

I’m betting that if you liked Donald, you liked Mike Pence even more. I don’t’ know for sure, because if you like Donald, the twisted avenues of logic in your addled brain aren’t routes I can follow.

The man Pence succeeded in not being a totally deranged moron, which in Trumpland makes him a genius. Like he’s been to “read the book” school, although in Penceland I’m sure it’s “read the Book school” because there’s only one.

But if you like Donald at this point, it’s probably that “read the book school” in your past didn’t make enough of an impression. OK—I’m sure some good people like Trump for various reasons I can’t possibly imagine, and I’ll try not to be too insulting or snarky because it does nothing for discourse. Honestly, thought. We’re way past the time when it makes any sense. He unmasks while he is infectious, rage tweets on steroids and is clearly making a mess of himself.

So, back to the Kamala Harris Show. The debate. Remember that? She didn’t always answer the question (will they pack the court or not?)—but she was “there” and responsive compared to the male animatronic that was Mike Pence. She had a few slips of the tongue—clearly misspoke some numbers, for instance. But she was smart, insightful.

Kamala Harris watched Mike Pence mansplain. I'm afraid I've been guilty of this sometimes, but men, we do not want to make a woman make that look. And no, it was not disrespectful--Pence was a time hog, a chorono-bully. Totally manly. In all the wrong ways. Clearly I was watching MSNBC early in the debate.

And female. Not just a woman, but a woman who is used to misogynist men who mansplain too much. Which was Pence, fly or no fly.

I don’t know how often the host had to try to reign Pence it, but the boring talking robot had some prerecorded messages to dump on the audience and was not to be deterred by any silly rules.

Kamala had a bit more impact in shutting him up. Kamala—it was no contest. In substance, she was closer to fact land, even if she did sometimes spin. Pence, as a Trump spokesperson must be, spun like a tornado. Kamala was a derecho, straight on and relentless.

Senate image. My chosen dinner guest.

So, the winner? There was no contest, really. Sen. Chuck Grassley tweeted that Pence won the debate because people would want to invite him for dinner, which makes me wonder how boring dinners are at Chuck's house because I thought the conversation would be far more interesting with Kamala as the guest.

Trump and his campaign have violently imploded. Which doesn’t mean for sure that he will lose the election—never forget 2016 and the disaster that was caused by the Electoral College, that 18^th century twist on democracy that is still with us—but Trump has taken some self-inflicted hits and keeps plowing right back into that iceberg. He’s a titanic mess.

Trump is a man infected with coronavirus who didn’t learn anything from the experience. An N of one who is convinced his experience enlarges to everyone.

He didn’t die (yet) and is convinced that a disease that robbed America of 210,000 souls and counting, and more than a million globally, is not a big deal. Time to ride around in a closed limo with your guards to waive at your mindless minions so that you can stoke your evil ego—abusing guards who have sworn to take a bullet for you but who should not have to needlessly face a bat virus. Mock your opponents for wearing life-saving masks. Tell us all that we've already entered the light when we can plainly see the darkness.

It's beyond serious, America. Democracy and lives are at stake. Vote as if your whole future depended on it because, in this pivotal year, we need leaders who don't ignore science or global warming or pandemics--we need to be so over blowhards whose only skill is to make a bunch of pointless public noise.

The neutral image that would be the main one in normal times. But 2020 is not normal times. Start of the debate, they look different ways and see very different worlds--but most of us live in the one that Kamala sees.

Hmm. the debate? Kamala won, fly or no fly. I sure hope Biden does, too. In a giant blue wave. Make ’em squeal and send Joni Ernst back home, too.

Yet, a blue wave will not instantly fix things. I said Kamala was a derecho, and she was in the debate, but in governing, Trump is the relentless, destructive storm who won’t stop blowing. It will take years to recover from his damage. His shit will be around for quite a while.

It's too much for one fly to handle.