Too Late, Trotsky

Everyone knows this commercial, right? It’s for Subway’s month-long promotion for Five Dollar Footlongs.

Here’s the thing. Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were both Presidents of the United States AND were born in February.

Ben Franklin was never a President. Nor does he appear on the five dollar bill. Nor was he born in February (January 17th, actually).

WHY IS HE IN THIS AD?

Thoughts on an Evening of Human Perseverance

I just wrote this in my journal, and I’d like to share it.
—-

“Weapons do not cut it, / fire does not burn it, / waters do not wet it, / wind does not wither it.
It cannot be cut or burned; / it cannot be wet or withered; / it is enduring, all-pervasive, / fixed, immovable, and timeless.”
- The Bhagavad Gita, Second Teaching

As I’m writing this, 33 Chilean minder are being rescued after 69 days trapped underground. The quote above is from the Bhagavad Gita, which I just finished reading for one of my college courses. I was watching the rescue efforts on CNN in the background, but now I’m starting to think that these two things lined up the way they did simply because human will, good nature, love, pride, decency, humanity, and the ability to believe in something bigger than the individual have prevailed in times where we see these things only rarely make it through.
I don’t believe in divine miracles, or god, or even that there’s someone up there playing with a Lego version of the world. What I do believe, however, is that those 33 men are alive because they believed in themselves, their country, and in the world. They were trapped underground for more than two months and the whole country, the whole world even, believed in them. The story on Yahoo!News reads: “After the first capsule came out of the manhole-sized opening, Avalos emerged as bystanders cheered, clapped and broke into a chant of “Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le!” — the country’s name.”
Holy shit, right? When’s the last time you heard a chant of “USA! USA! USA!” that wasn’t at a partisan rally? When it wasn’t a way to forward the idea that we’re a better country than everywhere else?
Let me say, that meanwhile, back here, we’re calling each other witches and bullying homosexuals until they commit suicide. No wonder “god,” or “fate,” or whatever you want to call it blessed Chile first. Tonight everyone should realize that we’re not #1, no matter what jingoistic slogan you have in needlepoint on your wall. Tonight we, as Americans should realize that, despite those faded bumper stickers from 2001, we have forgotten something.
It shouldn’t take a disaster for us to realize that we need to cooperate to save something. We’re drowning right now - flailing around and yelling for help. But at the same time, we’re tiring ourselves out. If we stop flailing, stop the derisive partisan arguing and stand on our tippy-toes, we’ll realize there’s a bottom down there, and that- oh - we can touch.

“ If by a “Liberal” they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties - someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a “Liberal,” then I’m proud to say I’m a “Liberal.

— John F. Kennedy

Second Acts: Presidential Lives and Legacies After the White House
by Mark K. Updegrove

An interesting read about the post-presidential lives of our heads of state, starting in depth with Harry Truman and ending with Bill Clinton. The book adopts an anecdotal and humanist view on eight of the men who were both loved and hated by constituents during their tenure in the White House. This is a must read for the political junkie, especially in the turbulent partisan atmosphere of Washington today, simply because the legacy of the president you hated in office might change with Updegrove’s short biographies.

The Diner

Fred: Any of you guys down for a diner run? I can pick you up if need be.
Me: Sorry, I've got work at 7:30.
Fred: It's me and Darren.
Me: I'm in my pajamas and I have tea. It's not happening. Have fun.
Fred: Tea is for [redacted] and republicans.
Me: No, tea is delicious and fuck you. Teabaggings are for republicans. Group [redacted] in wherever you want.
Fred: No arguments there, tea IS delicious if you're Marxist.
Me: Hey, fuck you McCarthy. I'm just minding my own business and you come 'round and start fucking with my lovely evening. Fascist.
Fred: You're totally blacklisted. 'Peaceful evening' sounds like Commie talk for revolution.
Me: Maybe it is. Maybe I'm plotting the Communist overthrow of the United States with Bill Ayers and members of ACORN. Either way, I'm not going to the diner.
Fred: This goes beyond the diner. This is about America.

“ Well after the Berlin Wall fell, Vaclav Havel organized a conference on the Cold War in Prague attended by many of the leaders who had been in power when it ended. The program included a speech by Margaret Thatcher, who began by saying, “Let me be clear from the outset: Ronald Reagan and I won the Cold War.” [George H. W.] Bush recalled thinking, “What the hell [is she] talking about? Everybody gets a piece of this action. What about the guys [who sat] in jail because of their fight for freedom like Havel and Lech Walesa in this very room. How could [she] possibly [disregard] them in that way?” As he stewed over her braggadocio, former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, like a junior high school student during a stern teacher’s classroom lecture, passed Bush a note which read simply, “Is this woman nuts?

—

Second Acts by Mark Updegrove

International politics. Just like junior high.

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