Our Belief

“They’re dumb! They believe everything
I tell them,“ McCain laffs; Palin speaks
right up::“No! They want to believe you,
John, & they must; because we stand
before our believing public; they need
to believe what we say, they hope
we will tell them what to believe. Our
belief makes America great, protects us
from Canada, Mexico, Russia, China,
& all other countries, because belief’s
the American Way: Believe America!”
(Believing applause; believing Amens.)


(06 SEP 08 Santa Clara CA )v3

Optimistic Toughness

For me, the most startling term I found in my recent reading of Sartre is "optimistic toughness" Here it is in its original context (Sartre: "Existentialism" op,cit., p.34)

"When all is said & done, what we are accused of, at bottom, is not our pessimism, but an optimistic toughness. If people throw up our works of fiction in which we write about people who are soft, weak, cowardly, and sometimes even downright bad, it's not because these people are soft, weak, cowardly, or bad: because if we were to say, as Zola did, that they are that way because of heredity, the workings of environment, society, because of biological or psychological determinism, people would be reassured.They would say 'Well, that's what we're like, no one can do anything about it' " But when the existentialist writes about a coward, he says that this coward is responsible for his cowardice. He's not like that because he has a cowardly heart or lung or brain; he's not like that on account of his physiological make-up; but he's like that because he has made himself a coward by his acts. There's no such thing as a cowardly constitution: there are nervous constitutions, there is poor blood, as the common people say, or strong constitutions But the man whose blood is poor is not a coward on that account, for what makes cowardice is the act of renunciation or yielding. A constitution is not an act; the coward is defined on the basis of the acts he performs. People feel, in a vague sort of way, that this coward we're talking about is guilty of being a coward, and the thought frightens them. What people would like is that a coward or a hero be born that way."

Cowardice? Isn't that the last thing people expect an Existentialist to analyze? They usually expect them to deny all human virtues & ideals, but not stringently analyze vices, declaring cowards responsible for their cowardice. Sartrian Existentialism, profoundly 'conditioned' by the fall of France [1940-], and occupation by Nazi Germany [-1945], is sterner & more judgemental than most Americans dare imagine: it lets nobody off! Still feeling optimistic? Tough?

Let's Change!

“I change my socks twice-a-day!”
smirks McCain, cool on Rodeo Drive.
“Change?”smirks Palin, out of her bra,
& then panties. “Just say when!”
stepping out-of-image as brassily
as ding-dong hell, a cock-teasing
pop & pickup show put on by cold
Karl Rove, offering a hint of skin,
not nudity, on the campaign trail,
(clothes make them who they are},
you may just find them half-wasted
in a posh resort on a pricey island.

(05 SEP 09 Santa Clara CA 95050)v6

Republicans, changin'

McCain pumps a rancher’s hand & drawls:
“Dagnabit, is them steel balls I hear a-janglin?”
Slowly licking her vampire-blood-red lipstick,
Palin grins, drawls: “Cowboy, pass me a handful.”

Whatever you really are, they are, plus some;
your trail is their trail, your smoke, their smoke:.
if you roll your own, theirs is just a-hangin’

Finally getting it? They’re all about change:;
Republicans are changing, like chameleons,
any color you like, they already are, & like..
What’s yr favorite color? Yellow? Sorry,

you must be some yellowdog Democrat.

(05 SEP 08, Santa Clara CA)v3

Unrestful Existentialist

I often tell people that I’m sure to read any book of less than 100 pages in one sitting, & so I ‘ve just read J-P Sartre’s EXISTENTIALISM and Human Emotions (Philosophical Library, 1957, 96pp) a collection comprised of the essay “Existentialism:” & 5 chapters from BEING & NOTHINGNESS: "Freedom & Responsibility", "The Desire to Be God", "Existentialist Psychoanalysis", "The Hole", and "Ethical Implications."

In "Existentialism", Sartre warns us of Existentialism that: “Actually, it is the least scandalous, the most austere of doctrines. It is intended strictly for specialists and philosophers. (p12) ” deftly demolishing the popular image of the black-clad & beretted Beatnik as an Existentialist (not that some didn't think they were.)

Actual Existentialism burdens any individual with total responsibility for themselves, their actions, and resulting effects on others: “The one who realizes in anguish his condition as being thrown into a responsibility which extends to his very abandonment has no longer either remorse or regret or excuse…” (p59)

At 66, I’ve consciously lived this for 50+ years. Recently, my Jungian therapist realized something dire about me: “You really hate yourself!” To which I thoughtfully replied: “No...I don’t like myself.” Existentially put: “I don’t absolve myself of any of my choices, deeds, or their effects on myself & others.”

Then how have I lived? Often impulsively, then as often regretfully, in an endlessly uneasy ‘condition’ (Sartre) of constant self-analysis & -criticism. I get no rest as an Existentialist.

Cheney bakes Mrs. Alaska

Alaska’s armedest hockey mom,
programmed w/Zapruder's clip,
draws a cold bead on Obama,
& gets taken into custody by
MIBs for an attempt on the life
of a presidential candidate. Mc
Cain rages: "Getchya hands off
my own Alaskan Candidate!"
& jabs a VP-destruct button;
VP Cheney bakes Mrs.Alaska.

(02 SEP 08, Santa Clara CA)v16

"Hurry, if you can..."

A hurricane approaching landfall
quickly exploits political capital:

Pat Robertson recalls rebuking one.
Dubya’s heading to Austin & San Antonio,
TX, staging areas for Louisiana relief, where
only very heavy rain's currently expected.
John McCain’s rebuking politics-as-usual by
semi-suspending the Republican convention;
Obama’s offering 2mobilize 2 million volunteers.

Catastrophe provokes revelatory political action.

(01 SEP 08, Santa Clara CA) v10