One of my favorite authors, Tony Hillerman, not only gave me great mysteries from the Four Corners area of New Mexico, but he also contributed to my knowledge of cultural anthropology. Among his many stories of the indigenous pueblo (people) of the area was the ceremony of the sacred clown. In this ceremony, the clowns wore audacious coloring and behaved in outlandish ways to illustrate the incongruity of the faults current among their community. For example, one of their themes mimicked the greed of the leaders of the clan.
Civilizations have always had their sacred clowns, whether they be the court jesters who were privileged with pulling the beards of the king lest he get too much above himself, or satirists such as Jonathan Swift (very much in danger of losing their heads for their impertinence) who gave the callous and crass indifference to the poor the treatment of “A Modest Proposal.” The sacred clowns of all ages play a heroic and important test to the incongruity between our actions and what we are born knowning to be the truth. If they cease to draw blood, they are not doing their jobs.
The various reactions of the journalist toward Michelle Wolf’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in the 5/1/18 TPP was interesting. Connie Shultz’s attitude that Wolf’s performance did not meet the criteria of journalism was rather disappointing, since Wolf is not a journalist. Dana Milbank’s objection to having a comedian who tells the harsh truth brought down the character of the “festive occasion”; he seems to think the time be better spent talking about the abuses of the press. Jamie Stiehm was shocked! (shocked I tell you) at Wolf’s set which made journalists look bad. Joe Conason got it just about right. With a bunch of thugs in power, the sacred clowns will have to get a bit rough. Already the comedians as complaining that “the stuff just writes itself.” Comedians are reduced to pure mockery just to be able to get a jest in edgewise.
So Wolf did not make the powers-that-be comfortable with her truth telling; mission accomplished. I especially liked her take on Sarah Sanders; to object to that vicious, snarling creature who calls CNN fake news and never answers a question and becomes sarcastic when journalists continue to ask the questions they (we) want answered is patently ridiculous. I have often wondered about the “Christian” women enablers of the conservatives’ disrespect for women. I always though that it was because they received their authority and respect from that of their husbands, but Wolf’s reference to Aunt Lydia of A Handmaid’s Tale is perfect. Of course a conservative woman whose only experience with reading is spelunking through a bible to find something that even vaguely resembles what she believes (and who always ends up in Leviticus-the-cruel) is not expected to have read the dystopian feminist novel, so no one is surprised she took the slur as a compliment.
I could not have gotten through the Bush years without Jon Stewart, and now we have Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Bill Maher, Stefanie Miller, Michelle Wolf, and two immigrants—Jeff Jefferies and Trevor Noah (to mention a few) to come to our aid and to act as our spokesmen. So far, they are keeping us on the straight and narrow by drawing blood from the Teflon thugs of the GOP, something no religious person or politician has been able to do.
Instead of cancelling the WHAC dinner, they should continue to hire sacred clowns to get in the faces of the “wronguns” AND come together to form a more perfect alliance among journalists. The journalists should admit to their complicity in getting us into this mess, make their mea culpas, and sin no more. I want sacred clowns at my church.
P. Ann White, Meridian, TX
Thank you for your interesting article on automation (“Unions face the fight of their lives to protect American workers” by Steven Greenhouse, 6/15/18 TPP.) It seems to me that the Postal Service is probably one of those employers who think they can substitute robots or drones for human letter carriers.
I wonder if the management understands all of the unpaid jobs that letter carriers do. I’ll only note my local letter carrier does many things, such as check in on elderly and/or disabled people on her route every day. She does it because she genuinely cares about people on her route. A couple of years ago, she found me outside my apartment, collapsed on the pavement and unconscious. Despite her busy schedule, she stayed with me until the ambulance came. I can never thank her enough.
I am sure that many letter carriers do this, but most people — and most management — don’t know. A robot could never take over this part of her job! I have told her that she and other carriers, doing unpaid jobs in the community are my heroes.
Dianne Leonard, Berkeley, Calif.
Good of you to publish Jill Richardson’s candid critique of Republican callousness, “Another Counterproductive Assault on Food Stamps” (5/15/18 TPP), The food stamp program, we read, is currently called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which sounds dreadfully bureaucratic — yet no more so than the Rube Goldberg pseudo-remedy the GOP proposes.
We should get rid of the stereotypical travesty of lazy folk feasting for free on choice cuts of steak while the poor-but-honest working Mensch has nothing more than pasta and baked potatoes. Those unable to earn their daily bread — the elderly, the infirm, the physically and/or psychologically challenged — require sustenance.
If social justice is sought, why come down on the people at the bottom of the economic pyramid? Millions of our fellow citizens live lean and hungry lives through no fault of their own.
William Dauenhauer, Willowick, Ohio
Writer Gardner Hathaway asks (in a letter in the 6/15/18 TPP] for “clear evidence … that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia[?].” I would remind him and others of the history of this controversy.
Some 16 months ago, when the issue was first raised, the Trump Campaign and the Republican Party said there were no contacts at all. They didn’t exist. Period. End of sentence. Then the evidence started to come out about contacts — initially a few, but then more and more. It seemed there were contacts all over the place.
The Trump/Republicans then said, well, there were a few contacts, but they were about other matters. None were about the campaign. None. Period. End of story.
Then, slowly, the substance of the contacts was revealed. Significantly, Donald Trump Jr. looked forward to a meeting with a Russian lawyer allegedly having dirt on Hillary Clinton. Many other meetings took place.
Now the Republican/Trump line is that the campaign did not “collude” with the Russians. Mr. Hathaway must be aware of the indictment of 13 Russians and 3 Russian companies in activities to influence our election. He also must be aware of the drunken boast by George Papadopoulos that Trump was about to reveal some significant information — shortly before the Wikileaks emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee were released to the public. He should be aware that shortly before the first emails were released, Donald Trump publicly boasted that something important was coming down.
My own feeling is that we should let the Mueller investigation play itself out. Trump’s constant attacks on the investigation, while simultaneously refusing to answer questions about it, reveal that there is still a lot to be discovered.
Maybe by the time this is over Mr. Hathaway will finally have his “clear evidence.”
Frank L. Schneider, Chicago, Ill.
Thank you, Jill Richardson [“The Lesson I Learned Growing Up Jewish,” 6/15/18 TPP], for validating our criticism of Israel without fear of being accused as anti-Semitic.
Every month or so, I receive a letter from a Jewish charitable organization asking for money to help them feed elderly Jews in Israel.
Finally, I wrote back to them suggesting that they ask Israel’s government official for at least a small portion of the billions of dollars the US gives to that country as foreign aid.
Predictably, I never received a reply, and their petitions still keep flooding into my mailbox.
Meanwhile, those billions we give to Israel each year are spent to buy weapons from American corporations.— Israel then uses those weapons to oppress the Palestinians whose lands they have occupied for more than half a century.
And thus the American merchants of death increase their wealth with the money we taxpayers pay for foreign aid to Israel.
When, oh when, will justice be done to the Palestinians in that tormented, blood-filled land?
David Quintero, Monrovia, Calif.
Juan Cole [“Can Palestinians be Killed …” 6/15/18 TPP] may consider himself a specialist in modern Middle Eastern history, but his views regarding the goings on in the Middle East are not based on fact. His views are the result of propaganda, historical fiction, and outright fabrications that have been accepted by some as fact – in the style of our illustrious president.
It is unfortunate that left-oriented politics (and I consider myself a “social democrat” a la Bernie) tend to have a strong pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli bias based on this misinformation and propaganda.
The demonstrations at the Gaza fence in May were anything but “peaceful.” Of the 60 Palestinians killed, a spokesman from the terrorist group Hamas admitted that 50 were members of his group. They were armed and dangerous. The mission of these terrorists was to infiltrate the surrounding Israeli settlements and kill as many men, women, and children as possible. Many other demonstrators engaged in violent and life-threatening actions, including: throwing Molotov cocktails, rocks, and the shooting of guns. The burning kites that were sent toward Israel set hundreds of fertile acres on fire.
This is “peaceful”? If the Palestinians wanted to have a peaceful demonstration, they could have emulated the recent Women’s Marches in the US, and no one would have been injured or shot. If the same “peaceful” scenario that happened at the Gaza fence had unfolded on our country’s borders, there could have been 600 dead, rather than just 60. Israeli snipers are trained to shoot only in self defense which includes preventing terrorists from infiltrating Israeli territory and threatening lives. Sadly, against such “demonstrations.” the Israel Defense Force is held to a higher moral standard than any armed force in the world …
Dr. Asher Pakier, Los Angeles, Calif.
[Editor’s Note: See the rest of this letter below:
The truth is that Palestinians are victims of prejudice, and poor leadership. On May 14, 1948, when the British Mandate over Palestine ended, and David Ben Gurion proclaimed an independent State of Israel, seven Arab armies (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia) invaded the fledgling state with the sole purpose of killing the entire Jewish population of Israel – which, at the time, amounted to only 650,000 people – with the overall intention (which is a clearly stated goal in Hamas’ constitution) of ending the life of the Jewish state.
When Israel fought for its young life against these overwhelming forces, Arab propaganda fed to the local Palestinians urged them to leave their homes and return only after the Jews had been wiped out. In many cases, Jewish Israelis pled with their Palestinian neighbors not to leave; their intention was to continue to live in peace together. The majority of Palestinians left of their own accord.
When the war ended, the neighboring Arab countries (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon) did not make any effort to integrate the Palestinians into their societies. They were isolated in refugee camps, not allowed to leave, and used as pawns in the Arab-Israeli conflict. They were educated to hate Israel, hate Jews, and reject any attempt at reconciliation.
Israel’s position has always been clear: come to the negotiation table unconditionally, and we’ll discuss everything. The Palestinians could have had their own state in 1947 when the United Nations agreed to partition Palestine into two countries: one Jewish, and one Palestinian. This offer was rejected. The Palestinians could have had their own state 51 years ago after the Six-Day War, but instead of coming to the table and discussing a peace pact that could lead to their own state, they chose terrorism and bloodshed. Nothing has changed to this day. When Israel asks the Palestinians to come to the negotiating table without any preconditions, the offer is always rejected.
History should not be revised. Lies and fabrications will not change the current sad situation.
Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East. It is not a perfect country. But neither is the US. Presently it seems clear that the Palestinians prefer the destruction of Israel – a true democracy – to having their own independent state. When they drop their preconditions and talk directly with the Israelis – without mediators, they will attain their state, and there may finally be peace in the Middle East.
Sincerely,
Dr. Asher Pakier, Clinical Psychologist
From The Progressive Populist, July 1-15, 2018
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