The Long Road Out

This from Ellie Mystal and The Nation.  I love and thank you for speaking the wretched truth.  This newsletter is going to hit your inbox on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which means you’re no doubt being flooded with remembrances and retrospectives. And regrets. The country’s response to the worst terror attack in our history was to launch a global war of hysteria that consisted of rage-bombing two countries, destabilizing an entire region, and seeding a police state that has now been fully weaponized by an authoritarian regime against its own citizens. Moreover, every post-9/11 mistake we’ve made has been understood  as a mistake  in real time—not by all, or even most, people in this country, but by enough that nobody can credibly claim to have been unaware of the dangers. But the majority of Americans were always going to want to respond to violence with more, overwhelming violence. The majority of people were always going to be willing to ...

I look back at the life I had in NYC in 1994. And the one I left 30 years later. I was rich in friends—I now have none there. I had a higher net worth and cashflow than I have now. I had not experienced humiliation, depression, PTSD, or grieving. Or tsunamis of shame. I had two parents and a functioning brother. I was upbeat, happy, and multi-skilled. Reasonably athletic in many many sports. I was a great downhill skier. I read widely and believed a better world full of cooperation, respect and love was possible. I looked forward to sex with my partner (I just recovered that after 30 years of insulting and unsatisfying sex). I had never met a person who intended me harm. I only had shortterm debt. I believed I’d center my life in Manhattan forever and that it was second to none. Now I hope I’ll never see it again. I owned a business. I still do. 45 years without a down year. I felt successful. Now I feel like a slacker. A fucku...

No, not Trump—though similar. My ex: 1. Is not a lawyer and has never managed a legal case 2. Is unemployable 3. Can’t balance a checkbook or compute power of ten math. 4. Has Addison’s disease but doesn’t acknowledge its symptoms. 5. Trashtalks all her friends day in and day out and disappears in the presence of those who should educate or support her 6. Meditates (imagine this mess without meditation and you’d have Trump again—a fiery ball of ignorance). 7. Not really relevant perhaps but last she told me she was a lifelong bisexual polyamorous individual. Anyway she cheats on lovers and taxes. 8. Has never done therapy. 9. And—cliche alert here—she’s a life coach! Seriously. Those who can’t teach gym teach life coaching? How’s that client list doing? Lots of return attendees? She is an unsolvable lump of obsidian in my life. A dog with a bone. A eternal daily drag on joy. A poison and blockade destabilizing my healing investigations of depression, g...

To some degree, 9/11 will always be a self-inflicted disaster. Years of broken Middle East policy and our bumbling misdirected militarism—plus our love for demonizing dark-skinned peoples, is not going to lead to increase cultural exchange and tourism. Now, the hole in the earth is also self-inflicted. Next to the White House. And the exact same factors from 25 years ago have magnified to unimaginable and even genocidal levels. Plus, we are killing families in foreign counties alone and against the strong objections of every single Allie. Shame on us. Shame on every slob who voted for Trump and Bush.

A very special day for this putrid United States:   The NRA does not negotiate.  So, some woman has been living with a guy for 30 years.  He offs himself with his handgun.  Turns out some NRA bequest guy had talked this suicide guy into transferring his estate to the NRA.  He left the house to his girlfriend…but no cash.  So the woman is bankrupt, and in huge debt to the IRS (similar to the NRA, the IRS frowns on negotiation).  A friend of this now-homeless woman reaches out to the estate staff at the NRA asking if there’s any flexibility to aid this victim.  Ha.  That’s funny.  Form letter response.   LESSON learned:  girls, don’t date NRA members.  They commit suicide, lie about their financial goals, and have small penises.   Trump sets the G20 Finance Minister agenda.  Have you seen the film Wedding Crashers?  Similarly, a bunch of ...

Thanks, you two, for reminding us all that humility, humor and honesty are possible.  I’m so sorry that your deaths have to compete with the turd in the White House.  He’s done nothing, with degradation.  You’ve done everything, with excellence.