Prophecy and hypocrisy, revisited

 Over the years, I've been to many observations and celebrations of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While many of these have been inspiring, there is often the fly of what Lincoln in another context called "the base alloy of hypocrisy" in the ointment, as I noted in this post from two years ago. I still recommend checking out the lyrics there of the late Phil Ochs' song Crucifixion, which sums up this dynamic better than anything I can say.

Specifically, the hypocrisy that grates on me occurs when politicians and people in positions of power who would have feared, hated and despised everything Dr. King  stood for--especially in later years when he turned his attention increasing to issues of economic justice and opposing the war in Vietnam--speak pious words from the pulpit or podium. As Ochs sang, "the drama is distorted to what they want to hear."

This year, the King family has issued a strong statement calling for "no celebration without legislation" for voting rights. As Andrea Waters King was quoted by CBS News, "We can't celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. without having the legislation, the cornerstone of his legacy, the cornerstone of our democracy, solidified."

That message is especially relevant to West Virginia, where Senator Joe Manchin's vote, which looks like a longshot at this point, will be crucial. Ironically, after some struggle by lots of people here led by the state's Black community, Manchin helped to draft the Freedom to Vote Act, which actually  has a lot of positive provisions, especially if partnered with the John Lewis Voting Rights Act...but it looks like he won't vote for it, supposedly out of reverence for senate rules.

Whatever.

This is one of the decisive moments in US history. My advice to Senator Manchin is this: if he doesn't act decisively to protect voters' rights and democracy, don't bother showing up for these events ever again. It would just add insult to injury.

Really.

And while we're at it, please check out this op-ed from the Charleston Gazette-Mail on the same topic by Rev. David Fryson.

More of a rant really

I'm still shaking my head by the hypocrisy and...other stuff...shown by some members of the US and WV senate. The majority in the former couldn't be bothered to come up with a workable COVID relief bill for the last two months or so but is racing to stack the Supreme Court deck before the election. 

Of course, WV senator Shelley Moore Capito is all on board, despite saying this four years ago when President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the court:

“Before a Supreme Court justice is confirmed to a lifetime position on the bench, West Virginians and the American people should have the ability to weigh in at the ballot box this November. My position does not change with the naming of a nominee today.”

This time around, she had this to say:

 “I support the choice to move forward with the confirmation process and will consider President Trump’s nominee on her merits as West Virginians would expect me to do. In these trying and polarized times, it is important to exercise our constitutional authority and move forward with the process.”

Then there's this: 17 Republican members of the WV Senate signed on to a letter sent to the presidents of WVU and Marshall University that among other things expressed outrage over WVU football players putting BLM stickers on their helmets. Oh yeah, and the senators referred to Black Lives Matter as a "domestic terrorist group," basically saying the assertion that Black lives indeed matter amounts to hate speech.

Apparently this tantrum kept the senators too busy to express outrage at the death of over 200,000 Americans to COVID due in part to a botched response from the Trump administration.

Can't wait to see what happens next...

 

Of prophecy and hypocrisy

Today I attended the official West Virginia Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Charleston for the umpteenth time. As always, the service was well done, with plenty of speakers and music. 

A special highlight for me was the keynote, given by my good friend Jennifer Wells, executive director of the WV Healthy Kids and Families Coalition, not to mention some powerful and pointed comments by Charleston Rabbi Victor Urecki.

There's a tendency at things like this to try to neutralize the radical and cutting edge of Dr. King's work, re-imagining him as a benevolent and non-threatening soul who just wanted to "bring people together"  His powerful and prophetic words and deeds regarding poverty, inequality, oppression, racism, war, militarism, and--let's face it--capitalism tend to be glossed over. But Jennifer and Rabbi Urecki, along with several other speakers, made sure it didn't happen this time.

The thing that galls me at these events are some--not all--of the politicians who attend this as just a public ritual and sit there nodding their heads and hearing nothing and pretending to admire someone they would have feared and hated if he was here today.

Today, this reminded me of a great and cutting song by the late Phil Ochs called "Crucifixion." Here are the lyrics:

And the night comes again to the circle studded sky
The stars settle slowly, in loneliness they lie
'Til the universe explodes as a falling star is raised
Planets are paralyzed; the mountains are amazed
But they all glow brighter from the brilliance of the blaze
With the speed of insanity, then he dies

In the green fields a-turning, a baby is born
His cries crease the wind and mingle with the morn
An assault upon the order, the changing of the guard
Chosen for a challenge that is hopelessly hard
And the only single sign is the sighing of the stars
But to the silence of distance they are sworn

So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
Cause we love you

Images of innocence charge him to go on
But the decadence of destiny is looking for a pawn
To a nightmare of knowledge he opens up the gate
And a blinding revelation is laid upon his plate
That beneath the greatest love there's a hurricane of hate
And God help the critic of the dawn

So he stands on the sea and he shouts to the shore
But the louder that he screams, the longer he's ignored
For the wine of oblivion is drunk to the dregs
And the merchants of the masses almost have to be begged
'Til the giant is aware someone's pulling at his leg
And someone is tapping at the door

To dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
Cause we love you

Then his message gathers meaning, and it spreads across the land
The rewarding of his fame is the following of the man
But ignorance is everywhere, and people have their way
Success is an enemy to the losers of the day
In the shadows of the churches, who knows what they pray?
For blood is the language of the band

The Spanish bulls are beaten, the crowd is soon beguiled
The matador is beautiful, a symphony of style
The excitement is ecstatic, passion places bets
Gracefully he bows to ovations that he gets
But the hands that are applauding him are slippery with sweat
And saliva is falling from their smiles

So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
Cause we love you

Then this overflow of life is crushed into a liar
The gentle soul is ripped apart and tossed into the fire
First a smile of rejection at the newness of the night
Truth becomes a tragedy, limping from the light
All the heavens are horrified, they stagger from the sight
As the cross is trembling with desire

They say they can't believe it, it's a sacrilegious shame
Now who would want to hurt such a hero of the game?
But you know, I predicted it, I knew he had to fall
How did it happen? I hope his suffering was small
Tell me every detail, for I've got to know it all
And do you have a picture of the pain?

So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
Cause we love you

Time takes a toll and the memory fades
But his glory is growing in the magic that he made
Reality is ruined, it's the freeing from the fear
The drama is distorted into what they want to hear
Swimming in their sorrow in the twisting of a tear
As they wait for the new thrill parade

Yes, the eyes of the rebel have been branded by the blind
To the safety of sterility the threat has been refined
The child was created, to the slaughterhouse he's led
So good to be alive when the eulogies are read
The climax of emotion, the worship of the dead
As the cycle of sacrifice unwinds

So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
Cause we love you

And the night comes again to the circle studded sky
The stars settle slowly, in loneliness they lie
'Til the universe explodes as a falling star is raised
Planets are paralyzed; the mountains are amazed
But they all glow brighter from the brilliance of the blaze
With the speed of insanity, then he dies

Annals of hypocrisy: shafting coal miners

If you've been following the news in West Virginia over the last few months, you are no doubt aware of the legislative coup that shook up the state supreme court. Two of the justices appointed to fill....uhhh...vacancies were former legislator and congressman Evan Jenkins and former state house speaker Tim Armstead.

Over the years, both men, especially Jenkins, made much hay about their alleged love for coal miners and their heroic stance against the "war on coal."

Well, their most recent decision will actually make it harder for coal miners to qualify for black lung benefits.

I mean, golly, who could have seen that coming?

That fuzzy line again

There has been story after story lately of politicians pretending to care about West Virginia's--and the nation's--opioid crisis.

Unfortunately, these are the same politicians who have been working night and day to reduce or eliminate the kind of treatment recovering addicts need by repealing the ACA and/or pushing through a #taxscam bogus tax reform bill that gives massive cuts to the rich while crowding out other kinds of federal funding. Like addiction treatment and Medicaid expansion.

Once again, I have trouble distinguishing irony and hypocrisy. But I'm leaning toward the latter.

Anyhow, here's an op-ed by a friend of mine explaining why you can't have it both ways.

Having it both ways

So this past week we heard that the president declared America's opioid crisis to be a public health emergency. We can at least agree on that. 

Too bad he didn't mention anything about the funding needed to deal with it.

In 2015, there were more than 2.5 million Americans with opioid use disorder according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. That year, more than 33,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses, which is triple the death rate for 2000. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports that the US, with less than 5 percent of the world's population, accounts for about a quarter of drug related deaths.

Unfortunately, the same person who declared the emergency also wants to destroy the Affordable Care Act, which has brought drug treatment to many Americans.

According to the American Journal of Public Health, the ACA has expanded treatment options through four main mechanisms: expanded coverage, insurance rules requiring substance abuse treatment, enhanced mental health parity, and opportunities for integrating substance abuse treatment with mainstream health care. An estimated 1.6 million Americans received coverage through Medicaid expansion alone.

So it seems that what we have here is the declaration of an emergency along with a declaration of war on one of the few things that is actually working to deal with it.

All that matters

Christian charity keeps me from referring to the big business friendly Tax Foundation as a racket for the rich. So I won't. But it kind of is. The group rates states on their "tax climate" (translation: good for a few) as if that was a measure of well-being.

Today, conservative commentator Hoppy Kercheval celebrated West Virginia's improved ranking of 19, ahead of our surrounding states. Most of the "improvement" in ranking comes from tax cuts initiated 10 years ago and phased in over time.

My friend Sean O'Leary at the WV Center on Budget and Policy summed it all up in a great tweet:

And all it cost us was an ongoing budget crisis, credit downgrades, a depleted rainy day fund, and major cuts to higher education.

Oh yeah, and we have fewer jobs now than then. And we've lost population. And things have gone so dark that we lead the nation in drug overdose deaths. And schools are laying off teachers and support staff. And we cut taxes by more than enough to pay free in-state tuition and fees to all WV students in a state that desperately needs to raise its educational attainment rates.

But, hey, the Tax Foundation is happy. That's all that matters, right?

Hypocrisy, skulduggery and one to watch

Perhaps the Gentle Reader will recall the crocodile tears shed by political candidates who oozed with compassion for miners and were eager to fight against the alleged "war on coal."

(The winning state candidates who did this demonstrated their sincerity in the last legislative session by rolling back some coal mine safety measures despite the firm opposition of the United Mine Workers.)

Meanwhile, at the federal level, the only member of WV's congressional delegation to support a bill making it simpler for deserving miners to get black lung benefits is Joe Manchin. This would be another put up or shut up moment for people who apparently have little inclination to do either.

NOW SKULDUGGERY. Workforce WV just completed a survey mandated by the legislature last year to calculate prevailing wages for public construction projects. It looks like state legislative leaders really wanted to kill prevailing wage and drag down conditions for working people all along.

NOW ONE TO WATCH. I'm referring of course to the trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.

Annals of hypocrisy, continued

I love it when people who don't give a damn about poor people pretend to care. Any effort to raise the minimum wage usually brings such people out. The main argument, which was also used to oppose emancipation, goes like this: trying to help them only hurts them, so the best way to really help them is to stick it to them.

One novel version of this argument was heard at the WV legislature this week, where crocodile tears were shed over the fact that a rise in wages means fewer public  benefits. Uhhhh, isn't that the point? And since when did these people care about public benefits, other than those extended to rich people and corporations?