20160804 (suit)

I was wrong when I wrote

Republican leaders would take

Trump aside and convince him to

Quit the campaign for his own

Good. I was wrong again when

I speculated Republican leaders

Would disqualify him at the 

Convention here in Cleveland.

With a track record like that I

Have no fear I will be wrong

Again if I propose Republican

Leaders will nullify his candidacy

And do something to withdraw

Their nomination before this 

Whole silly thing comes to an

Actual vote. Neither Ryan nor

McConnell looks like he will

Step up like a man and put his

Ass on the line to yank Donald’s

Chain—not now, now that he’s

Received the nod from the base.

One cannot ignore that the partisans

Have spoken; they’ve voted him in 

So deal with it already! There have

Been defections—one representative

From New York says he’s voting for

Hillary. Others tender no or only

Lukewarm support. What is their

Strategy? If he wins, they will be

Persona non grata to the Trump

Administration; if he loses they

Can claim that while their hearts

Were not with her, they had heads

Cool enough not to block her win.

I venture what is keeping the major

Domos of the party from enthusiastic

Endorsements is the fear of how large

The trumple faction might be. If it’s

As outsize and as uncontrollable as

Some say, their heads will be next 

On the chopping block. It will be 

Too late to profess true devotion.

They’ve only a precious few days

To search their hearts as to whether 

They will go down in history as

Courageous rejectors of one of

Their party’s worst mistakes or

Whether history will forever label

Them pusillanimous, unable to

Answer Reason’s plea for leadership.

They may just be too old. It was

A child who finally shouted,

“The emperor has no clothes!”

c. J.S.Manista, 2016 

20160803 (first class)

Got two first class letters in the

Mail yesterday. A small one in

A  blue thank you envelope from

My recently departed neighbor

West of me. And the other from 

The Big Kahuna—B and O were

The notable initials on the letter

That came in a creamy off-white

Cranes’y kind of formal paper

Envelope with the THE WHITE

HOUSE - WASHINGTON as the 

Return address. Unless you follow

This blog assiduously you likely

Don’t recall I had written the 

President (quite by accident)

On Hitler’s birthday.* I tried

To state forcefully that I 

Disagreed with his announced

Decision to modernize and 

Upgrade our stockpile of 

Nuclear weapons. I had some

Idea they had a shelf life and 

Must be periodically replaced

With identical but fresher (or 

Improved) bombs reliably to

Go boom when implemented

Against whoever might be the 

Demons of the current axes

Of evil. (Be such a shame

To send them all that way only

Not to go off—like giving the 

Enemy a free but possibly battered

Example of current weapons

Technology from which to 

Learn our carefully guarded

Secrets). So that was April 20

and BO’s reply addressed just

To me, a missive bearing full

Forty-six cents Pitney Bowes

Postage (first class) dated 

July 28th. Three whole months—

Not at all bad for a guy who’s

Plate is a lot fuller than mine

(Can there be degrees of fullness?

I know about glasses that are half

Full, which means they’re not

Full by half the total volume)

My plate may be full, but his 

Has heaps in addition. In any 

Event the contents of the letter

Don’t even come near my topic—

The spending of a trillion dollars

For weapons we cannot morally

Use. His first line reveals he is

Actually writing one letter

To a group of us who may be 

Upset about “nuclear non-

Proliferation, arms control,

And energy.” Three birds, one

Stone. So he blah blahs about

Controls and reductions he’s 

Set about and never addresses

Making new ones while, as he

Puts it, “our goal is to accelerate

Dismantlement of retired [my 

Emphasis] United States nuclear

Warheads by 20 percent.” He

Ain’t gonna dismantle the new

Ones—just the retired ones.

What a consolation. Kind of

Like the time I wrote Steve 

Allen about the incautious

Use of hypnosis on his show

And he sent me a 5 by 7 glossy

Scribbled, “Thanks for writing,

Steve Allen.” But the thank you

Note (also first class) was hand

Written and stated she appreciated

My being a considerate neighbor.

That was nice. She didn’t have to,

They had already left.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016

*http://filosuferz.blogspot.com/2016/04/20160422-letters.html 

32160802 (power)

All the power that comes from oil, wind, waves, came first from the sun. Let's cut out the middlemen.

You cannot have picked a better

Day than today to demonstrate

Solar power. A simple walk on

The circular path around Fairview

Park would clarify to anyone

The difference between shade

And sunlight. Of course today’s

A rare day, sky entirely blue, a

Slight breeze across the park’s

Playing field. A few trees (don’t

Ask me which; I promised to

Learn tree types long ago for

Jean and me in our retirement,

Now it would be just another 

Unshared knowledge, worse,

A reminder of my loss) are solid

With leaves, the outer shading

The inner so darkly how do they

Produce sugars? And once you’re

In that complete shade it’s as if

You’ve come to another world,

A tolerable one, where you can 

Imagine yourself in a forest green

Adirondack chair at Chautauqua

In conversation with like-minded

Others similarly ensconced of 

Plato or Planck while the breeze

Off the lake carries the chatter of

Joyful children splashing in the 

Cool water (hopefully they are 

Not playing “Marco Polo,” the

Dread incantation Billy Collins

Warned us of years ago). Then

With another step you are in the

Belly of the blazing beast, a total 

Transformation, your breath almost

Sears your lungs, the mouth dries

Out instantly, your skin cells cry

For relief. You think, I will play

In the water fountains and thrill

To get soaking wet, disrobe in

Front of the little bastards, not 

Giving a damn of decency or

Propriety, primevally driven

To get the cold water to flow

Over my sweaty parts and

Ease the heat between my

Cheeks. They will understand, 

Those in the sun. Judgment

Will come from the shaded who

Have already forgotten the pain

Of light. Solar radiation that

Powerful, able to deprive a man

Of his dignity before others, can

Certainly give life to our tools,

Our fans, if there are no breezes.

Scientists tell us enough sunlight

Falls on the earth daily to provide

All our energy requirements. I

Wonder if we ever got so good

At it, the earth would not be a

Blue marble circling the sun but

An opaque aggie, a tidy Black

Hole swallowing every photon

Under which planet-sized umbrella

We would wander, pasty-skinned

Looking for each other with 

Free flashlights.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016