Samain Thanksgiving Moon
A man who lives on Conifer Mountain, across from us and next to Black Mountain, posts on Pinecam.com as the weathergeek. He provides those of us who live in the Shadow Mountain, Black Mountain, Conifer area weather forecasts tailored to our peculiar microclimate. His tagline to his posts is: “Climate is what you expect; weather is what you get.”
As I woke up, weathergeek’s tagline crossed over into the political. Why? Because of this picture. The father of a student at Isabella Bird posted it on facebook with the note: this is personal.
I’ll say. Both Ruth and Gabe go to elementary school in Stapleton and live near it. They attend Schweigert Elementary. And, they are both Jewish. This is the sort of toxic display, coming from an equally toxic inner world that frightens Jews in particular. By extension this evocation of Nazism and the holocaust puts fear into the lives of all of us not perceived as, well, white, straight, Christian and patriotic Americans.
In Ruth and Gabe’s neighborhood. At an elementary school in their neighborhood. Not. Acceptable. Ever.
Here’s how weathergeek came into this. My immediate thought was to blame Trump, to connect his racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, homophobic, climate denying campaign rhetoric with this specific act. But, of course, I can’t. Not with the information I have now. This kind of graffiti pops up in American cities and small towns from time to time. Just go on the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center if you don’t believe me.
And so. Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get. Trump and his rhetoric is now the national climate for acts of hate. I expect people like the KKK, Westboro Baptist, climate deniers, women haters, anti-Semites have been emboldened to act both by Trump’s rhetoric but also by the violent, thuggish behavior he not only allowed but reveled in at his rallies. In other words the climate relative to non-white, non-male, non-European, non-Christian, non-straight life is turbulent and chaotic, tending toward personal acts of violence and scorn.
When we get a particular weather event, we have to follow the evidence to certainly connect it to the change in the national political climate. Once we’ve done our work often enough and comprehensively enough, we will be able to connect individual events with Trump. The “alt-right” video from the Atlantic posted below is one example. As we gather these instances, we must begin to create a defense strategy. The safety pin is one such strategy.
On these matters I believe defense is the strongest act right now. Reaching out to the government for help against these grievances will prove futile. Jeff Sessions as attorney general? Come on.
How would that defense look? I don’t know. It might be small reaction teams formed in churches, synagogues, Buddhist temples, mosques; or, in local branches of the Democratic party, the NAACP, JCC’s, the ACLU, civil rights and human rights groups. Even many small businesses and other non-profits like unions and Planned Parenthood might form teams, too.
What would they do? Not sure. At least go to the site of an incident and do some investigating, produce a report, send it to the Southern Poverty Law Center or some other place serving as a clearing house. On site they could also co-ordinate efforts to help victims with money, legal help, emotional support. They could also co-ordinate, as was done by parents in the instance of Isabella Bird school, actions to erase graffiti, repaired damaged homes and buildings. Probably other things occur to you and I imagine, if these teams came into being, that there would be multiple ways they could engage with acts of hate.
In Stapleton. Swastikas on an elementary school. In a community where my Jewish grandchildren attend elementary school. Never again. We must all say it and mean it and ally with each other to prevent this virus from spreading.
Earlier in the fall when I got up to feed the dogs Orion stood over our fence between the house and the garage, in the southern sky. Still in the southern sky he has moved on since then until he now resides over Black Mountain, several degrees further west. As he moves, he serves, as many constellations do, as a celestial clock of the Great Wheel. The further west he goes, the deeper into winter we are. Weather doesn’t always synch up with his movement any more, but that’s our fault, not his.
Here’s an odd outcome of the election. I’m planning on joining Congregation Beth Evergreen. Strange, huh? Turns out you don’t have to be Jewish. Weird, to me, but true.
Then, there’s Rabbi Jamie Arnold. He’s an unusual guy: an athlete, a good musician, a composer and arranger, too, an intellectual, and an embodiment of compassion leavened with toughness. This combination of skills and character make him a compelling leader.
But mostly there’s the potential for action against the impending Trump regime. Politics is not a solo sport; it requires allies. Congregation Beth Evergreen seems to have a core of folks who’ve done actual work in political situations. It clearly has a number of folks who want to do work on the Trump watch. That includes me. My politics and my spiritual journey have always been tightly wound together so working with folks at Congregation Beth Evergreen seems like a continuation.
Some people say wait. Give him a chance to lead. I say, he’s had a multitude of chances already. He’s responded with mocking the disabled, promoting sexual assault, referring to immigrants as rapists and murderers, challenging a sitting Federal judge who happens to be both Latino and an American citizen. His followers chant lock her up, stop the cunt, White Power and fly the Confederate battle flag. The KKK held a celebration in honor of his election, North Carolina, and David Duke says he has ratified their beliefs.
This week he appointed Mike Flynn as his National Security Adviser. Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Admiral James Stavridis told CNBC on Friday, “I think he will play to the darker angels of this administration in terms of adopting very, very aggressive stance, very hard power, very anti-Islam,” he said in an interview with CNBC’s “
“In an interview with Mother Jones in August, Bannon acknowledged that white nationalists and anti-Semites are drawn to the so-called “alt-Right” movement.
“That’s why there are some unintended consequences of the women’s liberation movement,” he said, according to BuzzFeed. “That, in fact, the women that would lead this country would be pro-family, they would have husbands, they would love their children. They wouldn’t be a bunch of dykes that came from the Seven Sisters schools up in New England. That drives the left insane and that’s why they hate these women.” (Political Vindication Radio, 2011)” Both of these quotes found 
