Lee Marcus's Blog, page 2
July 23, 2018
Us and Them: Not a Good (Out)look
Congressperson Tom Reed lives in an Us and Them world. He’s got his voter base; everybody else is fodder. His leadership style is similarly bifurcated. At a town hall he’s friendly to all and likes to search for common ground, or at worst, agree to disagree. So agreeable is he. Then he goes home and writes to his base using vitriol and name calling to malign his political opponents. Gotta keep that base fired up.
Why is that? Is he saying he can only lead people who are foaming at the mouth? Why can’t Tom Reed lead people who want to talk about issues like pre-existing conditions, milk prices, school safety, veterans’ hospitals, lack of internet access, protecting our lakes and streams, improving our roads, safeguarding Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, creating jobs so our children don’t have to move away when they grow up? Aren’t these the causes that matter to families in the Southern Tier and Fingerlakes Region?
Instead, Reed’s focus is on dirty campaign strategies, like sending his campaign manager and volunteers out to troll the rallies of the Tracy Mitrano campaign, photobombing every speaker on the podium with signs (straight out of a 1967 coloring book) that read “Extreme Ithaca Liberal.” Then they cook up a media story that the Mitrano people are harassing Reed’s campaign!
Reed even had his people place those awkward signs next to candidates’ placards during the Democratic primary. When, several days after the primary, a retired minister picked up a bunch of campaign signs, including one of Reed’s, along a highway, thinking he was doing a community service by removing trash, it turned out that Reed’s sign was equipped with a GPS device. The man who thought he was performing a civic duty by cleaning up the signs was arrested and charged with petit larceny, which could lead to a jail sentence and a fine.
Our congressperson, like all incumbents, is anxious to keep his seat. Understood. But the tactics he’s using toward that purpose are not about serving his community, as the Reverend was certainly doing. They are not about sharing ideas for improving our lives here in western New York. Reed’s tactics are about maligning his opponent and dividing our community into Us and Them. He is fomenting hate, which is a precursor to violence. And he is doing it wholesale.
Take the words “Extreme Ithaca Liberal.” It would be one thing if he were talking about extremists, but he’s talking about our kids’ teachers and coaches; parents and grandparents; business owners; farmers; first responders; church leaders; your neighbors.
It would be different if he were talking about people from Ithaca. But Reed used his school-yard taunt against all five of the Democratic primary candidates, no matter where they live. In fact, he describes anyone who questions or even tries to reason with him as an extreme Ithaca liberal. That’s just goofy; and it would be laughable, except that the congressperson clearly does not intend to represent the NY 23rd district. He intends to represent his voter base and his out-of-state, deep-pocket donors. Can you imagine Amo Houghton doing that?
Finally, what is his problem with Ithaca? Have you ever heard of a politician blackballing a whole city in his own district? It’s hard to imagine what a medium-sized city could have done to so offend one small man. Ithaca does have a lot of people who are devoted to education. Is that a bad thing? What, then, does Reed really think of the people he calls his base? Ouch.
I would like it if Mr. Reed would explain to us all how we are served by being divided into Us and Them. And, since members of the House of Representatives, like himself, have to run for office every two years, when will he get around to talking about issues and solving problems? There’s always another election right around the corner, and fires needing to be stoked to work up the base.
Well, Mr. Reed, there’s no time like the present. Why don’t you do us all a favor and campaign as if all the people who live in your district matter? Stop playing dirty tricks on your opponents. And consider this: everybody who disagrees with you is not an extremist. You are not the norm. You have your views, other people have theirs. How about a little respect for democracy and the American way of debating issues, educating voters, winning on the merits?
Why is that? Is he saying he can only lead people who are foaming at the mouth? Why can’t Tom Reed lead people who want to talk about issues like pre-existing conditions, milk prices, school safety, veterans’ hospitals, lack of internet access, protecting our lakes and streams, improving our roads, safeguarding Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, creating jobs so our children don’t have to move away when they grow up? Aren’t these the causes that matter to families in the Southern Tier and Fingerlakes Region?
Instead, Reed’s focus is on dirty campaign strategies, like sending his campaign manager and volunteers out to troll the rallies of the Tracy Mitrano campaign, photobombing every speaker on the podium with signs (straight out of a 1967 coloring book) that read “Extreme Ithaca Liberal.” Then they cook up a media story that the Mitrano people are harassing Reed’s campaign!
Reed even had his people place those awkward signs next to candidates’ placards during the Democratic primary. When, several days after the primary, a retired minister picked up a bunch of campaign signs, including one of Reed’s, along a highway, thinking he was doing a community service by removing trash, it turned out that Reed’s sign was equipped with a GPS device. The man who thought he was performing a civic duty by cleaning up the signs was arrested and charged with petit larceny, which could lead to a jail sentence and a fine.
Our congressperson, like all incumbents, is anxious to keep his seat. Understood. But the tactics he’s using toward that purpose are not about serving his community, as the Reverend was certainly doing. They are not about sharing ideas for improving our lives here in western New York. Reed’s tactics are about maligning his opponent and dividing our community into Us and Them. He is fomenting hate, which is a precursor to violence. And he is doing it wholesale.
Take the words “Extreme Ithaca Liberal.” It would be one thing if he were talking about extremists, but he’s talking about our kids’ teachers and coaches; parents and grandparents; business owners; farmers; first responders; church leaders; your neighbors.
It would be different if he were talking about people from Ithaca. But Reed used his school-yard taunt against all five of the Democratic primary candidates, no matter where they live. In fact, he describes anyone who questions or even tries to reason with him as an extreme Ithaca liberal. That’s just goofy; and it would be laughable, except that the congressperson clearly does not intend to represent the NY 23rd district. He intends to represent his voter base and his out-of-state, deep-pocket donors. Can you imagine Amo Houghton doing that?
Finally, what is his problem with Ithaca? Have you ever heard of a politician blackballing a whole city in his own district? It’s hard to imagine what a medium-sized city could have done to so offend one small man. Ithaca does have a lot of people who are devoted to education. Is that a bad thing? What, then, does Reed really think of the people he calls his base? Ouch.
I would like it if Mr. Reed would explain to us all how we are served by being divided into Us and Them. And, since members of the House of Representatives, like himself, have to run for office every two years, when will he get around to talking about issues and solving problems? There’s always another election right around the corner, and fires needing to be stoked to work up the base.
Well, Mr. Reed, there’s no time like the present. Why don’t you do us all a favor and campaign as if all the people who live in your district matter? Stop playing dirty tricks on your opponents. And consider this: everybody who disagrees with you is not an extremist. You are not the norm. You have your views, other people have theirs. How about a little respect for democracy and the American way of debating issues, educating voters, winning on the merits?
March 15, 2018
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
Hearts Afire
by Lee Marcus
Giveaway ends March 28, 2018.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
February 4, 2018
Once you start writing limericks, it's hard to stop.Let’s...
Once you start writing limericks, it's hard to stop.
Let’s hear it for Congressman Tomto donor tycoons he’s the bomb! but your parts are lady? his policy’s shady—he’d force you to call yourself mom.
We’re all agreed it isn’t Reedit isn’t Reed we want or needwe want and needto just be freedat last be freed from Reed, agreed?
They came, they saw, they cackled, allwith rhymes and bumper stickersthey raised some doughfor hope to growand give Reed twisted knickers
Pardon my assonanceand ditto the crassonance but what kind of chump hooks up with a Trump?Tom Reed! Now, that’s bona fide jackassonance.
Let’s hear it for Congressman Tomto donor tycoons he’s the bomb! but your parts are lady? his policy’s shady—he’d force you to call yourself mom.
We’re all agreed it isn’t Reedit isn’t Reed we want or needwe want and needto just be freedat last be freed from Reed, agreed?
They came, they saw, they cackled, allwith rhymes and bumper stickersthey raised some doughfor hope to growand give Reed twisted knickers
Pardon my assonanceand ditto the crassonance but what kind of chump hooks up with a Trump?Tom Reed! Now, that’s bona fide jackassonance.
January 2, 2018
What’s to Love About Winter?
We are in a deep freeze that may turn out to be unprecedented. It will be costly to keep millions of us warm and safe. We worry that it could be the new normal, winter-wise, due to climate change. And it is so early in the season. With all the Christmas lights and holiday cheer behind us, how will we get through it?I believe we humans have a store of energy we may have overlooked. Let’s start by thinking about all the calories we consumed over the holidays (ooh-wee!). With a thick pair of socks, boots with good treads, and a walking stick (if not cross-country skis) we have only to bundle up and get out there. Why would anybody want to do that? Because, truth be told, it IS a wonderland out there. They say the Eskimos have umpteen (whoa— 50?) words for snow. That’s because snow has umpteen variations all worth observing. Snow even has umpteen different sounds it makes under your boots, depending on its consistency and depth, the surrounding temperature, whether or not it has been disturbed, and by what: tires, feet, or even warm sunlight, which could have melted the top, making a crust when the temperature dropped again. I love the sound of that crust breaking under my step, whether it’s absolute like a puncture, or more calibrated and radiant, cracking a pristine platform into tilted slabs like so much peanut brittle.Best of all are snow “stories,” most of them mysteries. Even in a city, you won’t get far on a walk without seeing tracks. In snow, every moving thing lays down a record of its passing, be it vehicle, pedestrian, or critter. There’s the clutter of tracks on a busy sidewalk, and then that one set veering off in a whole new direction. Hmmm. Overnight snow is full of surprises come morning, especially in the wilder areas. It’s obvious to me that the forests and hedges are full of party animals who scamper from all directions to meet in a clearing and dance by the light of the moon. Even if you’re more serious and scientific than fanciful, there’s a lot to see near the woods in the snow. The deep value of winter, I believe, is how a kind of sensory deprivation, underscored by wicked inhospitality, together force us to focus on detail: being mindful, with each step, to imitate the penguin, so you don’t slip and fall; finding that one ingredient that turns ordinary soup into boundless, savory satisfaction; noticing the pecking order at the bird feeder. You don’t like your predicament, but so many little things make you smile. Our lives are loaded with details we can’t help but bypass during seasons when the Earth is bursting with new life and urgency. Winter slows us down so that Life’s details become foreground for a while, and stillness is, just for now, enough. Our batteries are recharging.Today, just for a moment, I remembered vividly the trilling of blackbirds—one of the early signs of spring where I live. I won’t hear that sound for weeks to come, I know. But thinking of it, on New Year’s Day, no less, reminds me that winter is only a blanket, not a stain. What’s down inside is hope, and no frost can get to that.Happy New Year
December 4, 2017
November 29, 2017
Seasons Greetings
this year I will celebrate Christmas:
lights
stockings
cute Santas with sleighs
and shiny presents
because I am lucky
snug
because it won't always be this way
I won't always have the choice.
it's an odd juxtaposition
loving the traditions
after the meaning has shifted
I suppose I am celebrating childhood
now there's something to believe in!
and, in some secret moment,
I will give Jesus his due—
not his fault
what his legacy has come to
the very opposite of Him.
lights
stockings
cute Santas with sleighs
and shiny presents
because I am lucky
snug
because it won't always be this way
I won't always have the choice.
it's an odd juxtaposition
loving the traditions
after the meaning has shifted
I suppose I am celebrating childhood
now there's something to believe in!
and, in some secret moment,
I will give Jesus his due—
not his fault
what his legacy has come to
the very opposite of Him.
Diagnosis
last rehearsal,
I saw it in her face
didn't anyone notice?
stricken
distant
terrified?
or just beyond shock
at the velvet threshold of grief
I don't know.
the conductor does, though
obsessive in praising her
asking us to applaud.
her touch at the keyboard,
it is exquisite
even poetic, only...
she gets lost
it's something new
blames the page turn
it's okay—so many voices
the sopranos are rioting
and the show must go on
I will stop noticing now
until the dreaded announcement
a stunned realization
like a stab to the heart.
I saw it in her face
didn't anyone notice?
stricken
distant
terrified?
or just beyond shock
at the velvet threshold of grief
I don't know.
the conductor does, though
obsessive in praising her
asking us to applaud.
her touch at the keyboard,
it is exquisite
even poetic, only...
she gets lost
it's something new
blames the page turn
it's okay—so many voices
the sopranos are rioting
and the show must go on
I will stop noticing now
until the dreaded announcement
a stunned realization
like a stab to the heart.
November 8, 2017
ODE TO THE WASHCLOTHhow sensibleand modest, tooa terry sq...
ODE TO THE WASHCLOTHhow sensible
and modest, too
a terry square
a job to doyou scrub my neck
my back, my rear
the sweaty trench
behind my earI need you now
as I did then
when I was new
or five or tenbut you at last
are out of style
like Lux and Dove
and Zest and Dialmy hotel thinks
as people do
that no one needs
the likes of youthat soap on skin
will do the trick
but grease on grease
is way too slickI’d rather scrub
but just so much
a loofah’s stiff
and lacks the touchand natural sponge
is full of grace
but oddly round
for my flat faceoh, washcloth, you
are not the rage
but I still choose
to act my ageI may be one
Jurassic jerk
but I still love
old things that work.
and modest, too
a terry square
a job to doyou scrub my neck
my back, my rear
the sweaty trench
behind my earI need you now
as I did then
when I was new
or five or tenbut you at last
are out of style
like Lux and Dove
and Zest and Dialmy hotel thinks
as people do
that no one needs
the likes of youthat soap on skin
will do the trick
but grease on grease
is way too slickI’d rather scrub
but just so much
a loofah’s stiff
and lacks the touchand natural sponge
is full of grace
but oddly round
for my flat faceoh, washcloth, you
are not the rage
but I still choose
to act my ageI may be one
Jurassic jerk
but I still love
old things that work.
September 6, 2017
September 5, 2017
God Is A Secret In My Heart
I’m Gracie.
I have a secret place in my heart.
I go there often.
When I’m there, ordinary things look special.
I can see the whole world in one little flower.Once I watched a fallen leaf skitter up my father’s windshield.
The wind was pushing it to the glass,
but pulling it away, too. So the leaf did the
funniest dance, right in front of me,
on the way to school.
And I saw, just for that moment,
how everything kind of
fits together.Here’s how I get into the secret place:
I pay attention
to my breath. That’s it.
I just notice the air going in and out of me.
It makes me see me, and where I am, and what’s
really going on.One time my brother and I were at a street fair.
It was a beautiful day, and I had been
noticing my breath while we walked around
looking at art, eating, laughing.
I started looking at people’s faces,
just ordinary people, but seeing…
well, seeing God, I think.
I mean inside, behind their eyes, smiling out.
Like God was playing dress-up,
and the people were costumes,
even me!I don’t really know if there is a God.
Sometimes I’m pretty sure there isn’t.
Like when my uncle got sick and then sicker
and then died.
My cousins needed their father,
and the whole family was so sad,
and we still miss him.
So where was God then? Playing hide and seek?There’s a lot about life I don’t understand,
but you know what?
It doesn’t matter.
I know a secret place
where everything kind of makes sense
without any words to explain.
And when I’m there,
there’s only one moment that matters:
this one
now this one
now this one
now…
