Tuesday, February 16, 2016

And Those Who Expected Signs and Archangels' Trumps Do Not Believe It Is Happening Now




  • Photo by Earthgirl, River Road near Seneca Aqueduct, yesterday, we had cabin fever, drove out into the (admittedly minor) storm. If she paints this I'll post a photo of the painting.
  • IS THERE NEW PREVIOUSLY UNTRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH KRASZNAHORKAI OUT THIS WEEK AND WILL I BUY IT? Yes.
  • A soul of winter.
  • The pragmatic case for Bernie Sanders: The Clinton pragmatism frame is a strangely naïve and fatalistic misjudging of political culture and dynamics. During most of his eight years in office, President Obama has tacked to the center in hopes of bipartisan compromise on everything from gun control to the budget, only to be met by relentless Republican obstruction, even labeled a “socialist dictator.” Republicans did much the same during Bill Clinton’s first term—pushing him more deeply into the political center, where, with plenty of support from Hillary, President Clinton and the Gingrich Congress gutted welfare, enacted a deeply compromised crime bill, and reversed bank regulations (something Hillary is OK with even after the financial crisis). No matter where a Democratic president is on the spectrum, Republicans block and push rightward. In her campaign, as in the past, Hillary Clinton has compromised her agenda before the political battle even begins.
  • Does Bernie Sanders know what he's doing?
  • Psst. Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic nominee.
  • That's what I said. 
  • And the GOP is doing everything in its power to guarantee she'll be POTUS.
  • Not on purpose, though by design.
  • Psst. Only Trump can stop the GOP.
  • Post title has allusion to 2008 Dem Potus Blegsylvania probably only I remember, but in my Stringtown of that year archangel (FORGIVE ME, it was Anglachel, my apologies) was HRC's most vigorous, passionate defender. 
  • She - or at least that version of her - quit Blegsylvania long ago.
  • HRC doesn't want to run against Trump, yo.
  • Could be fun.
  • Trump is not going to be the GOP nominee.
  • This is going to be a total clusterfuck, and I'm going to enjoy it, dammit.
  • New tag = potusclusterfuck.
  • Monkey adopts puppy.
  • The persecution and assassination of Antonin Scalia by ninja.
  • Obama compiles list of gay, transsexual abortion doctors to replace Scalia.
  • The Bulgarian Truck.
  • Pierre Bastien.
  • Songs from last night's Vocal Fry, an hour of wonder:







A SONG AT THE END OF THE WORLD

Czeslaw Milosz

On the day the world ends
A bee circles a clover,
A fisherman mends a glimmering net.
Happy porpoises jump in the sea,
By the rainspout young sparrows are playing
And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be.
         
On the day the world ends
Women walk through the fields under their umbrellas,
A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn,
Vegetable peddlers shout in the street
And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island,
The voice of a violin lasts in the air
And leads into a starry night.

And those who expected lightning and thunder
Are disappointed.
And those who expected signs and archangels’ trumps
Do not believe it is happening now.
As long as the sun and the moon are above,
As long as the bumblebee visits a rose,
As long as rosy infants are born
No one believes it is happening now.

Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet
Yet is not a prophet, for he’s much too busy,
Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:
There will be no other end of the world,

There will be no other end of the world. 



4 comments:

  1. He should troll Clarence and appoint Anita Hill

    ReplyDelete
  2. Middle-Class Ethos And Memory Lane: In my childhood, one of my maternal aunts would say, "Oh -- Yma Sumac!!", when they meant to say something else.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn

    reminds me of a blues song i heard martin mull perform

    i woke up late last morning and both my cars were gone
    i woke up late last morning and both my cars were gone
    i felt so low down, so disgusted
    i threw my drink across the lawn

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yma!

    Pro tip: don't make predictions this #potusclusterfuck cycle. You'll wind up being (my blogland's) bill kristol—and you don't want to wind up being (my blogland's) bill kristol now, do you? Just sayin'. Just enjoy the ride. No difference between the parties, as you like repeatedly to shibboleth.

    ReplyDelete