It was two years ago that I stumbled upon the idea of jotting down some ideas, maybe some stories, this-and-that, art news, music spews, and to use Substack as a tool to do so. This is now post 222 and I am pleased that there are folks like you who relate to my ramblings. It seems like a sense of community in our time and age when I have readers from Costa Rica to Ecuador, Los Angeles to Kansas City, North Carolina to Arizona, who respond both to me personally and through the comment section here on Substack. Thanks much, everyone!
My university interlocutor had accused me of offering palliatives for marketing reasons, but what I’d wanted to offer is encouragement, a word that, though it carries the stigma of niceness, literally means to instill courage. Encouragement not to make people feel good, but to make them feel powerful. I’d eventually realize that what I was doing could equally be characterized as stealing away the best excuse for doing nothing: that you have no power and nothing you do matters. It was nurture of people’s sense of possibility, and it was dissent from a lot of the most familiar narratives to which despair and cynicism—that weird formula in which overconfidence about outcome undermines one’s will to play a role—justify non participation. Something profound had shifted for me to feel capable of changing minds and responsible for tending to hearts. A sense of powerlessness and disconnectedness had faded away and sense of possibility had replaced it, about my own capacity and role as well as about the way that change itself works. —Rebecca Solnit, Recollections of My Nonexistence
1.
Republicans are just A-OK with another pathological liar warming a seat in Congress next term. Representative-elect George Santos is giving Herschel Walker a run for his money in the “I’ll say anything to get elected” department. From his claims of college degrees (has none) to his religious affiliation—I never claimed to be Jewish. I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish—and his claims to have worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup (didn’t happen), he is primed to join the ranks of the GOP. But it’s OK as George says I didn’t graduate from any institution of higher learning. I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my résumé. I intend to deliver on the promises I made during the campaign. We do stupid things in life.
The New York Times reported In November 2015, a landlord in the Whitestone neighborhood of Queens filed an eviction suit in housing court accusing Mr. Santos of owing $2,250 in unpaid rent. The landlord, Maria Tulumba, said in an interview that Mr. Santos had been a “nice guy” and a “respectful” tenant. But she said that he had financial problems that led to the eviction case, declining to elaborate further. The judge ruled in favor of Ms. Tulumba. In May 2017, Mr. Santos faced another eviction case, from a rent-stabilized apartment in Sunnyside, Queens. Mr. Santos’s landlord accused him of owing more than $10,000 in rent stretching over five months and said in court records that one of his tenant’s checks had bounced. A warrant of eviction was issued, and Mr. Santos was fined $12,208 in a civil judgment.
And the same paper reported on Wednesday that the Nassau County, N.Y., district attorney’s office said it was looking into the “numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-elect Santos” during his successful 2022 campaign to represent parts of Long Island and Queens. It was unclear how far the Nassau County inquiry had progressed, but the district attorney, Anne Donnelly, said in a statement that Mr. Santos’s fabrications “are nothing short of stunning.”
I’m just surprised the guy isn’t orange. Sad to say, I don’t think any of this will keep him from taking his seat next week, even though his pants might catch fire during his swearing in. Yay.
2.
And how is it that the reincarnation of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Steve Bannon, is still free to run around amongst us? I guess we need white nationalists for the country to be “Fair and Balanced.” Or maybe "Standing Up For What's Right.”
Nah…
There is such a thing as Young Republican Clubs and the New York chapter of these Stepford Bairns hosted a Gala earlier this month that featured the Baron, along with such illustrious guests as M J Greene. She declared in her closing address, referring to reconnaissance tours of the Capitol days before January 6th, that if Steve Bannon and I organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, it would’ve been armed. She also praised a Project Veritas video focused on LGBTQ+ education published by the group, saying it shows that teachers “pass around dildos, butt plugs and lube.” Hope those youngsters had some wet wipes.
The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that newly elected Republican congresspeople George Santos, Georgia-based Mike Collins, and Florida-based Cory Mills were eating and drinking in the same room with white nationalists such as the Brimelows of VDARE and leaders from extreme far-right European parties like Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD), whom German officials placed under surveillance for their ties to extremism, and Austrian Freedom Party (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ). And the Baron himself physically embraced the white nationalist Brimelows, spoke to the couple for several minutes ,and took a selfie with them. And, of course, Tiny Don Trump, Jr. blamed Hunter Biden and LGBTQ+ people for the Red Wave failure this year. In yet another delusional rant he declared The party is in a pretty good spot, but America may not be getting it. We have a party right now that is actually delivering for the American people.
Hopefully they’re in a pretty good spot to disappear…but not today, or anytime soon.
3.
If you’ve ever wondered if your vote counts look no further than the Arizona Attorney General race recount. In the original count Democrat Kris Mayes led Republican Abe Hamadeh by 510 votes, but in the recount she won by only 280 votes. 280 votes out of 2.5 million ballots cast. That’s a gap of 0.01 percentage points that marks one of the closest contests in the state’s history. For the love of being a citizen, please vote! And while you’re at it: JUST. VOTE. BLUE.
4.
Since I’m a lazy ass when it comes to booking, and we have zero “Downtown Hipster” cred, here’s the Morpholinos schedule of where we are NOT playing in 2023, as far as I know.
Jan-Dec, 2023
Tap & Bottle
No time soon
7:12pm
Jan-Dec, 2023
Rialto/911 Toole
A big fat no
8:39pm
Jan-Dec, 2023
St Philip’s Plaza
Never heard of ‘em
6:43pm
Jan-Dec, 2023
Tucson Folk Festival
Too late to apply
3:41pm
Jan-Dec, 2023
Chicago Bar
Too far to drive
10:42pm
Jan-Dec, 2023
Bard Haus
Not dark enough
8:22pm
Jan-Dec, 2023
Plaza Palomino
Send me a promo tape
8:22pm
Jan-Dec, 2023
The Gardens at Bear Canyon
Allergic to greenery and bears
5:38pm
Jan-Dec, 2023
Borderlands Brewing Co
Why mess up a good thing
8:88pm
Stay tuned as I’m sure there will be more places we won’t be playing! Many thanks to those of you who have showed up, as Karl puts it, to listen or twitch to our obscure choice of covers in the one venue, Monterey Court, that puts up with us every last Thursday of the month.
5.
And to continue in the theme of Sunday Sessions selfie extravaganza pictorials, here are a few of the lovely folks from Christmas Day who attended our version of church. All can be seen on my Facebook page…
And now…
Thanks for reading this year…I hope for all of you a prosperous and healthy 2023!
I, like all your other readers, can't believe I've been reading these dispatches for two, yes, 2, years. Thanks for keeping me centered. Stay strong. kw
Another ❤️ from Ecuador!