lewrockwell--2020-05-25--The Pleasures of Life Are Being Destroyed by the Criminal State and Its Enforcers

“ Simply to have all the necessities of life and three meals a day will not bring happiness .
Happiness is hidden in the unnecessary and in those impractical things that bring delight to the inner person .
.
.
.
When we lack proper time for the simple pleasures of life , for the enjoyment of eating , drinking , playing , creating , visiting friends , and watching children at play , then we have missed the purpose of life .
Not on bread alone do we live but on all these human and heart-hungry luxuries.
” Life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ physical , emotional and spiritual pleasures , whether simple or complex .
A pleasurable life can be magnificent , and life without pleasure will certainly be mundane , but it can also be hell on earth .
The pleasures I speak of have to do with everyday living , loving , and beauty .
They have to do with freedom , nature , food , art and music .
When one is free to experience life to the fullest , to love , dream , to laugh and cry , to embrace others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to exotic lands , and to learn , his mind is consumed by joy and excitement .
When one is free to love and nurture his family , to help others in need , and to experience every part of life , then he is whole .
But if one is restricted or controlled , spied upon , beaten , incarcerated for victimless crimes , isolated from his fellow man , threatened , abused , and shamed , then all pleasure is taken from him , and he is left with emptiness .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ criminal state , one of attempting to take total control of our lives , which if accomplished would leave us empty and filled with despair instead of joy .
Strength to Love Martin Luther King Jr Best Price : $ 10.99 Buy New $ 13.99 Once a society succumbs to the rule of tyrants , and allows their lives to be forcibly taken from them , a once real and pleasurable life is replaced by routine , isolation , and almost robotic monotony .
In that environment , emotion and passion are not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , all that is left is hopelessness .
That hopelessness leads to darkness , and a life empty and devoid of even simple pleasures .
The result of this horror is slavery , and the only psychological escape from the constant pain of slavery is death .
Life is too short and important to allow the evil among us , whether government or any others , to restrict our freedom or to demand our isolation so that we are easier to control .
Just consider all the common joys that are no longer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and implemented by the ruling class and all their pawns in the corrupt American political system .
Consider what this wicked government deems non-essential to our lives .
There are virtually no sporting events being played in this country , not even little league baseball .
Children are not allowed to get together to play .
No gatherings of people are allowed , so most every event has been cancelled , from art shows , live music concerts , banquets , fund-raisers , charity events , and any function whatsoever where people gather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ includes most houses of worship .
Going out to a nice restaurant with family , friends , and neighbors was forbidden these past few months , and most every restaurant was closed .
Even though some are reopening , the ambiance is gone as Plexiglass shields and ridiculous “ distancing ” rules make for a cold and impersonal experience .
Romantic dinners have become a thing of the past .
All around this country , people are wearing masks , masks that not only hide faces and expression , but that also can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
International and most major travel has been nearly eliminated , and in many places even local travel has been banned .
Parks and beaches have been closed , and people are being told to stay inside in home prison .
The so-called American Dream has been destroyed , as most all of the small businesses were closed by mandate , leaving many tens of millions of people out of work with no way to support themselves and their families .
Every gathering for exercise and spiritual growth were cancelled , including classes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and potluck dinners .
Even family reunions have been cancelled , as this nonsense continued .
Exercise was almost eliminated as gyms and exercise classes closed , and many hiking areas were blocked off .
Even boating on open water was banned across the country .
While public schools are atrocious , closing every school in the country left millions of children isolated from their friends and from normal interaction and play .
All pubs were closed , and even the simple pleasure of getting a haircut was virtually eliminated .
This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that were made unavailable to nearly every American , with the exception of course of the elite ruling class , who mostly continued living outside the rules meant only for the common people .
Where Do We Go from He ... King Jr. , Dr. Martin L ... Best Price : $ 7.49 Buy New $ 9.49 All of these tyrannical and fascist restrictions have caused damage at every level to the psyche of the population .
Much of the psychological damage I fear will be long-lasting or permanent , as the toll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the driving forces of pleasure for humans has to do with creativity , and these lockdowns have completely stifled much if not most of that creativity .
The creative side of individuals varies greatly , but one thing stands out , and that is that most of us are creative in one way or another , and shutting down all the pleasurable parts of life tend to destroy creativity and breed complacency .
With this mostly unseen consequence , how many will lose an interest in life , and how many will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ How many will go into depression during and after this insanity ?
How many will become abusive and violent , and how many will wither away to nothing as all hope for the future seems a distant memory ?
I said at the outset of this lockdown barbarity that the number of suicides alone would outpace all the deaths due to this fake pandemic , and this is already coming to fruition in some states and areas , even though the economic and psychological damage is only now beginning .
As it will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the state ’ s response to this manufactured crisis , the deaths due to suicide , weak immune systems caused by isolation and stress , the unemployment and coming poverty , the multitude of bankruptcies , and the negative impacts on the family , will lead to unending and untold carnage in the general population .
Why We Can ’ t Wai ... King Jr. , Dr. Martin L ... Best Price : $ 1.31 Buy New $ 6.80 As humans , we all face life and death constantly , but strive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , our friends , and the beauty of nature for as long as possible .
There are evil forces attempting to eliminate all that is good in life in order to gain total power and control over us , and this effort is leading us away from joy and happiness and into the abyss of hell .
This is not acceptable , and has to be quickly stopped .
Instead of asking others to fix this , or to tell you what to do to stop it , stand up and stop it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has a responsibility to fight for our family , our freedom , and ourselves .
There are so many more of us than the enemy ruling class and government , but looking for a “ leader ” or savior to come to your rescue is nothing more than a guarantee that you will forever remain a servant to your masters .
If real freedom and the enjoyment of life are desired , fear must be defeated by individual courage and action .
“ The ultimate measure of a man is not where he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
” The Best of Gary D. Barnett

“Simply to have all the necessities of life and three meals a day will not bring happiness. Happiness is hidden in the unnecessary and in those impractical things that bring delight to the inner person. . . . When we lack proper time for the simple pleasures of life, for the enjoyment of eating, drinking, playing, creating, visiting friends, and watching children at play, then we have missed the purpose of life. Not on bread alone do we live but on all these human and heart-hungry luxuries.”
~ Edward M Hays (Unsourced)
Life holds the key to a plethora of physical, emotional and spiritual pleasures, whether simple or complex. A pleasurable life can be magnificent, and life without pleasure will certainly be mundane, but it can also be hell on earth. The pleasures I speak of have to do with everyday living, loving, and beauty. They have to do with freedom, nature, food, art and music. When one is free to experience life to the fullest, to love, dream, to laugh and cry, to embrace others, to play games, to travel to exotic lands, and to learn, his mind is consumed by joy and excitement. When one is free to love and nurture his family, to help others in need, and to experience every part of life, then he is whole. But if one is restricted or controlled, spied upon, beaten, incarcerated for victimless crimes, isolated from his fellow man, threatened, abused, and shamed, then all pleasure is taken from him, and he is left with emptiness. This is the agenda sought by the criminal state, one of attempting to take total control of our lives, which if accomplished would leave us empty and filled with despair instead of joy. Strength to Love Martin Luther King Jr Best Price: $10.99 Buy New $13.99 (as of 04:59 UTC - Details)
Once a society succumbs to the rule of tyrants, and allows their lives to be forcibly taken from them, a once real and pleasurable life is replaced by routine, isolation, and almost robotic monotony. In that environment, emotion and passion are not possible, and without emotion and passion, all that is left is hopelessness. That hopelessness leads to darkness, and a life empty and devoid of even simple pleasures. The result of this horror is slavery, and the only psychological escape from the constant pain of slavery is death. Life is too short and important to allow the evil among us, whether government or any others, to restrict our freedom or to demand our isolation so that we are easier to control.
Just consider all the common joys that are no longer available due to this fraudulent pandemic created and implemented by the ruling class and all their pawns in the corrupt American political system. Consider what this wicked government deems non-essential to our lives. There are virtually no sporting events being played in this country, not even little league baseball. Children are not allowed to get together to play. No gatherings of people are allowed, so most every event has been cancelled, from art shows, live music concerts, banquets, fund-raisers, charity events, and any function whatsoever where people gather together to enjoy life. This even includes most houses of worship. Going out to a nice restaurant with family, friends, and neighbors was forbidden these past few months, and most every restaurant was closed. Even though some are reopening, the ambiance is gone as Plexiglass shields and ridiculous “distancing” rules make for a cold and impersonal experience. Romantic dinners have become a thing of the past. All around this country, people are wearing masks, masks that not only hide faces and expression, but that also can cause great harm to those wearing them. International and most major travel has been nearly eliminated, and in many places even local travel has been banned. Parks and beaches have been closed, and people are being told to stay inside in home prison. The so-called American Dream has been destroyed, as most all of the small businesses were closed by mandate, leaving many tens of millions of people out of work with no way to support themselves and their families. Every gathering for exercise and spiritual growth were cancelled, including classes in yoga, sewing, bingo, and potluck dinners. Even family reunions have been cancelled, as this nonsense continued. Exercise was almost eliminated as gyms and exercise classes closed, and many hiking areas were blocked off. Even boating on open water was banned across the country. While public schools are atrocious, closing every school in the country left millions of children isolated from their friends and from normal interaction and play. All pubs were closed, and even the simple pleasure of getting a haircut was virtually eliminated. This is just a very short list of things that were made unavailable to nearly every American, with the exception of course of the elite ruling class, who mostly continued living outside the rules meant only for the common people. Where Do We Go from He... King Jr., Dr. Martin L... Best Price: $7.49 Buy New $9.49 (as of 04:59 UTC - Details)
All of these tyrannical and fascist restrictions have caused damage at every level to the psyche of the population. Much of the psychological damage I fear will be long-lasting or permanent, as the toll on Americans has been devastating. One of the driving forces of pleasure for humans has to do with creativity, and these lockdowns have completely stifled much if not most of that creativity. The creative side of individuals varies greatly, but one thing stands out, and that is that most of us are creative in one way or another, and shutting down all the pleasurable parts of life tend to destroy creativity and breed complacency. With this mostly unseen consequence, how many will lose an interest in life, and how many will commit suicide due to this phenomenon? How many will go into depression during and after this insanity? How many will become abusive and violent, and how many will wither away to nothing as all hope for the future seems a distant memory? I said at the outset of this lockdown barbarity that the number of suicides alone would outpace all the deaths due to this fake pandemic, and this is already coming to fruition in some states and areas, even though the economic and psychological damage is only now beginning. As it will take years to overcome the damage caused by the state’s response to this manufactured crisis, the deaths due to suicide, weak immune systems caused by isolation and stress, the unemployment and coming poverty, the multitude of bankruptcies, and the negative impacts on the family, will lead to unending and untold carnage in the general population.
Why We Can’t Wai... King Jr., Dr. Martin L... Best Price: $1.31 Buy New $6.80 (as of 04:59 UTC - Details) As humans, we all face life and death constantly, but strive to enjoy our lives, our families, our friends, and the beauty of nature for as long as possible. There are evil forces attempting to eliminate all that is good in life in order to gain total power and control over us, and this effort is leading us away from joy and happiness and into the abyss of hell. This is not acceptable, and has to be quickly stopped. Instead of asking others to fix this, or to tell you what to do to stop it, stand up and stop it yourself. Each of us as individuals has a responsibility to fight for our family, our freedom, and ourselves. There are so many more of us than the enemy ruling class and government, but looking for a “leader” or savior to come to your rescue is nothing more than a guarantee that you will forever remain a servant to your masters. If real freedom and the enjoyment of life are desired, fear must be defeated by individual courage and action.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
~ Martin Luther King, Strength to Love (1963) ch. 3
The Best of Gary D. Barnett


lewrockwell--2020-05-25--William Kristol, the Flaming Neocon, Is Looking To Reinvent Himself as a Dissenter

“ A ‘ Neocon ’ is neither new or conservative , but old as Babylon and evil as Hell.
” – Edward Abbey Being an unrepentant Neocon , such as William ( Bill ) Kristol , means never having to say you ’ re sorry .
To qualify , you need to be an ideologue , who also has paid no price for recklessly cheerleading 4,488 U.S. troops to their deaths in the illegal and immoral Iraq War , plus another 32,223 who were seriously wounded ( 2003-2011 ) .
It also helps to have a significant media platform and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how many innocent Iraqis died via the U.S.-led invasion and/or the occupation of that country .
( Try an estimated 655,000 . )
By the way , false prophet , Kristol : Our troops found “ No ” Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq .
Let me formally introduce – William Kristol , age 67 , out of New York City , now Northern Virginia , warmonger extraordinaire , ultra-conservative , and currently editor at large of Bulwark magazine .
Byline Baltimore Hughes , William Best Price : $ 16.52 Buy New $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heard Kristol on the TV/Cable/Network shows making outrageous statements , like this one : “ The war in Iraq could have terrifically good effects throughout the Middle East.
” ( 09/18/2001 ) .
The other day , May 20 , 2020 , Kristol was the subject of a puff piece profile in the Washington Post , by reporter KK Ottesen .
The article made no mention of Kristol ’ s disgusting role in promoting the Iraq War .
Instead , he was given the opportunity to rip President Donald Trump on how he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Well , heck , everybody knows that . )
There was also no mention by the reporter of the possible real reasons that Kristol was dumping on Trump .
One could be that during the 2016 presidential campaign , Trump had trashed Kristol ’ s and the Neocons ’ support of the Iraq War .
And , also Trump has indicated he doesn ’ t have any plans to reignite another of Kristol ’ s favorites schemes – “ a Cold War with Russia.
” These are just two of the reasons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can ’ t stomach Trump , ” according to the commentator , JP Sottile , of Consortium News .
The idea that Kristol is some kind of genuine dissenter and is opposing Trump because he ’ s concerned about the quality of his leadership is pure nonsense .
The Washington Post allowed Kristol to use the paper for this dubious exercise and it has no one to blame but itself .
America Nuked on 9/11 : ... Jim Fetzer Buy New $ 30.00 During last year ’ s Democratic presidential primary , Kristol @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sen. Bernie Sanders , and posted a tweet that said : “ # Never Sanders.
” The popular antiwar candidate responded to Kristol : “ Have you apologized to the nation for your foolish advocacy of the Iraq War ?
I make no apologies for opposing it.
” Sanders then added this zinger : “ I will do everything in my power to prevent a war with Iran.
” The Neocon replied : “ I will defend my views on Iraq…as you defend yours.
” Sen. Sanders underscored how Kristol had called for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1998 ; and that Kristol also predicted the conflict would last “ only two months ; ” and that he had repeatedly argued for the Bush-Cheney Gang to send in more troops .
As early at 2006 , Kristol was urging the US to bomb Iran ’ s nuclear facilities , asking , “ Why wait ?
” Flashback : The first time I laid eyes on the cunning Neocon , Kristol was at a pro-Iraq War rally held on the National Mall , on April 12 , 2003 , in Washington , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ late , ex-U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson ( R-TN ) were there , along with some other Right Wing types .
What was really weird about the whole affair was the appearance of that so-called comedian , Ben Stein .
He showed up on a huge video screen endorsing the war .
It should have had “ a warning label ” on it !
I recall a lady in the modest crowd of about fifty at that event saying of Kristol : “ Oh , look how small he is !
” She was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the very short side .
I ’ d say that he comes in at about 5 ft. 4 or 5 inches .
It seems that , as a result of his tiny body frame , his head appears more massive than it really is .
The rally was boring .
I didn ’ t stay long .
In a way , Kristol reminded me , in a physical sense , of the late actor Peter Lorre .
Whether Kristol has a “ Little Man ( Napoleon ) Complex , ” or not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the field .
All I know for sure is that he ’ s a relentlessly angry , pusher of costly and unnecessary wars .
The Assassins ’ G ... Packer , George Best Price : $ 0.44 Buy New $ 12.99 Here is another gem from Kristol : “ The first two battles of this new era are now over .
The battles of Afghanistan and Iraq have been won decisively and honorably.
” ( April 28 , 2003 ) And , then there is this whopper from the slippery Neocon : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 2005…could be a key moment…perhaps the key moment so far…in vindicating the ‘ Bush/Cheney Doctrine ’ as the right response to 9/11.
” ( March 7 , 2005 ) Of course , it wouldn ’ t be fair to leave out this one from Kristol : “ It is much more likely that the situation in Iraq will stay more or less the same , or improve , in either case , Republicans will benefit from being the party of victory.
” ( Nov. 30 , 2005 ) As a result of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and media appearances in support of the Iraq invasion , the Washington Post ’ s Richard Cohen dubbed the conflict : “ Kristol ’ s War !
” Right on , Mr. Cohen .
The estimated cost of the Iraq War to the U.S. taxpayers runs to a high of around $ 1.7 trillion !
If Kristol has any regrets with respect to his amoral advocacy for the Iraq War ( which was launched by the Bush-Cheney Gang based on a pack of rotten lies ) and/or about the staggering US casualties in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ express them .
Bush and Cheney : How T ... David Ray Griffin Best Price : $ 4.97 Buy New $ 10.50 If Kristol has any empathy for the innocent Iraqi dead and wounded , the Iraqi women and children who have suffered and are continuing to suffer from that conflict , along with the tens of thousands of Iraqi homes that have been destroyed , and also for those 3.8 million Iraqis made into refugees , then he ’ s kept those kinds of feelings to himself .
In any event , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Neocon , is mentioned , I think callous indifference to human life and suffering .
The next time the Neocon Kristol visits the Arlington National Cemetery , over in Virginia , to honor our Iraqi War dead , will be his FIRST !
Despite all of the above , he continues to argue for a U.S.-led attack on Iran .
Kristol insists : “ Invading Iran is not a bad idea !
” If warmongering isn ’ t a Hate Crime and/or a Hate Speech , then maybe it should be .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) That would give the heartless Kristol something to think about when he advocates for the launching of yet another monstrosity , like the Iraq War .

“A ‘Neocon’ is neither new or conservative, but old as Babylon and evil as Hell.” – Edward Abbey
Being an unrepentant Neocon, such as William (Bill) Kristol, means never having to say you’re sorry. To qualify, you need to be an ideologue, who also has paid no price for recklessly cheerleading 4,488 U.S. troops to their deaths in the illegal and immoral Iraq War, plus another 32,223 who were seriously wounded (2003-2011).
It also helps to have a significant media platform and not to give a good hoot about how many innocent Iraqis died via the U.S.-led invasion and/or the occupation of that country. (Try an estimated 655,000.)
By the way, false prophet, Kristol: Our troops found “No” Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.
Let me formally introduce – William Kristol, age 67, out of New York City, now Northern Virginia, warmonger extraordinaire, ultra-conservative, and currently editor at large of Bulwark magazine. Byline Baltimore Hughes, William Best Price: $16.52 Buy New $16.43 (as of 07:39 UTC - Details)
For years, we’ve heard Kristol on the TV/Cable/Network shows making outrageous statements, like this one: “The war in Iraq could have terrifically good effects throughout the Middle East.” (09/18/2001).
The other day, May 20, 2020, Kristol was the subject of a puff piece profile in the Washington Post, by reporter KK Ottesen. The article made no mention of Kristol’s disgusting role in promoting the Iraq War. Instead, he was given the opportunity to rip President Donald Trump on how he has been mismanaging the coronavirus crisis. (Well, heck, everybody knows that.)
There was also no mention by the reporter of the possible real reasons that Kristol was dumping on Trump. One could be that during the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had trashed Kristol’s and the Neocons’ support of the Iraq War.
And, also Trump has indicated he doesn’t have any plans to reignite another of Kristol’s favorites schemes – “a Cold War with Russia.” These are just two of the reasons the “Neocons, like Kristol, can’t stomach Trump,” according to the commentator, JP Sottile, of Consortium News.
The idea that Kristol is some kind of genuine dissenter and is opposing Trump because he’s concerned about the quality of his leadership is pure nonsense. The Washington Post allowed Kristol to use the paper for this dubious exercise and it has no one to blame but itself.
America Nuked on 9/11:... Jim Fetzer Buy New $30.00 (as of 05:01 UTC - Details) During last year’s Democratic presidential primary, Kristol took a swipe at the candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and posted a tweet that said: “#Never Sanders.” The popular antiwar candidate responded to Kristol: “Have you apologized to the nation for your foolish advocacy of the Iraq War? I make no apologies for opposing it.” Sanders then added this zinger: “I will do everything in my power to prevent a war with Iran.”
The Neocon replied: “I will defend my views on Iraq…as you defend yours.” Sen. Sanders underscored how Kristol had called for regime change in Iraq as early at 1998; and that Kristol also predicted the conflict would last “only two months;” and that he had repeatedly argued for the Bush-Cheney Gang to send in more troops. As early at 2006, Kristol was urging the US to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, asking, “Why wait?”
Flashback: The first time I laid eyes on the cunning Neocon, Kristol was at a pro-Iraq War rally held on the National Mall, on April 12, 2003, in Washington, D.C., G. Gordon Liddy and the late, ex-U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) were there, along with some other Right Wing types.
What was really weird about the whole affair was the appearance of that so-called comedian, Ben Stein. He showed up on a huge video screen endorsing the war. It should have had “a warning label” on it!
I recall a lady in the modest crowd of about fifty at that event saying of Kristol: “Oh, look how small he is!” She was right. Kristol is, indeed, on the very short side. I’d say that he comes in at about 5 ft. 4 or 5 inches. It seems that, as a result of his tiny body frame, his head appears more massive than it really is. The rally was boring. I didn’t stay long.
In a way, Kristol reminded me, in a physical sense, of the late actor Peter Lorre. Whether Kristol has a “Little Man (Napoleon) Complex,” or not, I will leave to the experts in the field. All I know for sure is that he’s a relentlessly angry, pusher of costly and unnecessary wars. The Assassins’ G... Packer, George Best Price: $0.44 Buy New $12.99 (as of 05:01 UTC - Details)
(During the Iraq War, there were countless protest actions mounted by ten of thousands of splendid antiwar activists across the country. Many of them were held on the National Mall, and other sites in our nation’s capital.)
Here is another gem from Kristol: “The first two battles of this new era are now over. The battles of Afghanistan and Iraq have been won decisively and honorably.” (April 28, 2003) And, then there is this whopper from the slippery Neocon: “The Iraqi elections of Jan. 30, 2005…could be a key moment…perhaps the key moment so far…in vindicating the ‘Bush/Cheney Doctrine’ as the right response to 9/11.” (March 7, 2005)
Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to leave out this one from Kristol: “It is much more likely that the situation in Iraq will stay more or less the same, or improve, in either case, Republicans will benefit from being the party of victory.” (Nov. 30, 2005)
As a result of an onslaught of Kristol’s articles and media appearances in support of the Iraq invasion, the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen dubbed the conflict: “Kristol’s War!” Right on, Mr. Cohen.
The estimated cost of the Iraq War to the U.S. taxpayers runs to a high of around $1.7 trillion!
If Kristol has any regrets with respect to his amoral advocacy for the Iraq War (which was launched by the Bush-Cheney Gang based on a pack of rotten lies) and/or about the staggering US casualties in Iraq, I have never heard him express them. Bush and Cheney: How T... David Ray Griffin Best Price: $4.97 Buy New $10.50 (as of 06:35 UTC - Details)
If Kristol has any empathy for the innocent Iraqi dead and wounded, the Iraqi women and children who have suffered and are continuing to suffer from that conflict, along with the tens of thousands of Iraqi homes that have been destroyed, and also for those 3.8 million Iraqis made into refugees, then he’s kept those kinds of feelings to himself.
(The other amazing thing about Kristol is how he’s repeatedly able to get his distorted views on our televisions and in our newspapers. It’s like he has to only press a button and there he is. It is all so – Orwellian!)
In any event, when the name of William Kristol, the Neocon, is mentioned, I think callous indifference to human life and suffering.
The next time the Neocon Kristol visits the Arlington National Cemetery, over in Virginia, to honor our Iraqi War dead, will be his FIRST! Despite all of the above, he continues to argue for a U.S.-led attack on Iran. Kristol insists: “Invading Iran is not a bad idea!”
If warmongering isn’t a Hate Crime and/or a Hate Speech, then maybe it should be. (Peace Movement, please copy.) That would give the heartless Kristol something to think about when he advocates for the launching of yet another monstrosity, like the Iraq War.
Reprinted with the author’s permission.


lewrockwell--2020-05-25--The Economic ‘Reopening’ Is a Fake Out

The Economic ‘Reopening’ Is a Fake Out

How does one define an economic “ reopening ” ?
I think most people would say that a reopening means that everything goes back to the way it was before the crisis ; or at least as close as possible .
Most people would also say that a reopening is something that will last .
Simply declaring “ America has reopened ” while keeping many restrictions in place in certain parts of the country is a bit of a farce .
And , reopening with the intention of implementing lockdowns again in a matter of weeks without explaining the situation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the highest order .
For example , states like New York , California , Illinois and New Jersey have extended their lockdowns ; with LA ’ s extension remaining ambiguous after they initially declared restrictions for another 3 months .
New York ’ s lockdown is extended to the end of May ( so far ) .
This is the case in many US states and cities , while rural areas are mostly open .
This is being called a “ partial reopening ” , but is there a purpose behind the uneven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mikovits , Judy Buy New $ 16.51 As I predicted in my article ‘ Pandemic And Economic Collapse : The Next 60 Days ’ , the restrictions will continue in major US population centers while rural areas have mostly opened with much fanfare .
The end result of this will be a flood of city dwellers into rural towns looking for relief from more strict lockdown conditions .
In about a month , we should expect new viral clusters in places where there was limited transmission .
I suggest that before the 4th @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Federal government will be talking about new lockdowns , using the predictable infection spike as an excuse .
This is happening in Northeast China right now – another resurgence has occurred and 100 million people are now subject to quarantine restrictions .
China ’ s reopening is barely two weeks old , and concerns of infection “ flare ups ” were widespread when the announcement was made .
Now the mainstream media seems to be confused ; is China open , or locked down ?
Of course , we may never know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in China as their numbers have been shown to be utterly rigged and suppressed from the beginning , but the point is that the phrase “ reopening ” is meaningless there , just as it will be meaningless here in the US .
This is part of the plan .
The farce of reopenings does indeed have a purpose .
I discuss this in great detail in my article ‘ Waves Of Mutilation : Medical Tyranny And The Cashless Society ’ published in April .
The globalists are clearly the only beneficiaries of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state now openly on the table along with an accelerated shift into digital currency systems , the globalists are either taking advantage of this crisis to push their agenda , or they ENGINEERED the virus and caused the crisis to push their agenda .
In white papers published by globalists at the Imperial College of London as well as MIT , the plan is openly admitted .
They suggest using “ waves ” of economic openings and then lockdowns to control the spread of the virus .
The timelines seem to vary , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a one month open , two months closed cycle .
The goal is to deliberately increase infections every couple of months in specific regions of a country , then declare economic shutdown and quarantine measures once the spread reaches a certain level ; this is meant to continue until a vaccine is developed , which could take years .
Plague : One Scientist & ... Mikovits , Judy Best Price : $ 29.55 Buy New $ 17.99 When the globalists at MIT say “ We are not going back to normal ” ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now , the general public ( at least in some parts of the country ) is cheering the reopenings , but what they don ’ t realize is that the reopenings are an illusion .
Restrictions are going to remain in place in many states and cities , while they will be lifted and then re-instituted in others .
In fact the situation is going to become much worse over time , by design .
The next lockdown , whenever it is announced , will be absolutely devastating to the US economy which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The mitigating factors will be how effective central bank stimulus is at stalling the freefall ( not very effective so far ) .
Other factors include the percentage of small businesses that survive the first lockdown and how many jobs those businesses can bring back to the economy .
The first lockdown may be survivable for a large percentage of Americans and businesses ; the second lockdown will financially destroy all but the most prepared .
And make no mistake , there WILL be many more lockdowns over the next couple years .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wells Fargo and JP Morgan have seen to it that small businesses are hit hard by the crisis by funneling bailout money and paycheck loans to their larger clients over the smaller businesses that the money was intended to go to .
Of the 300,000 clients of JP Morgan that applied for an emergency loan through the government bailout program , only 18,000 actually received one and many of these clients were NOT small businesses .
If the cycle of lockdowns continues , small businesses will be wiped off the map .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they control where every dollar of the bailout money goes , and many of their corporations are the only institutions that are equipped to survive the onslaught .
Some of these companies will go down , but in the long run the goal , in my view , is total centralization of production and distribution .
This is exactly what happened during the Great Depression when JP Morgan and other major banks devoured thousands of small local banks across the country and removed them as competitors from the system .
After the depression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hands of a select few mega-companies .
Today , they are attempting to erase all localized small business competition to international corporations .
Inoculated : How Scienc ... Kent Heckenlively Best Price : $ 15.59 Buy New $ 15.14 Taking over the business infrastructure of entire nations and removing all independent competition is only one incentive for the lockdowns to continue .
There is also the process of acclimating the public to the idea that lockdowns are the “ new normal ” .
While I do see resistance in certain parts of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries in Asia and Europe have witnessed a rather sheepish response to the idea of medical tyranny .
I also see an immense wildfire of unconstitutional legislation and illegal state measures being rolled out in the US while the public is distracted by financial circumstances and the virus threat .
Certainly , it appears that most Americans hate the lockdowns .
But will they be fooled by the “ reopening ” into complacency for the next several weeks while the government gets ready to hit them with the next round of restrictions ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ they won ’ t know how to react ?
Imagine the economic devastation of just one more nationwide lockdown event ?
It will be carnage , and a lot of hope within the population will be lost .
This will lead to two possible paths : Submission , or rebellion .
Either the majority of the American people will accept the lockdowns as a new fact of everyday life , or they will become so enraged by the destruction of their economy that they will revolt .
If the intent is to keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ introduced as elitist publications assert , then we have a LONG way to go and this first lockdown was child ’ s play compared to what comes next .
The excuse for the wave model will be that they need to control and slow the spread of infection over time to avoid overwhelming our medical infrastructure .
But this makes very little sense to me at this stage .
Perhaps within the first month or two of the pandemic this was somewhat logical , so that we could gauge the threat of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that the virus is at least three times more deadly that the average annual flu ; which is something to be concerned about , but not something we should be destroying our economy over .
A Discourse Concerning ... Mayhew , Jonathan Best Price : $ 8.16 Buy New $ 6.99 Frankly , there ’ s no logic to the wave model unless the agenda is to destroy the economy .
If the goal is to continue infecting the population until everyone has developed an immunity or a vaccine is offered , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lockdowns permanently and get it over with now ?
This would result in far less deaths in the long run compared to economic collapse .
If the goal is so-called “ herd immunity ” , then we can achieve that much faster through viral transmission than waiting years for a vaccine that may or may not work .
But the elites don ’ t care about “ herd immunity ” ; what they care about is is control .
The vaccine narrative itself is a form of control .
You have to wait @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You have to wait for them to allow the economy to be opened , even for a short period of time , so that you can then be allowed to work or run your business .
You have to wait for permission to live your normal life .
And , if the elites get their way , you won ’ t be given permission until you accept immunity passports , tracking apps and a vaccine .
I will be covering the vaccine issue in a future article , but the underlying message that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you no longer have the power to make decisions for yourself , you must wait for instructions .
While the coronavirus is something that should be taken seriously ( to a point ) , the wave model is not an acceptable solution to the problem .
The Viability Of Using ... Sachs , Dr. Harrison Buy New $ 19.99 And while many conservatives are looking to Trump to obstruct lockdowns in the future , I would recommend they not hold their breath .
Trump has flip-flopped many times on these issues , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should be left to the states .
With a cabinet overflowing with globalists and banking elites , I would not put much hope in intervention from the White House .
Do not be fooled by the reopening .
It is not real because it is not meant to last .
It is a steam valve to calm public outrage and to condition us to periodic tyranny .
The elites believe that we will eventually acclimate to lockdowns as long as we have a reopening to look forward to a couple months down the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to rebel will be suppressed by false hopes that the next reopening will be a permanent reopening .
They believe that after 18 months or more of the wave model we will be so desperate for normalcy that we will do anything to get it , including willingly giving up every last ounce of freedom we have left .
This is the true purpose of the pandemic .
The Best of Brandon Smith

How does one define an economic “reopening”? I think most people would say that a reopening means that everything goes back to the way it was before the crisis; or at least as close as possible. Most people would also say that a reopening is something that will last. Simply declaring “America has reopened” while keeping many restrictions in place in certain parts of the country is a bit of a farce. And, reopening with the intention of implementing lockdowns again in a matter of weeks without explaining the situation to the public is a scam of the highest order.
For example, states like New York, California, Illinois and New Jersey have extended their lockdowns; with LA’s extension remaining ambiguous after they initially declared restrictions for another 3 months. New York’s lockdown is extended to the end of May (so far). This is the case in many US states and cities, while rural areas are mostly open. This is being called a “partial reopening”, but is there a purpose behind the uneven approach?
Plague of Corruption: ... Mikovits, Judy Buy New $16.51 (as of 02:59 UTC - Details) As I predicted in my article ‘Pandemic And Economic Collapse: The Next 60 Days’, the restrictions will continue in major US population centers while rural areas have mostly opened with much fanfare. The end result of this will be a flood of city dwellers into rural towns looking for relief from more strict lockdown conditions. In about a month, we should expect new viral clusters in places where there was limited transmission. I suggest that before the 4th of July holiday, state governments and the Federal government will be talking about new lockdowns, using the predictable infection spike as an excuse.
This is happening in Northeast China right now – another resurgence has occurred and 100 million people are now subject to quarantine restrictions. China’s reopening is barely two weeks old, and concerns of infection “flare ups” were widespread when the announcement was made. Now the mainstream media seems to be confused; is China open, or locked down? Of course, we may never know how bad the problem is and was in China as their numbers have been shown to be utterly rigged and suppressed from the beginning, but the point is that the phrase “reopening” is meaningless there, just as it will be meaningless here in the US.
This is part of the plan. The farce of reopenings does indeed have a purpose. I discuss this in great detail in my article ‘Waves Of Mutilation: Medical Tyranny And The Cashless Society’ published in April. The globalists are clearly the only beneficiaries of this event; with a world-wide surveillance state now openly on the table along with an accelerated shift into digital currency systems, the globalists are either taking advantage of this crisis to push their agenda, or they ENGINEERED the virus and caused the crisis to push their agenda.
In white papers published by globalists at the Imperial College of London as well as MIT, the plan is openly admitted. They suggest using “waves” of economic openings and then lockdowns to control the spread of the virus. The timelines seem to vary, but in general the models call for a one month open, two months closed cycle. The goal is to deliberately increase infections every couple of months in specific regions of a country, then declare economic shutdown and quarantine measures once the spread reaches a certain level; this is meant to continue until a vaccine is developed, which could take years. Plague: One Scientist&... Mikovits, Judy Best Price: $29.55 Buy New $17.99 (as of 04:10 UTC - Details)
When the globalists at MIT say “We are not going back to normal”; this is what they mean. Right now, the general public (at least in some parts of the country) is cheering the reopenings, but what they don’t realize is that the reopenings are an illusion. Restrictions are going to remain in place in many states and cities, while they will be lifted and then re-instituted in others. In fact the situation is going to become much worse over time, by design.
The next lockdown, whenever it is announced, will be absolutely devastating to the US economy which is already in a downward spiral. The mitigating factors will be how effective central bank stimulus is at stalling the freefall (not very effective so far). Other factors include the percentage of small businesses that survive the first lockdown and how many jobs those businesses can bring back to the economy. The first lockdown may be survivable for a large percentage of Americans and businesses; the second lockdown will financially destroy all but the most prepared. And make no mistake, there WILL be many more lockdowns over the next couple years.
In the meantime, international banks like Wells Fargo and JP Morgan have seen to it that small businesses are hit hard by the crisis by funneling bailout money and paycheck loans to their larger clients over the smaller businesses that the money was intended to go to. Of the 300,000 clients of JP Morgan that applied for an emergency loan through the government bailout program, only 18,000 actually received one and many of these clients were NOT small businesses.
If the cycle of lockdowns continues, small businesses will be wiped off the map. The elites have rigged the economic game; they control where every dollar of the bailout money goes, and many of their corporations are the only institutions that are equipped to survive the onslaught. Some of these companies will go down, but in the long run the goal, in my view, is total centralization of production and distribution.
This is exactly what happened during the Great Depression when JP Morgan and other major banks devoured thousands of small local banks across the country and removed them as competitors from the system. After the depression, banking was completely centralized into the hands of a select few mega-companies. Today, they are attempting to erase all localized small business competition to international corporations. Inoculated: How Scienc... Kent Heckenlively Best Price: $15.59 Buy New $15.14 (as of 01:58 UTC - Details)
Taking over the business infrastructure of entire nations and removing all independent competition is only one incentive for the lockdowns to continue. There is also the process of acclimating the public to the idea that lockdowns are the “new normal”. While I do see resistance in certain parts of the world, including the US, many countries in Asia and Europe have witnessed a rather sheepish response to the idea of medical tyranny. I also see an immense wildfire of unconstitutional legislation and illegal state measures being rolled out in the US while the public is distracted by financial circumstances and the virus threat.
Certainly, it appears that most Americans hate the lockdowns. But will they be fooled by the “reopening” into complacency for the next several weeks while the government gets ready to hit them with the next round of restrictions? Will they be so caught off guard they won’t know how to react? Imagine the economic devastation of just one more nationwide lockdown event? It will be carnage, and a lot of hope within the population will be lost.
This will lead to two possible paths: Submission, or rebellion. Either the majority of the American people will accept the lockdowns as a new fact of everyday life, or they will become so enraged by the destruction of their economy that they will revolt.
If the intent is to keep the cycle going until a vaccine is introduced as elitist publications assert, then we have a LONG way to go and this first lockdown was child’s play compared to what comes next.
The excuse for the wave model will be that they need to control and slow the spread of infection over time to avoid overwhelming our medical infrastructure. But this makes very little sense to me at this stage. Perhaps within the first month or two of the pandemic this was somewhat logical, so that we could gauge the threat of the virus. What we know right now is that the virus is at least three times more deadly that the average annual flu; which is something to be concerned about, but not something we should be destroying our economy over. A Discourse Concerning... Mayhew, Jonathan Best Price: $8.16 Buy New $6.99 (as of 05:10 UTC - Details)
Frankly, there’s no logic to the wave model unless the agenda is to destroy the economy. If the goal is to continue infecting the population until everyone has developed an immunity or a vaccine is offered, then why not simply remove all the lockdowns permanently and get it over with now? This would result in far less deaths in the long run compared to economic collapse. If the goal is so-called “herd immunity”, then we can achieve that much faster through viral transmission than waiting years for a vaccine that may or may not work.
But the elites don’t care about “herd immunity”; what they care about is is control. The vaccine narrative itself is a form of control. You have to wait for the establishment to save you. You have to wait for them to allow the economy to be opened, even for a short period of time, so that you can then be allowed to work or run your business. You have to wait for permission to live your normal life. And, if the elites get their way, you won’t be given permission until you accept immunity passports, tracking apps and a vaccine.
I will be covering the vaccine issue in a future article, but the underlying message that the public is hearing daily is that you no longer have the power to make decisions for yourself, you must wait for instructions. While the coronavirus is something that should be taken seriously (to a point), the wave model is not an acceptable solution to the problem. The Viability Of Using... Sachs, Dr. Harrison Buy New $19.99 (as of 05:10 UTC - Details)
And while many conservatives are looking to Trump to obstruct lockdowns in the future, I would recommend they not hold their breath. Trump has flip-flopped many times on these issues, including his position on whether or not lockdowns should be left to the states. With a cabinet overflowing with globalists and banking elites, I would not put much hope in intervention from the White House.
Do not be fooled by the reopening. It is not real because it is not meant to last. It is a steam valve to calm public outrage and to condition us to periodic tyranny. The elites believe that we will eventually acclimate to lockdowns as long as we have a reopening to look forward to a couple months down the road. They believe that our tendency to rebel will be suppressed by false hopes that the next reopening will be a permanent reopening. They believe that after 18 months or more of the wave model we will be so desperate for normalcy that we will do anything to get it, including willingly giving up every last ounce of freedom we have left. This is the true purpose of the pandemic.
Reprinted with permission from Alt-Market.com.
The Best of Brandon Smith


lewrockwell--2020-05-25--There’s No Longer Any Question: Biden Carried Out a Cover-Up in Ukraine

Trump stands vindicated for accusing Biden of trying to cover up his son ’ s corruption in Ukraine after one of that country ’ s lawmakers released audio recordings of the former Vice President ’ s numerous conversations with former President Poroshenko to that effect , proving that the real Ukrainegate scandal has been about the Democrat front-runner all along .
Ukrainian lawmaker Andrei Derkach released audio recordings that he claims to have received from journalists which convincingly sound as though they ’ re truly of former President Poroshenko ’ s numerous conversations with former Vice President and current Democrat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chats concerns the latter ’ s efforts to pressure the then-Ukrainian leader to remove General Prosecutor Shokin , which Trump and many of his surrogates have claimed was undertaken in an attempt to cover up his son Hunter ’ s corruption at the Burisma gas company where he was employed and which was the subject of an investigation by Shokin .
Lying Dog Face Pony So ... Buy New $ 19.99 The recordings are remarkably frank , with Poroshenko proudly pledging fealty to Biden and regularly updating him on the progress that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refers to as his “ promises ” to the former Vice President .
The Daily Beast reported that suspicions are swirling over whether the leak was an inside job in Ukraine or the result of so-called “ Russian hacking ” , but that ’ s just an attempt to distract from the calls , just like the unproven claims that Russia was responsible for hacking the DNC ’ s emails four years ago .
The real Ukrainegate scandal therefore wasn ’ t over the now-debunked allegations that Trump engaged in a quid pro @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an attempt to reopen this investigation for supposedly political reasons , but over Biden ’ s attempts to cover up his son ’ s corruption in Ukraine in order to not hurt the Vice President ’ s future campaign prospects .
This is similar in essence to how the real Russiagate scandal wasn ’ t about Russia allegedly helping Trump , but about Hillary trading the US ’ strategic uranium deposits for Clinton Foundation kickbacks .
THE PEARL SOURCE 14K G ... Buy New $ 89.00 The pattern at play is unmistakable , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have recently taken to accusing Trump of the same spirit of what they themselves are really guilty of .
Be it in carrying out shady deals with Russia , Ukraine , or whichever other country ’ s dirty laundry has yet to reach the light of day , the Democrats have a track record of international corruption unlike Trump , who comes off as squeaky clean in comparison .
That ’ s not to absolve the sitting American President of whatever his administration might secretly be doing abroad , but just to point @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corruption against him have been proven to be false and much more applicable to the same party that publicly made them in the first place .
The timing of the Biden-Poroshenko leaks is intriguing and deserves some further analysis .
It ’ s unclear why they weren ’ t released any earlier considering that the fake Ukrainegate impeachment conspiracy against Trump began last summer , which suggests that they might have either only been recently obtained or strategically kept in reserve to unveil at an opportune moment during the 2020 campaign .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might be connected to the Democrats ’ desperate attempts to pin the blame for the US ’ controversial handling of World War C on Trump personally in yet another effort to impeach him or at the very list tilt the upcoming vote to his opponent ’ s favor .
You Know The Little Th ... Buy New $ 12.99 Regarding that selfsame opponent , Biden seems to be afflicted with dementia and is widely considered to simply be a stand-in functioning as a puppet of more shadowy party interests .
There ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wisdom of promoting him as their candidate of choice , but they probably didn ’ t have any more viable option since the other politicians in the primary either didn ’ t manage to generate any genuine grassroots support from their party ’ s base or were considered too radical and therefore unable to appeal to the on-the-fence voters in “ Main Street ” America who ’ ll likely decide this election like usual .
With that in mind , these criminally incriminating leaks could either throw the party further into disarray @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ dark horse ” replacement to be put forth by the party during its summer convention , meaning that they might have been an inside job by disgruntled Democrat “ deep state ” operatives who don ’ t believe in Biden ’ s ability to beat Trump and want to force the party to replace him .

Trump stands vindicated for accusing Biden of trying to cover up his son’s corruption in Ukraine after one of that country’s lawmakers released audio recordings of the former Vice President’s numerous conversations with former President Poroshenko to that effect, proving that the real Ukrainegate scandal has been about the Democrat front-runner all along.
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
Ukrainian lawmaker Andrei Derkach released audio recordings that he claims to have received from journalists which convincingly sound as though they’re truly of former President Poroshenko’s numerous conversations with former Vice President and current Democrat front-runner Biden.
The content of their chats concerns the latter’s efforts to pressure the then-Ukrainian leader to remove General Prosecutor Shokin, which Trump and many of his surrogates have claimed was undertaken in an attempt to cover up his son Hunter’s corruption at the Burisma gas company where he was employed and which was the subject of an investigation by Shokin. Lying Dog Face Pony So... Buy New $19.99 (as of 05:11 UTC - Details)
The recordings are remarkably frank, with Poroshenko proudly pledging fealty to Biden and regularly updating him on the progress that he’s made in keeping what he refers to as his “promises” to the former Vice President.
THE REAL UKRAINEGATE & RUSSIAGATE SCANDALS
The Daily Beast reported that suspicions are swirling over whether the leak was an inside job in Ukraine or the result of so-called “Russian hacking”, but that’s just an attempt to distract from the calls, just like the unproven claims that Russia was responsible for hacking the DNC’s emails four years ago.
The real Ukrainegate scandal therefore wasn’t over the now-debunked allegations that Trump engaged in a quid pro quo with current Ukrainian President Zelensky in an attempt to reopen this investigation for supposedly political reasons, but over Biden’s attempts to cover up his son’s corruption in Ukraine in order to not hurt the Vice President’s future campaign prospects.
This is similar in essence to how the real Russiagate scandal wasn’t about Russia allegedly helping Trump, but about Hillary trading the US’ strategic uranium deposits for Clinton Foundation kickbacks. THE PEARL SOURCE 14K G... Buy New $89.00 (as of 05:11 UTC - Details)
PATTERN OF HYPOCRISY
The pattern at play is unmistakable, and it’s that the Democrats have recently taken to accusing Trump of the same spirit of what they themselves are really guilty of. Be it in carrying out shady deals with Russia, Ukraine, or whichever other country’s dirty laundry has yet to reach the light of day, the Democrats have a track record of international corruption unlike Trump, who comes off as squeaky clean in comparison.
That’s not to absolve the sitting American President of whatever his administration might secretly be doing abroad, but just to point out that the two highest-profile accusations of corruption against him have been proven to be false and much more applicable to the same party that publicly made them in the first place.
INTRIGUING TIMING
The timing of the Biden-Poroshenko leaks is intriguing and deserves some further analysis. It’s unclear why they weren’t released any earlier considering that the fake Ukrainegate impeachment conspiracy against Trump began last summer, which suggests that they might have either only been recently obtained or strategically kept in reserve to unveil at an opportune moment during the 2020 campaign.
If the latter, then the current timing might be connected to the Democrats’ desperate attempts to pin the blame for the US’ controversial handling of World War C on Trump personally in yet another effort to impeach him or at the very list tilt the upcoming vote to his opponent’s favor. You Know The Little Th... Buy New $12.99 (as of 05:11 UTC - Details)
Regarding that selfsame opponent, Biden seems to be afflicted with dementia and is widely considered to simply be a stand-in functioning as a puppet of more shadowy party interests.
A “DARK HORSE” FOR THE DEMOCRATS?
There’s been some debate in Democrat circles about the wisdom of promoting him as their candidate of choice, but they probably didn’t have any more viable option since the other politicians in the primary either didn’t manage to generate any genuine grassroots support from their party’s base or were considered too radical and therefore unable to appeal to the on-the-fence voters in “Main Street” America who’ll likely decide this election like usual.
With that in mind, these criminally incriminating leaks could either throw the party further into disarray or present an opportunity for a so-called “dark horse” replacement to be put forth by the party during its summer convention, meaning that they might have been an inside job by disgruntled Democrat “deep state” operatives who don’t believe in Biden’s ability to beat Trump and want to force the party to replace him.
Read the Whole Article


lewrockwell--2020-05-25--Passing Behind Our Backs

Passing Behind Our Backs

I never met the great basketball player , Bob Cousy , the man known as “ the Houdini of the Hardwood , ” yet he somehow influenced my life in ways I never knew , or to be more accurate , in ways I didn ’ t reflect upon except in superficial ways .
He was the guy who brought professional basketball into the modern era with his bag of fancy tricks that included no-look and behind-the-back passes , uncanny dribbling , and a magical court sense that made the fast break into an exquisite art form .
The captain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1950-1963 , Cousy led the Celtics to six NBA titles , made thirteen all-star teams , and changed professional basketball from a stodgy , boring , and slow game into a fast-paced spectacle , entertainment as much as sport .
He was a wizard with a basketball and set the stage for Guy Rodgers , “ Pistol Pete ” Maravich , Bob Dylan , Magic Johnson , and Steve Nash , among other tricksters , modern Hermes .
Over the years I have written a great deal on a very wide-range of topics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a friend from high school recently sent me Gary Pomeranz ’ s fascinating book , The Last Pass : Cousy , Russell , the Celtics , and What Matters in the End , that something clicked for me .
A few weeks previously , as the weather had turned spring-like , I had started to shoot hoops at our basket in the driveway .
The warm air , the feel of a loose flowing freedom as I dribbled and shot , brought me back to the days when I spent so many hours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ youth , perfecting my skills in what I can only call a fanatical way .
Rushing to the schoolyard after school and on Saturday mornings to be the first there , to command the court , to compete with the older guys and beat their asses .
Traveling around the city ’ s best basketball neighborhoods to play and make my mark .
The endless hours in gyms .
The search for perfection .
The adrenaline rush , the thrill , the joy of the perfect pass , the sweet swish of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a thousand times .
From the age of eleven until twenty-three , basketball was central to my life and identity .
It was my passion .
The Last Pass : Cousy , ... Pomerantz , Gary M. Best Price : $ 3.53 Buy New $ 14.49 It was during these recent days shooting around that I started to have almost nightly dreams of my younger years , playing basketball in high school and then in college on a Division I scholarship .
They were very vivid dreams , and at the time , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was having them .
And they were starting to annoy me , as persistent and weird dreams can do .
Begone , dread spirits !
Yet I knew they were telling me to heed their tales told when no one was looking , only this dreamer in the night .
While this was happening , I wrote an article about Bob Dylan and his recent release of “ Murder Most Foul , ” his powerful song about the assassination of President Kennedy , wherein he brilliantly accuses elements within the U.S. government and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cold blood , while framing Lee Harvey Oswald for the deed .
I had written about Dylan before , loved his music , and found him an intriguing if enigmatic character , a Houdini of song .
“ Murder Most Foul ” seemed to burst out of Dylan after decades of avoiding straight-forward political themes .
It struck me that with this song he had ripped off the masks he had been wearing for decades , as if he were Odysseus at the end of The Odyssey , shrugging off his beggar ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of his wife Penelope that the gig was up and they were going down .
It seemed to me that Dylan was coming full-circle , as if he were coming home to take revenge on the killers who had scarred his youth , as they did mine and so many others ’ .
“ Like a musician , like a harper , when/ with quiet hand upon his instrument , ” Odysseus lets the arrow sing , Dylan reaches back to sing : Senston Official Baske ... Buy New $ 30.99 Slowly it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life has a shape , as if it were a drawing or story or song .
And that if we pay close attention and see through all the snares and temptations meant to divert us from our true paths , we will find our beginnings in our ends and without directions we will find our way home .
It is very hard to explain to someone who didn ’ t know you once upon a time long before you met , how important certain activities were to you , what they meant and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your psyche .
How they shaped you , or better still , how you used them to bend your life when you strung your bow so effortlessly to hit the target that you aimed for .
Or thought you were aiming for .
My life in basketball shaped the man that I became , but my wife only knows the aftermath since she met me when I had taken a long twenty-five-year vacation from basketball .
Like Cousy , sitting and talking with Pomeranz , or Dylan sharpening his arrows and letting them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I could say : While I am half-way through reading the Cousy book , I get its drift , where it ’ s heading .
In conversations with Pomeranz , he is hoping to be inspired to understand the journey that has left him , an old man , frightened , alone , and approaching death in a large house in Worcester , Massachusetts , trying to understand , not only his fraught relationship with his black Celtic teammate , Bill Russell , but what his life has been all about , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years on the road , the applause and awards , the championships and the price they exacted .
He went to the basketball wars and won , came home , but now wonders what home really means .
Unlike Odysseus , he only has ghosts to slay .
His wife is dead , and no suitors occupy the great house of shades .
There is no one to kill except his regrets .
My friend , Wayne , who sent me the book , spent three years in high school with me studying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those years , we translated Homer ’ s The Odyssey line by line .
We were also basketball teammates .
Odysseus , of course , was the ultimate trickster , the man of many wiles and disguises , what the nymph Calypso , who held Odysseus captive for seven years on her island Ogygia , called “ a rascal.
” Like Houdini , Odysseus was able to escape this phantom island with the help of the messenger and trickster Hermes .
Like Cousy , Odysseus was the Houdini of the ancient world , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and thread an arrow through the smallest space to defeat the enemy .
Cousy ’ s fierceness on the court is legendary ; his poker face hid the killer instinct , like Odysseus with his wily habit of standing with downcast eyes to disguise his intent .
Cousy could thread a pass between an opponent ’ s eyes without them blinking .
They often never knew what hit them .
Original Graffiti No .
... Best Price : $ 51.57 Buy New $ 59.00 I was reminded of this as I was rereading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and poetic memoir , Chronicles : Volume I , and came upon his memory of hearing the news of the death of “ Pistol ” Pete Maravich , the greatest scorer in college basketball history and a magician without par on the court .
Maravich was Cousy ’ s heir , and the blood line connects to Dylan also , a Houdini with words .
It was January 5 , 1988 : Personalize Your Own B ... Buy New $ 21.99 He goes on to write that after hearing the news of Pistol @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basketball , he started and completed the song “ Dignity ” the same day , and in the days that followed song after song flowed from his pen .
The news of one creative spirit ’ s death gave birth to another creative spirit ’ s gift to life .
( I am reminded of Shakespeare writing Hamlet after his father ’ s death . )
“ It ’ s like I saw the song up in front of me and overtook it , like I saw all the characters in this song @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them … .
The wind could never blow it out of my head .
This song was a good thing to have .
On a song like this , there ’ s no end to things.
” No one wants to end , to fade away .
To not be recognized .
To die and be forgotten .
To fail to make their mark .
Not Dylan , Cousy , Maravich , me , nor you .
We all wish to become who we feel we were meant to be .
To fulfill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and not to waste our lives in trivial pursuits .
Years pass and people often ask with Dylan in “ Shooting Star ” : Seen a shooting star tonight And I thought of me If I was still the same If I ever became what you wanted me to be Did I miss the mark or overstep the line That only you could see ?
Seen a shooting star tonight And I thought of me I keep thinking : who is you for you ?
For me ?
When I was a young @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to be exceptional , to be one-of-a-kind , an individual .
Basketball became my obsession and Bob Cousy my idol .
I wanted to be a shooting star , a dribbling star , a passing star .
I watched him on television , studying him .
His every move inspired me to imitate it .
I would spend hours every day practicing behind the back passes , first right-handed , then left , against the wall where I had marked an x in chalk .
I worked on my peripheral vision , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and control the show .
In the hidden recesses of my basement , I used tape to mark spots on the floor where I spent hour after hour dribbling behind my back , first this way and then that , past imaginary opponents .
I made dribbling glasses with black tape out of my mother ’ s old sun glasses .
Worked on circling the ball behind my back either way .
Hour after hour , day after day , year after year , I devoted myself to perfecting my basketball skills as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cousy .
Being the one whose magic feats were the talk of the town the following day .
Liberty Imports 10 Pac ... Buy New $ 79.95 One day , I met and talked with Paul Newman on the street after high school basketball practice .
When I was leaving , he called me Fast Eddie , which to my mind added to the mystique I felt as a trickster on the hardwood .
I felt fast and loose like Paul ’ s character Eddie Felson in The Hustler when he was on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ You don ’ t have to look , you just Know .
You make shots that nobody has ever made before .
I can play that game the way… .
Nobody ’ s ever played it before.
” That was my goal and the impetus behind my fanatical devotion to practice .
I loved it , there was joy in it , but there was also a driven quality to my quest .
For whom ?
Only you ?
I was easily bored by conventional life and conventional basketball .
But the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in school , church , the way people talked and walked ; it seemed like people were straight-jacketed , which they were .
Blake ’ s mind-forged manacles .
I sensed people were dissemblers , and that lies were the essence of social life .
Nowhere was this truer than on the basketball court in high school and college where the coaches had their systems and their rules and discouraged innovation , as if it would reveal them to be artists in disguise , weird , less-than-manly men who couldn ’ t run @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those who obeyed them and kept within the strict rules of the system .
Creativity frightened them .
The old ways sufficed .
It was just like society , and though Cousy had broken through and been idolized for doing so , he had retired from the Celtics in the spring of 1963 , while the high school and college programs were stuck in the past .
I felt imprisoned .
I wanted to bust out and play free .
Be free .
It was like the classics that I studied in school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exploits you read about were things of the past , and now we were civilized gentlemen who must learn the rules of the game and play by them .
Tradition .
But the rules were suffocating me .
The rules of the game had almost brought the world to an end during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 .
The rules of the game had created a system of war and racism that was badly broken , resulting in the savage killing not only a President who had undergone a radical spiritual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham , Alabama on Sunday September 15 , 1963 , a year to the day after I started college with my trivial young man ’ s dreams of being the Cousy of college hoops .
The rules of the game would soon be violated by Dylan at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival , when he would shock Pete Seeger and others with his song , “ Mr .
Tambourine Man , ” a radical break with strictly political songs in favor of pure dazzling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cousy moment , poetry in motion , Houdini out of the locked box , dancing “ beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free.
” Bob Dylan , whose life and career follows Odysseus ’ trajectory , ended his 2017 Nobel Award Lecture with the first line of the Odyssey : “ Sing in me , oh Muse , and through me tell the story.
” My friend Wayne and I , together with all our high school classmates , had memorized those lines in Greek .
They were ingrained in us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Dylan .
One Minute to Midnight ... Dobbs , Michael Best Price : $ 5.16 Buy New $ 12.08 But tell what story ?
For whom ?
Only you ?
Dylan has told so many .
Here ’ s one I have for you , one you never heard .
Here are the opening lines ; let ’ s call it Book I , not that a Goddess intervened , but it was , in Odysseus ’ words , the beginning of the end of my “ clean-cut game.
” A month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ played my first college basketball game .
In those days , all freshman were required by the rules of the game to play one year of freshman basketball before playing varsity .
This was the day I had been waiting for since the sixth grade when my dedication to basketball began .
My blood was flowing fast , I had no fear , and was ready to use all the skills I had spent years honing .
The stands were packed .
My proud family sat a few rows up behind our bench @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sisters , two of whom were quite young at eight and eleven years old .
The game was close , back and forth it went .
With about a minute and a half left , we were leading by two points .
The other coach called a time out with the ball in their possession .
In the huddle , our coach assigned me to guard the opponent ’ s best player , a six-foot-four inch jumping jack who was highly acclaimed and a very good player by the name of Albie Grant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my offensive skills , was a tough and tenacious very well-conditioned defender who took pride in sticking to an opponent like glue .
They threw the ball in and screened for Grant .
He got the ball and I got in his face .
He went up for a jump shot from about 20 feet out , and since I was not going to block his shot , I did what all good defenders do , I got my hand in front of his eyes .
But he made the shot anyway , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on me .
But I never touched him .
It was a terrible call , but I could do nothing about it .
Behind my back , I could hear my coach cursing me out with every name in the book – you fucking bastard , you shit , etc .
He could be heard throughout the arena .
The crowd went silent .
He kept cursing me out and my already sweaty , red face must have turned purple .
I felt on fire .
He took me out of the game @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He kept cursing at me .
I sat away from him on the bench and he came down and stood over me , calling me every name in his limited vocabulary , you fucking this , you fucking that .
I looked at him in rage .
The game continued .
Grant made the free throw and we lost by one point .
As we walked off the court to the locker room door at the end , he kept screaming invective at me .
I could feel my rage swelling .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and could hear it all .
I noticed others staring in disbelief .
To say it was humiliating barely captures what it felt like , but just as I played the game fiercely , I was not one to take such abuse .
But I kept telling myself to control myself .
It was the coach who was making a fool of himself .
Then , when we entered the locker room , he let loose at me again , you fucking idiot , you fucking bastard….when I snapped and grabbed him by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around his neck , I threw him up against the wall and let him have it , screaming that I ’ d had enough of his shit and I would kill him if he ever did it again .
All hell broke loose as people were pulling me off him , and my father , who was outside the locker room , came rushing in to intervene .
Years of passionate dedication to becoming the best basketball player I could , came to this .
I had reacted in fury to being humiliated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ front of my family .
I think now of Odysseus when he stood on the broad door sill and killed AntÍnoös , the worst of the suitors of his wife , Penelope .
“ Odysseus ’ arrow hit him under the chin/ and punched up to the feathers through his throat.
” How dare he take revenge and defend his honor , came the shouts from the easily offended but secretly guilty .
The other suitors screamed at him : “ Foul !
To shoot at a man !
That was your last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but that is the rest of the story .
My craft changed in the following years .
I no longer tried to imitate other tricksters like Bob Cousy or Bob Dylan .
They have their own tales to tell and dwell upon .
Their words are not mine .
Now I play with words in my own way .
But like Bob Dylan , “ I return once again to Homer who says , ‘ Sing in me , oh Muse , and through me tell the story.
’ Our stories often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t see them .
Telling them is the trick .
You need to turn around and see what ’ s behind you to pass them around .
The Best of Edward Curtin

I never met the great basketball player, Bob Cousy, the man known as “the Houdini of the Hardwood,” yet he somehow influenced my life in ways I never knew, or to be more accurate, in ways I didn’t reflect upon except in superficial ways. He was the guy who brought professional basketball into the modern era with his bag of fancy tricks that included no-look and behind-the-back passes, uncanny dribbling, and a magical court sense that made the fast break into an exquisite art form. The captain and point-guard of the Boston Celtics from 1950-1963, Cousy led the Celtics to six NBA titles, made thirteen all-star teams, and changed professional basketball from a stodgy, boring, and slow game into a fast-paced spectacle, entertainment as much as sport. He was a wizard with a basketball and set the stage for Guy Rodgers, “Pistol Pete” Maravich, Bob Dylan, Magic Johnson, and Steve Nash, among other tricksters, modern Hermes.
Over the years I have written a great deal on a very wide-range of topics, but it wasn’t until a friend from high school recently sent me Gary Pomeranz’s fascinating book, The Last Pass: Cousy, Russell, the Celtics, and What Matters in the End, that something clicked for me. A few weeks previously, as the weather had turned spring-like, I had started to shoot hoops at our basket in the driveway. The warm air, the feel of a loose flowing freedom as I dribbled and shot, brought me back to the days when I spent so many hours playing in the Bronx schoolyards of my youth, perfecting my skills in what I can only call a fanatical way. Rushing to the schoolyard after school and on Saturday mornings to be the first there, to command the court, to compete with the older guys and beat their asses. Traveling around the city’s best basketball neighborhoods to play and make my mark. The endless hours in gyms. The search for perfection. The adrenaline rush, the thrill, the joy of the perfect pass, the sweet swish of the net from a shot you had practiced a thousand times. From the age of eleven until twenty-three, basketball was central to my life and identity. It was my passion. The Last Pass: Cousy, ... Pomerantz, Gary M. Best Price: $3.53 Buy New $14.49 (as of 05:12 UTC - Details)
It was during these recent days shooting around that I started to have almost nightly dreams of my younger years, playing basketball in high school and then in college on a Division I scholarship. They were very vivid dreams, and at the time, I didn’t understand why I was having them. And they were starting to annoy me, as persistent and weird dreams can do. Begone, dread spirits! Yet I knew they were telling me to heed their tales told when no one was looking, only this dreamer in the night.
While this was happening, I wrote an article about Bob Dylan and his recent release of “Murder Most Foul,” his powerful song about the assassination of President Kennedy, wherein he brilliantly accuses elements within the U.S. government and intelligence forces of killing the president in cold blood, while framing Lee Harvey Oswald for the deed. I had written about Dylan before, loved his music, and found him an intriguing if enigmatic character, a Houdini of song. “Murder Most Foul” seemed to burst out of Dylan after decades of avoiding straight-forward political themes. It struck me that with this song he had ripped off the masks he had been wearing for decades, as if he were Odysseus at the end of The Odyssey, shrugging off his beggar’s rags and announcing to the suitors of his wife Penelope that the gig was up and they were going down. It seemed to me that Dylan was coming full-circle, as if he were coming home to take revenge on the killers who had scarred his youth, as they did mine and so many others’. “Like a musician, like a harper, when/ with quiet hand upon his instrument,” Odysseus lets the arrow sing, Dylan reaches back to sing:
The day they blew out the brains of the king
Thousands were watching, no one saw a thing
It happened so quickly, so quick, by surprise
Right there in front of everyone’s eyes
Greatest magic trick ever under the sun
Perfectly executed, skillfully done
Senston Official Baske... Buy New $30.99 (as of 05:12 UTC - Details) Slowly it dawned on me that everyone’s life has a shape, as if it were a drawing or story or song. And that if we pay close attention and see through all the snares and temptations meant to divert us from our true paths, we will find our beginnings in our ends and without directions we will find our way home.
It is very hard to explain to someone who didn’t know you once upon a time long before you met, how important certain activities were to you, what they meant and still mean in the deepest recesses of your psyche. How they shaped you, or better still, how you used them to bend your life when you strung your bow so effortlessly to hit the target that you aimed for. Or thought you were aiming for. My life in basketball shaped the man that I became, but my wife only knows the aftermath since she met me when I had taken a long twenty-five-year vacation from basketball. Like Cousy, sitting and talking with Pomeranz, or Dylan sharpening his arrows and letting them fly in his new song False Prophet, I could say:
You don’t know me darlin’ – you never would guess
I’m nothing like my ghostly appearance would suggest
I ain’t no False Prophet – I just said what I said
I’m here to bring vengeance on somebody’s head
While I am half-way through reading the Cousy book, I get its drift, where it’s heading. In conversations with Pomeranz, he is hoping to be inspired to understand the journey that has left him, an old man, frightened, alone, and approaching death in a large house in Worcester, Massachusetts, trying to understand, not only his fraught relationship with his black Celtic teammate, Bill Russell, but what his life has been all about, the court wizardry and cheers, the years on the road, the applause and awards, the championships and the price they exacted. He went to the basketball wars and won, came home, but now wonders what home really means. Unlike Odysseus, he only has ghosts to slay. His wife is dead, and no suitors occupy the great house of shades. There is no one to kill except his regrets.
My friend, Wayne, who sent me the book, spent three years in high school with me studying Greek, and over the course of those years, we translated Homer’s The Odyssey line by line. We were also basketball teammates. Odysseus, of course, was the ultimate trickster, the man of many wiles and disguises, what the nymph Calypso, who held Odysseus captive for seven years on her island Ogygia, called “a rascal.” Like Houdini, Odysseus was able to escape this phantom island with the help of the messenger and trickster Hermes. Like Cousy, Odysseus was the Houdini of the ancient world, the hero who could escape any trap and thread an arrow through the smallest space to defeat the enemy. Cousy’s fierceness on the court is legendary; his poker face hid the killer instinct, like Odysseus with his wily habit of standing with downcast eyes to disguise his intent. Cousy could thread a pass between an opponent’s eyes without them blinking. They often never knew what hit them. Original Graffiti No. ... Best Price: $51.57 Buy New $59.00 (as of 05:12 UTC - Details)
I was reminded of this as I was rereading bits of Bob Dylan’s fascinating and poetic memoir, Chronicles: Volume I, and came upon his memory of hearing the news of the death of “Pistol” Pete Maravich, the greatest scorer in college basketball history and a magician without par on the court. Maravich was Cousy’s heir, and the blood line connects to Dylan also, a Houdini with words. It was January 5, 1988:
My aunt was in the kitchen and I sat down with her to
talk and drink coffee. The radio was playing and morn-
ing news was on. I was startled to hear that Pete Maravich,
the basketball player, had collapsed on a basketball court in
Pasadena, just fell over and never got up. I’d seen Maravich
play in New Orleans once, when the Utah Jazz were the New
Orleans Jazz. He was something to see – mop of brown hair,
floppy socks – the holy terror of the basketball world – high
flyin’ – magician of the court. The night I saw him he dribbled
the ball with his head, scored a behind the back, no look basket –
dribbled the length of the court, threw the ball up off the glass
and caught his own pass. He was fantastic. Scored something
like thirty-eight points. He could have played blind. Pistol Pete
hadn’t played professionally for a while, and he was thought of
as forgotten. I hadn’t forgotten about him, though. Some people
seem to fade away but then when they are truly gone, it’s like
they didn’t fade away at all.
Personalize Your Own B... Buy New $21.99 (as of 05:12 UTC - Details) He goes on to write that after hearing the news of Pistol Pete’s sad death playing pickup basketball, he started and completed the song “Dignity” the same day, and in the days that followed song after song flowed from his pen. The news of one creative spirit’s death gave birth to another creative spirit’s gift to life. (I am reminded of Shakespeare writing Hamlet after his father’s death.) “It’s like I saw the song up in front of me and overtook it, like I saw all the characters in this song and elected to cast my fortunes with them …. The wind could never blow it out of my head. This song was a good thing to have. On a song like this, there’s no end to things.”
No one wants to end, to fade away. To not be recognized. To die and be forgotten. To fail to make their mark. Not Dylan, Cousy, Maravich, me, nor you. We all wish to become who we feel we were meant to be. To fulfill the creative dreams we had when young and not to waste our lives in trivial pursuits. Years pass and people often ask with Dylan in “Shooting Star”:
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of me
If I was still the same
If I ever became what you wanted me to be
Did I miss the mark or overstep the line
That only you could see?
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of me
I keep thinking: who is you for you? For me?
When I was a young boy, I wanted to stand out, to be exceptional, to be one-of-a-kind, an individual. Basketball became my obsession and Bob Cousy my idol. I wanted to be a shooting star, a dribbling star, a passing star. I watched him on television, studying him. His every move inspired me to imitate it. I would spend hours every day practicing behind the back passes, first right-handed, then left, against the wall where I had marked an x in chalk. I worked on my peripheral vision, so I could see the whole court and control the show. In the hidden recesses of my basement, I used tape to mark spots on the floor where I spent hour after hour dribbling behind my back, first this way and then that, past imaginary opponents. I made dribbling glasses with black tape out of my mother’s old sun glasses. Worked on circling the ball behind my back either way. Hour after hour, day after day, year after year, I devoted myself to perfecting my basketball skills as a point guard. Being like Bob Cousy. Being the one whose magic feats were the talk of the town the following day. Liberty Imports 10 Pac... Buy New $79.95 (as of 05:12 UTC - Details)
One day, I met and talked with Paul Newman on the street after high school basketball practice. When I was leaving, he called me Fast Eddie, which to my mind added to the mystique I felt as a trickster on the hardwood. I felt fast and loose like Paul’s character Eddie Felson in The Hustler when he was on a roll with his cue stick, “You don’t have to look, you just Know. You make shots that nobody has ever made before. I can play that game the way…. Nobody’s ever played it before.” That was my goal and the impetus behind my fanatical devotion to practice. I loved it, there was joy in it, but there was also a driven quality to my quest.
For whom? Only you?
I was easily bored by conventional life and conventional basketball. But the conventional world surrounded me. It was in school, church, the way people talked and walked; it seemed like people were straight-jacketed, which they were. Blake’s mind-forged manacles. I sensed people were dissemblers, and that lies were the essence of social life.
Nowhere was this truer than on the basketball court in high school and college where the coaches had their systems and their rules and discouraged innovation, as if it would reveal them to be artists in disguise, weird, less-than-manly men who couldn’t run a tight ship. They always rewarded those who obeyed them and kept within the strict rules of the system. Creativity frightened them. The old ways sufficed. It was just like society, and though Cousy had broken through and been idolized for doing so, he had retired from the Celtics in the spring of 1963, while the high school and college programs were stuck in the past.
I felt imprisoned. I wanted to bust out and play free. Be free. It was like the classics that I studied in school: the lesson was always that the exploits you read about were things of the past, and now we were civilized gentlemen who must learn the rules of the game and play by them. Tradition. But the rules were suffocating me.
The rules of the game had almost brought the world to an end during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. The rules of the game had created a system of war and racism that was badly broken, resulting in the savage killing not only a President who had undergone a radical spiritual conversion toward peace-making, but four little black girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on Sunday September 15, 1963, a year to the day after I started college with my trivial young man’s dreams of being the Cousy of college hoops. The rules of the game would soon be violated by Dylan at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, when he would shock Pete Seeger and others with his song, “Mr. Tambourine Man,” a radical break with strictly political songs in favor of pure dazzling poetry in song. That was a Cousy moment, poetry in motion, Houdini out of the locked box, dancing “beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free.”
Bob Dylan, whose life and career follows Odysseus’ trajectory, ended his 2017 Nobel Award Lecture with the first line of the Odyssey: “Sing in me, oh Muse, and through me tell the story.” My friend Wayne and I, together with all our high school classmates, had memorized those lines in Greek. They were ingrained in us for life, as they have been for Dylan. One Minute to Midnight... Dobbs, Michael Best Price: $5.16 Buy New $12.08 (as of 05:12 UTC - Details)
But tell what story? For whom? Only you?
Dylan has told so many. Here’s one I have for you, one you never heard. Here are the opening lines; let’s call it Book I, not that a Goddess intervened, but it was, in Odysseus’ words, the beginning of the end of my “clean-cut game.”
A month after the Cuban Missile Crisis, I played my first college basketball game. In those days, all freshman were required by the rules of the game to play one year of freshman basketball before playing varsity. This was the day I had been waiting for since the sixth grade when my dedication to basketball began. My blood was flowing fast, I had no fear, and was ready to use all the skills I had spent years honing. The stands were packed. My proud family sat a few rows up behind our bench, my parents and four of my sisters, two of whom were quite young at eight and eleven years old.
The game was close, back and forth it went. With about a minute and a half left, we were leading by two points. The other coach called a time out with the ball in their possession. In the huddle, our coach assigned me to guard the opponent’s best player, a six-foot-four inch jumping jack who was highly acclaimed and a very good player by the name of Albie Grant. I was five-foot-eleven, and beside my offensive skills, was a tough and tenacious very well-conditioned defender who took pride in sticking to an opponent like glue. They threw the ball in and screened for Grant. He got the ball and I got in his face. He went up for a jump shot from about 20 feet out, and since I was not going to block his shot, I did what all good defenders do, I got my hand in front of his eyes. But he made the shot anyway, and the referee called a shooting foul on me. But I never touched him. It was a terrible call, but I could do nothing about it.
Behind my back, I could hear my coach cursing me out with every name in the book – you fucking bastard, you shit, etc. He could be heard throughout the arena. The crowd went silent. He kept cursing me out and my already sweaty, red face must have turned purple. I felt on fire. He took me out of the game, a game I had played throughout. He kept cursing at me. I sat away from him on the bench and he came down and stood over me, calling me every name in his limited vocabulary, you fucking this, you fucking that. I looked at him in rage. The game continued. Grant made the free throw and we lost by one point. As we walked off the court to the locker room door at the end, he kept screaming invective at me. I could feel my rage swelling. My family was descending from the stands and could hear it all. I noticed others staring in disbelief. To say it was humiliating barely captures what it felt like, but just as I played the game fiercely, I was not one to take such abuse. But I kept telling myself to control myself. It was the coach who was making a fool of himself. Then, when we entered the locker room, he let loose at me again, you fucking idiot, you fucking bastard….when I snapped and grabbed him by his shirt and tie, my hands around his neck, I threw him up against the wall and let him have it, screaming that I’d had enough of his shit and I would kill him if he ever did it again. All hell broke loose as people were pulling me off him, and my father, who was outside the locker room, came rushing in to intervene.
Years of passionate dedication to becoming the best basketball player I could, came to this. I had reacted in fury to being humiliated “in my own house” in front of my family. I think now of Odysseus when he stood on the broad door sill and killed AntÍnoös, the worst of the suitors of his wife, Penelope. “Odysseus’ arrow hit him under the chin/ and punched up to the feathers through his throat.” How dare he take revenge and defend his honor, came the shouts from the easily offended but secretly guilty. The other suitors screamed at him: “Foul! To shoot at a man! That was your last shot.”
It wasn’t mine, but that is the rest of the story. My craft changed in the following years. I no longer tried to imitate other tricksters like Bob Cousy or Bob Dylan. They have their own tales to tell and dwell upon. Their words are not mine.
Now I play with words in my own way.
But like Bob Dylan, “I return once again to Homer who says, ‘Sing in me, oh Muse, and through me tell the story.’
Our stories often happen behind our backs where we can’t see them. Telling them is the trick. You need to turn around and see what’s behind you to pass them around.
The Best of Edward Curtin