Competing to be the anti-Trump

The public image of cops has been in a chokehold now for the last year, starting with Michael Brown in Ferguson. At this point, if you were young and black, why would you ever call a cop? The Sandra Bland story is just another in a seemingly endless series of catastrophic encounters between a black person and law enforcement, another example of things going unbelievably badly—you know, like where a sloppy lane change ends up with a body hanging in a jail cell.

I have a friend who worked for 30 years as a fireman and paramedic. He's seen a lot more inner-city drama/reality than me. So I asked him to give me something about race relations in America that I can take to the bank. Something real. He thought for a minute, then said, “If you have black cops in black communities, you're OK. If you have white cops in white communities, you're fine. If you have black cops in white communities, still OK. But white cops in black communities—not so OK.”

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I'll always remember George Carlin years ago at the Silver Legacy, making the point that we get the government and politics we deserve. And isn't the story of Trump, which has easily been the story in this early phase of Democalypse 2016, perfectly in tune with this notion?

People are dismayed by the brusque Donald and the fact that his message is resonating with an alarming number of Republicans. The polls today showed him in first place in New Hampshire with 21 percent and in second place in Iowa with 17 percent.

So you know what you have here with Trump trouncing all these other turkeys? You have all the proof you need that our political and electoral system is seriously FUBB—Mucked Up Beyond Belief. If there's a better sign that we shall reap what we sow if we allow our political gardens to be watered with money money money money, it won't be easy to find. Trump's ascendancy is the perfect metaphor for the cancer that now dominates American politics. We've allowed the game to be overwhelmed, mutated, and perverted by King Kash and just who exactly did you think is better suited for this new version? Jimmy Stewart's Mr. Smith? Or the Donald?

But then again, Trump just called Lindsay Grahame a loser and Rick Perry a dope. There ya go. Once in a while, the loose cannon nails a target which has you applauding.

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For those wondering if I'm gonna teach my “Welcome to Wonderland: The Golden Age of Psychedelia” class again—yes! in a bigger, better classroom on the main Truckee Meadows Community College campus. Here's how to sign up. Go to www.Washoe CommunityEd.org. Then click on Register Now. Then click on Music in the Creative Arts section. Then find W2W. $49, starts on Wed., Sept. 9. Get your groovy together!