THE FAILURE OF MEN

Too many men are coming up short.

The late, great James Brown shouted, “It’s a man’s world!” and by the sheer force of his will you knew he believed it. And for as long as humans have been on this earth that’s the way it has been. Men run the show and tilt the playing field, and the rules, to ensure they always will run the show.

Recent events, most notably the parade of shameful men accused of sexual misconduct, has created a schism whereby women are breaking through against men and long-held societal norms. Progress, albeit slow, is coming.

An example of this happened when Stormy Daniels spoke to the media outside a New York courtroom, following proceedings related to the Michael Cohen matter. Ms. Daniels, poised and supremely confident, seemed to summon all the energy from the #MeToo movement and delivered a stunning right-hook to the jaws of Cohen and Donald Trump. It was inspiring to hear Ms. Daniels speak truth to power.

Now we urgently need an accelerated pace of level-setting, as many powerful American men prioritize obtaining more power and riches, even if it means destroying America in the process.

Donald J. Trump

They say it starts at the top and Trump is the worst president in U.S. history. He is one of the worst leaders in world history. His immorality, admitted sexual assault attacks, corruption, illegal activities, submissiveness to Russia, and mental instability have been well-documented. He may be the most anti-American U.S. politician ever.

It is not hyperbole to suggest American democracy is on the brink, so long as this fool occupies the White House, surrounded by other apparent traitors against the U.S. Constitution. America is unraveling in plain sight, yet the men who can stop it do nothing.

The Three Stooges

Mike Pence, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell stumble and bumble as if drunk or stoned. Pence, who is America’s foremost fake Christian, has the power (hate to admit this man has power) to initiate putting a stop to the Trump presidency by invoking the 25th Amendment. But Pence is a wussy of a man indebted to Trump for saving his dead-end political career. Pence fails at the most obvious, patriotic thing – simply to do what’s right for the country.

Paul Ryan is a coward and a quitter whose alleged wonky grasp of economic numbers proved to be fool’s gold. The U.S. deficit marches steadily toward $1 trillion and Ryan’s charts and graphs can do nothing to stop it. Ryan ignores and brushes aside Trump’s myriad transgressions, while setting a terrible example for children everywhere, including his own. Ryan fails at the most obvious, patriotic thing – simply to do what’s right for the country.

Mitch McConnell may be the most dangerous man in America. Unlike Trump and Pence, McConnell is smart and wily. And he cannot be trusted to do the right thing for America. His fetishistic obsession with destroying the Affordable Care Act shows his true lack of character. What kind of human being tries to prevent their fellow man from accessing healthcare? An evil man, that’s who.

McConnell regularly flirts with shutting down the government while struggling to pass a budget. He is out of touch re: modern social issues. And he refuses to consider legislation protecting Special Counsel Robert Mueller from being fired by Trump. Please be gone, silly old fool!

Because they are idle while the U.S. slithers toward the abyss, Pence, Ryan and McConnell are arguably the worst Vice President, worst Speaker of the House and worst Senate Majority leader in American history.

Bottom Cops

Recently, three African-American “top cops” revealed their true selves as bottom feeders.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson of Chicago, Police Commissioner Richard Ross of Philadelphia, and Police Commissioner Branville Bard Jr. of Cambridge, Massachusetts had the opportunity to build community trust but failed miserably.

In Chicago, Johnson rejected the Civilian Office of Police Accountability recommendation to fire Officer Robert Rialmo. Several years ago, Officer Rialmo, who’s now on desk duty, unnecessarily discharged his weapon, killing a 19-year old black man and inadvertently killing a 55-year old black grandmother who had called the police for help in the first place.

Witness accounts along with evidence, including the location of Rialmo’s shell casings relative to the two murdered civilians, prove he was not in imminent danger. But Commissioner Johnson chickened out and did not fire Rialmo. At a seminal moment to repair trust, Johnson hid.

In Philadelphia, Ross offered words of support to his officers who handcuffed and arrested two black men at a Starbucks coffee shop. The men were waiting for a friend to show up, as countless people do at Starbucks every day.

For some reason, the Starbucks manager decided the two men needed to leave and called police. Cellphone video of the event shows several other patrons imploring the cops to leave the men alone, to no avail. Rather than condemn what transpired, Commissioner Ross chickened out and offered words of praise to his officers.

In Massachusetts, in a situation eerily reminiscent of when L.A. cops beat down Rodney King, Cambridge officers pummeled a black male Harvard student. Video of the event is sickening. It is clear the beatdown was overdone and unnecessary. Yet Police Commissioner Branville Bard Jr. held a press conference and said his officers performed as they should have. Rather than stand up for justice, Commissioner Bard flapped his wings and chickened out.

Three black “top cops” in situations where black men needed law enforcement to rightfully have their back. But despite the authority, legally and morally, to do what’s right Eddie Johnson, Richard Ross and Branville Bard Jr. failed miserably. Black top cops who wouldn’t help innocent blacks. Yikes!

#DeleteFacebook (or not)

Facebook head man Mark Zuckerberg was unimpressive testifying before Congress. Zuckerberg could not answer basic questions about how Facebook uses data and tracks their users. Or his answers were disingenuous.

While not on the level of snarky Pharma Bro criminal Martin Shkreli, or alleged Wikileaks sexual assaulter Julian Assange (who remains undercover at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London), Zuckerberg’s testimony nonetheless came off as slim shady and not-to-be-trusted. He further eroded public trust that leadership at tech companies know right from wrong.

Many Americans suddenly have awakened to the fact that people like Mark Zuckerberg have become rich while compromising our privacy. And while the Facebook empire is in no immediate danger, it will be interesting to see how social media and data mining unfold in the coming years.

Back to the artist James Brown, the lyrics should be modified to “It’s a world being destroyed by men.”

Douglas FreelandApril 19, 2018