Bill LaCroix: Congress is Finally Doing its Job!

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Congress is Finally Doing its Job!

Stewart M. Brandborg (1925-2017)

Iconic Environmentalist

Executive Director, The Wilderness Society, 1964-1976

Founder, Friends of the Bitterroot, Bitterrooters For Planning

and much, much more

I couldn’t help noticing that there’s been a lot of talk these last three weeks of this latest government shutdown about congressional dysfunction, which is mystifying to me. I was all of twelve years old when the Wilderness Law was passed through that body and, barring a few insignificant little blips here and there that was the last era I can think of in my lifetime that Congress was actually interested in doing its job and now, by standing up to the orange, lying, racist bloviator and his minions they are acting like they’re interested in doing it again.

They wouldn’t have been interested in 1964 if it hadn’t been for uncompromising believers in Democracy like Stewart “Brandy” Brandborg (whom I had the honor of knowing) and so many others whom I didn’t know, who gave everything they had for what they believed was right and, if you’ve ever appreciated the wildlands they unequivocally saved from the blade and the saw with the passage of the Wilderness Law, you’ll have to admit that they were right. Brandy often advised those striving for a better, saner world to not hesitate to do the right thing, which was to keep pouring the hot oil of public opinion down the bastards’ necks until they gave in.

I would pass on the same advice to those who seem to be vacillating on whether Congress’ continuing, effective opposition to a racist, immoral wall cutting untold wildlands in two and doing maximum damage to our national pschye as well as our dear Land is such a good idea. I’d say “get a grip”. Place blame here:

https://billlacroix.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-horns-of-dilemma.html

and keep pouring hot oil down your representatives’ necks while remembering to thank them (at least the ones still standing firm) for earning their government health benefits.

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Why I Blog

Thoreau and Emerson had a discussion in May of 1846 about the Mexican War--our first war that set us on the course we still track today. Conquest of nation-states and the inevitable Imperialism that follows. Emerson counseled his friend that we can supersede the transgressions of a well-meaning State by the Muse. Thoreau wasn't so sure that the State was so well-meaning or that the Muse alone would be enough to supersede it. But he tried both the Muse and "other means" to our everlasting benefit. Civil Disobedience, in the American sense, has always been his child, in large part because he raised it to the level of Literature. "Other means" requires the Muse to be lasting and effective, and vice versa. How would anyone know what the hell you were talking about otherwise, let alone emulate what you're trying to do?

The problem with Progressives today, I think, is that we have been in the habit of letting other people--Rupert Murdoch, the Koch Brothers, Sun Myung Moon--tell our stories for us, people who do not mean us well. We haven't plugged our muse into our political discourse very much, and that's a big mistake. Mark Twain didn't make that mistake, and he was among the first American writers to use the new-fangled typewriter. Why do we children of Twain, Emerson and Thoreau make that mistake now with our new-fangled computers?

For all its faults, Corporate America understands that people are story-based critters, like it or not, and I think we progressives should like it. By definition, people make many important social (read: political) decisions based largely on who's the best storyteller. It’s in our nature, and Corporate Media is a classic example of how Nature abhors a vacuum. We’ve collectively created a cultural ‘narrative’ vacuum by allowing ourselves to be so easily entertained by—Corporate Media! And Nature hates that. She’ll allow the same garbage responsible for that vacuum (Corporate Media!) to be sucked in and to rattle around until it ruins our cognative motors before she’ll let that sad state of affairs stand. I'd ask any "America Firsters" stumbling on this blog and reading this far to consider: Rupert Murdoch is from Australia. Sun Myung Moon, now-deceased but whose creatures, the Washington Times and UPI still walk the face of the earth, was from Korea. The Koch Brothers, of course, were from the sheikdom of Texas. All of them were, and the living ones still are, so obscenely rich they apparently believed they own America simply because they paid for it, and we collectively let them define who among us are “real Americans”?! C'mon!

Although it helps to strive toward the goal, progressives don't have to be great writers, and I'm not claiming to be one. We simply have to acknowledge that we have the better stories and we’re sitting on our best ones. Our truest ones. Multi-national billionaires have better versions of American Liberalism and Progressivism than the real ones told by real Americans? Us? We shouldn't put up with that. Why do we?

Like any historic attempt, we need to find our Voice. Significant action will come only after our contemporary, progressive political muse matures, which it hasn't yet. Not to paint with too wide a brush, but too much of our positions have been framed in intellectual, almost-didactic prose, which, if you don't identify as an intellectual, means boring. Not all of it, just a whole lot of it, but never mind. If history's still a guide--and I hope it still is--there's hope, because when any progressive movement's Muse matures, it generally becomes the baseline for much of Western Civilization’s meaningful and therefore lasting literature. For example, "Mein Kampf" is still in print but I'll bet you'd have to turn over a lot of rocks to find someone to call it 'literature'.

So, this blog. It's a call, I suppose, to elevate our critical modern discussions out of Fox-news-landia back to where intelligent, caring Americans can find their feet and fight back, either with the Muse, by other means, or both. It’s not up to some politician to change the narrative. That’s up to us. So by definition we still have as good a chance as we ever had. Don't lose hope. It’s always been this way. At least in literate societies.

In other words, like Emerson advised and Thoreau partially agreed with: stories matter, and may the best Muse win.