Although my friend who prompted me to give Marianne Williamson another look, has since moved on, to the newest Kennedy, I'm not making any public noise about any switch in loyalty, since I'm not empowered to vote in the DNC primary anyway, and I don't want DNC on my political resume enough to want to surrender my Pirate Party status. Yes, I'm seeing it as either/or these days, and yet at the same time as statistically insignificant.
I'm reminded of my support for Tulsi for prez. My line the whole time is she's too straight an arrow for a crooked office, we need a crime boss, and that we got. I should know better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. I voted for the guy. I wanted to try a different Mafia, other than say Kushner and Ivanka's.
But what did I know, right? We all should have realized from the first Trump impeachment, that standing in the way of NATO was going to be a treasonous offense. A lot of citizens had never given NATO much thought, but now it was going to make sure Raytheon-Halliburton stayed prosperous, so we'd better get used to it or else.
Once Trump was out of the way, and the old crew back at the helm, we could get on with the showdown, in some "us versus the world" (a tired play).
I like Marianne because she's into psychology and matters of public mental health. Clearly the schools are in trouble. I'm watching the YouTubes from teachers on why they had to quit.
As a geek heading into teaching, I was always aware of the steady stream coming the other way. I was like that lone vehicle driving into the city where the oncoming lanes are packed with fleeing refugees. Was I some kind of hero?
Actually, I don't think it's wrong for some jobs to be primarily taken by young people, who then move on. From the point of view of a prep school middle schooler, somebody who just went through college, and therefore knows what it's like from recent experience, is going to be implicitly more up to date on many wavelengths. More than a geezer would be.
When I taught at St. Dom's in the 1980s, I was fresh from the university and not that different in age. I don't begrudge those willing to stay and be Gandalf or Sister Joan. I'm just saying it's not an automatic diss to say a job is skew-bulge-occupied by a younger crowd.
Besides, I've gone back to teaching gigs with younger cohorts off and on into my sixties. Coding with Kids for example. Many times before that, and on many campuses. Meaning I've had the best of both worlds: full time immersion in my youth, as faculty, then pilot programs, field testing some new ideas, in my wizard years.
Speaking of wizard years, yes, I think I'm saying I support Marianne because she's a witch, and not a wicked one. My wife took the name Wicca as a reminder to seek wisdom, not to tie herself to any subculture. Marianne has a kind of aristocratic flare that actually comes off as presidential. I find it easy to imagine her relishing ceremony.
The present could use more of Williamson's piping up on the Wurlitzer. Ditto Andrew "UBI" Yang. Ditto many of those who've obtruded into public discourse for having run for top office. Or held one in the past. These are not voices to gleefully block simply because the press (and/or cable) has the power to do so (or once had).
So does that mean I'm watching Williamson on TikTok and/or Zoom? Not currently.
I'll pig out on TikToks only rarely and pretty much leave it to the algorithm versus seeking out specific content.
That's all raw intel in my book, whereas I'm relying on several layers of sifter-editor to come up with some choice pieces. I only have so much time for The District (one of the popular soap operas) after all.
